{"id":1108,"date":"2010-11-15T00:25:35","date_gmt":"2010-11-15T00:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.temp.shooflysolutions.com\/james-okeefe-is-hurting-people-again-and-new-jerseys-governor-loves-it\/"},"modified":"2010-11-15T00:25:35","modified_gmt":"2010-11-15T00:25:35","slug":"james-okeefe-is-hurting-people-again-and-new-jerseys-governor-loves-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.idavox.com\/index.php\/2010\/11\/15\/james-okeefe-is-hurting-people-again-and-new-jerseys-governor-loves-it\/","title":{"rendered":"JAMES O'KEEFE IS HURTING PEOPLE AGAIN, AND NEW JERSEY'S GOVERNOR LOVES IT!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Teach\"Okay, it’s official. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is an utter and complete fool. We thought that when season conservative propagandists like L. Brent Bozell started to kick ameture conservative propagandist James O’Keefe<\/a> to the curb after his discredited stunts, a standing governor would be that last person to heap praise on him for one of them. And we most certainly would not expect the subject of such stunts to end up being punished for them. But here we are again. A few weeks ago, O’Keefe, still smarting from the failed stunt to smear a CNN reporter, went to a convention for the New Jeresy Education Association, the teacher’s union that has been at war with Gov. Christie after he declared it on them. One of his underlings talked up (or rather hit on) a teacher there named Alissa Ploshnick to get her to open up enough to say something that they could use later in the latest of O’Keefe’s doctored videos. Now at the time, NJEA officials said they weren’t going to do anything because O’Keefe had no credibility to be concerned about, but Ms. Ploshnick, a special education teacher in Passaic, NJ, was suspended for nine days and will be docked a pay raise because of what he and his boy produced. But once again, O’Keefe might be in hot water. See, not only is Ms. Ploshnick considering a lawsuit against O’Keefe and his crew for their stunts, but apparently he has been caught hanging out around her house as well.  Now if he gets in trouble for harassing this teacher, that’s a probation violation, and he won’t be videotaping anyone for awhile.  The thing is, that should not be the only thing that makes him go away. Truth of the matter is no one should have any dealings with him, and definitely don’t take actions based on his videos.<\/p>\n

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NJ.com<\/h3>\n

Alissa Ploshnick risked her life to save the lives of a dozen Passaic schoolchildren. She threw herself in front of a careening van to protect her students and landed in the hospital with broken ribs, a fractured wrist, a badly bruised pelvis and glass cuts in her eyes. She could have died.<\/p>\n

The president of the United States, Bill Clinton then, sent her a letter. It read:<\/p>\n

“I recently heard about your act of heroism and wanted to commend you for your selflessness. True heroes are rare in today\u2019s world. And, all too often, those who are really making a difference in our communities go unnoticed and unrewarded. I am delighted to be able to give you the recognition you deserve. You are an example for all of us, and I applaud you for your sense of duty.\u2019\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But that was then, in 1997. This is now.<\/p>\n

Now, the veteran Passaic special education teacher has been smeared in a sneak attack video, punished by her school district and made a pawn in the relentless anti-union crusade of a governor who apparently wants to ride his Jersey tough guy image to the White House.<\/p>\n

“I felt like I was raped,\u2019\u2019 says Ploshnick referring to the moment she learned that what she thought was a private, even flirtatious, talk with a “nice” young man who bought her drinks was really part of a political scam to discredit her union in an web videotape called “Teachers Gone Wild.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Saving children\u2019s lives, risking death for them, wasn\u2019t enough to earn a pass from political incivility.<\/p>\n

Nor was a solid record over a nearly 20-year career during which she was cited by William Paterson University for training student teachers and by Fairleigh Dickinson University\u2019s dyslexia program for her “fine record of experience,” “strong interpersonal skills” and “dedication to learning.” She says she spent $9,000 of her own money on school supplies for her students, made sure a child in her class made his dental appointments by bringing him there and was just asked to be a godparent to the child of another student.<\/p>\n

“Give me a smile and say hello and I\u2019ll do anything for you,\u2019\u2019 says Ploshnick. “I\u2019ve always done it. It\u2019s hard to reteach your heart and your brain.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Ploshnick, 38 and single, was unlucky enough to be hit on in an East Brunswick bar in August by a young guy working for pretend journalist and admitted criminal James O\u2019Keefe, the conservative attack dog who pleaded guilty to federal charges of entering a U.S. senator\u2019s office under false pretenses. He is on probation. He also tried to embarrass CNN recently by setting up a planned, taped attempt to seduce reporter Abbie Boudreau. It failed when one of his operatives tipped Boudreau off.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe\u2019s operative bought drinks for Ploshnick and began asking about tenure. Ploshnick talked about how difficult it was to fire a tenured teacher. She said some things she shouldn\u2019t have said. She quoted someone else as having used a racial obscenity, the so-called “n-word.”<\/p>\n

But the phony Lothario sitting with her \u2014 plying her with drinks and laughing and egging her on \u2014 taped her every word. Including that word.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe made Ploshnick, a teacher who saved the lives of children, an unwitting star in a web-based movie, a phony expos\u00e9 of nothing but the cynicism of ideologically driven pseudo-journalists. All O\u2019Keefe managed to do was ruin the reputation of a woman who should be honored as a hero \u2014 and was, not only by Clinton but also by Montel Williams and Oprah Winfrey, a fan of Gov. Chris Christie\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Christie recently praised O\u2019Keefe\u2019s secret taping of Ploshnick and others and said: “If you need an example of what I\u2019ve been talking about for the last nine months \u2014 about how the teachers union leadership is out of touch with the people and out of control \u2014 go watch this video.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Asked whether the stories of Ploshnick\u2019s sacrifice and heroism changed his view, Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak replied: “What do these stories have to do with recent events? What should they have to do with recent events? They are completely separate and have nothing to do with one another.”<\/p>\n

“I think it\u2019s so unfair that I should be in the middle of this,\u2019\u2019 says Ploshnick. “I\u2019m not the monster I\u2019ve been made out to be.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

But Christie\u2019s right about one thing. People should watch this video and contemplate how it was obtained, how it carelessly destroyed the career of a private person, a hero who saved the lives of children, a woman who repeated a word so many people \u2014 black and brown and white \u2014 used in the past and still do today. Just listen to the radio.<\/p>\n

Watch this video and ponder how a governor who made his reputation prosecuting criminals would praise the work of the self-admitted violator of federal law. Watch and consider whether, sober or lit, they ever said something that might be secretly taped and used against them to destroy all the good work they have done.<\/p>\n

They should watch it and wonder about political correctness. That is, after all, why she was suspended by the Passaic superintendent.<\/p>\n

“Politically correct is the theme of the day,\u2019\u2019 says Robert Holster, the superintendent, to explain why she was punished despite her courage and sacrifice \u2014 and the knowledge she did not use the slur to describe anyone but to report what someone else said.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re getting hammered,\u2019\u2019 Holster says about local reaction.<\/p>\n

Alan Zegas, the Chatham lawyer representing Ploshnick, said he was investigating the “circumstances leading to the harm suffered by Alissa to determine whether legal action should be taken” against O\u2019Keefe and his crew. Zegas, one of the state\u2019s best-known trial lawyers, said the actions of the crew members in surreptitiously taping her were “deeply disturbing.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Zegas said O\u2019Keefe and others showed up at her apartment in Lincoln
\nPark twice after she was secretly taped. He said he is investigating the possibility of bringing stalking and harassment charges. A violation of probation could put O\u2019Keefe in jail.<\/p>\n

Ploshnick says she will not contest the administrative penalties against her.<\/p>\n

“The comments were made,\u2019\u2019 says Ploshnick, who returned to work Friday. “The district is protecting the district. I\u2019m not proud of what I said.\u2019\u2019 Then she adds, “I just wanted to get back to my kids.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

O\u2019Keefe was asked for comment via e-mail and phone. He did not respond. He has argued the videotape represents “investigative journalism” to expose racism among teachers union leaders \u2014 which by the way, she is not. Ploshnick was attending a conference of the New Jersey Education Association to learn more about special-education law when she was secretly taped.<\/p>\n

Ploshnick, who still suffers pain from the injuries she sustained saving those children, says her life will never be the same because of the secret taping. She has stopped dating and taken herself off dating sites. She won\u2019t go to a bar and she is afraid of meeting strangers.<\/p>\n

“I just want to make sure what happened to me won\u2019t happen to anyone else. No one should have to live with what I\u2019ve lived with,\u2019\u2019 she says.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s face it: Alissa Ploshnick wasn\u2019t punished, her reputation wasn\u2019t destroyed, her professionalism and heroism disregarded, because she repeated a word someone else said.<\/p>\n

She was sacrificed to a political cause.<\/p>\n

Star Ledger warns Christie: Steer clear of O\u2019Keefe<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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