Romney wants us to to talk about inequality in quiet rooms.

The other day I was sitting through a school staff meeting. It was terrible.

Under our current administration, each meeting seems worse than the last.

Pointless. A checklist of what counts as poor professional practice.

We sat through two consecutive 20 minute power point presentations that had no context, no connection to each other or to any real needs we had. The sound on the last one didn’t work, so every bullet point was read to us.

At the conclusion, the Type 75 asked if there were any questions. I raised my hand and said, “I have a question. Do you think that none of us can read?”

She looked at me and said, “I don’t think I will respond to that,” as if I were a rude child.

Which brings me to an exchange between NBC’s Matt Lauer and Mitt Romney from the Tribune’s Eric Zorn’s blog:

HOST MATT LAUER: When you said that we already have a leader who divides us with the bitter politics of envy, I’m curious about the word envy. Do you suggest that anyone who questions the policies and practices of Wall Street and financial institutions, anyone who has questions about the distribution of wealth and power in this country, is envious? Is it about jealousy, or is it about fairness? 

 MITT ROMNEY: You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare. I think when you have a president encouraging the idea of dividing America based on 99 percent versus one percent, and those people who’ve been most successful will be in the one percent, you’ve opened up a wave of approach in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the concept of one nation under God. And the American people, I believe in the final analysis, will reject it. 

 LAUER: Are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth without it being seen as envy, though? 

 ROMNEY: You know I think it’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like. But the president has made this part of his campaign rally. Everywhere he goes we hear him talking about millionaires and billionaires and executives and Wall Street. It’s a very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach and I think it’ll fail.

These days, the most important thing seems to be that we should be polite.

Don’t complain when professional teachers are treated with contempt.

Don’t bring up income inequality except in quiet rooms.

Keep your voices down. Shhh. Be polite.