Dear Commons Community,

Michele Bachman’s views on gays was the subject of a number of recent  media reports.

The Huffington Post has an article (including an audio file of  a CBS News interview in 2004) quoting Ms. Bachman referring to gays as being “part of Satan”.

The Huffington Post article also quotes Republican presidential candidate Fred Karger, the first openly-gay contender to vie for his party’s nomination, from  an exclusive interview with the Michigan Messenger in which he took specific  aim at Bachmann over controversial therapy methods practiced at her husband’s Minnesota clinic.   The Nation reported that the clinic practiced reparative therapy, which treats being gay as a curable disorder.  A report released by ABC News  offered an inside look at the treatment offered at the clinic and includes a counselor advising a gay man to pray to God for a cure.

“She’s a liar ..a hypocrite and a bigot.” said Karger.

Our country has major problems.  The fact that she is leading other Republican candidates in the Iowa Caucus Poll is surely one of them.

Tony

Dear Commons Community,

Speaking before an audience of about 2,000 members of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, its president, made the point that school reform in this country has been “hijacked” by those who blame all of our education ills on teachers. She called for more activism on the part of AFT members to fight back particularly in states like Wisconsin and New Jersey where political leaders take every opportunity to blast teachers.

I believe we need to be more active in fighting attacks on the profession and exposing not just politicians but others especially in the business community and in corporate-affiliated foundations that have promulgated that “the teachers are the problem”.

Tony