I will protect your pensions. Nothing about your pension is going to change when I am governor. - Chris Christie, "An Open Letter to the Teachers of NJ" October, 2009

Friday, March 2, 2012

Bad Cup of Joe, Part II

This is, in a word, unbelievable:




I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. 15 straight minutes of bashing on teachers unions, and no one - NO ONE - from the union itself is there to respond. No one from the NEA; no one from the NJEA; no one from the local union in Fort Lee; not even a MEMBER of the NJEA - a teacher! - appeared in this segment, or afterward (the teacher who showed up later is in Newark, and therefore not represented by NJEA, but by AFT).

I'd like you to imagine, for a moment, a segment on this show where some politician decides to lay into the AMA. Does anyone believe the doctors wouldn't get a chance to respond? Wouldn't there be an uproar if they were denied a chance to talk?

My question stands: did Chris Christie make it a condition of his appearance on Morning Joe that no member of the NJEA would be allowed on the show? If he did, that's scandalous. If he didn't, MSNBC then has a clear bias and should be shunned.

Now that I think about it: how do Rachel Maddow, Lawrence O'Donnell, and Ed Schultz feel about this? Apparently, Al Sharpton is fine with it, as he didn't say crap during his appearance. What about the rest of you? Do you subscribe to this kind of nonsense? What are you prepared to do to stop it?

2 comments:

jfm14 said...

I know this blog is about the teachers but the video praises Christie on the budget but here's a fact to chew on - $475 million was taken from reserves in 2010; the 2010-11 cuts were $1.6 billion; schools were underfunded by $855 million in 2011-12; and this year's proposed underfunding is $715 million, for a total reduction in school funding of more than $3.65 billion since Governor Christie came into office! Appalling for all the kids in NJ's schools!

Deb said...

I am prepared to show up at his events, at budget hearings and other public discussion and question the Governor and his policies. I know others will too!