Posted on 09/06/2007 11:17:24 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Talk radio had a field day yesterday with Lawrence Schools Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy, the one who took the required English proficiency test not once, twice, three times - but four times - before he passed. The latest: In a broadcast interview about new high school uniforms, heavily accented Laboy, whose first language is Spanish, said he “axed” the students about them. He meant to say, “asked.”
Now there are two ways you can look at this.
No. 1: It goes to show how nutty we’ve grown around here. Why would anyone hire a superintendent of schools with such troubles with English?
No. #2: Diversity trumps all, and those who dare criticize Laboy are surely mean-spirited bigots who hate Latinos, hate immigrants, hate the poor children of Lawrence. They hate the poor and children, period. And black Americans. That goes without saying.
OK, those of you who’ve lived here a while know that the second answer - the ridiculous one - is what a significant chunk of Massachusetts believes, or at least pretends to believe. They’re “liberals” or “progressives.” They’re Starbucks-sipping, NPR-listening, horrified-by-Fox News, holier-than-thous from Cambridge, Brookline, Wellesley and Weston. They tell everyone else what to do, which is a beautiful thing when one need not do any of it oneself.
This is the crowd WBZ political analyst Jon Keller lampoons, deliciously, in his new book, “The Bluest State: How Democrats Created the Massachusetts Blueprint for American Political Disaster.” It is really fun.
These “political elites,” as Keller calls them, see themselves as “the forces of truth and justice” devoted to protecting the working class, poor and minorities.
He portrays them as “knee-jerk, left-wing losers” demanding 100 percent orthodoxy for ancient, discredited ideas.
“It’s congenital. It’s in the water,” says Keller about the origins of this righteous do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do perspective. And it runs in a straight line from busing (which affected Boston’s poorest neighborhoods) to today’s classic not-in-my-backyard battle over Cape Wind. From the wealthy rejecting a school for black kids (The Commonwealth Day School, Brattle Street - Cantabrigians claimed traffic fears) to progressives’ nearly hysterical opposition to such needed urban reforms as school choice, vouchers and charter schools. Yet these supposed do-gooders live in well-schooled suburban towns, send their children to private schools and don’t seem to recognize their own hypocrisy.
Keller’s “Bluest State” purports to serve as a warning to Democrats nationwide for 2008: Beware the mess baby boomer insufferables have made of Massachusetts. I can’t quite see how our blunders matter, say, in South Dakota - or to Hillary. But when it comes to Town Meeting, Brookline - where reciting the Pledge of Allegiance remains controversial - Keller has perfect pitch.
He devotes an entire chapter to his elites’ disdain for and dismissal of legitimate tax stresses. He examines how votes typically break down for overrides of Proposition 2 1/2, brought to us by Barbara Anderson and Citizens for Limited Taxation. In favor of raising taxes, Keller reports, are affluent liberals, town officials, public employee unions and welfare recipients. Against: entrepreneurs and senior citizens, middle- and lower-income people buried by property tax bills.
But to a Massachusetts political culture that sees willingness to quietly accept tax hikes as synonymous with good breeding and spiritual wellness,” he writes, “the Barbara Andersons of the state are incomprehensible, unacceptable, and vulgar.”
Well vulgarians, take solace in this: all those thousands of “elite” goo-goos clamoring for tax hikes “for the children”? Every one of them has the option to check off on a box on their state taxes that lets the state tax them at a higher rate. For those aforementioned children. Guess how many of actually do? One fortieth of one percent, Keller reports. So there.
Two comments about this article from the Herald’s site:
JEFF:
I’ve been informed that John Keller is a closet Nazi. Does anyone else know if Keller is in fact a fascist? Or does he just reason like one. Hitler, Mussolini, etc... they all claimed to speak for “little man” while they rose to power on big business money. Keller gets paid well for his verbal swill too. I think my information about Keller’s love for swastikas may be correct?
MATT:
Having read all the comments so far, there is one obvious conclusion. Everyone who disagreed with Eagan’s article, and thus Keller’s book, wrote with anger, hate-filled words while calling both numerous grotesque names. This shows the true colors of the “Progressive’s” nature. When proven wrong and presented with undeniable facts, throw insults. That seems to be a common theme, even amongst the national politicos from our Congressional delegation.
But the oddity which has always been Massachusetts really got ramped up after Gore lost in 2000. The residents here just stopped being rational. Gratuitous insults of President Bush make their way into converations about every topic imaginable. It's surreal. This is now a flat out unpleasant place to live.
Of course a school superintendent should be able to speak the Queen’s English, but I do think that school uniforms are a good idea, so I’ll give him that much.
Fewer people will mean fewer Congressional seats (to be
filled most likely by moonbats). MA has steadily lost
seats.
There is a special election in MA-5 to fill Martin “Taliban”
Meehan’s seat; Mahhhhty took the chancellorship at UMassLowell. Paul Tsongas’ widow, Niki, just got the Dem. nomination;
Jim Ogonowski, brother of one of the pilots killed on 9/11,
is his Republican opponent (in a district which actually
consistently voted GOP till ‘74 with Tsongas)
sorry, shoulda searched...didn’t think anyone saw it!
“heavily accented Laboy, whose first language is Spanish, said he “axed” the students about them.”
Well, last time I was in Massachusetts visiting its many historic sights, I got so lost on my way to the Lizzie Borden house in Fall River that I had to stop and “axe” for directions.
bump
Ogonowski: Well, I'm being elected by the people of this district. I want to represent them. They care about security. They care about taxes. I want a grass-roots effort to give the people the government they deserve.
Tsongas: President Bush is the problem. Democrats need to band together across this country and make sure the the Republican Party remains the minority party. Government programs can help people who cannot help themselves. And we need more of that.
Of course, in MA, a lot people will nod their head and say: She's the one we need.
>>Ogonowski: Well, I’m being elected by the people of this district. I want to represent them. They care about security. They care about taxes. I want a grass-roots effort to give the people the government they deserve.
We can only hope that the Fifth District will do the right thing (another article in today’s Herald pointed out that
for years—like from 1895 to 1974, when Paul Tsongas got
elected—that seat went to the GOP, and one would be surprised at the number of conservatives and independents in that
district.
GOP...”take the Fifth (District)”! :)
Of course even if he gets elected he would be the grand total of ONE Republican as the other nine seats, of
course, are Dems: Frank, Tierney, Markey, et al.
I expect the Herald’s Margery Eagan will be in for some abuse as well from the moonbat minions. And she herself (a nice lady) is rather liberal in most respects, or at least she would be considered so in most locales. But as more and more sensible people in the Commonwealth pull up stakes for greener, safer, and less pricey pastures, Massachusetts is increasingly dominated by a combination of Trust Fund loons, “living-large-on-the-State” extended families, and college-age layabouts perpetually two bong hits over the Patchouli Line.
Bush the other 4 letter word. Liberalism is REALLY a disease.
That reminds me of the time I got lost-in Lawrence! I could not find anyone who spoke English to help me! It was insane. A very nice man did help me with hand signals and even drove me out to the highway I was looking for. I grew up in Mass. Keller is right on. I got more crap for coming out as a Conservative than you can imagine. One old friend told me I was too nice to be a Republican and he did not understand me but was mad that I was so smart and debated too well, then he called me an a-hole. He had been a family friend for a few decades...maybe he was drunk. On the other hand, if I had told my husband and family I was leaving them to get a sex change and shack up with someone new, I’m sure I’d have been met with nothing but applause congratulations for my bravery. It has never crossed my mind to do that.
Yeah, "he's why the Red Sox lost last night!" At least we have a bit of schadenfreude: there is no Air America radio in Boston...though they have plenty of other media elsewhere (like The Boston Globe-Democrat...)
I loved it when they were pulling for Patrick to win last year: "we gotta take back this state!" Hello...? All 10 Congressmen, both Senators, about 95 per cent of the legislature, and many other office holders, all Dems--yes, there was no Dem gov/lt gov till Coupe Deval won, but they make it sound like the Dems/libs are oppressed minorities in the Bay State. Not so!
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when Mass. had a Democratic governor-- higher taxes, fees, fines. "They have what it takes-- to take what you've got." Current MA gov "Coupe Deval" Patrick with Mike "Pee Wee" Dukakis:
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