theCLog

Election Day is tomorrow and will include elections for School Board district races. Current board member Kaye McGarry, whose anti-gay rants while arguing against a new anti-bullying policy won her Creative Loafing Best of Charlotte’s Worst Member of Local Government award, endorsed certain candidates in tomorrow’s election. McGarry and other board members objected to the new anti-bullying policy because it included a list of differences for which students may not be bullied or harassed, which would need to be considered equally with bullying that didn’t result from any of those differences. The policy makes it clear, however, that CMS outlaws bullying against anyone, period, not just students whose “differentness” would place them on the list.

I e-mailed two of the candidates Ms. McGarry endorsed, Susan Walker in District 5 and District 1’s Rhonda Lennon, to see how they feel about combating bullying in CMS schools, and noting that Ms. McGarry had voted against the new policy.

Rhonda Lennon, who, like McGarry, has been very active in the north county’s efforts for less-crowded schools, at first replied that she wasn’t sure why McGarry voted against the bullying policy (despite the issue having dominated school board news for a couple of weeks), and would get back to me. Later that day, she replied that she had “concerns that the only ones protected in the official bullying policy are the protected classes and the policy doesn’t cover the ENTIRE population … I would have worked hard to make sure that our policy protect all students and not just the protected classes. I have witnessed bullying between 2 students of the exact same race, religion, and socioeconomic status — but under this policy the victim would not be protected. That is a great concern to me.”

These are similar arguments to those made by board members who opposed the policy, and they are equally inaccurate. Here is the entire policy, which specifically states, “The Board prohibits any and all forms of harassment or bullying on Board property or at Board-sanctioned events” (our emphasis); and specifies that freedom from harassment or bullying “includes, but is not limited to, freedom from harassment or bullying based on. . .[the list begins]” (again, our emphasis).

District 5 candidate Susan Walker answered our e-mail, saying she “would hope to eradicate bullying from our schools,” and that “I am not necessarily offended by the expansion but do have to question just how expansive the list needs to be. It could go on forever. At some point, common sense needs to prevail and administrators need to forbid any human vs human disrespect.” Which, if the candidates will read the actual policy, they will see is exactly what it was set up to do.

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Someone – make that anyone – in local government needs to get the message that he or she is working for the  people. You know, as in “democracy”? I bring this up because of recent reactions to calls received by the county court system. Some background: My colleague Tara Servatius, during her WBT show, told listeners about violent repeat offender Matthew Morgan, whose bond was recently cut by Judge Donnie Hoover from $150K to $15K. Servatius urged listeners to call the Community Outreach office of the county court system about the matter. (FYI, on Wednesday, Morgan’s bond was raised to $75K by a superior court judge.)  The Community Access and Community Outreach Administrator for the Mecklenburg County Court System (whew!), Charles Keller, tore into Servatius on her show, telling her that “it’s obscene or out of the ordinary to take up court time with your complaints about Judge Hoover letting Matthew Morgan out. . . . asking listeners to call and complain was inappropriate. What you have done is tie up staff time listening to messages that can’t be forwarded.”

Nothing like a public servant in a snit, is there? Now, think what you want about Tara’s call for listeners to contact the court system; in fact, think what you will about the whole Judge Hoover/bond issue, as well as defendants’ rights, dealing with violent crime, and so forth. But, here’s the deal, Mr. Keller: since when is it not OK in the U.S. for pissed off citizens, from the right or the left or the middle, to let their government know how they feel? Frankly, if any government agency isn’t prepared to deal with public comments — even what it considers “excessive” public comments – then it needs to get prepared. To put it in the simplest terms, the ability of the public to have input into government goings-on is a much higher priority than the convenience of the public servants who have to listen to the input. Keller needs to be reminded of that by county administrators.

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This week, in honor of Halloween, we’re presenting a Stupid Thing of the Week that’s so stupid, it’s scary. At first, we were going to give the coveted award to two genius burglars in Iowa who wore “masks” that consisted of designs they drew on their faces with a black, permanent Magic Marker.

In the end, though, even those two dolts weren’t stupid enough to outdo one Kimberly Daniels, a Jacksonville, Fla., pastor, conference speaker, and, according to her web site,  “a recognized prophetic voice.”  Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network posted a blog by Daniels that warns Christians against celebrating Halloween because the holiday is pure evil and . . . we’re not kidding . . . demons are at work on your candy! “During this period, demons are assigned against those who participate in the rituals and festivities,” says Daniels. “These demons are automatically drawn to the fetishes that open doors for them to come into the lives of human beings. For example, most of the candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches.”

You heard it hear first, ladies and gentlemen: Halloween candy has been dedicated and prayed over by witches. And that’s not all! “Curses are sent through the tricks and treats of the innocent whether they get it by going door to door or by purchasing it from the local grocery store. The demons cannot tell the difference.” Jeez, those demons kill all the fun. The scariest thing? In 21^st century America, there are people who really believe in this brand of insanity.

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First, two quick follow-ups to blogs from yesterday:

1. In last night’s mayoral debate, John Lassiter didn’t stick by his idea to roll back part of 2006’s property tax hike, but he did eagerly wear the mantle of Lower-Taxes Man, shoring up his base of support among the GOP faithful. Anthony Foxx, on the other hand, positioned himself as being less beholden to developers than Lassiter, which should help shore up his support among progressives. At this point, the race is so close, it could come down to how well each man’s campaign gets out the vote.

2. Um, yes, I noticed that my beloved Yankees, specifically the members of their stellar batting lineup, had their collective ass handed to them last night by Phillies pitcher Cliff Lee, whose performance was the best by a starting Series pitcher this fan has seen in many years. Thank God the guy can’t pitch every day.

In today’s news, the notorious FrankenBelk, a monster created by family money and entitlement, says the state Judicial Standards Commission told him it will recommend he be removed from his position as a district judge. The fate of FrankenBelk, alias Judge Bill Belk, will be determined by the state Supreme Court after it gets the judicial commission’s recommendation. The monster has upset the genteel judicial system by refusing to leave a corporate board, acting like an arrogant nutcase with another judge, and generally being an unbelievably obnoxious, self-important schmuck who woke up on third base and thought he’d hit a triple.  Below is a rare photo of Frankenbelk getting a trim from Floyd the barber when the monster stopped in Mayberry, on his way to a Judicial Standards Commission hearing earlier this year.

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I don’t care what anyone says, it’s a great day. Yes, the economy is still in pitiful shape with some economists now predicting even worse times ahead; Obama is getting us sucked deeper into the Afghan quicksand; and Sen. Droopy Dog (I-CN) is threatening to torpedo health care reform. Today, at least, none of that matters as much as the fact that my beloved New York Yankees are back in the World Series.

When the Series starts tonight in New York, it will be the 40^th times the Yankees have played for the baseball championship (second place goes to the St. Louis Cardinals with 17). The bad things about being a lifelong Yankees fan are 1. When the Yanks don’t make the World Series, it’s a big letdown, no matter how good the regular season was, which, when you think about it, is kinda stupid; and 2. You take crap from other teams’ fans all the time. Believe me, though, the latter is a small price to pay when your team is about to vie for its 27^th title. Plus, face it, anti-Yankees criticism usually stems from jealousy. Say what you will, and this may P.O. other teams’ fans, but . . . you know that “other” team you root for? They wish they were the Yankees. I’m not saying New York will win the Series – both teams (oh yeah, the other one’s the Philadelphia Phillies) are great, and anything can happen. But millions of us, members of YankeesNation all, are breathing a big sigh of relief today because, after 9 years wandering in the desert, the Yankees are back where they’re meant to be. As the New York Times headline put it, Order is Restored.

Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut

New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter

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Yesterday, GOP mayoral candidate John Lassiter called for rolling back all or part of 2006’s 9-percent property tax increase. It was a simple comment and wasn’t expressed with any more urgency than usual, but it was the equivalent of a bomb being thrown into the room. If Lassiter wins the mayoral race, his position on rolling back property taxes could be what provides him with his margin of victory.

Never mind the reasons for the 2006 increase (hiring cops and building streets), and never mind whether the increase did or didn’t do what it was supposed to. In a close race, when one candidate repeatedly calls for lowering taxes, particularly if it’s a tax his opponent voted for, you can pretty much guarantee that enough of Pavlov’s dogs will salivate, er, I mean enough addled citizens will react to the T-Bomb to get the lower-taxes candidate elected. Lassiter has brought up the 2006 increase before, but it’s been a lowkey part of his campaign. The key now is whether he continues to talk of rolling back property taxes — tonight’s debate at Spirit Square, broadcast on NBC6 at 7:30 p.m. will give Lassiter a chance to hammer the issue, if he sees it’s doing his campaign some good. It’s a close race, probably closer than Lassiter expected. It will be interesting to see whether or not he’ll resort to tax demagoguery, which has often been the favored tactic of Republicans who sense election trouble.

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One of the biggest weasel nests in America can be found at the headquarters of the Family Research Council, a “religious right,” socially conservative group, originally formed by James Dobson of Focus On The Family, and designed to lobby for “traditional family values.” The group may have topped itself yesterday.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the administration’s intent to “establish the nation’s first national resource center” to help communities that provide services to elderly LGBT citizens. The FRC immediately let it be known that Obama & Co. shouldn’t spend that money since, according to FRC, homosexual senior citizens probably don’t exist. Why not? Because “homosexual conduct” makes them die early.

From the FRC: “Given the risks of homosexual conduct, few of these people are likely to live long enough to become senior citizens! Yet once again, the Obama administration is rushing to reward a lifestyle that poses one of the greatest public health risks in America.”

And the FRC’s statement supports family values how? Hello?! It’s the 21^st century — do these knotheads honestly think there are no LGBT folks in their families, even if it’s their extended families? You don’t even know where to begin to refute such blatant, willful ignorance and blind cultural hate. All I know is that I feel sorry for anyone in these guys’ families who’s even a little bit different.

Family Research Council head Tony Perkins – don't you want this guy running YOUR family?

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Trying to keep up with the changes in schools and school assignments these days is almost a full-time job, except for the part of a job where you get paid. CMS administrators have been trying to keep everyone except the East Meck parents happy, shifting students from one school to another, and changing the focus of individual schools, but it’s all confusing. Luckily for you, we’ve done the footwork for you and here is our complete list of upcoming changes in CMS schools for the 2010 school year:

• Eastover Elementary remains a neighborhood school;

• Myers Park High stays just as it is since heaven forbid that those parents should have to compromise about anything;

• Myers Park Traditional will become Super-Traditional, complete with paddling and uniforms made of itchy burlap;

• North Meck High becomes Speedway High, an automotive magnet school;

• Dilworth Elementary becomes a local foods & gardening magnet school;

• Steele Creek Elementary switches to the Fort Mill school system;

• Collinswood Elementary trades places with the Sorbonne;

• Barringer Academy becomes a meat-and-three restaurant;

• Piedmont Open Middle is divided into 20 mobile schools that will ride around the county all day;

• East Meck High becomes a Halloween Haunted House in autumn, a meth lab in spring;

• Nothwest School of the Arts becomes a talent agency/bistro; and

• West Meck turns into a militia camp run by history teachers.

• Hope this helps — happy schooling (or moving)!

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Conservative extremists of the Fox/Limbaugh persuasion hate Barack Obama so much, they’ll apparently believe anything, and everything, negative about the President that’s thrown their way. If it’s not supposed connections with terrorists, it’s a missing birth certificate, and so on. On Friday, Mighty Rush himself, along with the FoxNation Web site and all its little imitator rightwing Web sites, made fools of themselves – there’s no other way to say it – by pushing another anti-Obama fairy tale. The story was about a supposed thesis Obama wrote while at Harvard, in which he praised “the distribution of wealth” and other conservative bugaboos. Limbaugh and ultra-conservative bloggers pounced on the story, which originated at the Jumping in Pools blog, written by one Matthew Avitabile. Here’s the priceless part: at the bottom of the Jumping in Pools blog post, is a clearly marked “satire” tag. As the author of the satire, Avitabile told Media Matters, “Out of the 50,000 people who looked at it, only three had the good sense to contact me and see if it was true.” Needless to say, FoxNation and Limbaugh were not among those three. Also needless to say, neither Fox nor Rush have apologized for reporting the satire as truth. Does anyone else remember when conservatives were champions of “responsibility”?

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The lovely, lovely folks at BlueCrossBlueShield of North Carolina, as you know, have your health care interests, and the interests of your fellow citizens, topmost in their minds. While we’re at it – but you know this already, too – the Pope is a Southern Baptist. But I digress. As part of its aggressive effort to defeat, or water down, health care reform legislation making its way through Congress, BCBSNC sent out untold numbers of postage-paid postcards, urging its customers to forward it to Sen. Kay Hagan, in order to tell her that the sender is opposed to “federal intervention in the private health insurance market.” As if “the private health insurance market” isn’t U.S. health care problem No. 1. Anyhow, some people aren’t taking kindly to BCBSNC’s postcard campaign, and they’re doing something about it:  sending the card to Sen. Hagan, but only after having changed the message to strongly support reform. There’s a very good diary posted on DailyKos that shows how to do it. BCBSNC has made it clear it has even less shame than it has concern for its hostages, er, customers, so as long as they’re paying the postage, tell Hagan what you really think.

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