Education

Michael Moore: The Republican Party Is ‘Dead,’ and Self-Righteous America Needs a ‘Timeout’
By Tom Johnson | December 28, 2015 | 10:06 PM EST

In his new documentary, Where to Invade Next, Michael Moore jaunts around Europe showcasing what he deems enlightened social and economic policies, including Italy’s lengthy paid vacations, Norway’s treatment of prison inmates, and France’s school-lunch program. New York Times reviewer Stephen Holden observed that Moore’s “examples…are cherry-picked to make American audiences feel envious and guilty.”

On Monday, Salon ran an interview with Moore in which he talked about the movie as well as the U.S. presidential campaign. One of his comments: "I also think it’s a little gauche for Americans to point out to anybody in the world what their problems are at this point…I think we need a little time in the timeout room, you know what I’m saying? A little chill-down from running around the world: ‘You need democracy! Now you need democracy!’”

Hillary Gaffe (Unreported or Excused): Close Any School Not 'Doing a Better Than Average Job'
By Tom Blumer | December 28, 2015 | 8:08 PM EST

According to NewsBusters' own Blonde Gator, Hillary Clinton has, in the 8-1/2 months since she declared her candidacy, committed 51 gaffes and goofs. That's an average rate of six per month. Imagine how many there would be if Mrs. Clinton genuinely campaigned among the people instead of among preselected groupies.

One of her latest gaffes, which occurred last week at an elementary school in Iowa, was a humdinger. Predictably, the establishment press almost completely ignored it, while a couple of journalists who noticed the center-right's reaction tried and failed to excuse it.

Another Gaffe Ignored: Sanders Doesn't Understand Why Mortgage Interest Rates Are Lower Than Student Loan Rates
By Tom Blumer | December 28, 2015 | 2:06 PM EST

While the establishment press lies in wait for Republican and conservative candidates to make some kind of off-color or foolish statement — or one that can be twisted to become one, even if it originally wasn't — it consistently ignores howlers made by leftists and liberals. The list of President Barack Obama's gaffes alone, all totally or almost completely ignored by the press when they were made, is quite long.

The most telling gaffe is the kind made in all seriousness by its deliverer which betrays a level of cluelessness not thought humanly possible from a supposedly educated and informed adult. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders committed one such gaffe in a Saturday morning tweet.

CNN's Cuomo: 'Despite Stats on Christian Terrorists,' 'White Kid' Can Bring Clock to School
By Brad Wilmouth | December 23, 2015 | 5:20 PM EST

Near the end of Wednesday's New Day on CNN, during a segment about the top five stories on social media for 2015, co-host Chris Cuomo oddly declared that, "despite all the stats about Christian terrorists," if a "white kid" had brought a homemade clock to school, unlike a "brown" Muslim kid like Ahmed Mohamed, there would have been no assumption that it was actually a bomb.

MSNBC's Russert Frets 'Hope and Change' Did Not 'Carry the Day,' Invokes George Wallace
By Brad Wilmouth | December 22, 2015 | 3:56 PM EST

As MSNBC's Chris Matthews appeared on Tuesday's Andrea Mitchell Reports to promote his special on Donald Trump's life, substitute MSNBC host Luke Russert wondered why the "divisions that had ravaged the country" did not go away after President Barack Obama's election because "everybody thought that we were now coming into a post-racial society, that 'hope and change' was going to carry the day."

A bit later, he brought up segregationist Alabama Democratic governor and former presidential candidate George Wallace as he wondered whether Trump was more like Wallace or Ross Perot.

On CNN, John McWhorter Scolds Campus Left Over Its 'Bullying' on Race
By Matthew Balan | December 22, 2015 | 3:04 PM EST

On Monday's CNN Tonight, John McWhorter rebuked left-wing activists for suppressing free speech on many college campuses. McWhorter contended that they are "proposing that racism, and that which offends me, is the same sort of thing...and, therefore, they feel like they're in the right to shut down any kind of discussion." McWhorter later underlined that "you [can] get to the point that you can define just about anything a white person does or says as a micro-aggression."

Press Yawns As Univ. of Louisville Advertises Asst. Prof Position For Blacks, Hispanics and Native Americans Only
By Tom Blumer | December 21, 2015 | 10:55 PM EST

Did you hear about the university which advertised for "a tenure-track Assistant Professor position that will be filled by a White American or Asian American"? Of course you didn't, because it didn't happen. But it's not difficult to imagine the outrage which would justifiably ensue if such an ad were ever placed.

Well, last week it became widely known that the University of Louisville placed an ad for a "tenure-track Assistant Professor position" which specified the racial/ethnic makeup of who would be considered eligible. It was removed after appearing for almost two months. Thanks to the wonders of Google cache, readers can see the relevant portion below (HT Progressives Today):

Chicago Teachers Authorize Another Strike; Press Mostly Fails to Report Current Pay or Union's Demands
By Tom Blumer | December 15, 2015 | 10:44 PM EST

The Chicago Public Schools system, from which came Arne Duncan, perhaps the nation's most execrable Education Secretary, is in serious financial trouble. So is the State of Illinois. Having already borrowed against next year's property tax collections, CPS somehow expects the state to bail out its underfunded pensions to the tune of $500 million. Though it has subsequently been narrowed, MRC-TV, in covering the district CEO's resignation over a federal no-bid contract investigation, reported in June that the district was facing "a $1 billion budget deficit" for fiscal 2016.

In the midst of all of this, the district's teachers union has overwhelmingly authorized a strike. In searching several current articles on the topic, the hardest things to find were answers to two questions any reasonable person would ask: 1) How much do teachers currently make? and 2) What are their contract demands?

CNN Touts Satanists as Defenders of Religious, Civil, Gay Rights Vs Christians
By Brad Wilmouth | December 12, 2015 | 4:58 PM EST

It may sound like a parody, but CNN Newsroom on Friday actually ran a piece highlighting the plight of Satanists seeking greater acceptance of their beliefs in the predominantly Judeo-Christian U.S. as a preview of this Sunday's edition of This is Life on CNN.

As This is Life host Lisa Ling appeared live at the end of the 2:00 p.m. hour of CNN Newsroom with Brooke Baldwin, Ling ended up recalling the case of a woman who viewed Satanists as defenders of "civil rights" and joined their group as the mother blamed the "imposition of Christian values" at school for her gay son committing suicide.

NBC Plays Up 'Gasps' in Supreme Court After Scalia's Affirmative Action Remarks
By Matthew Balan | December 11, 2015 | 11:53 PM EST

NBC Nightly News was the sole Big Three network evening newscast on Friday to cover the controversy surrounding Justice Antonin Scalia's comments during oral arguments in an affirmative action case. Both Lester Holt and Pete Williams spotlighted how "gasps were heard inside the Supreme Court this week over something said by Justice Antonin Scalia." Williams zeroed in how "some called the comments racist. Others said, he was just plain wrong."

Seth Meyers Compares Justice Scalia to KKK Members Following Affirmative Action Comments
By Curtis Houck | December 11, 2015 | 8:02 AM EST

Moments before bringing on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton for two casual segments of softball questions, Late Night host Seth Meyers took a shot at Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in his monologue by comparing him to members of the KKK following Scalia’s comments on Wednesday about affirmative action.

CNN Panel: Scalia 'Disturbing' and 'Offensive' on Race, 'Sounded Nutty'
By Brad Wilmouth | December 10, 2015 | 11:46 PM EST

On Thursday's Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield on CNN, host Banfield joined CNN legal analyst Paul Callan and Joey Jackson of HLN -- sister network to CNN -- in deriding conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia for recently referencing an argument against affirmative action in higher education admissions.

As HLN legal analyst Jackson called Justice Scalia's remarks "disturbing" and "offensive," Callan asserted that the conservative justice "sounded a little nutty," and Banfield declared that "I cannot believe I'm hearing those words from a Supreme Court justice."