The Chicago Vic Theater was packed last night for the decade-old Louder Than a Bomb poetry slam. It was the final competition in a festival that has been going on for weeks. No poetry tests. Just poetry from these powerful high school poets. Even the Mayor was there. I hope he was really listening.
Have you put your name on the Dump Duncan petition yet? Pour yourself another cup of joe and then go here.
Chicago parents say, “Why not ask us if we want a longer school day?” Brizard and Rahm asking parents about their schools? Revolutionary idea!
Another story of a US soldier on a killing spree of civilians in Afghanistan. Sixteen men, women and children dead. How much more of this? A crazy soldier kills sixteen. The war has killed thousands.
The Chicago Tribune. Ladies and gentlemen. I give you the World’s Stupidest Newspaper.
Oh, you chickenshit motherfckers. I sincerely hope Shirley Sherrod and her lawyers win so big that they have to dig up Andrew Breitbart and collect the pennies off his eyes. I sincerely hope, at some point, Shirley Sherrod gets in a room with Tom Vilsack, and with the incumbent president of the United Stares, and with everyone of his micturating staffers, and she spits on every damn one of them.
Look at this stuff. This is the most powerful office in the world, trembling over spin, and wetting itself because a charlatan has triggered a storm of fake outrage for a bunch of clowns with microphones.
USDA director of communications Chris Mather sent the White House press office a heads-up email describing the video. “She goes on to make it a larger case about understanding race …. but looks bad. (Fox News host Bill) O’Reilly just called us for statement,” Mather says in the email. White House spokesman Reid Cherlin, responds, asking Mather in an email what USDA is going to say about the matter, “and has she been fired? I’ll alert folks here.” Mather answers, telling Cherlin that Sherrod had been placed on administrative leave. “I guess some folks over there are circling wagons,” Mather says, referring to the White House. At the same time, Valerie Green of the White House presidential personnel office was emailing the USDA’s White House liaison, Kevin Washo, asking him to loop her in, “Please. Please. Please.”
All of this because Bill Fucking O’Reilly calls for comment? You know what the proper answer from the White House to a call for a statement from Bill O’Reilly is?
“Get your hands out of your pants, you lecherous, sweaty-balled creep. We have nothing to say to you, now or ever. Oh, and Andrea Mackris, Andrea Mackris, Andrea Mackris.”
Instead, the whole place goes to DefCon1, and a good woman loses her job because of a tailored videotape. This is what happens when the people running politics accept as axiomatic that spin is everything. This is what happens when, because of that, courage is defined by keeping your own job. Charlie Pierce
Fred Klonsky 
Yes, people should certainly be signing the DumpDuncan petition (but–MANY more than 3,900+ {I believe that’s the current #}–& CERTAINLY more than 4,000!). 4,000 signatures in the entire U.S.A.? REALLY? This paltry number of signatures is going to persuade President Obama to “dump Duncan?” I think not. MORE SIGNATURES, people!! Yes, WE can!
And, further, after one of your earlier posts, someone wrote (I believe it was filly4rights)
that public feedback has been shown to elicit presidential response (from Pres. Obama).
Well, just signing a petition isn’t going to do it. The NEA & the AFT need to rescind their endorsements (WHO do they represent?!) until the President can make like Diane Ravitch did, & say, “I’m sorry–this has been TERRIBLE policy, & our children & schools have suffered. If I am re-elected, we will rectify our mistakes, working with educators, this time, to really solve our problems.We’ll begin with the Dept. of Education…,” appointing a REAL educator, & streamlining the dept.
Finally, when the Obama-Biden campaign asks you to volunteer & donate, just say no,that you did in 2008, but cannot do so again UNTIL the criteria I’ve reiterated here has been met.
And–I can’t stress this enough–this must be done by more than 4,000 people. (Aren’t there 133,000 in the IEA alone?). 588,727 of us alone read this blog! 588,726 need to DO this!!!! (I already have!)
The emphasis, in this election, is on WE, as in yes, WE can.