“Workers of the World Unite;” Wisconsin Protesters Show Their Class
[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here. Or by Twitter @AaronWorthing.]
Come for the outrage, but stay for the awkwardness (and doggies)! Yesterday, on the 150th anniversary of Alexander H. Stephens’ Cornerstone Speech, Althouse and Meade find a Civil War memorial desecrated by Wisconsin Protesters:
Of course what makes the video worth watching beyond the initial outrage, is seeing Meade and Althouse confront a few protesters. Early on the guy in the hat says “that’s why we need better teachers” after the guy in the tie said something about lack of education. That’s an interesting comment. First, um, how much education do you need to have to figure out you need to honor those who fought and died for freedom? The issue here is not a lack of knowledge, but a lack of values. Does he mean to suggest that the teachers need to wholly raise our children, teaching them morality as well as giving them knowledge? Shouldn’t teaching children right from wrong be done by parents, not merely because of the concept of parental privacy but because it creates a danger that the unique self-interests of the teaching profession would shape the values of an entire generation? Yes, yes, we idealize the teaching profession, but if liberals truly value diversity, they shouldn’t be seeking to make everyone believe exactly the same things.
I mean either that or that whole “diversity” thing is a crock.
Second, if this proves we need better teachers, then doesn’t that mean we need to get rid of the ones we have now? And how are we going to do that with such powerful public sector unions?
And of course the next part is just a little bit funny as Meade and Althouse reveal that these people use terms like “Workers of the World Unite” and “Teabagger” while professing to have no idea what those terms meant. And then of course the guy in the tie feels the need to press Meade on the exact definition of “Teabagger.” You have to wonder if the guy in the tie was really ignorant, or playing dumb to mess with them. Meade was on record that they were “stupid like a fox.”
Seriously, I know the next Pulitzer she would be eligible for is a year away, but I think Althouse deserves at least a serious nomination. There is no better source of information on the Wisconsin protests.
[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]
Aaron, to a leftist ‘education’ is the only thing of value. Wisdom, common sense, morality — all of those things are derived from education (and formal education at that) aren’t they?
Icy Texan (59f4d2) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:41 amAlthouse and Meade are true gems. They’ve done more good work covering the Wisconsin protests than any other media, period.
Joe Miller (160e2d) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:54 amThe guy in the raincoat with the sign saying, “Let them eat cake.” spoke of how awful the graffiti was. How many days has he been holding up that stupid sign without lifting a finger to clean that graffiti off the monument? I am sick to death of people like that talking out of both sides of their mouths.
Beth in Texas (539905) — 3/22/2011 @ 6:00 amIt takes a special brand of stupid to:
1) Work 9 months a year, while your neighbors work 12.
2) Be able to retire with full pension benefits after only working 25 years, while your neighbors have to work 40 years.
3) Pay next to nothing into your retirement accounts, while your neighbor is lucky to get a portion of his contributions matched by his employer.
4) Pay next to nothing for health insurance and health care with zero deductibles and zero co-pays, while your neighbor pays (in my case) $650 per month for insurance with a $3000 / yr deductible.
5) Use the power of the state to lay and collect taxes from your neighbors in order to pay nearly all of the costs for your health insurance and pension.
6) And then have the gall to complain that you are being oppressed, and that you need to unite with your fellow “workers” in order to overcome that oppression, completely ignoring the fact that it is you, the public sector unionized worker, who is oppressing your neighbors.
We, the taxpayers of Wisconsin, are revolting against the established oligarchy, that has enslaved us into paying for their lavish benefits. When we complain that paying for our own benefits, and theirs, is leaving us without any bread, their answer to us is that we should eat cake instead.
Michael (118a43) — 3/22/2011 @ 7:24 amWell stated, Michael! Many in Texas are behind you.
Beth in Texas (539905) — 3/22/2011 @ 8:35 amWho says we idealize the teaching profession? The women in my family were teachers, at every level, from elementary to University, and were positive forces in many lives, but that was then, this is now.
Public schools just aren’t as necessary anymore, the model of instruction is obsolete; there are more and better ways to accomplish education of children in the state of Wisconsin and elsewhere.
I refuse to accept the premise that teachers “deserve” x living because they belong to some great priesthood. Compensation of children only matters as far as it is necessary to achieve the public policy aim of a literate populace.
SarahW (af7312) — 3/22/2011 @ 8:47 amShould be “compensation of teachers of children”, not “compensation of children.”
SarahW (af7312) — 3/22/2011 @ 8:50 amEvery one who at this point claims not to know that a tea bagger is a scrotum sucker is a liar, or that it is any less insulting and vulgar than calling someone a cxxx sucker or a buttfxxxker.Of course obama used the term on national tv.
dunce (b89258) — 3/22/2011 @ 8:52 amsarah
> Public schools just aren’t as necessary anymore, the model of instruction is obsolete; there are more and better ways to accomplish education of children in the state of Wisconsin and elsewhere.
I would love to hear you expand on that point. like what are you picturing?
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 3/22/2011 @ 8:55 amMaybe education reform i presume.
DohBiden (984d23) — 3/22/2011 @ 9:02 amAaron, what I picture is what I already see done – private schooling, neighborhood cooperative schooling, home-schooling and hybridization of assorted instruction methods utilizing the internet – this new, unprecedented in human history, revolution in fluidity and availability of information and connection with other persons in remote locations.
At minimum, vouchers for instructional costs would introduce both competition and choice that would drive down the overall cost of educating the state’s children, and potentially boost the quality of instruction. Trade schools, art and music programs can and do exist independently of public schools and could become part of any privatization of education.
Several core assumptions must be made for a move away from the public classroom as we are used to it – one is that not everyone will get the same quality of education, another that parental situation and effort *ought* to be a factor that drives a student’s success. A baseline opportunity is provided all, and minimum standards apply to all, but some will have more options and some will get a better break and some will have to work harder to get the most for their dollar.
If success is rewarded, particularly with money, however, we should expect to get more of it.
I don’t mean the above to be “my vision”, just a slight elaboration of what I was talking about above.
SarahW (af7312) — 3/22/2011 @ 9:39 amYes, actually he most likely does mean that teachers are better at raising your children than you the parent. My experience with teachers is that they have little if no respect for parents. When my daughter was in 7th grade I asked to opt her out of one session of her “Health” class. The principle actually told me, “Mr. O’Haley, we are trained and know better than you what’s best for your child”. Now I have an IQ of 172 and her statement ticked me off since I felt she was calling me stupid. It just goes to show the hubris of many (not all) in the education community. It seems as if they don’t want your experience, knowledge or ideas, it seems that they just want you to toe the educational elite’s line.
I don’t understand graffiti, it may tell a message but at the same time it destroys someone’s property. It cost someone time and money to create/get the property for which the graffiti “artist” has so little respect and will cost the property owner (in this case the people of Wisconsin) time and money to repair.
Tanny O'Haley (12193c) — 3/22/2011 @ 9:53 amMost people just don’t buy the connection between paying more benefits to teachers and successful teaching.
Do kids with teachers who pay more for insurance learn less??
Idiotic.
Muamar Gaddafi/Qadaffi/Kaddafi (a2a157) — 3/22/2011 @ 9:58 amOn one hand I want to say Althouse deserves better company than Duranty, Blair, and Cooke. Though tactically, I see a Pulitzer might increase knowledge of the Madison’s version of the “March on Rome.”
On the other hand, didn’t Althouse vote for Obama? First she was a traitor to America by empowering these vile communists, now she’s a traitor to them by exposing them. I doubt a Pulitzer is what a traitor deserves, then again, she’d be in Duranty’s company, so….
If “that’s why we need more teachers” had his way, there would be more trashing of Madison.
tehag (02d37b) — 3/22/2011 @ 10:49 amThe public policy debate just seems a bit confused in Wi, to me. The only reason those teachers are employed is to meet a primary public policy goal of educating children.
This can be accomplished without public school and even without them, but there is an impression they take for granted that they are indispensable – that they are acolytes of Amun or something and they must be provided for handsomely at the expense of the tax-paying public for their own sake, as part of a priesthood jobs program – or the wrath of the gods will bring a breakdown of the social order.
The public should be paying as little as possible to achieve the objective of a literate population, only as much as is necessary to compete with the private sector and no more.
Why would anyone argue anything else?
SarahW (af7312) — 3/22/2011 @ 11:30 amWasn’t the guy on the left one of the agents in ‘The Matrix?’
epobirs (fdfeca) — 3/22/2011 @ 11:39 amIn fairness to Agent Smith there (for his decrying of the graffiti while not DOING anything about it), I too probably wouldn’t have done what Meade did because I’d suspect that I might harm the monument further / that some official agency in charge of cleanups might do a better job soon.
Mitch (890cbf) — 3/22/2011 @ 3:16 pm“Teabag” is not a homophobic term. It merely refers to a sex act. The act can be performed by two men or a man and a woman. And yes, I looked it up on urbandictionary.
viktor (73db5e) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:14 pmWillie the racist hilljack Yelverton used to try to pull that “I had no idea it meant that” intentional stupidity schtick.
JD (318f81) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:23 pmask not what your country can d-
eff you we’re Americans
we’re a food stamp nation and damn proud of it now go make me a sammich
happyfeet (ab5779) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:28 pmTanny O’Haley,
I agree that some educators think they know more than parents about what’s good for children and want us to “toe the educational elite’s line.” Their training and experience probably makes them feel better-equipped to handle education questions, but I don’t agree it’s an issue of the intelligence of the parent or the teacher. There will always be someone who claims to be smarter or better based on IQ, experience, or some other criteria. However, parents are responsible for their children and (in most cases) no one knows a child as well as the parent. IMO those factors are why parents should be the ones to decide which values matter and how to teach them.
DRJ (fdd243) — 3/22/2011 @ 5:43 pm“…Does he mean to suggest that the teachers need to wholly raise our children, teaching them morality as well as giving them knowledge?…”
That seemed to work out so well for the people of Ceausescu’s Romania.
AD-RtR/OS! (89d12e) — 3/22/2011 @ 7:30 pmI would agree with you DRJ, parents usually know their children better than teachers. But my experience in public and private schools (though not as much in private schools) is that teachers seem to believe they know better than you about your own child. When my daughter was in 7th grade the LAUSD schools introduced something they called “integrated math”. The math teacher said it was being used to improve math scores on standardized tests. In the “back to school” night I raised my hand and asked if a pilot program had been performed to prove that integrated math does increase math scores. To my surprise, the math teacher said, “no”. Two years later the program was such a massive failure that even LAUSD terminated the program. I’m glad I was one of the few parents to opt to send my daughter to the old math program. A decision that caused me to receive ridicule and grief from the educators at my daughter’s school.
A few years later at hardship to me, I sent my children to private school. As a single dad I could not home school my children so I was fortunate to be able to send them to private school. It meant many years of keeping the same old car and learning how to be frugal. I believe it was one of the best acts I’ve done for my children.
When I graduated high school in 1973 I was eligible for a good job, maybe even management. Now even a secretary (administrative assistant) needs a 2 or 4 year degree! That says a lot about our current education system. I believe modern education methodology doesn’t educate our children and that we should return to some of the old education methods. By the time a child gets to college they will most likely need to take remedial English and math. I believe that says a lot about our current education system.
Tanny O'Haley (12193c) — 3/22/2011 @ 11:59 pmI agree, especially with your last paragraph.
DRJ (fdd243) — 3/23/2011 @ 4:22 pmIf someone has already pointed this out, my apologies, but…
THIS THING IS ALREADY IN PLAY: If you listened to the tape at GlennBeck.com or on The Blaze – where Stephen Lerner brags about an unfolding campaign to be launched to take down JP Morgan Chase and destroy the financial industry – you heard the plan: “The goal would be that we will roll out of New York the first week of May. We will connect three ideas:
— that we are not broke there is plenty of money
— they have the money – we need to get it back
— and that they are using Bloomberg and other people in government as the vehicle to try and destroy us
And so we need to take on those folks at the same time. And that we will start here we are going to look at a week of civil disobedience – direct action all over the city.”
Then he says it can’t look like the Labor Unions are doing it. It’s gotta be the “community organizers” that are doing it…
Then, in Wisconsin, MICHAEL MOORE says: “we’re not broke.
This country is not broke; state of Wisconsin is not broke.
There’s a ton of cash in this country, trillions of dollars of it….What’s happened is that we’ve allowed a vast majority of that cash to be concentrated in the hands of just a few people
…We’ve allowed them to take that.
That’s not theirs, that’s a national resource, that’s ours.”
It’s already in play – and no one even saw it coming.
“They play on your fears.” And more.
Rose (13d715) — 3/23/2011 @ 9:53 pm