One of the funniest moments of the primary campaign season occurred when the
a comedy skit was aired on “Saturday Night Live.” While Hillary Clinton was
being pounded with difficult questions, one of the panelists asked Barack
Obama if he wanted a pillow. It was one of the most wickedly effective exposes
of the rampant media bias and favoritism that has characterized the campaign
coverage and the overall lack of journalistic objectivity and scrutiny of
Obama to date and it aired on a weekly sketch comedy program rather than a news
discussion show.
Another ridiculous example of similar bias occurred this past weekend when
the local media reported that Obama secured another “key endorsement” in his
quest for the White House as the American Federation of Teachers, which was
holding its annual convention at Chicago’s Navy Pier, had voted to support
Obama’s candidacy. Several Chicago nightly newscasts broadcast this item as
their lead news story.
What a shocking and startling development! What a singular triumph for the
Obama campaign. In other breaking headlines, it was reported that the sky is
blue, the grass is green and the sea is wide.
It would have been a genuine news story if the teacher’s union had not
endorsed Obama. The leadership of the nation’s two top teacher’s unions, the
American Federation of Teachers and the National Educators Association, have been
so reflexively Democratic in their political decision making that it was a
foregone conclusion that Obama would be endorsed just as every Democratic
nominee since time immemorial has been endorsed. In fairness, the NEA national
convention has yet to take place, so the rubber stamping of Obama’s endorsement
from that particular union has not officially taken place. It is a safe bet
that the Democratic candidate will be endorsed when the actual vote of NEA
convention delegates is tallied.
In preparing this column, I have been wracking my brains to recall when, if
ever, a Republican candidate received the endorsement of one of the teachers’
unions. I struck out on the presidential candidates, but did manage to recall
reading that during the 1927 Chicago mayoral campaign, the leaders of the
local teachers’ union representing the faculty of the Chicago Public Schools
favored the Republican candidate, William Hale Thompson, Jr., over the
incumbent Democratic mayor, William E. Dever. “Big Bill” Thompson excoriated the
superintendent of the public schools for his pro-British bias in opposition to
one hundred percent Americanism in terms of textbook selections. This was
so much hype. The reality was that the demagogic Thompson was simply fulfilling
a campaign promise to oust the unpopular superintendent in return for the
support of the teachers.
As you can see, however, the only example of a Republican receiving the
endorsement of a teachers’ union that I could recall took place a mere eighty-one
years ago. If someone can provide me with a more recent example of a
Republican endorsement in a major election, I would be happy to learn about it.
Sunday is typically the slowest day of the news week. If you are searching
for free media and hope to gain an audience with a radio or television news
crew with microphones and cameras, Sunday is the day to call your press
conference or stage your protest or schedule a media event. It isn’t that difficult
to do. A quack like Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn owes his continued political
longevity to calling Sunday press conferences. It does not matter if
Governor Rod Blagojevich (another beneficiary of automatic teachers’ union
endorsements) will not return his calls, Quinn can always count on the news media to
report upon his profound opinions on any given Sunday.
Speaking of automatic political endorsements, does anyone imagine that the
media will devote significant resources and valuable airtime to reporting that
the National Rifle Association has endorsed John McCain, assuming this likely
result is publicized sometime later this year? It all likelihood, this
inevitability will be a complete non-story and so will be the likely endorsements
of McCain by taxpayer groups that oppose higher taxes and increased
government spending.
A more important news story was somewhat neglected yesterday night.
According to several recent polls, Obama’s bounce appears to have evaporated. The
presumptive Democratic candidate’s lead has been reduced in two recent surveys
to an insignificant percentage that is within the margin of error in both
samples. For headline purposes that would suggest the race is tied for the
present moment, but don‘t expect to hear or read that in the next few days. The
big story is that the New Yorker magazine has printed a satirical cartoon
depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as anti-American radicals.
Daniel J. Kelley is a regular contributor to The Chicago Daily Observer and
a member of the Illinois Educators Association.
Frank DeBarnone says:
My comment is for Sally White.
Is it good to be put under a spell and rally behind charisma?
By the way, just what are Obama's plans? More spellcasting?
I thought this sort of thing was against his religon? Oh! He left his Church, that's right I forgot.
In the words of Rosanne Rosanna-Rosanna Danna: "Never mind."
Diogenes says:
Gee, Danny, you must be a really active member of your state education association. It's the National EDUCATION Association, and their convention in Washington DC occurred a week before the AFT convention in Chicago. NEA endorsed Obama in a vote taken July 4, and Obama spoke to the convention via satellite feed on Saturday July 5. The Illinois EDUCATION Association cheered heartily, by the way, but you wouldn't know, because you purport to be a member of the Illinois EDUCATOR Association and the National EDUCATOR Association.
Occasionally, NEA and its affiliates support Republican candidates which, as a registered Republican, pleases me. But Republicans (or Democrats) only get endorsed if they're pro-public education, so many more Democrats than Republicans get endorsed.
:) says:
yes, the teachers endorsed a republican.
“Big Bill” Thompson for mayor.
hey didn't he want to burn the books written by british and jewish authors at the CPL?
that is right "Big Bill" had loads of charisma.
Oh and when he beat Deaver (with the teachers backing) he promised to reopen the brothels in the 1st ward.
Dan Kelley says:
Diogenes:
One cannot provide and education without educators. Glad to see that you are hung up on the nomenclature, but even a broken clock is still right two times daily.
Actually, I missed the IEA state meeting after being selected as a delegate because the crack regional administrative staff failed to mail out our credentials prior to the convention in Rosemont. So as you can see, I maybe a bit behind on the news because the state and national are all about collecting our dues above all else. Excuse me for thinking that patriotic Americans do not consider July 4th to be a workday, but a national holiday.
I do not doubt that the NEA/IEA may have endorsed an individual GOP candidate in a state representative district, but I asked if any of my readers could name the last time that a teachers' union endorsed a GOP candidate in a major election (i.e. national or statewide).
The IEA also applauded the nomination and election of Governor Rod Blagojevich on two occasions. How is he doing? Do you think that he will look good in orange? Maybe he and George H. Ryan can bunk together in the big house. Interestingly enough, the Obama campaign is seeking to minimize Barack Obama's status as a close political advisor to Blagojevich. Another one goes under the bus!
Diogenes says:
EVERY presidential candidate -- Democratic and Republican -- was invited to address the NEA at the 2007 convention in Philadelphia. Every Democratic candidate except Mike Gravel showed up. Only Mike Huckabee showed up from the Republican side of the equation.
As to your July 4 reference, being the active member that you are, you no doubt realize that the NEA convention is always held for a four-day period on and around July 4, and that there is always a July 4 celebration as part of the NEA convention. It's one man's opinion that contemplating issues facing America's public schools on July 4 may be just as meaningful (maybe more?) than contemplating one's hot dog at a local backyard BBQ.
July 4 wasn't the issue, anyway. The issue was your nonsense about the AFT's decision to endorse Obama hardly qualified as "news." It was "news" in Chicago, I'm guessing, because the AFT convention happened to be in Chicago. The NEA's decision a week earlier evidently didn't hit your radar screen because it wasn't in Chicago.
But: way to stay on top of what's going on in your teachers' association!
Dan Kelley says:
Diogenes:
Perhaps if I were kept better informed as to union events, keeping on top of what's going on in the association would not be an issue. Regrettably, many state and national union mailings report events to the rank and file members long after the meetings have adjourned. More often than not, as many union members complain, fully two thirds of the mailings generated by the union office are solicitations from disability and term insurance providers.
As a member of higher education local (which I helped to found along with more than two dozen other faculty members throughout a large community college district), I do not rate as highly as the K-12 instructors who are constantly seeking more and more money while protesting any efforts to be held accountable for the academic performance of students in their respective districts. Another huge problem in for educators in Illinois, unlike other states where a degree of cooperation exists between unions, is that the IFT and IEA are openly hostile to each other and seldom cooperate on joint issues.
Despite record budget deficits and unfunded pension obligations in Illinois, some of these dire fiscal problems actually dating back to the Barack Obama era of abstaining or voting "present" in the Illinois Senate, the IEA determined that it was time to demand a series of unpopular tax increases for K-12 education. The ambitious plan was dead on arrival in Democratic dominated Springfield.
July Fourth barbeques are good fun, but it is of much greater importance to me that the day be spent honoring the Founders of the American Republic and the veterans of the US military.
Your latest response, once again, fails to address my original request: When did either the AFT or the NEA last endorse a Republican candidate for the presidency or a major office? Simply inviting candidates to attend a convention does not answer the question that I asked. Is it possible that GOP candidates declined to attend the 2007 convention because it was a foregone conclusion, based upon decades of past political experience, that the endorsements of the AFT and NEA are almost exclusively reserved for Democrats?
Despite your enthusiastic partisanship, you have utterly failed to rebut the validity of my central argument. The endorsement of a Democrat by a teachers' union is nothing new.
By the way, why aren't Barack and Michelle Obama's two daughters enrolled in public schools? Aren't they supposed to be champions of free and appropriate public education for all children?
Dan Kelley says:
Yes, I am a higher ed instructor, with two graduate degrees, who has to cope with class rooms filled with socially promoted high school graduates in need of remedial classes to bring them up to speed.
diogenes says:
I'm impressed with your credential -- almost as much as you are.
But wouldn't such an educated person be able to mark their calendar with the date of the state assembly they were supposed to attend? If you didn't get your credentials in time, there's ALWAYS a way to rectify the situation at the convention site.
Blame everybody else for your problems.
As for major Republican candidates who got theachers' association endorsements, it wouldn't surprise me that there are few, if any. The quickest way to lose your Republican base is to support public education, so I doubt many (successful) Republicans would try.
John Powers says:
"The quickest way to lose your Republican base is to support public education, so I doubt many (successful) Republicans would try."
What nonsense. Republicans have been at the helm while public spending on education has gone through the roof, just like Democrats have.
The way to lose the support of public minded people of both parties is to continue to support a system that is not working.
JBP
diogenes says:
So... trash it and hand out vouchers??
Generally, the Republican Party favors vouchers, standardized high-stakes testing (high stakes for teachers, that is, not students), pay for performance, privatization, charters (whether or not they're effective charters) and homeschooling.
Is the system working? No, not for everybody. Does it need improvement? Yes. But one CAN support a system of public education without necessarily saying the status quo is good enough.
Take a look at the education policies of McCain and Obama, and tell me which better supports the concept of public education. There's no doubt.
John Powers says:
Yes, those are the good parts of the Republican party platform. They don't get implemented very often, because Republican leadership has been weak on a variety of privatization issues.
The McCain platform by far is more pro-student and pro-education, while the Obama platform is more conservative, willing to sacrifice education for donations from teachers unions and keep the status quo.
Public education is served by educating the students, not by being a trough for early retirement with full benefits and feather bedded pensions for 52 year old teachers.
JBP
diogenes says:
John, I'll offer you the same advice I offer my students on Day One: try to remember to ensure that your tongue is somehow connected with your brain BEFORE yoo open your mouth.
I have to laugh at your intended insult, because you're so far off-base you don't know by how much you've missed the target! But since you're spewing the swill that teachers (union or nonunion) are willing to sacrifice education to keep the status quo, you're probably used to missing the target, aren't you?
John Powers says:
With advice such as that, I am sure your students are on the road to success. I would certainly ignore you, as I am sure your students do.
Spewing trite, belittling catchphrases does not strike me as being particularly useful in education, nor in adding much to a perhaps serious discussion on education.
JBP
Diogenes says:
Mr. Powers, illustrious sir, so that I don't make the same mistake you did, just what is your experience in education?
I apologize for not realizing that you were interested in having a serious discussion on education after you said "Public education is served by educating the students, not by being a trough for early retirement with full benefits and feather bedded pensions for 52 year old teachers." I thought you were engaging in the same old tired political rhetoric that many conservatives pass off as "enlightenment."
My mistake, I guess. Please continue to ignore me.
Dan Kelley says:
Diogenes:
Have you found the honest man that you are looking for? If so, I doubt that his initials are B.O. and I do not mean the Dick Tracy character B. O. Plenty.
I can easily mark a calendar, but the credentials foul up compounded another problem: I had a full day of classroom lectures scheduled on most of the dates that the RA was being held. The Representative Assembly of the IEA is usually timed to permit the K-12 teachers to spend a weekend holiday in the Chicagoland area, so the majority of the K-12 people were on vacation, but that was not the case for myself and my colleagues (none of whom attended due to the mix up at the regional office concerning our credentials).
It was an embarrassing mistake on the part of the regional office staff.
I attended the RA in 2007 and endured listening to Senator Richard Durbin's blatantly partisan nonsense about the imminent defeat of the US military in Iraq (recycling Viet Nam era rhetoric about the "civil war" in Iraq). As a property taxpayer, I was less than enthused about the IEA demanding tax increases across the board to fund more per pupil spending in Illinois.
As for your disdain for higher ed members of the IEA/NEA, the feeling is mutual. For over five years, we have been promised a separate higher ed division would be formed, so we would not be grouped with K-12 members for voting purposes and elections. We have different issues and interests, but, of course, unlike those in grades K-12, are students are not compelled to attend college and have to pay their way. We do not have the luxury of soaking the taxpayers for every last cent.
Dan Kelley says:
I am hardly an elitist. I drink Pabst.
But I am a taxpayer and I think that it is healthy to expect results from expenditures (tax dollars or union dues) and it is acceptable to complain about mismanagement.
Diogenes says:
Ah, yes. Complain. Or blow the system up. Two great alternatives.
Could we maybe work from within to improve the system? Nawwwwwww.
Dan Kelley says:
I will take your suggestions under advisement. Of course, since you choose to operate under the cover of a pseudonym, unlike some of the others who post here, your opinions will be discounted for their anonymity.
diogenes says:
Sorry, I forgot. Elitists rule. Too bad I don't still use that Esq. after my name.
Discount this.....
Dan Kelley says:
No one is stopping you from subscribing to Esquire Magazine.
If you cannot find a brush, you might roll up the magazine and use it to sweep the chip off of your shoulder.
We will be looking for you later at Duffy's Tavern where the elite meet to eat.
Have a good weekend...
Sally White says:
Barack has charisma and that has certainly put the nation and the world under a spell. He is a phenomenon in itself. I'm supporting Obama and agree with majority of his plans. Go Obama!