X-Post: Donald Douglas - Reading Comprehension - 06/22/2011 Edition

Because sometimes, the urge to attack the individuals and groups one disagrees with and to portray them as eternally and unfailingly "eeeeevil" overwhelms the ability to pay enough attention to understand what the words and phrases mean, and actually get the story right.
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Wednesday, June 22, 2011, 7:55 PM

Garrett Therolf, a writer at the Los Angeles Times, wrote:

"This month, the board will take back control of two large, chronically troubled agencies, one responsible for abused and neglected children and the other dealing with juvenile offenders. And more reductions in his power and office budget could be in the offing."
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"'We just aren't getting the vital information we need,' said Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who recently voted with board members Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky to strip the Children and Family Services and Probation departments from Fujioka's control. Antonovich said Fujioka withheld names of candidates to lead the troubled children services agency and threatened to seek more reductions in Fujioka's staff and power in the coming months."
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"Fujioka's backers say he has been particularly frustrated by some of the supervisors' interventions in the children's services agency, which has been grappling with child fatalities following errors in handling cases. It is one of the departments being taken away from Fujioka. Molina is especially hands-on, summoning top agency officials to her office to demand explanations. In one instance, she said she would like to cut the testicles off an executive because of problems in the agency, according to officials familiar with the exchange.

Molina declined to comment on the incident but said, 'At the end of the day, we as supervisors are literally blamed and held accountable for the outcomes of these children.'" (Bolding by me.)

Donald Douglas reads the article, and thoughtfully replies:

"That Supervisor Molina refused to answer questions about the comment, as the Times indicates, is not surprising:

Molina declined to comment on the incident but said, 'At the end of the day, we as supervisors are literally blamed and held accountable for the outcomes of these children.'

In a time of fiscal austerity, government officials at all levels have been coming under increased attention. But I think it's fair to say that it's especially inappropriate for an L.A. County Supervisor to announce she wants to 'cut the testicles' off subordinate agency officials, and when asked about it to further denigrate them as 'children.'" (Bolding by Dr. Douglas)

ADDED: The famous Dr Douglas double-down, because there are times when, once Donalde has chosen his "they're eeeeevil" meme, neither facts or the explanations and exhortations of his fellow conservatives will do much to dissuade him. For Dr Douglas, demonizing others beats "reading for meaning" entirely too often.:

"UPDATE: From Russ, in the comments:"

"I think when she says "children", she is referring to the children under the protective services that have died while under their authority, NOT the supervisors she threatened with castration."

"I also got an e-mail from someone objecting to my comment on Molina's reference to "the children." I won't be surprised if some ASFLs contact my college to complain. Democrats and progressives are evil like that. So let's be clear: "The outcomes" may clearly refer to a purposeful act in the active sense, as in the actions of the administrators who have taken power from the hands of the board. Of course Molina might be referring to "the outcomes" of the children in the passive sense, but then again, considering she's threatening administrative subordinates, maybe not. She's a Democrat. They talk down to people like that. Progressives are losers."
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“We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.” - Anais Nin
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An American Racist = ASFL = Lying Asshat!!! (A.K.A. American Nihilist) X-post