The Gazette Covers the TV Show Situation
The Gazette has a little story this week about the fiasco with the TV show that invited CRC and Richard Cohen to discuss the future of health education, then when we complained invited some people from our side, and then the other side (CRC) backed out and then the producer said a bunch of stupid stuff, like that there were "email attacks." This is, like, the ultimate "local" story.
Sean Sedam writes:
Well, Michelle admits she reads our blog. That's something.
Last March, when CRC had their hate-fest, we went to it. About eight or ten of us met out front and went in together. Security guys stopped us outside the door. They'd been warned we were going to make trouble.
Of course that wasn't any problem. They admitted they'd seen the program and were not too excited about it, either.
We saw some CRC email from when CRC was planning that town hall meeting, where John Garza said:
We just wanted to hear what they were going to say. They didn't need to get Christian goons to break our legs or anything.
And now, the same thing. Oh yeah, "the opposition" (that would be us) is going to hold a big demonstration outside the TV station where they're taping a show that nobody is the world has ever watched.
Is "paranoid" the word I'm looking for here? Or does "blowing everything out of proportion" fit better?
--Hey, if you want to hear some nastiness, listen to some of these speakers from the CRC's meeting. This is what we're up against: CRC Hatefest speakers.
Oh, an another thing. We do have a copy of the letter that the innocent and impartial TV producer sent to the MCPS school board back in November. She says:
To tell you the truth, when I saw this, I couldn't tell what she's saying, and decided not to blog it because it's long, illiterate, and boring. But it appears producer Alice Gordon is complaining to the board about the new curriculum, based on what she'd heard from a friend.
Oh, and she's so innocent, she has applied to be on the citizens advisory committee. A CRC stealth candidate.
Sometimes they make you feel like you need a bath.
Sean Sedam writes:
[CRC President] Michelle Turner said she and the guests she tapped to join her on the show walked because of "the nastiness that was brewing."
Blog postings and e-mails attacked the show and Alice Gordon, a Germantown activist who is the show's associate producer, said Turner, president of the parents group that joined PFOX in the lawsuit.
"Alice was concerned that there’d be a protest at the station," Turner said. "We didn't think it would be of benefit." Lights! Camera! But alas, no action
Well, Michelle admits she reads our blog. That's something.
Last March, when CRC had their hate-fest, we went to it. About eight or ten of us met out front and went in together. Security guys stopped us outside the door. They'd been warned we were going to make trouble.
Of course that wasn't any problem. They admitted they'd seen the program and were not too excited about it, either.
We saw some CRC email from when CRC was planning that town hall meeting, where John Garza said:
If the opposition shows up, we ignore them. By using microphones, upbeat music we can ignore them. They look like fools in the media. Perhaps we ask for police protection from them. (Hey there are a lot of Christians in the NFL maybe we can get some of those guys to be our security).
We just wanted to hear what they were going to say. They didn't need to get Christian goons to break our legs or anything.
And now, the same thing. Oh yeah, "the opposition" (that would be us) is going to hold a big demonstration outside the TV station where they're taping a show that nobody is the world has ever watched.
Is "paranoid" the word I'm looking for here? Or does "blowing everything out of proportion" fit better?
--Hey, if you want to hear some nastiness, listen to some of these speakers from the CRC's meeting. This is what we're up against: CRC Hatefest speakers.
Oh, an another thing. We do have a copy of the letter that the innocent and impartial TV producer sent to the MCPS school board back in November. She says:
... I received notice from a friend that a study has been completed and a curriculum containing homosexuality and a video with very explicit content was to be used in middle and high school classrooms...
To tell you the truth, when I saw this, I couldn't tell what she's saying, and decided not to blog it because it's long, illiterate, and boring. But it appears producer Alice Gordon is complaining to the board about the new curriculum, based on what she'd heard from a friend.
Oh, and she's so innocent, she has applied to be on the citizens advisory committee. A CRC stealth candidate.
Sometimes they make you feel like you need a bath.
posted by JimK at 11:03 PM
2 Comments:
We know that in November, 2004 Alice Gordon wrote to the school board citing hearsay evidence about the curriculum revisions.
We know that Alice Gordon claims that she was attacked by email, but has never produced the emails that attacked her. We had one of the emails that was sent to her here on this blog. I wrote to her and asked her to include parents and students who were participating in the opt-in sections of the curriculum. I did not attack her and I have not seen any evidence of any attacks. Sean Sedam's article mentions attacks, but is based solely on hearsay evidence.
Michele Turner is quoted as saying that there was nastiness brewing and that Alice Gordon was concerned about a protest at the station. A review of the blogs reveals that TeachtheFacts.org members were planning to WATCH THE PROGRAM. So the feared protest wasn't coming from us. Where was it coming from? Who, exactly was brewing nastiness? Does Michele have a source for this? Is this more hearsay, or is it perhaps paranoia?
When planning their "Town Hall," the inner circle of CRC assumed that curriculum supporters would show up and make trouble. The supporters showed up; they didn't make trouble. The closest thing to trouble came when CRC people tried to keep TTF people from entering. However, the security staff affirmed that the TTF members had every right to be there. I think it is worth noting that the CRC also made public statements after the Town Hall meeting in which they distanced themselves from the opinions of their guest speakers.
Now, there have been some real problems and some very scary threats made on the internet. A citizen's association in Germantown tried to have an information meeting about the curriculum, but, as reported by The Gazette, the invited school board members were afraid to come after threats of physical harm were made on the CRC's blog. The CRC both denied that threats had been made and made a formal apology to the school board. Alice Gordon was the convenor of that thwarted citizen's association meeting.
So what do we have that we can put a finger on? We have hearsay, we have paranoia on a continuing basis, and we have some threats made to the school board, and we have the CRC's history of having to say they're sorry about the things that are said when they give people the chance to speak.
Why is The Gazette reporting hearsay as though it is established fact? Has anyone ever found any evidence in word or deed of "nastiness brewing" among the supporters of the BOE's accurate and moderate curriculum revisions?
What is it about the violent fantasies of this small group of ultra-conservatives that merits covering them with such unquestioning sincerity?
I was at the CRC hate fest and I wrote to Alice(I know NOTHING!)Gordon and her producer about the one-sidedness of the show as well as the expulsion of Cohen- I also asked that they include someone besides Anne Kaiser when they first proposed only Anne as the counterpoint to CRC.
It makes short,old me feel really powerful to think that Michelle and her crew want to pretend that we are violent protesters. It would be funny if it wasn't pathetically sad-because Michelle knows exactly who we are and that none of us has ever been violent. She is scared to speak in any format where she might actually have to respond to intelligent people- so just cancel your appearance and say it is because people were going to be violent.
Maybe I can say I am afraid of CRC at the BOE meetings because I am afraid Steina Walter is going to hit me with the Porn Nation book she carried and waved in my face???
Andrea
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