Excerpt from Dave's Definitive Dictionary of Definitions:
school board n 1. A plank used in the construction of a school building. 2. A wooden paddle similar in size and shape to a cricket bat usually found hanging on the wall of a school principal's office. 3. A group of mostly lay, clueless, agenda-driven men and women elected to manage a school system.
I've spent decades going around the country trying to convince folks to do away with school boards tout de suite. They are archaic relics from the days of the frontier, when parents formed committees to recruit and hire teachers. Necessary at the time, they have become counterproductive to education to the point that any actual teaching that occurs in classrooms is achieved in spite of school boards, rather than because of them.
However incompetent at their raison d'etre, some school board members have proven themselves adept at using their positions to pad their political resumes, line their pockets with kickbacks and bribes, and hook up with contacts for a bit of the ol' in and out. Case in point: the Broward County School Board.
After years of investigations dating back to 2007, a special statewide grand jury in February, 2011, concluded that if it had the power it would abolish the school board, so serious were the "malfeasance, misfeasance and nonfeasance" it uncovered by board members. It found that some members directed contracts to friends and acquaintances, pushed unnecessary building projects, and schemed to get the children of friends and family into specific schools.
One former school board member is doing three years in the slam after pleading guilty in 2010 to one count of bribery after admitting taking payoffs. Another is awaiting trial after having been accused of accepting money in return for helping developers win a $500,000 break on fees they owed the schoold district.
The investigation also uncovered bedroom hanky-panky between then-board member and chairwoman Jennifer Gottlieb and not one but two married Citigroup executives seeking money-making deals with the school board. Jenny herself was married to a local judge at the time.
Jenny could probably not stand on the gold medal platform with, say, Chelsea Handler in the Promiscuity Olympics, but she could certainly make a bed-hopping run for a bronze.
Jenny's first experience servicing a Citigroup exec lasted the summer of 2007. She discussed the potential conflict of interest ramifications of indulging in extra-marital sex with a seeker of school board business with her political consultant.
"So, what do you think? Should I quit banging this guy, or what?"
"I know you're blonde, Jenny, but are you really that stupid? Seriously?"
"Yeah, you're probably right. Okay, he's history."
Jenny dumped her stud muffin. A few months later she was playing musical beds with another Citigroup exec in hotels all over southeast Florida, an affair that lasted three years. Then someone, perhaps a jealous lover or rejected suitor, hacked into her e-mail account and ratted her out to her long-cuckolded husband. He filed for divorce in June.
Now, I don't mean to imply that all school boards are as morally corrupt as Broward County's. I'm sure many are made up of folks who, however inept they might be, have their hearts in the right place and keep their hands in their pockets, their pants zipped up and their legs crossed.
I'm also sure there are others out there that are worse. Taken a close look at yours lately, have you?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The Plot Sickens
I'm not big on conspiracy theories. I'm ready to believe that FDR set up Pearl Harbor to turn a citizenry of doves desperately clinging to isolationism into saber-rattling hawks screaming to get into WWII, an ignoble but necessary ruse. I'm also ready to believe LBJ used a report of a torpedo attack in the Gulf of Tonkin, suspect at the time and later thoroughly discredited, to get his blank check from Congress to wage war in Vietnam, a despicable ploy that wasted hundreds of thousands of lives and wreaked wanton destruction on whatever vestige of American innocence we had left. But that is pretty much it.
Or it was, until the Chicago teachers' strike, which was more rigged than a WWE match and had as much suspense about its outcome as a Harlem Globetrotters vs Washington Generals basketball game. In fact, I predicted in last week's blog, "Biting the Hand that Feeds," that Chicago's mayor would roll over for a pin faster than Jake "The Milkman" Milliken after a Hulk Hogan leg drop.
"The New York Times" reports that the Chicago Teachers Union agreed September 18 to end its strike. Under the agreement, teachers will receive more than 17 percent in raises over four years, including pay increases for higher levels of experience and additional degrees, in spite of a $1 billion deficit next year. What the "Times" didn't report is a phone call between Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union president, that took place September 16. I have in my possession what appears to be an authentic transcript of that conversation.
"Mayor Emanuel speaking."
"What the hell is going on over there, Manny? What the hell do you think you're doing anyway?"
"Karen? I thought I told you never to call me at my office. And don't call me "Manny."
"Oh, bite me, you scrawny little twerp. I want to know why you're dragging your black ass on settling this strike. How long do you think we're going to put up with your intransigence before we bring this city to its knees?"
"Ha! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? I'm the mayor of Chicago, and I don't need to listen to some frump school marm threatening me."
"Threatening? I'm promising you, you myopic twit. You don't settle this strike tout de suite I'll get the city employees unions--cops, firefighters, anybody else--to come in on this in a show of solidarity."
"Now, wait just a minute...."
"And then you know what else? We'll find some little opportunistic hand puppet to run against you in the next primary. Care to speculate about what percentage of the Democratic vote you'll get without union support? Zero! Zip, zilch, zug, nada! Think about it, Manny. Without us you get none of the working class, black, Hispanic, dead folks, or illegal immigrant vote. Hell, you might as well start packing. Stick a toothpick in yourself, Manny. You're done, unless you settle this damn strike NOW!"
"C'mon, Karen. Can I call you Karen? I was just fooling about. You know I had to appear to be hanging tough. What kind of mayor would I look like if I just laid down and let you walk all over me? I mean, this thing has gone national. I give in too early and the national media'd be all over me like a tarp on Wrigley Field. Of course you're gonna get what you want. I'm just trying to save a little face, you can understand that. Can't you?"
"You've got 24 hours, Manny. You don't get this done by tomorrow I'm personally going to come over to City Hall and kick your skinny ass so hard you'll be farting out of your nose."
At least I think it's an authentic transcript. Of course, I could be wrong--novel as that concept is.
Or it was, until the Chicago teachers' strike, which was more rigged than a WWE match and had as much suspense about its outcome as a Harlem Globetrotters vs Washington Generals basketball game. In fact, I predicted in last week's blog, "Biting the Hand that Feeds," that Chicago's mayor would roll over for a pin faster than Jake "The Milkman" Milliken after a Hulk Hogan leg drop.
"The New York Times" reports that the Chicago Teachers Union agreed September 18 to end its strike. Under the agreement, teachers will receive more than 17 percent in raises over four years, including pay increases for higher levels of experience and additional degrees, in spite of a $1 billion deficit next year. What the "Times" didn't report is a phone call between Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Karen Lewis, Chicago Teachers Union president, that took place September 16. I have in my possession what appears to be an authentic transcript of that conversation.
"Mayor Emanuel speaking."
"What the hell is going on over there, Manny? What the hell do you think you're doing anyway?"
"Karen? I thought I told you never to call me at my office. And don't call me "Manny."
"Oh, bite me, you scrawny little twerp. I want to know why you're dragging your black ass on settling this strike. How long do you think we're going to put up with your intransigence before we bring this city to its knees?"
"Ha! Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? I'm the mayor of Chicago, and I don't need to listen to some frump school marm threatening me."
"Threatening? I'm promising you, you myopic twit. You don't settle this strike tout de suite I'll get the city employees unions--cops, firefighters, anybody else--to come in on this in a show of solidarity."
"Now, wait just a minute...."
"And then you know what else? We'll find some little opportunistic hand puppet to run against you in the next primary. Care to speculate about what percentage of the Democratic vote you'll get without union support? Zero! Zip, zilch, zug, nada! Think about it, Manny. Without us you get none of the working class, black, Hispanic, dead folks, or illegal immigrant vote. Hell, you might as well start packing. Stick a toothpick in yourself, Manny. You're done, unless you settle this damn strike NOW!"
"C'mon, Karen. Can I call you Karen? I was just fooling about. You know I had to appear to be hanging tough. What kind of mayor would I look like if I just laid down and let you walk all over me? I mean, this thing has gone national. I give in too early and the national media'd be all over me like a tarp on Wrigley Field. Of course you're gonna get what you want. I'm just trying to save a little face, you can understand that. Can't you?"
"You've got 24 hours, Manny. You don't get this done by tomorrow I'm personally going to come over to City Hall and kick your skinny ass so hard you'll be farting out of your nose."
At least I think it's an authentic transcript. Of course, I could be wrong--novel as that concept is.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Biting the Hand that Feeds
One could make the argument that the current sorry state of unions in this country began when the air traffic controllers went on strike. They counted on being able to ground the nation's airlines, causing an uproar among air travelers, particularly business travelers, and they in turn would bring pressure to bear on the government to settle. What they didn't factor in was Ronald Reagan.
You know what happened next. Rather than allow air travel to be brought to a halt, President Reagan fired all the striking controllers and brought in military controllers until civilian replacements could be hired and trained to take over. Not only did the Gipper keep 'em flying; he emboldened others to stand up to union blackmail. Union membership and relevance have been declining steadily ever since.
Recently, Wisconsin teachers tried to have their Republican governor recalled when he sought to restore fiscal sanity to the state's economy, partly at their expense. The result was that the governor was retained in office with an even larger majority than when he was first elected. Perhaps more importantly, other governors who knew that economic responsibility trumped union greed took heart in their own confrontations with teachers' unions.
You would think, then, that unions would begin to read the writing on the wall. Well, teachers' unions, anyway. I know for a fact teachers can read. I have serious doubts about Teamsters.
But no. Of all the cities in all the country, Chicago is beset by striking teachers. This is sublimely ironic on so many levels, not the least of which is that Chicago is a Democratic enclave. Candidates who have union support are shoo-ins; without it they are also-rans. Unions always support Democrats. Conversely, unions have heretofore always had the support of those whose elections they have enabled.
Chicago teachers are the highest paid in the country, with an average salary of $76k per school year (a school year is typically 180 days). The median wage in Chicago fell 6.9 percent since June, 2009, to $49,909 per calendar year. Moreover, property values have been steadily declining. So, what we have is a teachers' union expecting those who make $26k less than its members for double the amount of workdays to pony up more in property taxes than their homes are worth so that teachers can make twice as much as they do.
How does the union justify this exorbitant demand? "You have a situation where the teachers feel totally and completely disrespected," explained Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Yeah, I can see where there may be a self-esteem issue, here. I mean, your current graduation rate is a whopping 55 percent. In other words, 45 out of every 100 of your students drop out. And your argument is, gee, if we could just get closer to that $100k salary mark, why, our teachers would feel so much better about themselves?
In spite of this utter nonsense, school officials have offered teachers what would amount to a 16 percent increase over four years, despite what is expected to be a $1 billion deficit in the system's operating budget. Hey, no problem. China already owns much of our national debt; why not sell it Chicago's as well? How culturally diverse, rickshaws being pulled around The Loop!
Union officials have said that a 16 percent pay raise simply isn't enough, that there are other issues related to benefits--they want more--and teacher evaluations--they want none.
The union strategy is clear. The union hopes that parents, faced with having to find "alternate child care" for 350,000 students who are shut out of classrooms, will bring pressure on the city to settle. Right now Chicago's Democratic mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is hanging tough. Smart money says he will eventually cave rather than permanently alienate the teachers' union. Like that could happen. To whom would an alienated union turn, the Republicans? As if!
There was a time when parents thought of schools as centers of education. That they now think of schools as "child care" centers is unsettling enough on its own.
You know what happened next. Rather than allow air travel to be brought to a halt, President Reagan fired all the striking controllers and brought in military controllers until civilian replacements could be hired and trained to take over. Not only did the Gipper keep 'em flying; he emboldened others to stand up to union blackmail. Union membership and relevance have been declining steadily ever since.
Recently, Wisconsin teachers tried to have their Republican governor recalled when he sought to restore fiscal sanity to the state's economy, partly at their expense. The result was that the governor was retained in office with an even larger majority than when he was first elected. Perhaps more importantly, other governors who knew that economic responsibility trumped union greed took heart in their own confrontations with teachers' unions.
You would think, then, that unions would begin to read the writing on the wall. Well, teachers' unions, anyway. I know for a fact teachers can read. I have serious doubts about Teamsters.
But no. Of all the cities in all the country, Chicago is beset by striking teachers. This is sublimely ironic on so many levels, not the least of which is that Chicago is a Democratic enclave. Candidates who have union support are shoo-ins; without it they are also-rans. Unions always support Democrats. Conversely, unions have heretofore always had the support of those whose elections they have enabled.
Chicago teachers are the highest paid in the country, with an average salary of $76k per school year (a school year is typically 180 days). The median wage in Chicago fell 6.9 percent since June, 2009, to $49,909 per calendar year. Moreover, property values have been steadily declining. So, what we have is a teachers' union expecting those who make $26k less than its members for double the amount of workdays to pony up more in property taxes than their homes are worth so that teachers can make twice as much as they do.
How does the union justify this exorbitant demand? "You have a situation where the teachers feel totally and completely disrespected," explained Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. Yeah, I can see where there may be a self-esteem issue, here. I mean, your current graduation rate is a whopping 55 percent. In other words, 45 out of every 100 of your students drop out. And your argument is, gee, if we could just get closer to that $100k salary mark, why, our teachers would feel so much better about themselves?
In spite of this utter nonsense, school officials have offered teachers what would amount to a 16 percent increase over four years, despite what is expected to be a $1 billion deficit in the system's operating budget. Hey, no problem. China already owns much of our national debt; why not sell it Chicago's as well? How culturally diverse, rickshaws being pulled around The Loop!
Union officials have said that a 16 percent pay raise simply isn't enough, that there are other issues related to benefits--they want more--and teacher evaluations--they want none.
The union strategy is clear. The union hopes that parents, faced with having to find "alternate child care" for 350,000 students who are shut out of classrooms, will bring pressure on the city to settle. Right now Chicago's Democratic mayor and former Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel is hanging tough. Smart money says he will eventually cave rather than permanently alienate the teachers' union. Like that could happen. To whom would an alienated union turn, the Republicans? As if!
There was a time when parents thought of schools as centers of education. That they now think of schools as "child care" centers is unsettling enough on its own.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
The Brain-Dead Tattooed
I've often said--you remember--that people who don't believe in zombies have never taught in a public high school. Neither have they ever lived in Florida.
Granted, my definition of "zombie" differs from that of, say, George Romero or the script writers of the TV hit "The Walking Dead. Animated corpses, of course, do not exist. However, there walk among us those with seemingly no brain activity whatsoever, who function solely on reflex. The scariest part is, they can breed.
Herewith cases of actual zombies as reported in the "Tampa Bay Times".
* Charles Combs, 43, has an arrest record for bank robbery. He also has a tattoo down his forearm that reads, "MOST WANTED". While investigating another bank robbery, police stopped by a car wash to interview employees. One had spotted Combs running by earlier and noticed his tattoo. That information coupled with DNA evidence led to Combs' arrest. Charlie got 30 years in the slam.
* 30-year-old Marquell Burge was shot to death last year behind the Ninth Street Pool Hall in St Petersburg. Witnesses said the man who pulled the trigger had a "727 tattoo on the back of his neck and had just shot pool the other day." Dwayne Bailey spoke to police officers because he heard he was a suspect. Guess what Dwayne has tattooed on the back of his neck. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and is awaiting trial. 727, incidentally is St Pete's area code. Sigh.
* In another St Petersburg case, John Andrews was charged with three counts of sexual battery against three young women. Two of the women described the same tattoo on their attacker: "Ride or Die". You figured it out, didn't you, Sherlock? Yep. John has "Ride or Die" permanently etched on his neck. Apparently, John likes horses. He is now awaiting trial.
* You have to wonder if Sean Eric Roberts didn't get up one morning, look in a mirror, and say, "No, I don't look nearly dumb enough. What can I do to really screw myself up?" He decided to ink an outline of the state of Florida on the side of his face. Sean was accused in 2009 of breaking into a Riverview home. How do you suppose he was identified?
* One woman was videotaped by store surveillance cameras using credit cards she had ripped off from parked vehicles. The cameras recorded a cartoon character tattooed on her right shoulder. Later, when she was arrested trying to break into a car, a tank top she wore revealed the tattoo. When she was shown the surveillance videos, she admitted the tattoo was hers. Not exactly in the right place for a tramp stamp, is it, Chelsea?
* Another woman suspected of snatching a purse and then using a stolen credit card at a nearby fast food restaurant was caught on surveillance video at the drive-thru. She has a large tattoo on her right thigh and a smaller one on her left shoulder. She spotted the surveillance camera and put down the sun visor to block it, but not before she looked into it. Did you smile for your close-up, Miss Desmond?
But the hands-down best evidence that the brain-dead actually exist comes not from Florida, but from La-La Land.
Anthony Garcia was convicted of murdering a man outside a liquor store in California. The case had gone unsolved until a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant was looking through photos and saw a diagram of the murder scene and how it went down tattooed on Garcia's chest.
St Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said, "The more unique [the tattoo] is, with a unique location, the better." It also helps that most people getting tattooed don't think to themselves, "Gee, I wonder if someone will be able to identify me from this?"
Certainly criminals and criminal wannabes aren't thinking. Otherwise, they wouldn't be criminals.
Granted, my definition of "zombie" differs from that of, say, George Romero or the script writers of the TV hit "The Walking Dead. Animated corpses, of course, do not exist. However, there walk among us those with seemingly no brain activity whatsoever, who function solely on reflex. The scariest part is, they can breed.
Herewith cases of actual zombies as reported in the "Tampa Bay Times".
* Charles Combs, 43, has an arrest record for bank robbery. He also has a tattoo down his forearm that reads, "MOST WANTED". While investigating another bank robbery, police stopped by a car wash to interview employees. One had spotted Combs running by earlier and noticed his tattoo. That information coupled with DNA evidence led to Combs' arrest. Charlie got 30 years in the slam.
* 30-year-old Marquell Burge was shot to death last year behind the Ninth Street Pool Hall in St Petersburg. Witnesses said the man who pulled the trigger had a "727 tattoo on the back of his neck and had just shot pool the other day." Dwayne Bailey spoke to police officers because he heard he was a suspect. Guess what Dwayne has tattooed on the back of his neck. He has pleaded not guilty to murder and is awaiting trial. 727, incidentally is St Pete's area code. Sigh.
* In another St Petersburg case, John Andrews was charged with three counts of sexual battery against three young women. Two of the women described the same tattoo on their attacker: "Ride or Die". You figured it out, didn't you, Sherlock? Yep. John has "Ride or Die" permanently etched on his neck. Apparently, John likes horses. He is now awaiting trial.
* You have to wonder if Sean Eric Roberts didn't get up one morning, look in a mirror, and say, "No, I don't look nearly dumb enough. What can I do to really screw myself up?" He decided to ink an outline of the state of Florida on the side of his face. Sean was accused in 2009 of breaking into a Riverview home. How do you suppose he was identified?
* One woman was videotaped by store surveillance cameras using credit cards she had ripped off from parked vehicles. The cameras recorded a cartoon character tattooed on her right shoulder. Later, when she was arrested trying to break into a car, a tank top she wore revealed the tattoo. When she was shown the surveillance videos, she admitted the tattoo was hers. Not exactly in the right place for a tramp stamp, is it, Chelsea?
* Another woman suspected of snatching a purse and then using a stolen credit card at a nearby fast food restaurant was caught on surveillance video at the drive-thru. She has a large tattoo on her right thigh and a smaller one on her left shoulder. She spotted the surveillance camera and put down the sun visor to block it, but not before she looked into it. Did you smile for your close-up, Miss Desmond?
But the hands-down best evidence that the brain-dead actually exist comes not from Florida, but from La-La Land.
Anthony Garcia was convicted of murdering a man outside a liquor store in California. The case had gone unsolved until a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant was looking through photos and saw a diagram of the murder scene and how it went down tattooed on Garcia's chest.
St Petersburg police spokesman Mike Puetz said, "The more unique [the tattoo] is, with a unique location, the better." It also helps that most people getting tattooed don't think to themselves, "Gee, I wonder if someone will be able to identify me from this?"
Certainly criminals and criminal wannabes aren't thinking. Otherwise, they wouldn't be criminals.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Send in the Clowns
There are essentially two types of protest, violent and non-violent.
Examples of violent protest include the bombing of the on-campus Army Research Center at UW-Madison, which resulted in the death of a grad student; the burning of Watts, which resulted in making a poor area of LA even poorer; the trashing of the DNC in Chicago in 1968, which resulted in the take-over of the Democratic Party by liberals, and the throwing of bricks and rocks at men armed with M-16s at Kent State, which resulted in the deaths of four brick and rock throwers.
Examples of non-violent protest include the marches led by Martin Luther King, which resulted in the Civil Rights Act; the protests led by Mahatma Gandhi, which resulted in Indian independence; the confrontation of a lone Chinese man with a column of tanks, which resulted in world-wide attention and pressure on a communist dictatorship, and a love-in staged in bed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which resulted in world peace in our time.
Okay, clearly the result of that last example of non-violent protest is an exaggeration.
These protests had a focus, whether it was racism, the Vietnam War, the British Raj, oppression, or war in general. And then you have the protests that were held at the 2012 RNC in Tampa.
One of the leaders of the RNC protesters was Andrew Speirs, 23, who had quit his job at a North Carolina deli to devote himself full time to protesting. His cohort, Nathan Schwartz, 21, had asked his parents, who had already given him a Lexus, for an advance on his birthday money, which he used to buy such things as mouth guards in anticipation of police brutality.
Speirs, a self-styled anarchist, was expecting 300 fellow protesters. 72 showed up. Protesters from Miami, New York, Dallas and other places, worried that they might get wet from Tropical Storm Isaac, said, "Nah, we're good," and cancelled out.
Speirs was chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets! Tear up the concrete!" when a more credible protester pointed out to him that his group was conducting a "voter suppression march with people who are not as radical as you." Speirs' group let them pass.
While Speirs was doing his best to bait the police into creating You Tube moments, some protesters were posing for pictures with Tampa's police chief. Others found themselfs in the embarrassing position of having to accept box lunches and cold bottled water from cops when their enablers failed to supply them with sustenance.
The one more or less success protesters had at disruption was at a power plant 15 miles south of the city. At the plant, winter haven of warm water for manatees, two teams of three chained their arms together inside PVC pipes that were wrapped with chicken wire, tar, rebar and duct tape and laid down in the middle of the road. When a power plant truck stopped rather than run over them a seventh climbed the truck and chained his neck to it.
The cops told them if they would leave nd get back on their buses, no one would be arrested. The protesters, by this time bored and happy to oblige, were unable to free themselves and had to be cut apart.
Back in Tampa a group of 12, wearing pink cowboy hats, tried to arrest Condoleezza Rice for having been a part of the Bush Administration that sent troops to the Middle East. As of this writing Condi remains at large.
15,000 protesters were expected. 500 or so showed up, of which only two were arrested. Speirs and Schwartz said their issues were providing everyone with basic human rights, such as housing and food; eliminating corporate control of the political system and the right to protest in public spaces without a permit.
Hard to take folks who quit their jobs and drive luxury cars seriously when they demand housing and food.
I don't think anyone expected RNC protesters to self-immolate. On the other hand, I would expect them to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose over serious issues. This performance, all bombast and no substance, resulted in nothing but comic relief.
Gandhi, King and Lennon must be looking down and shaking their heads in disgust.
Examples of violent protest include the bombing of the on-campus Army Research Center at UW-Madison, which resulted in the death of a grad student; the burning of Watts, which resulted in making a poor area of LA even poorer; the trashing of the DNC in Chicago in 1968, which resulted in the take-over of the Democratic Party by liberals, and the throwing of bricks and rocks at men armed with M-16s at Kent State, which resulted in the deaths of four brick and rock throwers.
Examples of non-violent protest include the marches led by Martin Luther King, which resulted in the Civil Rights Act; the protests led by Mahatma Gandhi, which resulted in Indian independence; the confrontation of a lone Chinese man with a column of tanks, which resulted in world-wide attention and pressure on a communist dictatorship, and a love-in staged in bed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, which resulted in world peace in our time.
Okay, clearly the result of that last example of non-violent protest is an exaggeration.
These protests had a focus, whether it was racism, the Vietnam War, the British Raj, oppression, or war in general. And then you have the protests that were held at the 2012 RNC in Tampa.
One of the leaders of the RNC protesters was Andrew Speirs, 23, who had quit his job at a North Carolina deli to devote himself full time to protesting. His cohort, Nathan Schwartz, 21, had asked his parents, who had already given him a Lexus, for an advance on his birthday money, which he used to buy such things as mouth guards in anticipation of police brutality.
Speirs, a self-styled anarchist, was expecting 300 fellow protesters. 72 showed up. Protesters from Miami, New York, Dallas and other places, worried that they might get wet from Tropical Storm Isaac, said, "Nah, we're good," and cancelled out.
Speirs was chanting, "Whose streets? Our streets! Tear up the concrete!" when a more credible protester pointed out to him that his group was conducting a "voter suppression march with people who are not as radical as you." Speirs' group let them pass.
While Speirs was doing his best to bait the police into creating You Tube moments, some protesters were posing for pictures with Tampa's police chief. Others found themselfs in the embarrassing position of having to accept box lunches and cold bottled water from cops when their enablers failed to supply them with sustenance.
The one more or less success protesters had at disruption was at a power plant 15 miles south of the city. At the plant, winter haven of warm water for manatees, two teams of three chained their arms together inside PVC pipes that were wrapped with chicken wire, tar, rebar and duct tape and laid down in the middle of the road. When a power plant truck stopped rather than run over them a seventh climbed the truck and chained his neck to it.
The cops told them if they would leave nd get back on their buses, no one would be arrested. The protesters, by this time bored and happy to oblige, were unable to free themselves and had to be cut apart.
Back in Tampa a group of 12, wearing pink cowboy hats, tried to arrest Condoleezza Rice for having been a part of the Bush Administration that sent troops to the Middle East. As of this writing Condi remains at large.
15,000 protesters were expected. 500 or so showed up, of which only two were arrested. Speirs and Schwartz said their issues were providing everyone with basic human rights, such as housing and food; eliminating corporate control of the political system and the right to protest in public spaces without a permit.
Hard to take folks who quit their jobs and drive luxury cars seriously when they demand housing and food.
I don't think anyone expected RNC protesters to self-immolate. On the other hand, I would expect them to demonstrate a seriousness of purpose over serious issues. This performance, all bombast and no substance, resulted in nothing but comic relief.
Gandhi, King and Lennon must be looking down and shaking their heads in disgust.
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