He seems nice:
A school superintendent in Georgia has reportedly been placed on administrative leave following allegations that he made racist comments, which were captured on audio.
Geye Hamby, the superintendent of Buford, Georgia’s school system, was placed on leave Tuesday after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a federal lawsuit accused Hamby of making racist comments and saying he wanted to kill black construction workers who had upset him.
The lawsuit includes an audio recording in which a man, identified as Hamby, can be heard repeatedly using racial slurs, according to the Journal-Constitution.
You can feel the economic anxiety. I wonder who he voted for in 2016.
Bill K
Buford – what more can you expect with a city name like that?
germy
The best post-racial definition I have is that people like him can get recorded spewing their hate and get placed on administrative leave.
Because when I was in school, he wouldn’t have been recorded or challenged. It was just accepted.
PPCLI
@Bill K: I hope their high school football team is called “the Pussers”.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
always a special thrill when these folk are employed in public education
I started to say “at least he doesn’t carry a gun like this guy”, but he sounds like the type who want his lethal compensator carried and concealed
he was paid by what looks like a chamber of commerce type outfit to patrol the Westport neighborhood in Kansas City– he’s been fired
Baud
Probably Jill Stein because Hillary was too neoliberal.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Yes, but you know how it is with those people when they are on their opioids and listening the C&W.
James E Powell
I have no science to back this up, but my feeling is always that for every one of these types caught on tape or video, there are many more who remain undetected and therefore still in positions of authority. Same thing with police shooting or beating people.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
So, I guess all that talk about a “New South” was bullshit.
schrodingers_cat
@James E Powell: Same for # me too, also. Many more predatory males the likes of Charlie Rose and Weinstein out there.
FlipYrWhig
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Christ that’s awful. And you know that it wasn’t THAT guy who made that up — it must be a running gag among diehard racists.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
What a stupid fuck. Why the hell would you say something like that to anyone, let alone a POC? Yeah, I know he was a racist asshole wanting to let his freak flag fly but he had to known there was going to consequences for that, one of which was losing his job.
Frankensteinbeck
This is an aspect of the Information Age that didn’t occur to me. In the last half of the 1900s, entrenched power of bigotries and brutal conformism shrank as communications improved. Larger, more liberal (even if not liberal by our standards) levels of the government started hearing about stuff like beating the Other to death and intervened. When the internet hit, there was a related surge as victims found and supported each other, instead of being the lone freak who knew nothing but a society that hated them. Now the possibility that anyone can be recorded is removing another big layer of secrecy hateful bigots used to maintain systemic power over their victims.
The bigots are absofuckinglutely foaming at the mouth furious about the slow erosion of their freedom to be cruel without repercussions, and that has a lot to do with the MAGA phenomenon.
Frankensteinbeck
@germy:
Exactly.
khead
@PPCLI:
+1 Louisville Slugger or 2-by-4
boatboy_srq
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: It was absolute bvllshyte. Just as “school choice” was never about academic outcomes, and “fiscal responsibility” was never about budgetary restraint, and “tort reform” was never about irregularities in civil judgments.
The Moar You Know
One hundred bucks says he wrote in Adolf Hitler because Trump was too much of a squish.
boatboy_srq
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Intent: “looky here at the power this here badge lets me wield over you-all.”
Result: “Here, you smarmy racist git, this is your ass, and this is your pink slip. Now get out.”
The Moar You Know
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Far more than you’d think. My wife’s a public school teacher here in CA and about 40% of the teachers are Republicans. More than the general electorate for the area, which is…interesting.
Aleta
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Unbelievable that it’s accepted for people to drink while carrying guns. If I’m ever appointed mayor of that town, this guy will lose his gun permit, his drinking permit and his permission to talk to any person not wearing a name tag that says ‘Ralph the racist has permission to speak to me today.’
MattF
Locker-room talk, bar-room talk, Oval Office talk– what’s the diff?
dexwood
@The Moar You Know:
Four teachers in my family, all trump humping assholes.
Yarrow
Related:
Kelly
@Frankensteinbeck: I believe better information has contributed to broad acceptance that we should work on fixing environmental problems as well. The folks that were enjoying exploiting the environment that we all need all desperate to keep their ill gotten gains.
Downside: Communication with bigots and other assholes worldwide has enabled them to coordinate their evil schemes.
MattF
@Yarrow: This is part of the RW drill– white nationalists just keep banging away at the unfairness of it all– until people who know better (and there are many, even on the right) just give up.
Uncle Cosmo
@Bill K: Um…just FTR one of the best leadoff hitters the Orioles ever had was an African-American named Don Buford. (Also at the epicenter of one of the great rolling brawls in MLB history, a dustup with the White Sox in Chicago in 1969. I saw that in real time on TV. Epic!)
AnotherBruce
@Baud: That makes sense, after all, Jill Stein was colluding with Putin.
zhena gogolia
Per WaPo, there were two Trumpanzees on the Manafort jury, and one of them’s talking. The other one was the holdout.
MattF
Humor. A couple of professors of this-and-that writing in the Guardian contemplate how various media would report on Donald Trump shooting Michael Cohen in broad daylight on Fifth Avenue.
GregB
The wound that Trump inflicted on America has turned gangrous.
Nashville_fan
What you said . . . it is weird how they keep telling us the economy is doing great and yet they keep getting more and more “anxious” . . .
A Ghost To Most
@zhena gogolia: I’m only surprised there weren’t three (12 * .27 = 3 and change).
Gin & Tonic
Gotta bitch here: you know the Apple fanboi slogan “it just works”? Well, it just doesn’t. I’ve spent hours trying to sync photos between my Windows-based PC and my iPad mini. Connect, start syncing, get 100-200 photos in, and it stops with a message saying “The iPad cannot be synced. An internal device error occurred.” Eject, reboot the iPad, reconnect, run the interminable device backup, start sync, get another 100-200 photos, get the error message, repeat the process.
I know copying files from one computer system to another is such a fucking novel and unexpected use of the systems that 11 goddamn versions of the operating system after its introduction it might still need work. Somebody explain to me why the fuck the most valuable company in human history can’t manage to copy a bunch of fucking files? I have a *lot* of photos. A simple copy from my PC to external storage takes time, but AT LEAST IT WORKS!
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I think this only goes to show that the real problem in America today is that Black people are anti-white racists.
A Ghost To Most
@Gin & Tonic: I blame the Apple business model, but I always have.
Mike in NC
What kind of ridiculous redneck name is “Geye” and how the hell do you pronounce it?
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
Clearly the problem is all the fault of your Windows PC.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: I’ll let you find all the threads on discussions.apple.com about failure to sync between Macs and iPads/phones. There are *many*, so you won’t break a sweat searching.
Wapiti
@The Moar You Know: @dexwood:
I’m curious about these Trump-loving teachers – are they predominately women? Teaching (and nursing) as women’s work is within the conservative mindset.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: It only “Just Works” if you have all Apple devices. Apple doesn’t play well with others.
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m a little weirded out by the firing, and I’m not sure why.
The joke is awful, racist, and incredibly tasteless (just like the drink, I imagine). But if this guy is being a gigantic asshole on his own time and it hasn’t bled over into his work, firing him is… iffy? I don’t know. Though I DO understand that once this went public, there was probably a good PR reason (if nothing else) to fire him, and it’s not like the people in his area could trust him to deal fairly with black folks.
MisterForkbeard
@MisterForkbeard: … Having re-read what I just wrote, nevermind. I think I accidentally explained to myself why he needed to be fired. It’s nice when the moral and logical imperatives match up, isn’t it?
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
Jesus Christ, I usually think I don’t have to add the // sarc tags, but I’ll put you down as dense for next time.
Note: Proud Windows PC and Android phone user.
Gin & Tonic
@Steeplejack: I knew your point, just too pissed off right now. It’s 2018 and the richest and coolest company on the face of the Earth can’t be bothered to learn how to copy files.
J R in WV
@MisterForkbeard:
There is no joke, this is iron-clad old-style southern bigotry and violence spelled out in plain English. Frankly, he should be fired just for all the motherfucking motherfucking being used by an Education official at work. Let alone the continuous gushing of racist epithets.
Dude needed to pay more attention to his mom. who no doubt told him not to talk like that, or his coach, who… wait…. whut? Never mind!!
No one in any position of authority ever told this pig how to talk to people with manners, so now he doesn’t know how to do that. So fired for failure to uphold professional standards at work. “Nuff said.
zhena gogolia
@Gin & Tonic:
Now that they have this “AppleID” thing I’m starting to lose my allegiance. It’s incredibly annoying.
Mnemosyne
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
A few months ago, three murder victims were found in a car parked in our small city. I have to admit my immediate thought was, White guys from San Bernardino found shot in the head? Drug deal gone wrong. And, so far, my first take seems to have been the right one.
MisterForkbeard
@Gin & Tonic: Apple has always had this “It’s fine, we’ll just do it FOR you and it’ll be easy!” mentality. And the thing is… it works! Most of the time. In standard situations.
The problem is that when this stuff *doesn’t* work, which happens with distressing regularity outside of the Apple ecosystem due to Apple’s unwillingness to use the standard interfaces and practices. At which point… you’re kind of boned. And that’s why I stick w/ Windows and Android devices for the most part.
Waynski
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Because he’s a Trumper, racist, effbag. QED
Steeplejack
@Gin & Tonic:
See also: iTunes for the last 10 years.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV:
Eh, MisterForkbeard was talking about the security guard, not the school superintendent:
Gin & Tonic
@MisterForkbeard: What could be a more standard situation than copying files from one system to another? Jesus F. Christ, RFC 765 was written *38 fucking years ago.* I’d bet half of Apple’s work force wasn’t even alive yet.
Yes, I am frustrated.
Steeplejack
@J R in WV, @Steeplejack:
ETA: The joke referenced in Jim, Foolish Literalist’s comment.
scav
@MattF: Better still, the title says “here’s what Republicans would say if . . . ” and the first bloody quote to come up is that of everybody chime in here the FTFNYT.
Ok, it’s probably setting the stage but I’m loving it nonetheless.
MisterForkbeard
@J R in WV: Yeah. As noted by Steeplejack (thanks!), I was referring to something else. The superintendent is goddamned awful and needed to go immediately, no argument at all.
@Steeplejack: I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you for a long time – where does your nym come from? Every time I see it, it makes me thinkg of “Steeljack”, an anti-hero in a particular well-written famous superhero story from the 90s. But I keep trying to think of what a Steeple Jack would be.
catclub
@dexwood: ouch. Doesn’t speak well for schools of education.
zhena gogolia
@MisterForkbeard:
They were guys who used to climb steeples to repair them.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@MisterForkbeard: In the olden days, a steeplejack was a person who climbed steeples to either repair or dismantle them.
catclub
@MisterForkbeard:
isn’t it a guy named Jack who works in high places?
The Lodger
@zhena gogolia: Or smokestacks or really, any tall narrow structure.
Also, looks like there’s another Astro City fan out there! I’m kind of surprised I didn’t think of Steeljack myself.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@zhena gogolia: Beat me to it, I guess they could also build steeples. I had a pic from the LA history thread of a steeplejack here in LA dismantling a steeple, wrote a comment here linking the pic for our Steeplejack.
J R in WV
@Steeplejack:
Still wasn’t a joke, which is why it got the ass fired. Failure to conduct oneself in a professional manner while interacting with the public. Fired.
catclub
@The Lodger:
I think John McPhee wrote about Indians working high steel in NYC construction.
Mohawks and High Steel. New Yorker article first.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Mnemosyne: Yes, the whole racists narrative seems to ignore what race the junkies are.
Steeplejack (phone)
@MisterForkbeard:
The nym just comes from “steeplejack,” which is a person who works on, uh, steeples and other tall things. “Jack” used to be a common “job” suffix, e.g., “lumberjack.”
And Balloon Juice has proved to be a pretty good perch from which to survey the political and social landscape.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack (phone):
ETA: A steeple is the spire or pointy bit at the top of a church or tall building.
(Apologies if this is obvious.)
Also, “jack of all trades” is another example that just came to me. Will stop now before the OED sucks me in.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Steeplejack (phone):
And I see several others got in ahead of me while I was doing something else and then poking laboriously at my phone screen. Thanks, everyone.
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
I have to admit, it always makes me laugh to see how desperate conservatives are to pretend that, no, really, they’re not working side-by-side with out and proud white supremacists, no sirree!
NotMax
Can’t decide which is worse – the superintendent himself or the fact he rose through the ranks all the way up to his position with his bigotry undetected or ignored.
catclub
@germy:
Exactly, in the old days he got promoted for doing things like that. We have come along way, even if it seems like we still have a long way to go.
James E Powell
@The Moar You Know:
I’m a public school teacher in CA and I’d estimate about the same, though I’ve never taken a poll. I once met a science teacher who assured me that climate change – indeed the whole environmental movement – was a fraud with no scientific basis. It was all about a political agenda. I was appalled.
Wyatt Derp
Not sure how you pronounce his first name (Geye) so I’m gonna go with “Gay” just to piss him off.
MisterForkbeard
To everyone who explained it to me: Thank you! This makes a lot of sense and I should have been able to figure it out on my own.
@The Lodger: The world needs more Astro City fans. Someday I’m hoping I can get M^4 or Adam to put up a literature thread about it – they’re surprisingly good and fantastic examples of storytelling, even for people who think graphic novels are awful. Some of them, at least – the early ones (Confession, Local Heroes, Tarnished Angels) have these large allusions to common archetypes like Batman, Superman or Spiderman but don’t go too much deeper than that. The Dark Age books get a lot more into comic trivia.
Robert Sneddon
@Steeplejack (phone): Fred Dibnah was a British TV “character” back in the 1980s, a Northern steeplejack working in a field that was running out of work as the big Victorian factory chimneys were demolished one after the other. He had a hobby of renovating steam traction engines. He had a way of talking about his work like “make one mistake, it’s definitely half a day out with the undertaker” that made for good TV.
Steeplejack
@Robert Sneddon:
I have seen him when looking for steeplejack pictures. My favorites are from New York between the wars.