Cathie's Choice: To Open A Charter Or Take A Trip To Auschwitz

Man, it just doesn't get any worse than this:

NEW YORK (CBS 2) — New York City Schools Chancellor Cathie Black opened up a can of worms on Thursday after joking about her solution for overcrowding in schools.

“Couldn’t we just have some birth control for a while?” Black mused. “It could really help us out a lot.”

There were chuckles from those attending the meeting, but some said her attempt at a joke was not funny.

Now the chancellor is under fire, facing criticism from parents, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.

At a meeting Thursday night in Tribeca, Black compared the tough decisions on schools to a classic book set after the holocaust that was later made into a film starring Meryl Streep.

“So it is, and I don’t mean this in a flip way, it is many Sophie’s choices,’” Black said.

“As we know, in ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ one child dies, so I … you know … I was offended by it. I’m sure the people were,” parent Tricia Joyce said.

Tricia Joyce was at that meeting, called by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, to discuss overcrowding in the schools. There were about 40 people in the room. Joyce has children who attend P.S. 234 in Tribeca. Those at the meeting also heard the new schools chancellor make the joke — after a parent who is also an NYU professor detailed the growing number of schoolchildren over the next few years.

The Department of Education released the following statement: “Chancellor Black takes the issue of overcrowding very seriously. She regrets if she left a different impression by making an off-handed joke in the course of that conversation.”

“It’s actually … out of context. You know if she was nervous it’s not an unusual thing to have said, given the news she had just been delivering. Was it in good taste? In my opinion, no,” Joyce said.

The people that Guzman talked to want to give Chancellor Black a chance. They said they’re hoping this was just a misstep, and not typical of what they could expect in the years to come.

The statement released by Department of Education came only after persistent requests from the media. At first, all the DOE said was: “no comment.”

I think I can see how this movie ends - the charter schools live (and get the extra funding and space) and the traditional public schools, well, you know.

Seriously, she compared funding and space issues to a movie about the Holocaust in which one character lives and the other is killed by the Nazis.

Is there ANYBODY in public life, outside of perhaps Sarah Palin, who says as many dumb things as Cathie Black?

I'm starting to think that prediction the Fordham Foundation ed deform hack made about Black being gone by spring may turn out to be accurate

Nearly every time she opens her mouth in public, her foot goes inside.

Some days, both feet go in.

Yesterday, it was both feet.

Heckuva job, Cathie with an "i"!!!!

Congresswoman Targeted By Sarah Palin In Midterms Shot In Head

Always classy, Sarah Palin had the above map on her website for the 2010 midterms - a map to "target" congresspeople who supported HCR and other "liberal" policies that Palin thinks are, I dunno, socialism, I guess.

Today, one of those congresspeople targeted by Palin was shot in the head at point blank range in Arizona:

A gunman shot U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords during an event outside a Safeway in Tuscon Arizona this morning. At least 12 others were wounded. Following is an eyewitness report from a man who helped hold the suspect down.

...

We spoke to an eyewitness, Steven Rayle, who was on the scene at the time of the shooting and helped to hold the suspect down while waiting for police. Here's what he said:

The event was very informal: Gifford had set up a table outside the Safeway and about 20-30 people were gathered to talk to her. The gunman, who may have come from inside the Safeway, walked up and shot Gifford in the head first, "point blank". According to Rayle, who is a former ER doctor, Gifford was able to move her hands after being shot.

After shooting Gifford, the gunman opened fire indiscriminately for a few seconds, firing 20-30 rounds and hitting a number of people, including a kid no older than 10 years old. Rayle hid behind a concrete pole and pretended to be dead. When the gunman apparently ran out of ammunition he attempted to flee, but a member of Gifford's staff tackled him. Rayle helped hold the gunman down while waiting for the sheriff to arrive, about 15-to-20 minutes later. The EMS came about 30 minutes later. Rayle said he was "stunned" by how long it took medical help to arrive.

The gunman was young, mid-to-late 20s, white, clean-shaven with short hair and wearing dark clothing and said nothing during the shooting or while being held down, although he struggled at first. He was "not particularly well-dressed"; he didn't look like a businessman, but more of a "fringe character," Rayle said. The sheriff's department arrived, arrested the gunman and cordoned off the parking lot.

You know, I think the politicians running things need to hear it from angry voters, whether it is at the ballot box or in protests like the ones held in England over education.

Shooting people in the head, not so much.

It will be interesting to see how Palin tries to weasel out of the target map. Firedoglake says the map has been scrubbed from her website.

Of course.

Mama Grizzly will say she never meant to target the people on that map with a gun.

But if that's so, why use the gun scope graphics?

If there is a link between the Palin/Tea Party 'targeting movement" and these shootings, I think Sarah Palin herself ought to be targeted - for jail.

Ron Paul Defends WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is under attack from all sides.

The Obama administration is considering criminal charges against Assange.

Inrterpol is seeking Assange on what seem to be trumped up sexual assault charges.

Many establishment Republicans and Democrats in Washington have called for Assange to be arrested.

Some have gone even further.

Sarah Palin said Assange - an Australian citizen - should be charged with a treason against the United States (NOTE TO SARAH: Only U.S. citizens can be charged with treason against the United States.)

National Review's Jonah Goldberg has called for the murder of Assange:

I'd like to ask a simple question: Why isn't Julian Assange dead? . . . WikiLeaks is easily among the most significant and well-publicized breaches of American national security since the Rosenbergs gave the Soviets the bomb. . . .

So again, I ask: Why wasn't Assange garroted in his hotel room years ago?

It's a serious question.

Townhall's John Hawkins wrote a piece entitled "5 Reasons The CIA Should Have Already Killed Julian Assange:

1) Julian Assange aided the Taliban and risked the lives of Afghans who helped American forces

2) Killing Julian Assange would send a message

3) You can't run a government without secrets

4) Releasing the information to the world is even worse than giving it to a single foreign government

5) We need to regain the confidence of our allies who've been burned by these leaks

Countering the hysteria and outright insanity emanating from Democrats and especially his fellow Republicans over the WikiLeaks document dumps, Ron Paul defended Assange:

Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) is taking a stand as one of Julian Assange’s few defenders in Washington, arguing that the WikiLeaks founder should get the same protections as the media.

Attorney General Eric Holder said this week that the Justice Department is examining whether Assange can be charged with a crime for posting hundreds of thousands of leaked government intelligence documents and diplomatic cables.

Many Republicans have gone even further in their attacks on Assange, especially former Arkansas GOP Gov. Mike Huckabee, who said this week that the source who leaked to the WikiLeaks founder should be tried for treason and executed if found guilty.

But in a Thursday interview with Fox Business, Paul said the idea of prosecuting Assange crosses the line.

“In a free society we're supposed to know the truth,” Paul said. “In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble. And now, people who are revealing the truth are getting into trouble for it.”

“This whole notion that Assange, who's an Australian, that we want to prosecute him for treason. I mean, aren't they jumping to a wild conclusion?” he added. “This is media, isn't it? I mean, why don't we prosecute The New York Times or anybody that releases this?”

Paul followed up with a post to his Twitter account Friday morning: "Re: WikiLeaks — In a free society, we are supposed to know the truth. In a society where truth becomes treason, we are in big trouble.

As Glenn Greenwald pointed out at Salon, Defense Secretary Bob Gates has called the dangers of the Wikileaks "significantly overwrought" and the consequences for American foreign policy "fairly modest."

Significantly overwrought...fairly modest..."

Yet Gates' bosses in the administration plan on bringing charge against Assange and some conservatives are calling for the CIA to assassinate Assange.

So good for Ron Paul for going on FOX News and defending Assange and the right to free speech at a time when jumping on Sister Sarah's bandwagon is the most politically expedient thing one can do.