City Talk; Michael Meyers, New York Civil Rights Coalition

Hello, I'm Doug Musio, this is City Talk. He's outspoken and iconoclastic, calling out idiocy, racial and otherwise, whatever it's form and source. He's a free speech fanatic who's taken on the ACLU when he was a board member and a black civil rights activist who's taken on the NAACP, he once was assistant director. He's Michael Myers, the executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition and a frequent contributor to the national political conversation speaking and publishing extensively on issues of race relations, urban affairs, education, housing, police abuse, civil liberties

and civil rights. He's here to talk about, well, just about anything he wants to. Welcome back, Michael. Thank you for inviting me. Okay. What right now today has got you particularly ticked off? The lack of standards in education. Go ahead. We're applying standards more and highest standards for students and teachers, supervisors, administrators, yet the mayor of the city of New York, Michael Bloomberg, appoints an unqualified person to be New York City Schools boss and then you're in the person of Cathy Black. You were outspoken in opposition, you also didn't like Joel Klein, explain the reasons, justify the opposition. Well, let me put it this way with respect to Cathy Black first. It's a scam and it's a sham. It was a scam because Mayor Bloomberg didn't give us any notice that Joel Klein was resigning as New York City Schools Chancellor.

The same day that we find out that New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has resigned, he announces his success after Joel Klein meeting Cathy Black. No search, no equal opportunity for the best qualified, the talented, the best and the brightest. Nothing. Although he says in an Orwellian fashion, oh, but I did a public search and his public search was, well, I thought about people in the cup of my head, you know, the size of ten people. Okay. So you're not happy with the choice. But she's there. No, no, no, no, no, because he picked somebody who has zero educational experience in the public educational system, zero teaching experience, and didn't meet the statutory qualifications for New York City Schools Chancellor, which include a master's degree, she only has a BA, and includes some sense that you should know about curriculum, you should know about assessment, you should know about teaching, she has zero experience. What about the compromise that she is going to describe?

That's why I said it was a scam, first of all, because he knew she was not qualified, and then for, before he said, well, you know, I have marital control, you're going to do voices. That's what he said. Go ahead. I have marital control, the state legislature wants me to control the schools, but no, the state legislature kept the qualifications for school superintendent in the educational law. So what does he say? Well, we're going to change the qualifications. I have to pick the best manager, because this school system needs a manager now, there's a new educator anymore. He doesn't get to decide that. So what happens is he has to get a quote waiver from the New York State Commissioner Education, David Steiner, and what does David Steiner do? Well, he gets pressured from the Chancellor of the Board of Regents, Merle Tisch, and you know this whole side. You know, of course, I know I'm going to go ahead, go ahead, merle Tisch, who will not fit hired him as the New York State Education Commissioner.

She wants Kathy Black, the socialite, to get the job. What happens? He had forced to appoint an advisory panel of education experts. This is under the statute. This is Steiner. This is Steiner. This is not under the statute. He's not doing anything in favor. The educational advisory panel to him, as opposed to whether or not he should grant the waiver, does he meet the statutory qualification for a waiver? The panel comes in and says, and it was dreadfully stacked in Bloomberg's favor, by the way, including some of his cronies and supplicants and allies. And the votes still went against the command, and they came in the sentence. No. Well, do not give the waiver, but if she would not qualify for the terms to their independence. Well, despite the fact that there were recipients of Bloomberg money. So they did not. So that's something wrong? No. No vote was secret. No. It was a vote with secret. No. We know it for two, two, four against two in favor and two not at this time. And I have figured out who would if we would vote for four. Okay, but don't do it. I'm not going to give you that.

Okay. But so what's the point? She's in. What happens now? She's not in. Okay. Go ahead. She's not in because she commissioned a Steiner, ignored the advice of this panel. In fact, he met with the panel. This is what they had no leave at me for a second. They didn't have a leave. That's not an obstacle sentence. That's a second. That's a second. He meets with his advisory panel. He meets with them instead of saying, hey, this is what I want. I want to compromise. And he's going to get independent of that. He's telling them, I want to compromise. I want to reject the waiver, but if I can get the mayor to appoint a deputy who has educational experience credentials, then I think I will give the waiver on a conditional basis. But you can't do that. You can't make, you can't give a person a pilot license because the copilot's by the pocket. Right as of now, this woman, this person is the school's chancellor. There may be a suit that says that Steiner violated the law, but assuming, let's just assume that the suit is not successful and Kathy Black becomes chancellor.

All this in a sense is history. Where do we go from there? Where do we go from that point on? Well, I think we have, if assuming, you're right. Right. Okay, let's take care of some children. Right. I understand. But assuming she is being a school's chancellor for the next three years, because it will only be three years, because that's when Bloomberg will thankfully be gone because we will not extend to her limits again. She has to show something in terms of other than cliches, other than, and she's famous for the UNO's. Other than the usual, well, I care for children. Okay, wait a second. Wait a second. You are a hard chief advisor. Let's go into the advice that we've got now. Come on. Get out now because you don't know anything about curriculum. You don't know anything about a step. Okay.

You don't know anything about the verb. Okay. You don't even send your own children to a public school. Get out now. Why do they cause the parents and the grassroots are not going to give you a chance to fail on their children's time? Okay. I shouldn't have asked you what to do with the most. Obviously. Well, that's not the most that ticked me off. It ticked me off right now. Okay. Then most. Let me ask you a different question. Okay. Sorry, I asked that one. Perfect. Okay. What ticks you off the most? Obama. Why? You call him Obama. I call him I, Obama, because it's all about himself. I, I, I, every sentence. I, I, I. Okay. It's never we. He's, I call, I call this situation that we have a president with no experience in terms of, in terms of being a good legislator, in terms of being a good administrator or a good executive. The man's an amateur. And so I call him the obominable snowman, because he gave us a snow job. He gave us a snow job. He had promised the prince of sound bites. Go ahead.

He's a bomb. He's a bomb. He's a, he had given us a snow job in his campaign. If we can't pay in promise, he may, he's broken. He had flip-flop. He has morphed into George W. Bush. Oh, wait. Very pretty. He's, he called him, quote, ran into that. Okay. Wait a minute. Not that George Bush was his opponent. Okay. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I want some substance here. Give me some illustrations. I'll give you a short card. Go ahead. We're supposed to be out of a skeleton. We're deep into Afghanistan. And we're not, now he's even changed the date, the exit date for being out of Afghanistan. It may be 2014. Don't count on that. So we're doing Afghanistan. I'll give you a head. Don't ask, don't tell. He saw, he calls himself the commander in cheese. You know, war time president just like George Bush is saying, how come he hasn't just said, you know, I'm the commander in chief, like Harry Truman said, I'm the commander in chief, just abolish, don't ask, don't tell. Stop discharging people because of their sexual orientation. It's my order. Okay. Okay.

Amen. That's right. Go ahead. Go. He didn't fight for a public option. He didn't fight for universal health care coverage. There is so much about this man that is abominable and what can I say about Obama in terms of his wishy-washiness? He is so tepid. He is so timid. Isn't that great wine in seven days in the name? I don't know if you saw the movie, but it's one of my favorites. It's a great wine. And the general talks to the president of the United States, and the president of the United States. The president of the United States, you know, may I speak freely? And the president of speak freely says, Mr. President, not only are you a weak sister, you are a criminally weak sister. That is what Barack Insane Obama is. Oh, God. A criminally weak sister. Okay. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of him not being a standard. Wait a minute. So you want, who do you want in 2012? Right. I don't have any candidate. I vote for Barack Obama. Hmm.

You're going to vote again. Don't get me. Don't you want to be a candidate for the president? I'm not going to be a candidate for the president. Okay. Okay. To be on Fox. Okay. One of your purposes in life is to challenge racial idiocy. Yeah. What's the latest and most grievous examples of racial idiocy? Oh, so many examples. Okay. Give me, give me Michael Myers top three. Sound bites and all. Go ahead. You have the teleranco situation, which is recently the same. Glad you have people who are trying to excuse Charlie Randall because he's been such a good representative of black people in Harlem. That's where he should idiocy. The man says he's not corrupt, but come on. The elements of corruption are, you don't pay your taxes. The elements of corruption are, you have rent for rent stabilized apartments in Harlem in the luxury luxurious Lennox Terrace. I mean, could I have for rent stabilized apartments in Lennox Terrace? Come on, I can't even get one.

Well, he wouldn't have taken one. But he takes one of those for his so-called son and his son doesn't live there. He never lived there. And he used that, and he used that apartment for a campaign lover. And then he goes to the Congress and, well, you know, it wasn't corruption. I don't want to be sensitive. I don't want to, I don't want to, and then he goes to the Guilmer hearing that he's been demanding. And he doesn't, I can't afford, or he wants out of the hearing. Then he blames everything one. Not having hearing hearing, not being able to cross his damn witness. Come on. This is what I call racial idiocy. Why is it racially? Because the only reason why I tell you where he gets away with this kind of nonsense is the double standard race. That's why. Explain. Explain the double standard. Because Nancy Pelosi, who is supposed to be zero tolerance for corruption, I don't have to go corrupt behavior in the Congress, she needs to hard to wobble. Because it was Charlie Ringo, the black, the senior black. And she couldn't deal with him as a person who was an ethical, because they always see race first. They always see the idiocy of skin color as the barometer,

if it's saying, well, we have to understand those people. But I'm sick of that. Okay. Give me another example of racial idiocy. Give me another example of racial idiocy. I'm asking you these questions, it's really silly. Well, Obama is another example of racial idiocy. No, I'll get you this example. I'll get you this example. Because it's black people, if but not for the racial identification and day of the case of skin color, black people would not stick with Barack Obama. What are they going on? What just a second? He's inexperienced. He's inept. He's an amateur. He's a flip flapper. He doesn't represent the interests of the black and poor and powerless people. He just doesn't. He will identify with the rich and the famous kind of power. Time out. Time out. Time out. Time out. Yeah. Make the point with the argument. I want to make my point about racial idiocy. God, God, God. And that is, if the only reason why there's not a challenge from the left, from the progressive left,

within the Democratic part, the only reason is the Democrats can't win without the black vote. And as long as the black vote stays with Barack Obama, there will be no challenge. He ought to be ashamed of himself, embarrassed enough, realized that he's inept, he cannot do this job, and stand down. The progressive left should make him stand down at the progressive left, forced LBJ Lyndon Bain Johnson. He ought to put a good dog on President in terms of race and civil rights policy. He's a very good president. But the progressive left told him he had to stand down because he messed up, I did say, messed up. He messed up in Vietnam. And this president is messing up in Afghanistan. This president is messing up in health care reform. The president was going up, not down. This president is messing up in every theater in which he operates. God, God, God. He's in that. Okay, stop. An AAC pig. Oh, another example. I mean, this is something you recorded in saying that the NAACP is, quote, now a political arm of the White House.

Explain the remark in the context. Let's play this way. There's so many examples of this, and we don't have much time. But there was a New York Post cartoon about the stimulus bill. And this monkey that was on the ground because of the Connecticut situation and two police officers shooting the monkey. And the caption said, they'll have to find somebody else to write the next stimulus bill. Now, the Morocco, but I'm going to write the stimulus bill, but the NAACP claimed that that New York Post cartoon was racist. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Go ahead. You asked for an example of the racial anything that they give you. I'm sorry. Not only did they say that this was that monkey represented Barack Obama. And therefore, because they have a history of making black people out of monkeys and beasts. To assassinate the first African-American president. This is outrageous.

Okay. But number one, I saw that cartoon the day it came out. And my reaction was maybe I'm thinking, you know, as Michael Myers would critique in racial terms, that looked really more than borderline racist. No. Okay. I saw it. I saw it. Look, they're always phrasing a monkey can write a bell or bell. I mean, that's what it meant. To me, it wasn't racist. And just because the first black president is in office, why does the NSP have to become to his defense on everything? He needs to be criticized, too. His skin color is not protecting him from criticism. So the NSP believes it does. So the NSP is now his protectorate, his flank. And they are always in the White House, just like our shop, there's no White House. And Barack Obama, in another exercise in the nation, idiocy, he empowers the demagogues. He invites them to the White House. He identifies with you, just like he identified with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Okay.

Until he couldn't identify with any more and threw them on him a butt. And eventually he'll throw all these racist demagogues on the butt because you know why? He wants to get re-elected. And once he gets re-elected, they'll go back to time. Okay. Okay. I even hate to mention the name Al Sharpton. But I will. But go ahead. What about him? Talk about Sharpton. Talk about Sharpton. Talk about Sharpton. And Cuomo talk about Sharpton's sort of legitimation, his relationship to Mike Bloomberg, his relationship. I'll give you one example of Al Sharpton. I think too much is great about Al Sharpton. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. He's a person who's out for himself. And... Do you remember the freedom party that Charles Barren supposedly created? Right. Who ran for governor? No, no, no. That was Sharpton on there. He supposedly supported it. But then he didn't even support it. So what's the great? No. The great piece that Al Sharpton is about himself. Al Sharpton is missing in action. Where was he on the careful act situation? Yeah. Al Sharpton is a person who always has a racial gripe.

What if it's not a racial gripe? Where if we expect Governor Cuomo, before Governor Cuomo, Governor-elect Cuomo, could even appoint name his trans-transition team, it was Al Sharpton was blowing off steam, the Blovian is saying, oh, the transition devices to Cuomo are not diverse enough. What do you mean name his trans-transition team yet? And what he meant to say was he wants to be the black, and he wants his people to be the black in Cuomo's ears, whispering sweet little nothing. Okay. And that's what it will be, little nothing. Okay. Let me ask the question. Are there black leaders out there and what did they do? There's such a thing as black leaders? I don't believe in black leaders. You believe in what? I believe in leadership. That's a matter of respect. It doesn't matter what color you are. It really doesn't. And what matters to me is effective leadership. What matters to me is demonstrable leadership. And if you mess up, what are your Charlie Wangle, or David Paterson, or Elliot Spitzer,

or Barack Obama, or LBJ? If you mess up, you get out. And you should feel embarrassed enough like LBJ felt, embarrassed enough to know you should stand down. To give the people a break and put somebody else in. It's just like that Mayor Bloomberg. You know, this guy. Oh, he's going to talk about him. I'm going on CUNY. Go ahead. Mayor Bloomberg, he believes in term limits until his term is us. Then he changes the law. This is on those. No, no, it's not on those. No, it's not on those. Because it's old news in the sense that he changed the law and the incumbents of the city council changed the city of Charlie on their own so they can run for three terms. Right, not all of them, but okay. Go ahead. Well, enough of them to change the law. Go ahead. All right, so now he meeting Bloomberg says, well, I'll appoint the city of Charlie. Can we visit? Can we visit? There you go. Here we go. Go ahead. And the city of Charlie video, the thing that they do is they say, okay, we hear the people. They want, again,

we want to give them a chance to vote for two terms. And two terms, and that's it. Hit it by the chancellor. No, not you. Give me five. Go ahead. Just give me five. I exempt you from my comment. Okay, I got it by the chancellor of the city of New York. Now, if you go through it. Good friend of mine. You know, but I can't get information from this committee. Okay, but you know, you got to foil everything. I know Matthew Goldstein. He's a friend of mine. How come I can't give me information about the racial composition of the staff of the city of New York. Oh, God. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Okay. Okay. So now they appoint the charter commission and they come up with the proposal for two successive terms. Go back again. But guess when it starts, ten years from now. So you'll have 34 incumbents in the council who can run for it. Okay. Okay. Wait a second. Let me just step back for a second. You've ripped everybody. Give me the example of an effective leader that makes a leader effective.

Tell me. Oh, I told you some examples of effective leadership. I thought that went in danger. Oh, don't say that. That's like 300 years ago. Oh, you mean current? Yes. Well, there aren't any. Nice. I can't think of one. That's it. I might. I might give an example. Then we say you have too many examples of people messing up. You know, give me a little. Give me a little. I think Shelley Silver is an effective leader in the New York state. Talk of that. I mean, what can I talk about? I mean, the more I talk about, the more examples I would say, well, he's not that good. But among the terrible people we have in state government, nice. Shelley Silver. Shelley Silver. Shelley Silver. Okay. All right. Shelley Silver. He stands up for what he believes in. He's principal. And he won't flip-flap. Okay. He's a man to my estimation, a man of personal integrity. He's a match. I won't go that far. There are very few mentions. Oh, I don't know them that way. Okay. Okay. Okay.

You're on Fox. And. Oh, Fox. You love Fox. Why do you love Fox? I love Fox. That's what the audience is. That's it, simply. What? More eyeballs then. I love Fox. I love Fox. What the audience is. And the audience loves me. Every time I go on Fox. Oh, I know. You get what kinds of fan mail? I mean, you said it to me. I mean, I mean, phone calls. Talk to me. What makes Fox interesting to you other than the size of the audience? Because Fox News channel unlike other networks, they really believe in debate. They believe in having a discussion between people who don't agree with each other. Now, that's not the case with CNN. That's not the case with MSNBC. And other networks. In fact, those other networks in my estimation, just when it comes down the question of race, they're paternalistic. They like the New York Times. They're paternalistic. Oh, God. The host is one of them. The kids stand having a black person whose I got kind of classic in terms of their thinking

who doesn't beat the same racial drum of ours as our sharpen. The New York Times, CNN and MSNBC, all they know about black people and black leadership is our sharpen. The buffoon. Okay. And that is a shame. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Hold on. You like being the icon of class. Now, is the icon of class sort of your essence or is there a little bit of that involved in it until you catch the movement? That movement. I mean, his prestige in being an icon. I don't know about that. No prestige. And go money and be an icon of class. Let me tell you. Because people these days, including media, want to typecast you. They want to say, you're either left or you're right. Well, they just say you're crazy. I mean, that's different. Joyce, Joyce, whatever a panic suggested I was crazy. No, okay. I know at least it's not the New York Times anymore. But I'm not crazy. No, okay. I'm as big as I am. And I'm not a crook. I'm not crazy.

I'm not crazy. He was a crook. Okay. I think you're crazy. Well, if I'm crazy, this is truly an Orwellian world. This is an Alice in the Wonderland existence. I mean, excuse me. If you look at state politics, we've been down the rabbit hole for how long? Well, that's right. And but some, there has to be some sanity. And there has to be some objective, independent, true judgment about how our leaders are feeling us. And how is that person? I believe I am. Okay. Talk to me about two things. Number one, Andrew Cuomo and your expectations. I have no expectations of Andrew Cuomo. No. I have no expectations of Andrew Cuomo. Positive or none at all? I have no expectations of Andrew Cuomo. Why? He's just another politician. I'm running based on a policy platform that is didn't seem liberal to me at all. Well, I mean, he doesn't claim to be liberal, does he? No, he doesn't come to my little family. Well, I excuse me.

He worked in the ministry. Do you work in the ministry? Okay. Okay. Okay. Wait a second. 30 seconds. Just calling yourself off. All right. NPR. NPR? One way. One way you have to disclose. One way in the friend of mine. Good friend of mine. Yeah. You remember my boyfriend? You were a friend of a couple of people you ripped today. But go ahead. I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit. I'm going to quit. I concur with Warren's position. And I support Warren. NPR was knee-jerk. And I think it was hypocritical in applying a rule against Warren. It does not apply against its other NPR correspondence and communicators, including people who work for NPR, who go on TV all the time, giving their opinions about newsmakers and news topics. Oh, and you want me to name them? You know who they are. I'll be in a token, Barry. Others. I didn't ask you. Oh, okay. You always want to have you insist on everything. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. I gave you one. Right now. Yeah. I like NPR. I like NPR. Oh, okay. I like NPR. They gave me a show. You take it. They gave me a show. I take it. It's a new show. I gave me a show. I take it. If CUNY TV gave me a show, I take it. See, but we can see a kind of problem. You see, and I gave me a show. I take it. You know why? Because we need balance. We need diversity or opinions in the media. And we need people. I hate to sound like this. But we need people who are smart. People who do not engage in racial performance and do not give people a path because just can talk. This is you. That's right. That's why I say that. We can do a show together. Oh, yes. I'll call myself up. You can be Sultan. You'll be a couple. Very good. Two thumbs up. Okay. Well, I'm going to buy somebody's trading. My thanks to Michael Myers for being on the show. See you next week when my guest will be the legendary Joe Franklin. Join us. Hello, I'm Doug Musio.

Let us know what you think about this show. You can reach us at cuny.tv. When you get there, click on the board that says contact us and send your email. Whatever it is. Thanks. No thanks. I'm not just do it. Send it.