Would the media coverage and response of the political class been the same?

I've been following the long-dormant discussions of gun rights/gun control. I heard Obama and elected officials weigh in, showing some bravery. I saw the cover pix on Daily News and New York Post (Rupert's titles) calling La Pierre a 'gun nut' and 'loon'.

Can't help but speculate how the Dem/Rep campaigns would deal with this horror if they were afraid of losing close votes in our polarized nation. Would they tiptoe around topics of violence, access to guns, the NRA and Second Amendment rights.

Timing is everything these days.

This is a weird one......


Eddie Long, the controversial pastor of a Georgia-based megachurch, was anointed 'king' in a ceremony that has outraged some Jewish community leaders, the Associated Press reported.

The video, filmed at a service at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, shows Messianic preacher Rabbi Ralph Messer instructing two men to wrap Long in a Torah. Then, Long is seated in a chair, covered in a prayer shawl while holding the sacred scroll and lifted by four men.

"He now is raised up from a commoner to a kingship," Messer says in the video, as the men walk Long's seat through the crowd.


http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/weird-wide-web/pastor-eddie-long-crowned-king-by-rabbi-ralph-messer

The story then reminds us of Long's charges of 'coercing' several young men into sexual relationships, and other harassment charges at his Megachurch.

Went to my union meeting on Friday, got the news we were all expecting.

The entire Adult Ed division is set to be de-funded as of July 1st. 100%. All programs, all 1.400 teachers, all classes at all sites. At least this is the plan that will be presented to the LAUSD School Board on 2/14, with a vote set for 2/15.

Adult Ed includes: academic classes that lead to a HS diploma or GED; parenting classes; vocational classes (such as auto repair, landscaping, cosmetology, solar panels) that facilitate hiring in those fields; and the old standby ESL/citizenship. LA families are hurting. If unemployed parents can't get work skills or diplomas, prospects remain poor. More credentialed teachers will be out of work in their field, maybe permanently.

Our union is planning robust actions. We hope some programs will survive. But year after year, public education is being hammered.