Unity Slug Declares: We ARE going to beat you (in the high schools)

You're mistaken, Norm. There is no pulling out stops. The vote is the vote. We're not sweating. We hope to beat you but it's hard to hate Eterno or Halabi. If we lose the seats life goes on. They're all good guys/gals. That said, we ARE going to beat you..... Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "#MORE2016: Introducing MORE High School VP and Exe...": 

Unity slug enjoying meal at Ex Bd

I love it when the slugs stop by. As I said in the post that led to the comment, I have mixed feelings about winning since I think it can be a distraction from doing blood and guts organizing. In fact that was what happened when ICE won 3 high school seats in the 2004 election. TJC won the other 3 seats. While TJC did not put a lot energy into the EX Bd, ICE people came out every 2 weeks to support Eterno, Jeff Kaufman and Barbara Kaplan-Alpert in their regular battle with Randi. The problem was we didn't use these battles as an organizing mechanism.

This time, fairly warned, our people say they will translate what they do on the Ex Bd into information that can be shared. The growth in social media would certainly help. My problem is that I can't seem to help myself and may well find myself attending more of these meetings than I should -- between 2004 and 2007 I gained 10 pounds just from the dinners - my old pal Gary Sprung, who was in charge of the food -and he only picked the best - used to take notice of my weight gain.

In some ways I would be amused to see Unity hold every single elected position in the UFT - Putin-like control - and given that we know that the vote will be close enough even if we lose, that says something - that even if 40% of the high school teachers vote against Unity, they get no voice. And this time Unity may win without a majority if Solidarity takes enough votes from MORE. In many unions there is a run-off when there is no majority.

Well, who can't say it wouldn't be fun to see Arthur Goldstein take them on? Jonathan Halabi has been on the board for almost a decade and he is a sharp guy and knows his way around the issues. I can't predict what issues Marcus McArthur, Ashraya Gupta and David Garcia-Rosen will take on but what I do know is that within the non-loyalty oath MORE, they will have the freedom to roam that Unity does not give its people.

As for Mike Schirtzer, oy vey, what a show we can expect. I pleaded with Mike not to run because his work is so essential to making MORE run and I feel being on the EB could be a distraction. After all, Mike is turning 40 this week and if he is to take my place in 30 years as a 70 year old still battling Unity we have to conserve his energy. 

But no worries. The Unity slug has declared they will win the high school seats without any sweat. And if they do, poor Schirtzer will owe me a Peter Luger steak.

Our old pal Roseanne McCosh has her own take on the Unity slug comment:

I define winning as being smart enough and ballsy enough to recognize and counter bullshit every time you hear it. I define losing as gulping down the Kool Aid. So by my definition Norm wins every time! Roseanne McCosh

Hey, I win every time Roseanne leaves a comment taking down the slugs.