Cory Booker | RDOwens

I came home and put on the confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barrett. Haven’t heard her speak yet as the senators are grandstanding on both
sides.

But I just figured out why I don’t like Cory Booker. No, it’s not
because he is corrupt. No, it’s not because he is wrong on every
issue.

I teach my students end punctuation. When we get to exclamation
points, I teach that they should be used sparingly. I model what
happens when every sentence ends with exclamation points. It’s
extreme emotion. I explain that if everything is emotional then
really nothing is. High emotions exist because they are offset by
declarative sentences. It’s like a rollercoaster. We enjoy the ride
because there are highs and lows. If the coaster never dips, we have
no thrills.

Cory Booker speaks with exclamation points at the end of every
sentence. He has no low emotion. Everything is a matter of life and
death. His speech is ineffective because of his manner of speaking.

The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools? by Dale Russakoff
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fabulous!

Yes, I am the target audience for this book. Russakoff did an excellent job of telling the story of Newark Public Schools, Mark Zuckerberg’s money, the relationship of Chris Christie and Cory Booker, and what actually happens to $200 million in government. Russakoff tells the story in such a graceful manner. There is no equivocating in her story. I loved her writing.

Spoiler alert: $200 million does not flow into the classrooms; rather consultants tied to the power brokers and teacher contracts soak up reform money. The balance basically went to charters.

This was an expensive lesson for the young billionaire.

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