Friday, April 13, 2012

Randi and Hilary (Rosen) and Michelle Rhee and Joel Klein

The real question: who is doing more to help get rid of tenure: Rhee or Randi ----Ed Notes

In my last post I asked the question whether our union leaders are Vichy or Quislings. Follow the bouncing ball on this one.
Randi’s FORMER partner, Hilary Rosen, in hot water regarding remarks about Ann Romney on CNN - See: Dem operative criticizes Ann Romney, ignites storm - POLITICO.com - http://goo.gl/a0rhm.

While the Hilary Rosen comments on Ann Romney have gone viral (I agree with Rosen's comments), the important thing for us is that Randi's former partner works for SKD Knickerbocker, which not only advises Christine Quinn but the Michelle Rhee/Joel Klein Student First anti-union operation here in NY State to supposedly counter the union influence --- you have to take time out for a good laugh.

The real question: who is doing more to get rid of tenure:  Rhee or Randi?

Mulgrew told the Post, "If I’m Chris, I’d be asking myself: Maybe I don’t want to be working with these people who are also working with the mayor to control something that he should have no business controlling anymore."
Mulgrew has the nerve to tell Quinn after the Rhee op was announced that it wasn't wise for her to use SKD Knickerbocker?  Remember how the UFT paid Bloomberg's honcho Howard Wolfson as a consultant? 

Randi and Hilary:
They broke up some time since May 2010 though as it says here:
Gay and Lesbian Guests Have Sizable Place at White House State Dinner Table: VIDEO |Gay News|Gay Blog Towleroad - http://goo.gl/7TBP3 RedState - http://goo.gl/zB4XP
 
Ms. Rosen is a long time top Obama advisor. She has visited the White House 35 times. In March, she was invited to the White House State Dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron where numerous guests were openly gay.

Ms. Rosen’s date for the White House dinner was her partner, Randi Weingarten who happens to be President of the American Federation of Teachers — a union boss, in other words. [Ed Note: See the attempt to tie Obama to union "boss" -- a Vichy union boss].
Yet here it is clear that they both came with other dates:
British State Dinner guest list - The Reliable Source - The Washington Post - http://goo.gl/PbVC9

Randi Weingarten and Louise Anne Rogers Photos - Zimbio - http://goo.gl/uAnaK
Hilary Rosen and John Kelly  { who is a Microsoft Lobbyist; see TPJ.org - http://goo.gl/6lrHu ]
They were together as recently as May 1, 2010; 2010 WHC GARDEN BRUNCH - Tim Daly, Hilary Rosen, Dana Delany, Randi Weingarten | Flickr - Photo Sharing! - http://goo.gl/LYH5n

 Here is some more on the Rosen/Romney story ---
Hilary Rosen, a Democratic operative with SKD Knickerbocker, touched off a Twitter storm tonight after she went on CNN and said that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." The statement was tweeted and retweeted, with a number of people condemning the statement as an attack on the candidate's wife, who was a stay-at-home mom who also raised the couple's five boys, and who has suffered from MS and breast cancer. Ann Romney, who is widely praised as her husband's most effective surrogate, took to Twitter herself for her first-ever post, saying, "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work."

See also Rosen’s defensive account here: Ann Romney and working moms - CNN.com - http://goo.gl/Z1rT5

From ABC News:I could not disagree with Hilary Rosen any more strongly. Her comments were wrong and family should be off limits. She should apologize,” Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a tweet. Top Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod also tweeted his disapproval: “Also Disappointed in Hilary Rosen’s comments about Ann Romney. They were inappropriate and offensive.”
Before I leave this post, I also want to call attention to the guy Student First hired: Loser Micah Lasher.

Here is some background on him from Leonie:

Oh yes, memories, memories: 

Mark Green, who used to be a perennial candidate for NYC mayor, came under fire in 2001 when people associated with his campaign released flyers of Fernando Ferrer kissing a certain part of Al Sharpton’s anatomy. They were released in the mostly white areas of South Brooklyn. Although Green was cleared of any wrongdoing, it hurt his image within the city’s minority community.”

Guess who was found responsible for these racist flyers?  

Micah Lasher, former chief lobbyist for DOE and now head of Michelle Rhee’s astroturf parachute jump into NY politics, StudentsFirst NY

See: Power Punk: Micah Lasher | The New York Observer - http://goo.gl/ivZ5n 

Yes, Joel Klein and Michelle Rhee -- those great civil rights workers are represented by Lasher. Oh, da sleaze.

Make sure to read: The New York Post’s Old Racism (And Micah Lasher, Not-So-Closet Racist)  which makes this point:
And there is the direct link between corporate education reform and the racist agenda that supports it. His connection with Andrew Cuomo also has deep roots:
In 2002, Mr. Lasher joined Andrew Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign team as the state field director. Mr. Cuomo withdrew days before the scheduled primary contest with Carl McCall, but Mr. Lasher developed more contacts-particularly with Josh Isay, Mr. Cuomo’s campaign manager. The two formed a political consultancy firm afterward, Isay/Lasher Communications, now called KnickerbockerSKD.
The Billionaire Boys’ Club has a tight, racist circle: Bloomberg, Rhee, Cuomo, The Post and Micah Lasher. The common thread among them all is a disdain for minority communities.

1 comment:

Michael Fiorillo said...

Today's edition of Alternet also reports that Rosen's firm, SKDKnickerbocker, represents Kaplan, and was instrumental in weakening efforts to rein in student loan abuses by for-profit "universities."