An MSM "Parent" Is Usually Someone With A Vested ("Activist") Interest

The Philly Daily News wrote a story on 10/1/05 that ripped Bill Bennett for the comment he made on his radio program this week. The Daily News story, written by Mensah Dean, claimed to have interviewed regular parents of Philly public school students to see what these "parents" thought about Bennett and a contract his company (K12) holds to provide consulting services to their school district.

One "parent" they quoted was named Helen Gym and my antenna went up instantly. Here is the exact quote from the story....."I find it hard to see any explanation for why they're here in Philadelphia educating many of the black children Mr. Bennett clearly finds it provocative to call expendable," said Helen Gym, a mother of a district third-grader.

Wait a minute my memory bank said....Wasn't she the leader of the small Chinatown group that kept the Phillies stadium out of center city? I am still steamed about that - there were less than 10,000 people in Chinatown and maybe 2,000 were papered taxpayers but the city caved in (Rendell and Street) to them and put the stadium in south philly. Actually, I suspect that's where Rendell always wanted it as he sucks up to Comcast bigtime! And yes, this issue is one of my all time pet peeves- it showed me Philly will never be a first class town if the current cockroaches stay in power (and they are well represented in BOTH parties so don't get the wrong idea).

But I digress...here is what I found about that "parent" Helen Gym when I googled her name- Helen Gym: Coalition To Save Philadelphia Schools, Philadelphians United to Support Public Schools, Stadium Out Of Chinatown Coalition, and Asian Pacific America Studies Consultant. Think I should google the other parent named in the Daily News story? Nah, maybe later I have had enough fun for one day. And I bet the Inquirer and Daily News still wonders why their credibility is sinking and circulation is down. They dis-respect their readers when they print crap like this (and that's the first time I ever used the word "dis-respect" but it fits).

For your reading pleasure, I have provided the link below:

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/local/12790202.htm