* Somebody had to say it. Somebody, that is, with clout.
So it was that John Morgan, the uber Orlando Democratic lawyer, recently called out Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz for opposing the proposed medical marijuana constitutional amendment. Rep. Wasserman Schultz, who represents the Miami area’s 23rd Congressional district, says the amendment is “written too broadly and stops short of ensuring strong regulatory oversight.” She is also one of the few Democrats to vote against an amendment that would bar the federal government from interfering with state decisions on this issue.
The voluble Morgan, who is bankrolling the medical marijuana amendment, went into rhetorical overdrive in a Miami Herald interview. He did more than point out that Wasserman Schultz disagreed with the Florida Supreme Court. He called Wasserman Schultz, who also chairs the Democratic National Committee, a national “irritant” and the “new Allen West of South Florida. … She should just become a bridesmaid for Pam Bondi’s next wedding.”
Ouch. No “for the people” pabulum here.
Some context: Wasserman Schultz is an aggressive, transplanted Jewish liberal from New York who selectively and self-servingly goes off the Democratic reservation when it matters in her Miami-area district. Hence her medical marijuana take as well as her stand on Cuba, where she might as well be Debbie Ros Lehtinen. She tends to get a free pass from party and press on her sellouts. But not from Morgan.
Then there’s the subplot. Republicans, sensing a rare opportunity to actually appear women-friendly, subsequently branded Morgan’s comments as sexist–especially the bridesmaid part, which is still funny.
* The Tampa Bay Times’ headline read: “FCAT Scores Remain Steady.” For a moment, I thought: sounds like good news.
Then I remembered we’re talking about the FCAT and this state’s accountability mantra, which venerates standardized testing.
As it turns out, “steady” means, in effect, some incremental gains by some sectors. The percentages of students passing in math, reading and science rose by about one point in most grades. “Students throughout the state are continuing to make progress,” assessed Florida Education Commissioner Pam Stewart.
Here’s some context. In most grades and most subjects, between a third and half of students fail. That’s the steady reality, even if the headline didn’t say: “FCAT Scores Still Stink.”
* The ubiquity and accessibility of the Internet and its influence on adolescents, as we know, can be frightening at times. Recall the 12-year-old Polk County girl who committed suicide last year after being bullied on line by classmates. Law enforcement has been adjusting. Felony cyberstalking is now a prosecutorial option.
Then last week a pre-teen girl in Wisconsin was stabbed repeatedly by classmates who were obsessed with some macabre Internet meme, “Slender Man.” The power of the Internet has apparently turned horror tropes, which have been around in various folklore forms forever, into something literally menacing for the unsuspecting.
While society at large tries to cope with morphing media, at least one approach is decidedly low tech. That’s because some things haven’t changed about raising kids–even in a cyber society, where online alternative realities can lure the impressionable into the unconscionable. Put it this way: Something has gone terribly wrong–and untaught–at home.
As child-rearing becomes ever more challenging–with potential consequences ever more life-altering–the onus is on adults in charge to be better parents. Where there’s an Internet, there’s an Internot.