They must have put Kool-aid in the coffee. Or the UFT PR department is trying spin control over our report on Randi Weingarten's remarkable assault on reporter Elizabeth Green at the DA on Weds. This comment from a union flack on my report of Randi's attack on reporter Elizabeth Green is indicative of the way they will try to spin it.
I don't want to resort to "fighting words" by saying you "lied" or "failed," but you did in fact completely misrepresent Randi's words, tone, and intent in reference to Liz Green. Randi's words were tongue-in-cheek and did not lend themselves to misinterpretaion except by those people who desired to do so. Randi to my knowledge has many time expressed respect and appreciation for Elizabeth's reporting. Please don't tar Randi in this way on this matter. It is absolutely ill-founded.
Did Randi not say Green's reporting on the DA as it happens "blow by blow," which was entirely untrue by the way, were "unethical?" And did she not during the meeting say, "Do you hear that Liz?" Every single delegate I spoke to did not take these words as tongue in cheek but in fact thought Green had infiltrated the meeting.
At an impromptu press conference on the street after the meeting with a few reporters, Green amongst them, nothing was said by Randi to Green that I could discern.
When under pressure Randi tends to lash out at someone as a way of creating a common enemy to deflect incoming at her. Her reponses are instinctive and not always well thought out.
By the way, Randi showed us just what a fighter she was when she proclaimed she told Tweed "Fuck You!" at one point. Well, that convinced me.
4 comments:
Hey Norm, I thought she told them to "go fuck themselves!" That is what she should have said when they came up with the idea for teacher data sheet B.S. ..Then to add insult to injury she alluded to the fact that this "tool" will help us to improve our teacher! Did she mean to say test prep??
oops , meant to write improve our teaching.
Proof: all of that vomitacious gushing over how good this test "tool" and similar collaborative smelly stuff is can also be found in the current issue of the NY Teacher. Weingarten supports some real hot button union issues teachers loathe.
Norm: I agree with you. I missed the very first few words of what RW said, but when I looked up from my note-taking to see what was going on over on the far left of the auditorium (facing the podium), where she was looking and addressing her comments and where people were actively responding, I thought for sure Green was over there somewhere. I even stood up a bit to start looking for her. The comments were made with some dramatic pausing and stretching out of the words, which made me also think she was stalling, to give her minions time to escort Green out of the room. That was my take, as a rank-and-file delegate — and in THIS PARTICULAR instance — impartial.
Wow. A great story about Ms. Weingarten. Who cares what she gives away for less than cost of living as long as she can spurt out an impressive expletive now and then?
Now that's leadership.
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