Greetings!That's the way Michael Donovan starts most essays on his Inclusion blog. That's just not going to work for me. I'm a miserable bastard.
I knew Michael back when he was just one of the little people, a mere mortal. Yes, he's the VP of Allentown City Council, but I've been to their meetings, and that's no honor. He's been complaining about Allentown's finances since he's been there, but is routinely ignored.
At Cedar Crest College, it's a different story. He's just been elevated to the rarefied atmosphere of academic luminaries, having been granted tenure there late last week.
Did you know Michael has served as executive director of the Greater Portland Economic Development Council and with AT&T Communications, Data General Corporation and the Valcom Business Center? Did you know he was an international investment officer and municipal finance consultant for the Bank of Boston?
I've met with Michael a few times over the years, and he's never mentioned his work in the private sector, except in the most general way. I only know about his checkered past with Big Finance because of a news release from Cedar Crest College, which you can read here.
Michael began teaching at Cedar Crest in 2004. His course load includes business ethics, international business, principles of finance and a cpublic policy coursec for business studecnts. He's also the author of a study guide, and actually has two MBAs.
For reasons that elude me, the news release fails to mention Donovan's most significant accomplishment of all - he's a blogger.
You see that? Not all of us are idiots. We've got MBAs and everything.
Congrats, Mike! Well deserved.
Congrats, Mike! Kudos to your perserverance.
ReplyDeleteA recent one of his ridiculous posts parrots Tea Party hatred without a single, actual example. A NY Times poll showed Tea Partiers are wealthier and better educated than the general public. Mike must hate this. First, he tried to tell us they didn't exist. Now, he apparently believes they do and is on to bashing them with DNC talking points. I wonder if he has any original thoughts? They're not to be found on his blog. If his busy-work academic credentials are as paper thin in actual achievement as the backing of his weak arguments, I'd say he's simply perfect for Cedar Crest! Just once I'd like to see tenure offered to someone other than another stereotypical liberal from Central Casting. Some things never change.
ReplyDeleteI do think that particular bliog was ill considered. If he wants to condemn extremism, I'm with him. But I'm not really sure what Michael was saying. But I appreciate that he's out there, unlike most public servants.
ReplyDeleteWell at least he did some time in the private sector. Usually they just read books and write fiction and protest to get Ward Churchill status.
ReplyDeleteI find much of what the Tea Party says as laughable. I listen to Palin and the Minnesota vixen and laugh.
ReplyDeleteI do not see socialism. I do not see problems with trying to fix what the administration created.
And as far as the DNC goes, I make up my own mind. I listen and I find the talking points of Limbaugh and Beck and the Tea Party just plain stupid and selfish.
Yes, I have private sector experience. Made people a lot of money.
Just having a degree does not mean that one uses their education to think things through, especially when selfishness trumps the common good. There is a lot of research that says that people beyond 30 revert to thinking in ways similar to their grammar school instincts. They forget what they learned during their productive years because they become more selfish.
My liberal tendencies (which are more classically liberal) are based on private sector experience. I can teach business with the best of them. It's not terribly hard. In fact it is not rocket science.
I don't mind conservaties when they know what they are talking about, and if that is a sign of elitism, so be it. There is nothing more frustrating then listening to a person who does not know what they are talking about, as if they do. Admitting a lack of knowledge in something is the best sign of confidence. No way would I build a plane, cook a gormet dinner, or build a car. I do know about finance, marketing, and social movements.
Thank you, Bernie for your complement. I appreciate it.
Best regards,
Michael
Michael,
ReplyDeleteYou deserve all the credit in the world for being out there, exposing your views to puiblic scrutiny. You are one of very few. And you have paid a heavy price at the hands of sick people who do not stop at attacking you, but add your wife and son to the mix.
Having said that, I think a classic liberal would identify the source of his complaints before going off and complaining about them. And referring to Congresswoman Michelle Bachman as that "Minnesota vixen" is precisely what I would condemn in comments from the right. The name-calling and polarization of our dialogues get worse every day.
Now would I say that Michelle Bachman is irresponsible for advocating that people refuse to fill out their census forms? Absolutely. Would I tell Pelosi that her "reload" comment was a poor choice of words? You betcha'.
Would I tell our local tea party that their "limited government resolutin" is self-defeating? Already have.
But when we make the same snarks about conservatives, how do we establish ourselves as being better than them?
I personally have come to the conclusion that this whole liberal / conservative distinction is itself rather mindless. Clearly, neither ideology works in every situation.
I prefer a more balanced approach to our problems, a centrist view based on reason and common sense as opposed to the shrill dictates of dead philosophers.
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ReplyDelete"Reload a poor choice of words"
ReplyDeleteGood example. I'm sorry if I do not cite a long list of strange comments and claims to make a point, especially when I have cited similar evidence in earlier posts.
And yes, I can call people names, too. I can get angry. I can find people with whom I disagree. I have tried and tried to have conversations with individuals about the divide, but all I get is name calling about we liberals.
Well, I'm tired of it.
My first thought about Bachman was the way that she is constantly complaining. So, I used the word that best describes such behavior. Checked the dictionary this morning to see its usage. Here is the definition of "vixen" from the Oxford Dictionary.
An ill-tempered quarrelsome woman; a shrew, a termagant. --
That seem accurate. I was not aware of "termagant," but if you look that up, you would find it as an appropriate discriptor.
Also, the Oxford describes the word as the "female of the fox." Hence some definitions apply to slyness. I cannot help it if some people immediately think of the pedestrian use of the word.
Again, my apologies if I did not repeat a long list of complaints about the extreme left or the extreme right.
Best regards
Michael
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI have deleted some comments that I think were posted by a troll whose views here are unwelcome on any topic.
ReplyDeleteMichael, no need to get sarcastic. You came out blasting the tea party and conservatives with no explanation at all. You need not come up with a "long list," but do need to have an explanation for what set you off.
Also, I am very familiar with the meaning of the word "vixen," and using that word in the context in which you used it is offensive to women. You brought her sex into the discussion, and that is completely irrelevant.
He called an accomplished woman with who he disagrees a derogatory term meant to demean her womanhood. Cedar Crest should be very proud of their new untouchable.
ReplyDeleteYes, he did call her something that draws attention to her sex and in a derogatory way, and that's why I thought this was insensitive. But as insensitive comments go, it was rather mild.
ReplyDelete