THREAD: If 'dark money' is a problem, call it out on all sides
I woke up today hungover from the painfully partisan impeachment hearings yesterday. It was bad theater and a terrifying indication of how far into the gutter American leadership and institutions have eroded in the past three years.
Partisanship, the outcome of replacing religion with politics, is an intoxicant that makes smart people dumb. And, while I think that's obvious, I'm still no fan of "bothsiderism," which is the intellectually cowardly way of splitting the difference and abdicating using some judgement to call things right or wrong.
In education, the issue I think about daily, partisans are turning one of the most important issues for children and families into a bloodsport like other hot-button issues. That's driven in large part by media and "journalists" who cover education as if it is a battle between waring philanthropists, and that all down-ballot education policies can be seen as the product of big money political influence - mostly from the right who want to "destroy" traditional education.
Which brings me to the thread I wrote on Twitter today. You can see it below.
My point is to say we need intellectual consistency and journalistic integrity when it comes to convering "dark money" in education politics. And, to that end, we have to call out progressive media nonprofits that place carefully considered think pieces in mainstream media without it ever being disclosed that their handiwork comes from the Left's 1%.
You have to see the irony in that the people who popularize the idea of the 1% versus the 99% is indeed a product of the 1% it rails against.
If we care about truth, honesty, and fair public debate, then we'll call out the money behind all sides - including the money behind the "journalists" on the left who owe their paychecks to philanthropy.
Here's the thread: