Yesterday Randi Weingarten was interviewed by host Neal Conan on NPR's Talk of the Nation. Had I been listening, and had I learned that Weingarten was the program's guest, I would have turned the dial. It's just that every time I hear Randi Weingarten speaking on some radio or television show, every time I read in the newspaper a quote that she gave to some reporter, every time I skim the op-eds she has authored, I get the distinct and unshakeable feeling that she's not actually saying anything and that I'm wasting my time. She is in the 99.99th percentile when it comes to skillfully avoiding questions; answering questions that were never asked; answering questions so broadly that nobody is sure what, exactly, she's even talking about; writing the most vapid, bromide-bursting sentences; and professing?her?limitless love for?kids, public schools, America, veterans, and puppies. It's awful. This is how her interview with Conan began:
CONAN: Does collective bargaining as we know it need to be changed?
Ms. WEINGARTEN: Look, everything as we know it needs to be changed these days.
Ugh. Save it. Weingarten was on with Conan for a long while. Maybe she said something insightful? Something semi-honest? Frankly, I'm just not willing to wade through the pabulum puddles to find out.
?Liam Julian, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow