Give 'em hell, Harry...uh, George!

Well, I liked that part of the movie, too.

But, over the course of next two hours, George S. Patton takes a fall. The tide turns. The media swings from fawning fans to a persecuting mob, depicted in the movie by the scene in an army medical tent, where the cantankerous and obsessed warrior General confronts and slaps a "malingering" Private, shaking and crying from shell shock. The General will not tolerate a "coward" in the presence of brave men who have been physically wounded in battle.

Yep...despite being recognized as possibly the most skilled and successful of all United States commanders in World War II, George C. Patton is relieved of command because he refuses to adapt...refuses to "play nice".

In the movie, the General is portrayed as an arrogant, publicity-seeking prima donna...willing to spill the blood of others for his own personal gain. (Two soldiers slogging through the mud and snow on a forced march to the next battle see the General riding by in his chauffeured jeep, shouting encouragement. One says..."There goes old blood and guts." The other responds..."Yeah, our blood, his guts."

(Hell...

...c'mon.

Admit it!

How could you not think of Michelle Rhee?

The battered lives of D.C. teachers, publicly slapped as incompetent on a regular basis, slanderously mislabeled as sexual perverts when relieved of their duties at her whim...as SHE, the "warrior woman" struts down the red carpet shilling her new movie, making a starring appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Their blood, her guts...her glory!)

Okay...

...sorry.

Got carried away there for a moment!

Back to the movie...

The war ends...

General George S. Patton's services are no longer needed.

Final scene (my favorite scene):

After being relieved of command of Third Army, General Patton is shown walking Willie (his Bull Terrier) out to a cold winter, lonely and desolate landscape, and totally alone.

George C. Scott delivers the voice-over...

"For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: That all glory is fleeting."

Yep...Michelle Rhee, riding in her limo...to movie premiers across the United States, probably the world...a star. Superwoman!

Michelle:

Those teachers you fired...

Methinks you should have hired one of them, to join you in the back seat of your limo, to hold your golden crown, to whisper those words you needed to hear...

Okay, that was the purrfect ending to my "intro", but it falls short in that it doesn't really explain why at the end of the week I finally use my movie reference.

In the article below...the turning of the screw, uh, media.

Basically, the article is simply another follow-up to the fallout of Tuesday's D.C. Mayoral election...the defeat of incumbent Mayor Adrian Fenty, a defeat blamed by many on D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and her arrogant and combative style of management.

However, there were three paragraphs buried in the article...that scream out for attention. It's typical modern-day "jornalism"...where opinion colors "news stories"...where opinion often passes for "new stories".

Those three paragraphs are the entire reason for the selection of the article below for posting on CAT Tracks.

Those three paragraphs...

Perhaps most striking was how the news conference's two principal players carried themselves as they stepped in front of the cameras. While Gray, apparently relaxed, strode directly to the bank of microphones, Rhee looked grim and subdued as she withdrew to a far corner, deferring virtually all comment to Gray.

As Gray continued to speak, she slipped back into the corridor fronting his fifth-floor office and rushed to the elevators. She was pursued by reporters but would not answer questions.

It was a dramatic contrast to the chancellor's last public appearance. Sitting on a panel at the Newseum on Sept. 15, she said that Gray's victory over Mayor Adrian M. Fenty was "devastating" for the city's schoolchildren and exhorted an audience of Washington A-listers and education reformers to use the election outcome "to lean forward and be more aggressive and more adamant" about pursuing fundamental change.

Michelle:

My curiosity will finally get the best of me. Despite my protestations to never watch "Waiting for Superman", I'm sure that I will. (Maybe I'll schedule that for November 2nd - Election Day - right after I hold my nose and vote for Pat Quinn for Governor of Illinois.)

Michelle:

Should you feel a little blue in the coming weeks...and need a little distraction, I've got a movie suggestion for you.

Come a little bit closer, I'll whisper in your ear...

From the Washington Post...

Link to Original Story

Gray, Rhee talk - about schools, not her future

By Bill Turque and Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writers

Presumptive Mayor-elect Vincent C. Gray held a long-awaited summit with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on Thursday but said that his 90 minutes with the outspoken schools leader, who actively campaigned against him in a rancorous Democratic primary, hewed strictly to education issues and did not address her future in the job.

"We did not talk about Chancellor Rhee staying or going. We talked about the state of education in the city," Gray, the D.C. Council chairman, said upon emerging from his Wilson Building office with Rhee to speak to a throng of reporters.

Gray said the two will likely meet again within the next couple of weeks, a message reinforced by Gray advisers, who emphasized that the meeting was never intended to resolve the issue of Rhee's tenure. Gray won the Democratic primary Sept. 14 but still faces, at least nominally, a general election vote Nov. 2.

"This was always supposed to be just a first meeting to discuss where school reform goes from here," said Mo Elleithee, a senior Gray campaign strategist. "But he's been pretty clear: On his end, he's not making any decisions until after the election."

In a brief discussion with reporters after Rhee left the news conference, Gray said he hasn't even begun thinking of possible candidates for chancellor.

"Right now, the discussions are between Ms. Rhee and myself," Gray said.

Perhaps most striking was how the news conference's two principal players carried themselves as they stepped in front of the cameras. While Gray, apparently relaxed, strode directly to the bank of microphones, Rhee looked grim and subdued as she withdrew to a far corner, deferring virtually all comment to Gray.

As Gray continued to speak, she slipped back into the corridor fronting his fifth-floor office and rushed to the elevators. She was pursued by reporters but would not answer questions.

It was a dramatic contrast to the chancellor's last public appearance. Sitting on a panel at the Newseum on Sept. 15, she said that Gray's victory over Mayor Adrian M. Fenty was "devastating" for the city's schoolchildren and exhorted an audience of Washington A-listers and education reformers to use the election outcome "to lean forward and be more aggressive and more adamant" about pursuing fundamental change.

She later said that she was not being critical of Gray but expressing concern that the election results might be seen as a blow against reform.

In a phone interview Thursday evening, Rhee declined to discuss the meeting or her reaction. She also declined to comment on whether she was prepared to remain until the end of Fenty's term of office in January or whether she had been approached about other jobs.

She did say there was no substance to speculation that surfaced in a Thursday New York Times article that she was a possible replacement for Newark Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey - the man she replaced three years ago in the District.

Gray called the session an "excellent discussion" that largely centered on the details of the 12-page education platform he released during his campaign against Fenty.

"We talked a lot of about the elements of my education paper," Gray said. "We talked about career and technical education. We talked a lot about special education. We talked about stakeholder involvement. We talked about a lot of issues that came right out of my paper."

The meeting was just one of several Gray is holding as he starts looking ahead to a transition that will start immediately after the general election.

An hour before Gray met with Rhee, he was visited in his office by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who brought official "congratulations" from President Obama.

"I want to congratulate our presumptive mayor and talk about how the Obama administration is committed to making sure we do all we can with regard to public safety and continue what I think is a good relationship between the administration and the city government," said Holder, the former U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. The men met for about 20 minutes.

On Wednesday, Gray and Fenty had their first face-to-face meeting since the election. Gray advisers said Fenty came to Gray's office mid-afternoon to reaffirm promises that he will cooperate fully with the transition. Gray said Fenty has designated City Administrator Neil O. Albert to be the administration's point person for facilitating the shift.