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Published on Thursday, December 11, 2008 by Huffington Post
Obama's "Way-to-Go, Brownie!" Moment?
Has Barack Obama forgotten, "Way-to-go, Brownie"? Michael Brown was that guy from the Arabian Horse Association appointed by George Bush to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Brownie, not knowing the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain from the south end of a horse, let New Orleans drown. Bush's response was to give his buddy Brownie a "way to go!" thumbs up.
We thought Obama would go a very different way. You'd think the studious Senator from Illinois would avoid repeating the Bush regime's horror show of unqualified appointments, of picking politicos over professionals.
But here we go again. Trial balloons lofted in the Washington Post suggest President-elect Obama is about to select Joel Klein as Secretary of Education. If not Klein, then draft-choice number two is Arne Duncan, Obama's backyard basketball buddy in Chicago.
Say it ain't so, President O.
Let's begin with Joel Klein. Klein is a top notch anti-trust lawyer. What he isn't is an educator.
Klein is as qualified to run the Department of Education as Dick Cheney is to dance in Swan Lake. While I've never seen Cheney in a tutu, I have seen Klein fumble about the stage as Chancellor of the New York City school system.
Klein, who lacks even six minutes experience in the field, was handed management of New York's schools by that political Jack-in-the-Box, Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The billionaire mayor is one of those businessmen-turned-politicians who think lawyers and speculators can make school districts operate like businesses.
Klein has indeed run city schools like a business - if the business is General Motors. Klein has flopped. Half the city's kids don't graduate.
Klein is out of control. Not knowing a damn thing about education, rather than rely on those who actually work in the field (only two of his two dozen deputies have degrees in education), Klein pays high-priced consultants to tell him what to do. He's blown a third of a billion dollars on consultant "accountability" projects plus $80 million for an IBM computer data storage system that doesn't work.
What the heck was the $80 million junk computer software for? Testing. Klein is test crazy. He has swallowed hook, line and sinker George Bush's idea that testing students can replace teaching them. The madly expensive testing program and consultant-fee spree are paid for by yanking teachers from the classroom.
Ironically, though not surprisingly, test scores under Klein have flat-lined. Scores would have fallen lower, notes author Jane Hirschmann, but Klein "moved the cut line," that is, lowered the level required to pass. In other words, Klein cheats on the tests.
Nevertheless, media poobahs have fallen in love with Klein, especially Republican pundits. The New York Times' David Brooks is championing Klein, hoping that media hype for Klein will push Obama to keep Bush schools policies in place, trumping the electorate's choice for change.
Brooks and other Republicans (hey, didn't those guys lose?) are pushing Klein as a way for Obama to prove he can reach across the aisle to Republicans like Bloomberg. (Oh yes, Bloomberg's no longer in the GOP, having jumped from the party this year when the brand name went sour.)
Choosing Klein, says Brooks, would display Obama's independence from the teacher's union. But after years of Bush kicking teachers in the teeth, appointing a Bush acolyte like Klein would not indicate independence from teachers but their betrayal.
Hoops versus Hope
The anti-union establishment has a second stringer on the bench waiting in case Klein is nixed: Arne Duncan. Duncan, another lawyer playing at education, was appointed by Chicago's Boss Daley to head that city's train-wreck of a school system. Think of Duncan as "Klein Lite."
What's Duncan's connection to the President-elect? Duncan was once captain of Harvard's basketball team and still plays backyard round-ball with his Hyde Park neighbor Obama.
But Michelle has put a limit on their friendship: Obama was one of the only state senators from Chicago to refuse to send his children into Duncan's public schools. My information is that the Obamas sent their daughters to the elite Laboratory School where Klein-Duncan teach-to-the-test pedagogy is dismissed as damaging and nutty.
Mr. Obama, if you can't trust your kids to Arne Duncan, why hand him ours?
Lawyer Duncan is proud to have raised test scores by firing every teacher in low-scoring schools. Which schools? There's Collins High in the Lawndale ghetto with children from homeless shelters and drug-poisoned 'hoods. They don't do well on tests. So Chicago fired all the teachers. They brought in new ones - then fired all of them too: the teachers' reward for volunteering to work in a poor neighborhood.
It's no coincidence that the nation's worst school systems are run by non-experts like Klein and Duncan.
Obama certainly knows this. I know he knows because he's chosen, as head of his Education Department transition team, one of the most highly respected educators in the United States: Professor Linda Darling-Hammond of Stanford University.
So here we have the ludicrous scene of the President-elect asking this recognized authority, Dr. Darling-Hammond, to vet the qualifications of amateurs Klein and Duncan. It's as if Obama were to ask Michael Jordan, "Say, you wouldn't happen to know anyone who can play basketball, would you?"
Classroom Class War
It's not just Klein's and Duncan's empty credentials which scare me: it's the ill philosophy behind the Bush-brand education theories they promote. "Teach-to-the-test" (which goes under such pre-packaged teaching brands as "Success for All") forces teachers to limit classroom time to pounding in rote low-end skills, easily measured on standardized tests. The transparent purpose is to create the future class of worker-drones. Add in some computer training and - voila! - millions trained on the cheap to function, not think. Analytical thinking skills, creative skills, questioning skills will be left to the privileged at the Laboratory School and Phillips Andover Academy.
We hope for better from the daddy of Sasha and Malia.
Educationally, the world is swamping us. The economic and social levees are bursting. We cannot afford another Way-to-go Brownie in charge of rescuing our children.
© 2008 Huffington Post
- Posted in
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66 Comments so far
Show AllA Greg Palast article on CD !?
We're not worthy!
While I've never seen Cheney in a tutu . . .
Cheesedick Cheney will be wearing a tutu in Hell, nothing else, as, one by one, people like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Pol Pot, Al Capone, Margaret Thatcher, etc. saunter by and giggle, then punch through his chest wall and rip the stint out of his heart, which hurts far worse in Hell than it does in this dimension.
And I believe George Wanker Bush said, "Heckuva job, Brownie" and not "Way to go, Brownie." Let's not taint "way to go" so no one can use it anymore.
The 'un-doing' of #44?
December 12, 2008 "Haaretz." -- - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's administration will offer Israel a "nuclear umbrella" against the threat of a nuclear attack by Iran, a well-placed American source said earlier this week. The source, who is close to the new administration, said the U.S. will declare that an attack on Israel by Tehran would result in a devastating U.S. nuclear response against Iran.
Any Israeli attack on Iran will cause a response - then what? Global Thermonuclear War brought to us by the same frendly folks who were ultimately behind 9/11 and the ensuing American bankruptcy?
How about Jeanne Allen, Founder and President of The Center for Education Reform, for the job of Secretary of Education?
Here's her bio from the CER web site.
http://www.edreform.com/index.cfm?fuseAction=document&documentID=14§ionID=59
"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups."
- John Kenneth Galbraith
Change? Alas, NO. I fear we're receiving MORE OF THE SAME in a shameful continuation of the destructive Bu$h regime. Not change, but continued degradation. Thus hope continues to dwindle. It snowballs rapidly.
Obama worships at the alter of "bipartisanship and new ideas".... he kept telling people that, they just didn't listen.
I want a new democratic party.... one that respects women would be nice for a change
The USA has always had an odd love/hate relationship with education. It extols it's virtues while failing to accord those who work in it the due respect (which includes pay). Thus it is no surprise that many nations primary education far outpaces that of the USA (it should be written that post-graduate education is still outstanding in the USA). In a "knowledge" economy, bad median educational levels is a sure recipe for irrelevance.
www.wunderman-comics.com
Of course Obama is going to appoint a lawyer. He couldn't care less about education. His goal is to establish a dictatorship and aristocracy of lawyers. That way they can break the law all they want with total impunity. It's what the Democratic party is all about these days.
Joel Klein for anything related to education is stupid. There is nothing in Palast's article that lists the facts about Joel Klein with which to argue.
I also vigorously dislike Mayor Bloomberg's policies and didn't vote for him. He has reduced to near eliminated any parental and community local involvement in the schools. He has getten the Board of Education eliminated, getting total mayoral control, which is a throwback of about 90 years. (I was no fan of old Bd of Ed,but this Dept. of Ed. is awful.) As many have said in NYC, Bloomberg is Rudy Guiliani with a smile. He has continued Rudy G's policies in many areas. The police are inside the schools and harrassment of kids by police has escalated.
Bloomberg has thrown his money-backed-weight around, one example is the bypass of term limits by using the City Council to pass a law allowing him to have a 3rd term, recently. (see website for NY1 tv for material on the latter.)
His police department have chalked up enormous stop and frisk nonlegal stops (see www.nyclu.org NY Civil Liberties Union) and more deaths of civilians by police than I can keep track of, and little to no accountability of police for it, (see the website of the October 22 Coalition www.october22.org which keeps track of people killed by the NYPD as part of their Stolen Lives Project.
For more on education in NYC, check out "Education at the Crossroads", producer: Basir Mchawi, WBAI 99.5FM NYC www.wbai.org shows are available live stream online or archived for 90 days. My knowledge of education is based on having been a NYC pubic school teacher for 5 years,active in the beginnings of the union, artist-in-residence in a public school for a foundation, as well as the middle generation of 3 generations of NYC public school students.
Well I give up, not much more I can say. I tried to defend him best I could even though it was obviously going down hill from the get go. Oh Well. I got what I paid for I guess.
Is the Secretary of Education one of the posts that Congress has to approve? When the time comes, we can certainly bombard Congress and the White House. Whether it would make any difference is something we'd just have to wait and see.
pfft.. you expect congress, those people who chose Obama as the nominee even though the people voted for another candidate are going to oppose anything "the one" wants?
I want a new democratic party.... one that respects women would be nice for a change
We bombarded Congress while they were "studying" the Great Wall Street Giveaway.
That worked really....
You might also be interested to know that US policy of education (or rather lack of it), has 2 consequences, first one described by Palast, only the kids of the upper class who can afford private schooling can hope for the best jobs, the second one (has its obvious good sides) is that educated young people from elsewhere need to fill in the gap, not many native highly qualified scientist for instance! We cannot say that Europe is flooded by US scientist for instance, cannot find many, but US lab are a very different picture.
Indeed! Wandering around MIT these days has one hard-pressed to hear English spoken.
WEIGH to go, how 'bout that. And wanting in the balance, thumb on the competince scail, as it whir...
http://flickr.com/photos/kcjones/2681795250/
michyh
How many of you posting here, including Mr. Palast are teachers or are out in the trenches, parents of kids in schools,etc?
I don't know whether Obama's apts are legitimate or not , I don't know enough about them yet. But I have been in education for over thirty years. I resent Mr. Palast discussing this without any knowledge of the world we educators live in.
michyh:I state my teaching time in my reply below. Please read it.
So you resent Mr. Palast, a citizen, for expecting the president elect to appoint a Secretary of Education who has a real background in education, I find your resentment bewildering?? He seems to be on your side, asking that the department of education be headed up by a real educator.
I come from a family of educators, though I am not one my self. I have gwrown children who have been through the public school system, much to their detriment, and a school aged child that will likely, if I have anything to say about it, never have to suffer the inadequacies of our badly broken public education system. Does that qualify me in your mind to discuss this issue?
I personally agree with Mr. Palast on this issue. Public schools are not businesses they are public institutions with a mission. I want the department of education headed up by someone who truly understands that mission and the real problems preventing these public institutions from fulfilling their mission.
Furthermore Mr. Palast is a journalist and a commentator, it's his job to discuss issues but not his job to be an expert in evry issue he discusses.
"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups."
- John Kenneth Galbraith
michyh
so I am stupid because I don't agree with you?
Stupid was your word not mine. I simply told you I found your post bewildering and why. I find this post likewise bewildering. I don't care if you agree with me or not, I just felt the need to reject what seemed to me to be an inappropriate assertion of the authors lack of qualification to present the subject matter of the article.
Then again if a line like that is the best you can do..... Well if the shoe fits.
"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups."
- John Kenneth Galbraith
I suspect that you're reading too much in artrod's quote at the bottom of the post...it's always the same and is not directed at you, or anybody else. I don't think (s)he called you stupid at all.
my family is full of teachers and I have a degree in education. I agree with Palast, these are crappy appointments. They are far to the right of any philosophy of Education that most democrats would have. These are bushleague appointments. We need educators in charge of education... not businessmen.
I want a new democratic party.... one that respects women would be nice for a change
Why would you assume Palast has no knowledge of this issue? His article is great (as usual) because he is a top-notch reporter.
And...nothing is more common to everybody than the school system. Every last one of us here has basically been to school from ages 5 to 18 (more or less). A majority of us have kids, siblings, other family members in school and with the immense number of teachers, it's not exactly an unknown profession...quite the opposite. Within my immediate family of about a dozen (including nieces and nephews) there are 3 kids in school, 1 teacher, one administrator, and one in tech services.
We should be so lucky to have reporters like Palast report on this issue because he is simply superb. I supported Obama and find we're crucifying him a bit early (40 days before he takes the job!!??) but I deeply respect Palast's research and it's at least worth looking into.
Our media is so horrible that the few true gems like Palast are precious indeed.
(As Mordechai Shiblikov points out below, Bush's expression to the hapless Brown was: "Heckuva job Brownie")
More "Chains we can believe in"
I think the best thing Obama can do for education in this country is to shut down the decrepit, do-nothing department of education. I see no reason why we need an education department at the federal level. He should also shut down the Homeland Security department while he's at it.
On the other hand, he should increase the funding and staffing of the SEC, and bring back the old banking regulations.
As long as we're shutting down useless government agencies, I propose shutting down the entire department of defense. From the over-employment of single-use items (can only drop a bomb once...) to the tyranny of occupying lands we have no business being in, I can think of no greater money saving and reputation building act than shutting down the DoD and handing all that money over for education purposes: plenty of computers for every classroom (all running Linux!), free education from pre-school to advanced degrees and post-graduate study, plenty of schools, seats, classrooms, teachers, especially teachers, and paid well at that, and more. And it would certainly start somewhere else than an administrator for a failing public school system, such as NYC. Whatever happened to rewarding proven success? Now, as long as you have connections, doesn't matter how bad a job you do, you can always fail upward.
what in heaven's name made you think Obama was going to be different. He kept telling us he was a "uniter and a decider". He said he want's to unite the country and use ideas from both sides of the isle...fine, except where the right side of the isle is WRONG. Obama also told us time and again that he would appojnt smart people to advise him but that he would be the decider. Didn't that sound familiar to any of you?
I want a new democratic party.... one that respects women would be nice for a change
Sioux Rose
Teresa, I am a former educator, and I know we all make typos in this forum, but are you aware that isle means an island, and aisle in political parlance is what you are referring to (both sides of, as in a movie theater aisle). Also, you used the expression he want's and put an apostrophe. Generally the apostrophe is used to indicate someone possesses something. Wants is a verb... since you state that you are an educator, I'd expect a little more mastery of grammar and vocabulary, unless English is your 2nd language (?)
Uh, why are you lecturing Teresa on a frivolous typo when in fact there are bigger concerns to be addressed? Education in this country is already going down the toilet and Joe Klein's itching to keep it that way. You better have plenty of time for grammar lecturing when Klein's gonna be in charge.
Sioux Rose
Because so many educators can't spell! I realize what's at stake, and am tired of listing my laments for the parade of sell-outs Obama is championing when our nation's soul is in the toilet.
I'm with you, Sioux, having noticed the same thing for years, especially on the Web. Then along come the Dennis Duncans to ridicule anyone daring to point out how atrocious most Americans' writing skills are, and they do in fact include at least some ability to spell, use punctuation correctly, and basic grammatical skills that were once taught in elementary school. It's now a virtue to be utterly unconcerned about such "trivial" matters, and we wonder why our educational system is as dismal as it absolutely is.
Why worry about clowns like Joel Klein or the fool Obama used to play basketball with being appointed to responsible positions in the education hierarchy if we don't give a fleeting damn about what education is supposed to impart? Every time I see some dolt like Duncan on sites like this denigrating basic writing skills as if they're evidence of a shallow mind, I know exactly why and how we've come to the absurd and idiotic impasse we have in our schools.
Ephraim:spelling and grammar are great, but Joel Klein is not good for the job. It's not either or.
NYCartist, I wasn't implying Klein was good for the job. I'm sure Palast has him nailed for the know-nothing he is. And his further point, that Obama is making choice after choice for cabinet positions consistently applauded by the right wing, underscores how easily duped most progressives have been concerning the tedious "change" mantra. What we're really seeing is Continuity We Can Believe In. And it's not that "spelling and grammar are great", like buttered toast; they're in many ways essential if we expect clear communication of ideas, whether the ideas are good or bad ones. Siouxrose gets this, as I've noticed more than once. She's in a rapidly diminishing minority, far outnumbered by posters and commenters on the Web who couldn't possibly care less about following ANY rules of the written language. Without which we are merely babbling chaotically at each other, communicating nothing that will be remembered two minutes hence or cared about when first heard.
I say this partly because I too am a former educator, as many here seem to be. When did the basic rules of writing become totally irrelevant to communication? Sometime in the late '90s, I'd suggest, around the time of the launching of the Internet.
Ephraim:If I had to guess, in answer to your question, I'd say, people are rushing.
Maybe if you so-called "liberals" would shut up and use your "smartness" to help fight for more affordable education instead of living in your yankee self-reliant mode condescending others, you "great educators" wouldn't be in the minority. Besides, some people, despite their lack of "writing skills" brought up interesting ideas of increasing voter turnout at the local and state level elections. Maybe you brainiacs wouldn't mind teaching students about the importance of local elections that could in turn make a difference for statewide elections which could in turn make a difference on national elections. I'm a real liberal and I don't give a shit on someone's writing as long as they are willing to show an open mind. Are you?
What an asinine assumption--that someone is "living in your yankee self-reliant mode condescending others" [sic] simply because he/she says something about clear writing. This is exactly the kind of stupidity that insures pwogwessives and libruls never get anywhere. JWVerez is a "real liberal", unlike the critics of and complainers about bad writing. To do that obviously makes one a phony who refuses to fight for affordable education or teach students about the importance of local elections. It's always a dead giveaway: to care about decent writing habits means you're condescending and hate local politics. It's soooo obvious, if you're logically challenged.
Gee, another snob who knows how to piss off otherwise progressive leaning voters. Education ain't easy to get or even afford depending on the family. You can call Dennis a dolt all you want but if it weren't for those "dolts" you happily talk down, you wouldn't even be having President Obama coming in. Nowadays, high school dropouts are on the rise and based on Joe Klein's pro-rightwing leanings, none of that's likely to abate. Just because some of us can't write perfectly doesn't mean that they are dumb. You liberals are no smarter than the conservatives in allowing sellouts in your party to ABUSE you. There are young boys and girls who are stuck in families that are financially crunched and all too often, their only hope of survival is working a minimum wage job at a restaurant or as a repair person or even signing up in the army like I did in 1967 when my parents sent me in to enlist as a soldier during the Vietnam War. Yeah, we dolts can write perfectly but are we gonna be fucking rewarded ? NO ! NO ! NO ! There are liberals out there who aren't lucky to get access to affordable basic education so shut up and show some respect !
JWVerez:why do you assume those who are getting you angry in re their picky-ness over spelling and grammar over content are Liberals? Jerks are jerks.
Nobody is saying that poor writing means you're dumb. Some very smart people can't write worth a damn, and spell worse. But to point out how badly someone uses the written language doesn't make one a snob, either. I'm not talking about people who may not have access to decent education; that's a different issue and you're idiotically conflating one with the other. The educational system in this country is bankrupt in numerous ways, and you've pointed out one of them, to which I totally agree. I have nephews in the very situation you describe--stuck in dead end jobs (waiting tables, etc.) because they can't afford college. I've tried to help them but my own means are limited as well. Should I encourage them to write badly so they won't be perceived as snobs? Maybe that will make it easier for them to get into college or find good jobs.
butt if eye rite like this maybee u will except me more beter an i coud say i wuz a librul an only wanted respect! . . . See, what you apparently consider "abuse" I think of as respect. Giving a damn about the rules of the written word confers mutual respect, though that seems to be well beyond you. I'm the same age as you, going by what you say about enlisting in '67, and share much the same history as a result. But your use of everyday logic and basic reasoning leaves much to the imagination.
Sioux Rose
Thank you. If someone identifies themselves AS an educator, I expect them to have a standard of writing. That's the point. And it IS valid. I have seen tons of typos in the forum, sometimes I make them. (The edit function now helps remedy that.)
I actually got an email where someone said, "Come prey with me." They got upset when I said "pray" as a correction. We're not talking Einstein here, but BASIC usage. I am amazed how many educated people really can't spell, and are clueless when it comes to subject/verb agreement, etc. America's students are getting dumber and part is because their teachers are not well-educated or should I say disciplined in the craft of writing. That, along with using video games and television rather than reading books is causing a different kind of deficit in this land of the hardly free: ones of intellectualism, freedom of thought, and the boundless realm of imagination. These areas are the fertile field that produce invention(s), and of course it is chiefly in that zone that America's economy moved so much more rapidly than those of other nations. If we kill that interior resource, while our economy is already in peril, what will we have to offer at the trade tables? Just weapons? What a legacy. If so, then speaking like an inner city wise guy might be as high as the bar is held.
I couldn't agree more, Sioux Rose. It is hard to resist criticizing people's grammar and spelling, but one typo or slip will render your criticism ridiculous. Being a lover of words and language, I do cringe when supposedly educated people make junior high mistakes. The proper use of punctuation is so important to get the right meaning across.
Take this sentence for example: "A woman without her man is nothing"
Now add punctuation: "A woman: without her, man is nothing."
In a forum like this where strong opinions are expressed, it makes sense to try to express yourself accurately.
elainem:Of all the examples you could use, you pick that? Oh, dear, with a woman's screen name,too. Your choice expresses something,too. Ouch. (I'm a woman.)
I think you are reading too much into my example. I picked it because I liked it when I first heard it out of the mouth of a biblical scholar who used it to illustrate a point. The point was: most of the New Testament was written without punctuation and therefore many interpretations are possible. Now please tell me why a woman's screen name upsets you, and what my choice expresses.
elainem: My surprise was that a woman (based on your having a woman's screen name) would use that example, considering the content of your example.
Another example: A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.
I think my example shows that the same sentence has opposite meanings when punctuation is added.
Maybe you were reading too fast.
How does your example show the changes made by punctuation?
I concur. Sometimes, liberals can end up living up to the "liberal elite" libel by acting snobbish especially when it comes to condescending others on shit like grammar. Who cares how perfectly you type just as long as it ain't way off.
In the tradition of teaching to the test...
(1) Please choose the missing word from the following Obama campaign slogan:
_ _ _ We Can!
(a) No
(b) Maybe
(c) Yes
Answer: (c) Yes
Congratulations! You're a fine American! Change is coming (whatever that means)!
I don't fault Palast for reacting strongly to these trial balloons, but it seems premature to fault Obama until the actual choices are made. The same goes for the rumor that Obama will keep Hayden on as DCI. And I say this as an ardent Obama non-supporter.
If any of these balloons prove correct, I'll be interested to see how supporters continue to rationalize the, er, flip-flop from "Change" to the Orwellian "Change Is Sameness".
· Yr Obd't Servant
So many folks but especially davidpeace and stranger make their points.
To our governing elites who wish to keep it that way, Education (capital E) is a really low priority. And I don't meant the mass literacy campaign that we call "public schools." I mean the real thing, the Education where one learns _to love to learn_, the one where one's curiosity is constantly stimulated, the one where critical skills are honed to razor sharpness, the one where one's self-esteem is not crushed nor where the individual's perceptions, experiences, imagination, and creativity are marginalized.
The mass literacy campaign "teaches" the typical individual just enough "book attack" skills (if at all) so s/he can pick up more "skills' later on _needed for the corporate workforce_, but never enough to where the typical "learner" can see through the fog of propaganda that mouths the _language_ of participatory democracy, yet deprives the individual of authentic participation in the political process--other than allowing him to vote or contribute a check to Candidate A B or C... The majority of these candidates vetted by our betters.
When was the last time you decided the buying power of your hard-earned dollar?
When was the last time you set the minimum wage and/or the living wage?
When was the last time you set the minimum vacation time you needed from work?
When was the last time you decided what information goes into elementary and high school textbooks?
When was the last time you told the Pentagon "those weapons" are not necessary?
When was the last time you demonstrated and could not say whether you would get tasered and gassed at any moment?
When was the last time we in the workforce determined the law of supply and demand could work in our favor?
Somebody does and in Dylan's words, "It ain't (you and) me, babe..."