Sometimes, it’s really hard to choose the most appalling news of the day.
I could begin with the continued embarrassment that is Dick Lugar’s campaign.
Yesterday, Lugar was one of 31 (male) Republican Senators who voted against reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act; evidently, “true Indiana conservatives” consider laws against wife-beating an infringement of their liberty. Today, we learn that Lugar has invited aging crooner Pat Boone to campaign for him. Whatever his merits as a singer, Boone is primarily known today as a right-wing crank. He is a creationist. He has compared gay activists to terrorists. He is a “birther” who insists that Obama was not born in the U.S. and is not a Christian. He is exactly the sort of person the Dick Lugar I once admired would have avoided like the plague.
Granted, Mourdock is a toad. But watching Lugar frantically shed what is left of his integrity in an effort to appeal to the baseness of the GOP base has been endlessly disheartening.
Lugar is hardly the only public figure who has allowed his ego to trump his judgment. Today’s news also focuses on Eugene White, who seems equally intent upon disgracing himself.
It seems that White is doing everything he can to torpedo the impending State takeover of several IPS schools. He’s refusing to turn over student information, spreading misinformation to IPS parents, removing equipment from the targeted schools and otherwise making the transition as difficult as possible–all without any apparent regard for the children whose education is supposed to be his first concern.
I am no fan of State Superintendent Tony Bennett, who clearly has an ego problem of his own, and I harbor grave doubts about the wisdom of the state takeover. But White’s response is infantile and destructive–a description which, come to think of it, has characterized his entire tenure at IPS. A school board that took its responsibilities to children seriously would have fired him long before this.
Whatever happened to public servants who wanted to–you know–serve the public?
What happened to them is we allowed the two Parties to become one and serve the moneyed interests rather than the people’s. We can not trust either major Party any longer. If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’ll keep getting what we’re getting. Those in government need to be held accountable for their actions.
What’s interesting, at least to me, about the second part of this post (the school takeover section) is the role that school choice plays. The state’s concept of a ‘takeover’ is defined by ‘a school.’ The student who attend any such school, at least in IPS, is subject to annual redefinition, as parents can opt for charter schools or magnet schools as alternatives. In fact some of the ‘takeover’ schools are currently running TV ads attempting to attract new students. How on earth there will ever be a realistic evaluation of the success or failure or the process is a mystery to me.
The public servants who wanted to – and did – serve the pubic probably didn’t want to pour millions of our tax dollars into sports venues rather than education, pubic safety and rebuilding the infrastructure. Sheila; you and I worked with and for some of the best public-minded elected officials this city has ever seen. They, too, were sports fans but were not fanatical about balls of all shapes, colors and sizes, they (we) worked hard to better this city for all residents. Today they are an endangered species; how very sad and what a great loss to all of us and future generations. Any way to bring Mayor Hudnut back to lead us? Would he even be interested in returning to the sad place this city has become?
Neil
Are you an rball player from the IAC