my response to John Merrow

I don't know John Merrow.  I don't know what motivates him, so I want to point out that he probably isn't a douche.  Still, I don't know if there is any blogger who angers me more than his Taking Note blog. In this particular blog post, he gets angry that his tax-funded video footage was used in another documentary.  I get it, the man is angry that his intellectual property was stolen.  I'm a fan of Creative Commons (which is how I license any of what I create), but it's also not my livelihood.  So, fine, the man doesn't want to play fair.  That's okay.

However, I was jarred by his comment, “Our film of that event was broadcast nationally on PBS NewsHour and helped to illuminate the persona of Michelle Rhee as a fearless and determined reformer who puts the interests of children first.”

Can I quote that? I mean, is that fair use? Or will John Merrow write an angry blog post about how I stole his line in my commentary on his post?

Within his blog post, Merrow is pointing to a day when Chanellor Rhee allowed PBS cameras to video tape her firing a principal. Incidentally, did the principal agree to the terms of being video taped? Have we really degenerated as a culture that a so-called reformer has to take a page out of a reality show playbook to validate her sense of ego?

The mere fact that she would want people to video tape her taking away the livelihood of a person demonstrates that she is more interested in media than in helping humanity. Rhee is a media hound “reformer” with little evidence to prove that her reforms are successful.