About That Unauthorized Invitation

Let's return to the question of CMSA, shall we?

In case you missed it, there was a rather odd paragraph in the December Sun-Times expose of CMSA's relationship with the Gulen Movement and its success in having a charter approved through the obscure, appointed state charter commission.

Here's the paragraph:

Odd, isn't it? It's an article detailing what amounts to a travel agency for dozens of Illinois Democrats run by the Niagara Foundation, Chicago's main Gulenist organization.  And yet, this one invitation has a whiff of extra impropriety about it. Alderman Moore was invited to go to Turkey by Concept's vice president, and yet the Niagara Foundation bothers to say that it was an unauthorized invitation. Is it because they don't like Joe Moore?

Hardly. They love the guy. He's an utterly empty vessel.

It's because the first rule of Fight Club  the prime directive of the Movement is to maintain the poorly constructed illusion that the Movement isn't connected to the charter schools, and the charter schools aren't connected to each other. That's all there is to it. Joe Moore sort of spilled the beans when he let it be known that his invite came right from the charter school guy, and that's why they have to say silly things in the press like the invitation was "unauthorized."

Fast forward to this week, and this beautifully written piece in the NYT by Suzy Hansen: Whose Turkey Is It? Read the whole thing; it explains in the clearest terms the lurch toward despotism that the Turkish people are enduring. This is just a clip here, and I admit it's a juicy one, but even out of context it gives you the sense of a deeply corrupt political partnership:

So, there's that. But like I say, read the whole thing.  The photography alone is worth it.  This horrific Turkish government, it was until a short while ago a partnership between a political party and a social/religious movement. These people being rounded up? The folks doing the rounding up were probably closely connected to some of the tour guides for the parade of Illinois Democrats, the total number of which may be unknowable.

Meanwhile, Turkey unravels.

I'm writing this to ask how it's possible that Illinois Democrats can continue to take these trips and accept all of these awards without acknowledging the deeply political nature of that behavior. There are people in the Turkish streets --- people not featured on the guided tours-- who might appreciate a little more critical thinking on the part of these fawning American visitors.

As for the charter schools connections--- well, I'll continue to present the evidence over time. Sometimes you have to point out every single tree before someone says, "Hey, it's a forest!"