Via Crooks and Liars:
July 12, 2012 06:00 AM
Florida GOP Group Tries To Block Michelle Obama From Speaking At Local School
By karoliLaura Bush did it. Barbara Bush did it too. But if you are Michelle Obama, evidently it’s “inappropriate” to speak at a public high school in Florida.
She is visiting Miami on Tuesday, and will be recruiting campaign volunteers at Miami Lakes’ Barbara Goleman Senior High. However, though the school is empty for the summer, some Republican members of the Miami-Dade school board don’t want her there.
The Miami Herald reported that board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla, a Republican candidate for the Florida State House, has called for cancellation of the event. Similarly, another board member, Carlos Curbelo, has sent a letter to the board attorney, asking that he reconsider allowing the first lady to use the school “to benefit the president’s re-election campaign.”
Curbelo, who the paper said worked as a Republican strategist, wrote in the letter that allowing Obama to use the school is “inappropriate and sends the wrong message to our students, employees, and to taxpayers — even if the president’s campaign is willing to pay for all costs resulting from the event.”
It’s hard to view this through any other lens than racial, quite frankly, particularly Diaz de la Portilla’s remarks:
“Don’t these liberals have boundaries?” Diaz de la Portilla said. “Our schools are places for learning, not places for politicking.”
Are these the sort of “liberals” he’s talking about?
And, lest we forget!
