Cathie Black Would Rather Do Crossword Puzzles Than Listen To Parents And Teachers

Just more evidence of the disdain Black and Bloomberg have for the democratic process and people in general:

The Ed Department's rowdy meetings have taught Schools Chancellor Cathie Black a lesson in why her predecessor, Joel Klein, spent time on his BlackBerry, she told New York magazine.

Instead of emailing or playing BrickBreaker, Black paid attention at her first boisterous Panel for Educational Policy meeting last month, she said.

"You sit there and you just listen, you don't respond. They have a point of view, or they've got placards, or they wrote songs. You know, it's part of the American process," Black said.

At the meeting, parents waved condoms, referring to Black's high-profile gaffe - a joke suggesting birth control to address downtown Manhattan's school overcrowding. She also got her first taste of a boisterous and booing crowd.

"I did not bring my BlackBerry. I understand that had been a problem for too many people, including you-know-who," she added, referring to Klein, who was known for the time he spent on his. "But one could understand why you'd want to be on your BlackBerry, just doing whatever, crossword puzzles," Black said in the cover story, "The Very Public Schooling of Cathie Black," out Monday.

Far from being even-keeled last week, Black was provoked by the crowds. She mocked their boos early Wednesday morning, responding, "Oooh."

She apparently broke down on her BlackBerry use, too. "The chancellor did not have her BB for the first 3-4 hours this week at either [meeting]," Ed Department spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said in an email. "Later into the evening, she checked it occasionally."

Doing crosswords instead of listening to the people who get one chance to tell you why you shouldn't close down their schools?

These oligarchs and their henchmen have nothing but utter disdain for the masses.