General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDeVos: Critics want to make my life a living hell
In her first full week as U.S. education secretary, Betsy DeVos wasted no time in getting to work to try to explain her vision for education and the U.S. Education Department and to go after her critics, saying they want to make her life a living hell. She also said she has identified people in the department who want her to fail, but vowed not to let them.
Her nomination by President Trump sparked an unprecedented backlash, and she was confirmed on Feb. 7 in the Senate only after Vice President Pence cast the first-ever vote to break a tie for a Cabinet nominee. Her backers see her as a champion of school choice and alternatives to traditional public schools, while opponents say her decades of advocacy work show that she wants to privatize the public education system.
She was met with protests at the first D.C. public school she visited as education secretary, and the San Diego Board of Education decided not to vote on a resolution to invite her to visit the citys public schools.
In a speech and several interviews, DeVos made clear that she is planning to push the expansion of school choice charter schools, voucher programs and other alternatives to traditional public schools.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/02/17/devos-critics-want-to-make-my-life-a-living-hell/?utm_term=.13e04868d9f6&wpisrc=nl_rainbow&wpmm=1
C_U_L8R
(45,020 posts)But quit the pathetic whining
Skittles
(153,193 posts)iluvtennis
(19,871 posts)muntrv
(14,505 posts)they recruit so many who can't afford it and yet they gladly take their money.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)kerry-is-my-prez
(8,133 posts)They were chanting and cheering around the pool and were whipped into a frenzy. I'll never forget it. The people I spoke to were acting like they were brainwashed.
spanone
(135,873 posts)Last edited Sat Feb 18, 2017, 04:28 PM - Edit history (1)
heat / kitchen
this is what happens when you put billionaires in jobs that require actual skills.
like trump, she has no idea what she is getting into.
Brother Buzz
(36,463 posts)BeyondGeography
(39,379 posts)She bought her way into this job so she could undermine them. Her life deserves to be a living hell.
starshine00
(531 posts)I want more info regarding this 'hell' though, I can't imagine what a born billionaire considers a 'living hell'...please do tell, Betty
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)wcmagumba
(2,892 posts)I'm sure she has caused similar for others and has plans to institute said "hell" for all students and educators.
Auntie Bush
(17,528 posts)Drive the devil out!
JHB
(37,161 posts)You want to play in this league, play by the rules your own team set.
Jimbo101
(776 posts)Freedomofspeech
(4,227 posts)Why don't these rich Bastards just stay home and enjoy their billions? Why don't they leave us alone and stop making our lives a living hell?
coco22
(1,258 posts)How much is enough. Greedy bastards want more and more and more. Every time they get in power they go straight to everything to make the middle class and poor struggles even more difficult.
I think they read the cards wrong when the fuck ups start to reveal themselves Trump voters will finally start to see the light,I hope.
wordpix
(18,652 posts)Dustlawyer
(10,497 posts)Couldn't she content herself with being a philanthropist?
Oh wait, she would have to donate money to charity, not Republican Think Tanks and Congresscritters!
Tatiana
(14,167 posts)These billionaires have no shame. They think their billions entitle them to rule over the plebeians. They have no concept of civics or rule of law or even the idea of consent of the governed.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)I guess I can understand Trump, he loves the attention. But DeVos, who undoubtedly has never had anybody yell in her face, seems like someone who won't last long. I hope so.
kerry-is-my-prez
(8,133 posts)who thinks she's doing "Gods Work," by spreading her form of religion around.
hunter
(38,326 posts)She's been "called" to open public schools to her creepy cult.
tblue37
(65,487 posts)dalton99a
(81,570 posts)neeksgeek
(1,214 posts)Blue_Adept
(6,402 posts)iamateacher
(1,089 posts)suffragette
(12,232 posts)rzemanfl
(29,568 posts)MineralMan
(146,329 posts)some Blackwater goons. They'll soon rid your department of those nasty, nasty people.
She can push, but others will certainly push back. On her own, she can do nothing. She had better start making nice and listening to all those people. They can, and will thwart her plans.
appleannie1943
(1,303 posts)year old grandson that laughed at your stupidity and lack of knowledge during your hearing.
underpants
(182,877 posts)Chasstev365
(5,191 posts)No money, no supplies, standardized tests designed to make students, thus teachers fail, and destroy teacher unions.
Cry me a river, Betsy!
longship
(40,416 posts)In other words, no number of good deeds will save your miserable soul from an eternity in Hell fire. You are predestined at birth.
Rot in Hell, you ignorant harpy!
meadowlark5
(2,795 posts)She most likely lived her life in her little elite bubble where her church members loved her, the groups and organizations she is part of adored her - now she's thrust into the real world. The real land of opinion and demands and opposition.
Nothing would make me happier to see this "lovely woman" slink back to her palatial Amway compound wounded from the lack of love that she probably naively was expecting from the masses.
katmondoo
(6,457 posts)dchill
(38,532 posts)Good.
MedusaX
(1,129 posts)Just like a little rich girl...
Got all scared when she saw a group of those not white public school heathens...
Welcome to the real world Miss Grizzly DeVos...
Nobody gives a f*ck about your title or who your daddy is... If you want to be well received then at least take the time to educate yourself about the programs you are responsible for managing....and work on your reputation before going someplace you clearly fear & detest....
Or better yet ...
instead of retreating to your ride why not try TALKING to the people who apparently care enough to be present when you arrive......
msdogi
(430 posts)another whiny little bitch, cannot believe so many of the repugs seem surprised that so very many are opposed to them and their agendas..and we are quickly gaining momentum and broad support.
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,600 posts)a martyr complex?
MFM008
(19,818 posts)than she looks....................
winstars
(4,220 posts)jeanmarc
(1,685 posts)Life will be restored to usual.
It's kind of easy. Or as you would say, Betsy, eazy.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Afromania
(2,771 posts)his entire cabinet, so far, seems like they are really fragile and, dare I say,"snowflake like".
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Afromania
(2,771 posts)Trump only brought him there to make him eat "meatloaf" and make himself feel better at the expense of Christies busted ego. I mean after getting his face handed to him by most of the American public, the courts, other governments, people working for him, the intelligence community there had to be somebody he could show he was boss.
Ah well, couldn't happen to a nicer blowhard, and I still feel sort of bad for his mean bullying ass.....
Well......
maybe...........
no.......
no I don't, not even a bit. You lay down with dogs, you get fleas.
bravenak
(34,648 posts)Maru Kitteh
(28,342 posts)Boo freakin' hoo.
Afromania
(2,771 posts)Did you think people would sit by quietly and let you make a mess? The entire country is not the Republican voter base that's going to let you rip them off as long as you say black, brown and poor is bad.
Most people are smarter than that.
TrekLuver
(2,573 posts)Pachamama
(16,887 posts)....parties and feel important. But like the Church lady she is, she has made it her mission to destroy public education and structure it in a way to spread the gospel as she sees it, so this was her chance.
She just didn't realize that she wouldn't have flowers tossed her way and actually have people calling her out for what she is really about.
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)... becuase you are going to make the U.S. education system a living hell. Fuck you, you plutocratic wretch!
GeorgeGist
(25,323 posts)Go To Hell, Betsy.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)Bucky
(54,065 posts)It's like living in Nazi Germany only instead of Jews & Gypsies, its the politically powerless oppressing theocrats and billionaire lobbyists.
LAS14
(13,783 posts)secondwind
(16,903 posts)forgotmylogin
(7,530 posts)If you're not going to listen to your critics, it will surely seem like hell.
meow2u3
(24,772 posts)Cruella Devos, Cruella Devos
If you can't take pushback
Resign and get lost
A whiny little bitch just like her no-good boss
Cruella, Cruella Devos
50 Shades Of Blue
(10,043 posts)LuckyLib
(6,819 posts)for years. You have no background in the field of education, no practical experience, and you lack even rudimentary awareness of the laws and requirements developed nationally in this field. In a culture like ours, increasingly anti-intellectual, where teachers are dismissed and the recipients of phenomenal disrespect (because, after all, anyone can be a teacher and everyone has been in a school) we're simply appalled that a know-nothing rookie would be appointed to this position.
Can you imagine a wealthy philanthropist with no background in medicine appointed to head the National Institutes of Health? Or someone without a law background to lead the American Bar Association?
yellowwoodII
(616 posts)I must confess to feeling sorry for her when I watched her being questioned. She really looks like a nice little bridge-playing, church-going lady who believes what she says. She just can't understand why people like us don't share her vision.
I know people like her, and I like them.
I just don't want them running anything, let alone our education system. She certainly doesn't reflect the wishes of most of us.
I can see every cult in the country just looking forward to starting their own schools.
NNadir
(33,544 posts)roamer65
(36,747 posts)Thekaspervote
(32,793 posts)Because you have a lot of ideas that have been tried and failed already?? What every happened to a new leader coming in, openly assessing, actually listening then formulating a plan that works for the everyone.
My question to you devos, why do you want a job where you are obliviously not wanted? You have a ton of money, why not go ruin some rich kids lives and leave our public school system alone!!
Eclectic Scribe
(8 posts)As an educator of 25 years I hope her entire tenure is a living hell.
DFW
(54,436 posts)Just the one that report facts.
Uh, Besty? No one stopped you from telling the Donald you didn't want to play, and on one stopped you from testifying pure garbage at your hearings. Stop spewing garbage, stop threatening to do a lousy job, or resign. Otherwise get used to a LOT more of this.
murielm99
(30,761 posts)Write a book, or have it ghost-written, telling how mean everyone was to you. It probably won't sell, but it can fill up the discount bins in the dollar stores.
iamateacher
(1,089 posts)First, who would say that on their first week on the job? What a morale booster! Well, someone whose brother founded Blackwater, I guess.
Soxfan58
(3,479 posts)Maybe you can make another huge political donation and get a different job.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)LakeArenal
(28,845 posts)What the heck have I been living?
sinkingfeeling
(51,473 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,281 posts)Put a little more Shrill in it, will ya?
Vinca
(50,303 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)DeminPennswoods
(15,290 posts)How kind of you to notice.
bluescribbler
(2,122 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,088 posts)If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. I'm sure you have never stepped foot in a kitchen in your life, just as you have never stepped foot in a public school. Perhaps you should leave the job to someone who can handle it, just like you leave your cooking to your personal chefs.
TNNurse
(6,929 posts)and are getting criticism? Too bad, so sad, suck it up.
Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)and go back to counting the billions you and your piece of shit husband have stolen with your fucking Amway trash.
Phoenix61
(17,019 posts)Since you've never really had a job I can see how this could come as a shock to you. Deal with it. Get up to speed or get out. The choice is yours. But, please, please, stop whining like a spoiled brat.
Alice11111
(5,730 posts)First time for her with major responsibility, where she couldn't buy her way or order people around. She is so out of her element. She is used to sycophants and "respect " because she is rich. Now. She is getting Mama bears protecting their cubs and teachers who have nothing to lose, as they have been treated badly for so long. Most have moved on to other jobs or plan to, but they still want this woman to be accountable.
How stupid DT was to put someone so divisive in this role, but it was a matter of WINNING and shoving her in the face of his enemies...Dems, teacher unions. educators. This is a position where you have to have someone who can bring people together, build trust and coalitions, not someone who couldn't get confirmed , but for the VP breaking a tie. His ego over country or even common sense. What does he think this upheaval does to teacher and student morale? Oh, he doesn't think or care. He won.
Kablooie
(18,641 posts)First Speaker
(4,858 posts)...it's called being Betsy DeVos. Living that life? I couldn't imagine a worse punishment...
ThoughtCriminal
(14,049 posts)The ones who bail soonest will be the luck ones.
eleny
(46,166 posts)Cha
(297,652 posts)Blue Idaho
(5,057 posts)But I'm perfectly willing to make her life a shithole of unimaginable misery. In fact I'm actually looking forward to it...
herding cats
(19,567 posts)It's not going to be the easy ride she thought it was destroying public education.
Teachers and parents are pissed the hell off. She's not going to get the cakewalk she anticipated. Most people hate what she stands for, it's going to get very ugly in the near future for her. Her early days have been gentle compared to once she actually starts implementing her agenda.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,214 posts)and go home and count your billions.
Kber
(5,043 posts)When you are perceived as attacking or hurting the kids, their parents tend to get upset and go into protection mode.
Iggo
(47,565 posts)Iggo
(47,565 posts)It ain't about you, you fucking narcissist.
Retrograde
(10,156 posts)we do expect you to do a competent job, to drop all your nonsense about funding charter and private schools on the taxpayers' dimes, to learn about the challenges facing the majority of schoolchildren and their parents today, and to move the American educational system forwards. That means fact-based rather than delusion-based teaching.
When you start - and stay- on that path we'll support you. Until then, you're a public servant and a lot of the public is not happy.
demmiblue
(36,885 posts)C_U_L8R
(45,020 posts)Get a grip and do your job.