Thursday, June 21, 2012

Dispatch, Vardon Follow Liberal Talking Points on Jackson Character Assassination

Former OSU Quarterback Stanley Jackson thought he was volunteering his time and energy to improving the lives of Ohio's children. Instead, he finds himself in the middle of an overblown controversy that should have never gotten to this point:
The Kasich administration could not provide a resume yesterday for Jackson, whom it named late Monday afternoon to serve the final six months of an at-large term on the 19-member panel...

Jackson is Kasich’s eighth appointment to the state Board of Education in his 17 months in office, and his third of someone who has no education experience. Of the other five, two were former members of district school boards, one was a former district superintendent, one was a teacher and one worked for the U.S. Department of Education.
Of course, this mirrors the attacks coming from the most liberal Ohioans: none other than the infamously inappropriate and increasingly inaccurate Plunder-Pals:
Masters Preparatory Academy Charter School is not yet in operation in Ohio and the recently registered website (mpaam.org) lists Jackson’s home address in Marion as the organization’s location. Neither is it listed by the Ohio Department of Education as a prospective school that will be opening in the 2012-2013 school year.
In other words, the Dispatch, through reporter Joe Vardon, seems to be taking marching orders from Ohio's most liberally skewed blog instead of reporting the news. And not only that, but they're reaffirming their jaded and misguided talking points that somehow Mr. Jackson's lack of a college degree somehow precludes him from having anything substantive to add to his new position.


Never mind that Mr. Jackson, as a parent and rural resident, is actually qualified to fill the position, unlike his predecessor, Dennis Reardon (a resident of Pickerington, which is not a rural district), who was appointed by former Governor Ted Strickland simply because he was the head of the Ohio Education Association (i.e. the teachers' union).  Never mind that Jackson's appointment actually follows the rules and procedures of a gubernatorial appointment, unlike those of former Governor Ted Strickland, who's immense screw-ups prompted a political dispute in early 2011.

No, instead the Dispatch focuses on little more than straight liberal talking points, and, in their most recent story, leans on the liberal story line that Mr. Jackson's lack of a college degree is somehow newsworthy.  If we didn't know any better, we'd think this immense character assassination wasn't about a college degree, but Mr. Jackson's race--but we won't play that card (unlike some people).

In the end, it's seriously troubling that this story needs to even be written. Since when did American society require that a person have a college degree to succeed in life? What sort of elitist mentality is that? 

That's certainly not the America I grew up in.

Perhaps the Dispatch and the Plunder-Pals would like to explain to Henry Ford, Steve Wozniak and James Cameron that a college degree is a requirement for success.

Hell, Walt Disney, Frank Lloyd Wright and Andrew Carnegie didn't even graduate high school. Does that somehow diminish their accomplishments?

Having a college degree does not make you any more or less qualified to be a leader and shape the hearts and minds of young children. It simply requires a commitment to the cause, and that's a commitment that Stanley Jackson exudes in everything that he does.

So unless the Dispatch wants to go on record saying that a college degree is necessary to be anything in this country, we suggest they stop with the character assassination. Or at the very least, stop taking their talking points from liberal disciples like the Plunder-Pals.


Cross-posted at GOHP Blog.

6 comments:

  1. As usual, you guys missed the point, which is that Nichols claimed they did a thorough review of Jackson yet he couldn't confirm if the guy graduated college, whether he did or did not provide a resume, or whether the school that Jackson claims to have founded - and which was lauded by Kasich as his primary qualification - even exists.

    As we clearly pointed out, and Vardon correctly "borrowed", the charter school never appears to have opened. And if it had, and if Jackson continued to work for the school, then he legally couldn't be appointed to the board anyway.

    If you'd bothered to read Greg's follow up post, you'd clearly see that we never attacked Jackson - instead we questioned Kasich's very poor vetting process and Nichols' ridiculous attempts (aka: lying) to put a positive spin on it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joseph is right. We should look to the last governors vetting method:

      Will you drop out of your race if i give you a job the ORC says you can't legally hold, so we can play race politics and ensure a black woman is the nominee?

      You will?

      You're hired!

      Delete
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    ReplyDelete
  3. It also seems worth mentioning that neither Vardon nor Plunderbund EVER mentioned Jackson's college degree.

    You may be thinking of the State Impact story?

    It's really hard to take your fake outrage seriously when you can't even get the basic facts straight about who you are mad at and why.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are so insanely liberal, you don't even know the filth coming from your own blog:

      "Any blame should remain squarely on the Kasich administration who made this appointment despite:

      -Being aware that Jackson may not have a college degree"

      http://www.plunderbund.com/2012/06/20/lay-off-the-qb-jackson-didnt-appoint-himself-to-the-state-board/

      Delete
    2. 1. That is NOT from the blog post you referenced above. And it did not appear in the original Vardon story either. While it's true Vardon did "borrow" some information from our original post for his revised piece on the topic, specifically the fact that the charter school does not actually exist, he got the college degree information from State Impact, not us.

      2. The quote in your comment above was actually from our second blog post on the topic. Which came out a day after the State Impact piece. And the entire point of the post was to chastise the media for blaming Jackson instead of properly blaming Kasich for failing to vet the appointee.

      You may have missed the sentences before this one, so let me help refresh your memory:

      "Jackson has become the target of unfair attacks on his own character by mainstream media outlets... it is wrong to criticize Jackson personally for this placement."

      I realize you have an angle and a spin you're trying to push here, but give me a break with the name calling and the fake outrage and at least try to get the basic facts straight.

      Delete

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