Katherine Kersten's Korner

It's time for another Katherine Kersten's Korner. Today, we learn what really sets her off: teachers. Specifically, the fact that Education Minnesota is launching a TV campaign to get input on Minnesota's schools and maybe, just maybe, help drive public opinion on the issue.

Wingnuttia Level: 10 (She's gonna blow!)

Honestly, there is not much to say about Kersten's false outrage. She has been around the block a few times and is not as naive as she pretends to be. Yes, Education Minnesota wants to change public perception about funding for public schools. Her heart all a-flutter, she barely keeps from passing out and asks, "Is Education Minnesota a serious education organization, dedicated to academic excellence and innovation? Or is it, first and foremost, a union concerned with increasing its members salaries and benefits?" News flash: they are a union, concerned with themselves.

I've been around the legislature a few times, and you know what I've noticed? That there are a lot of people there who are pushing their agenda. Sometimes, they even take to the media to get their point across. And guess what? Most of these people don't care about the greater good of Minnesota. The people who are at the capitol trying to get new stadiums for the Twins and Vikings aren't trying to make Minnesota a utopia for all of its citizens, they want money. The farmers who come down to lobby for dairy programs and other supports for family farms aren't concerned with the plight of every single person in the state, they want money. When the owner of some auto glass replacement company was on the radio a few years ago it wasn't because he was dedicated to excellence and innovation in field of car repair, it was because he was lobbying against a bill that he thought would hurt his business.

We get it, Kersten. You, like lots of conservative Republicans, don't like public school teachers. You think they are liberal pigs at the public trough, trying to get good old-fashioned salt-of-the-earth kids to think that homosexuality is normal and the U.S. is horrible and all those other things that you believe teachers are conspiring to do. But please, spare us the fake outrage at a group simply doing what every single other business, church, charity, government, and organization has done from time immemorial: look out for itself. If such sights lead you to an apoplectic fit, I suggest that you stop watching TV, reading newspapers, listening to the radio, surfing the web, or otherwise engage in activities that expose you to the outside world.