Bill Phillis, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Equity and Adequacy, objects to the billions of dollars that have been diverted from public schools to privately managed charter schools.
He read lawyer Robert Amsterdam’s “Empire of Deceit”—about the Gulen Network of charters—and was outraged.
He wrote:
“Gulen organization receives 40 percent of the earnings of Turkish employees of charter schools
“Mustafa Emanet, a former H-1B employee of the Gulen organization, indicates that 40 percent of the salaries of Turkish employees in the Gulen charter industry are deducted from their paycheck, and additional contributions to Gulenists causes are required.
“Emanet provided a copy of the bylaws of Tuzuk to Robert Amsterdam, author of EMPIRE OF DECEIT: An Investigation of the Gülen Charter School Network. These bylaws specify salary schedules that are 40 percent below the actual salary.
“The Gulen Empire makes major contributions to Gulen-friendly politicians. Other perks include free trips to Turkey.
“It is amazing that some politicians put the nation at risk in exchange for perks and campaign contributions.
“Why are the news media organizations reluctant to delve into this matter? Just wondering…
“Robert Amsterdam’s book EMPIRE OF DECEIT: An Investigation of the Gülen Charter School Network is available online at http://empireofdeceit.com”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Very Scientology-esque.
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Precisely!
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With Trump at the helm and the GOP dominating all three branches of the federal government, the U.S. empire of deceit, greed, and white supremacy is on its way to becoming complete and eventually accepted as normal operating procedure once the public schools are gone and children are not taught how to think critically and solve problems as an individual or cooperatively with others.
Unless we follow Thomas Jefferson’s advice.
There are times it feels like we are on board the Titanic and it is about to hit the iceberg and sink, but this Titanic is the United States and there are only enough lifeboats for the richest and most powerful 0.1-percent and those lifeboats for the few are guarded by the most powerful military on Earth that is expected to watch as the lifeboats sail away and then the troops go down with the ship and the rest of us.
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Not clear on what this has to do with Trump. Gulen has been buying politicians on both sides of the aisle for many years now and no one on either side has been willing to take it on. Obama couldn’t have been unaware, yet he did nothing (and refused to extradite Gulen after the coup attempt). The Clintons have accepted substantial campaign and foundation donations from various Gulenists. Illinois Speaker of the House Mike Madigan has been to Turkey at least four times at Gulen expense.
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You don’t get it.
Gulen is more evidence of the terminal cancer spreading further through our government until it destroys the U.S. Constitutional Republic. We could argue when this cancer had its start. I think it was Sunday, January 17, 1961.
“The Real Point Of Eisenhower’s Warning About The Military-Industrial Complex”
“It was taken to be a harbinger of the things that followed: the Vietnam War, massive defense spending, and increased American military involvement around the world.
“But was that really the point that Eisenhower was trying to get across in his farewell address? In many ways, his address was a warning to the American people that is as timely now as it was then: The world is entering an era of persistent conflict and America must be prepared to accept that, as well as the costs of being a leader in the world community. It also must be ready and guarded to take on the dangers and pitfalls that are the flipside to having a large, modernized, and ever-developing military.” …
http://taskandpurpose.com/the-real-point-of-eisenhowers-warning-about-the-military-industrial-complex/
I’ve read that all the wars the U.S. has fought since the end of World War II has killed more than 20-million people, and the result is the U.S. has the largest for-profit, private sector weapons industry in the world that even sells weapons to countries on lists that are supposed to be our enemies.
Every president starting with Eisenhower has contributed to the spread of that cancer — some more than others. LBJ, Nixon, Reagan, Bush times two, and Trump are the worst.
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I disagree with you that the Republicans have been the worst. In many ways the Democrats have accomplished more than the Republicans could hope for. Do you think Bush could have gotten away with unilateral execution of U.S. citizens by executive order? Do you think Reagan or Bush 41 could have passed welfare “reform”? I agree completely that the cancer has progressively spread during every presidency at least since Eisenhower, but, no, the Republicans are not the worst of it. The “two parties” (sic) are necessary sides of the same coin. To only focus on the big, bad Republicans obscures what’s happening and ensures that it will continue to happen. This topic especially has little to do with Trump – the Gulen cancer was fully metastasized before Trump even ran for office.
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Dienne, stop. You must be happy with Trump if you really believe Democrats are worse than Republicans.
Is Ginsburg worse than Gorsuch?
Trump is stacking the federal bench with white men opposed to any civil rights protections, any environmental regulation. One of his judicial nominees hates LGBT, denounces gays, and says transgender people are the “children of Satan.” And you think that’s ok?
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True. Gulen is nonpartisan. He buys politicians in both parties.
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Dienne is arguing about Democratic complicity with and support for the war machine, which is irrefutable, and you reflexively accuse her of being a Trump supporter. That’s a gross red herring, Diane.
There are valid reasons to vote for the Democrats, awful as they are: women’s, African-American, immigrant and LBGT rights, slightly less anti-union animus, better policies regarding the environment, judicial appointments, etc. On some of these issues, they are far superior to the Repugs, on others the differences are marginal, but still real.
But on the issue of war and the military-industrial complex, they’ve evolved into being no better – as Hillary Clinton’s disgraceful behavior concerning Libya demonstrates – which was the point Dienne was making.
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Michael and Dienne,
If you ever find a perfect political party, let me know and I will join it.
As for Hillary, I feel certain she would not have withdrawn the US from the Paris climate accord, the Iran nuclear deal, and UNESCO. She would not be threatening North Korea with nuclear annihilation. She would not have nominated to the Supreme Court and to federal courts, men who are opposed to equal rights for all. She was pledged to appoint someone who would roll back Citizens United. She favored gun control.
Again, when you find the perfect candidate and the Perfect party, let me know so I can join.
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dianeravitch
Perhaps we can resolve this by saying there is no doubt that Republicans are multiples worse than Democrats . But they profess to be so . You expect it of them
The Democrats we hold to a higher standard and yet they do immense
damage to ideals we believe in. In some areas their policies have done more harm than the Republicans could have dreamed of in a direct assault . The direct assault would have been turned back . But as we have seen since Clinton whose major policy accomplishments everyone that I can think of, were only Republican dreams.
Including ACA/Obamacare, how is that working out . Hint a plan designed by Heritage. Yes more people are covered with such high deductibles that they are not going to the Doctors when they should. The only thing worse than ACA is no ACA . But no ACA would have led to Universal healthcare rapidly as that the ESI that the middle class enjoyed was declining at 10% a decade by now with the great recession I am betting that where as 11% fewer people had Employer Sponsored health insurance in 09 vs 99 that number would have been 25% fewer by 18 without ACA.
Obamas assault on civil liberties opened the way for worse under Trump. Cuomo had to create the IDC to pursue policy with Republicans in the State senate . Bloomberg a Republican !!!! attacked public schools in NY . But compared to Emanuel he was an amateur.
Democrats for education reform brought to you with funding on this network by the Walton foundation and other right wing oligarchs .
Time for a rebuilding . I will put the ideals of the right against the ideals of the left any day . That is not happening.
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Joel,
I don’t recall the ideals of the right: greed? Privatization? Each one for him/herself? I’m okay, pull up the ladder?
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dianeravitch
Here is a ladder I hope it helps
1) Welfare Reform
Doubled Extreme poverty.
2) The Crime Bill
“Young black men weren’t looking for work at high rates during the Clinton era because they were now behind bars—out of sight, out of mind, and no longer counted in poverty and unemployment statistics. ”
Felons in many states can not vote. I wonder.
I am sure you read Michelle Alexander . Here is a refresher .
https://www.thenation.com/article/hillary-clinton-does-not-deserve-black-peoples-votes/
3) The Commodities futures deregulation act .
“Born felt that an unregulated derivatives market that spawned the LTCM bailout could “pose grave dangers to our economy.” In the end, Born lost her battle and, in May 1999, asked to be replaced as CFTC chairman”
4) The Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act (GLBA), also known as the Financial Services Modernization Act.
Bye Bye Glass Steigall Those three names right enough for you .
“The great American Stick Up :How Reagan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main Street”
I’ll save you the full read
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/the-great-american-sticku_b_715928.html
5) NAFTA and Permanent most favored Nation Status for China .
3 million manufacturing Jobs/15 million jobs(multiplier effect ) . lost to Trade . Decimating Unions in the Mid West.
Are the National Chamber and The Business RoundTable progressive groups .
6) The restoration of the lower 15% Rate on Capital Gains vs the to marginal rate of 39.6% . I am sure the Billionaires were thrilled .
7) The 1996 Telecommunications.
“Among other things, the bill brought deregulation to the cable industry and lifted the national cap on radio station ownership. It also eased the rules that apply to broadcasters. ”
You thought FOX was bad meet Sinclair Broadcasting Group .
8) Expanding NATO eastward certainly was not appealing to the left.
“George F. Kennan, father of the Cold War policy of “containment” of which NATO was an expression, declared in the Times Feb. 5 that “expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-cold-war era.” It would “inflame the nationalistic, anti-Western and militaristic tendencies in Russian opinion”; harm “the development of Russian democracy”; “restore the atmosphere of the cold war”; and “impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking.”. ” DUH!!!!!
But of course Henry Kissinger loved the Idea .
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_gist/1997/02/nato_expansion.html
Do I really have to go into Obama; starting with, Caterpillar, Get out of Jail free cards , “310 million tit suckers ” Allen Simpson .and the debt commission in a deep recession. .. ….
Concluding with drinking a glass of water taken from Air Force One in Flint instead of showing up with Loretta Lynch and a Lynch mob for Snyder’s Neck
http://archive.jsonline.com/news/opinion/michigan-gov-rick-snyder-should-be-charged-b99655606z1–365937101.html/
Suffice it to say I puked during Charter teacher appreciation week, If I have to go through the much longer list of Obama’s ,my key board will get awful messy.
You can not accuse me of supporting the right . Can I make this clear enough. Firing squads are in order for all who participated in the TREASON with Russia and the attempts to disenfranchise American voters , or the cover up since. All a fundamental threat to Democracy . And I think it goes as far as Republican leadership.
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But with the traitors running the government, the firing squads will be lining up to shoot us, the people who spout what Trump labels fake news even if the news is word-for-word coming out of his mouth and twitter fingers.
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As far as the Republicans taking over, I read an article about the Democrats trying to establish a progressive organization like ALEC. ALEC emerged in the ’70s, and they have quietly been taking over state and local elections. All the Democrats did was get together to complain and whine. They are not going to get anywhere if they just feel sorry for themselves. They need to translate their complaints into model legislative proposals, and they need to be laser focused and just as unyielding as the members of ALEC in order to move forward. The Democrats need to understand, “This is war!”
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Creating a liberal organization to counter ALEC, one that actually works, will be decades late but better late than never.
I’d prefer to call it a progressive organization and if it gets off the ground and actually flies, will it have enough support from billionaires and millionaires to counter ALEC and stay in flight?
The biggest challenge will be finding common ground between all the splinter groups out there that make up what’s known as the left. The far-right found its common ground through an extremist belief in god and white supremacy. Where does the common ground exist on the left?
Imagine bringing together the fans of these songs:
“Scars to Your Beautiful” by Alessia Cara and “Hey Mister Mister” by Kool G. Rap.
She just wants to be beautiful
She goes unnoticed, she knows no limits
She craves attention, she praises an image
She prays to be sculpted by the sculptor
Oh, she don’t see the light that’s shining
Deeper than the eyes can find it
Maybe we have made her blind
So she tries to cover up her pain and cut her woes away
‘Cause cover girls don’t cry after their face is made”
vs.
“Bitch why you lyin’, bitch you’ve been cheatin’/Now I gotsta to give your motherfuckin’ ass a beatin/I punched her in the ribcage and kicked her in the stomach/Take off all my motherfuckin’ jewellery, bitch run it/I stomped her and I kicked her and I punched her in the face”
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Billionaires like DeVos and major corporations support ALEC.
Who would fund the counter-ALEC?
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Breitbart, I know (Breitbart? Really!!!), alleges, “Soros Funded Org Seeks Student Help to Build Counter to ALEC”
If Breitbart reports this, it’s probably a conspiracy theory without any substance.
I find it interesting that the Lying Alt-Right alleged media machine designed to confuse and fool as it spreads conspiracy theories can only find one billionaire on the left to demonize while the right seems to have an army of billionaires and millionaires that it supports with its endless Psy-Ops designed lies and hate.
But then there’s this about Soros from another source that does not sound like it is an element of the Psy-Ops machine called the Alt-Right.
“George Soros is one of the world’s foremost philanthropists, having given away over $12 billion to date. His funding has supported individuals and organizations across the globe fighting for freedom of expression, transparency, accountable government, and societies that promote justice and equality.” …
“Soros used his fortune to create the Open Society Foundations—a network of foundations, partners, and projects in more than 100 countries. Its work, and its name, reflects the influence on Soros’s thinking of the philosophy of Karl Popper, which Soros first encountered at the London School of Economics. In his book Open Society and Its Enemies, Popper argues that no philosophy or ideology is the final arbiter of truth, and that societies can only flourish when they allow for democratic governance, freedom of expression, and respect for individual rights—an approach at the core of the work at the Open Society Foundations.”
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/people/george-soros
If what Open Society Foundations says about Soros is true, no wonder ALEC’s Psy-Ops machine designed to spread hate and lies is demonizing Soros. If you read that piece, you will discover why he does what he does.
Soros family barely survived Hitler’s holocaust while the Koch brothers father was generating the foundation of his sons’ fortune in Russia working for Stalin.
One barely survived Hitler.
The other got rich with help from Stalin.
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The alt-right has made Soros into its all-purpose demon.
Ridiculous.
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Soros wants to build democracy.
Patrons of alt-right like Koch, DeVos and Mercer want to destroy democracy.
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There are only two wealthy groups of Democrats, and both of them are morally compromised: hedge funds and Silicon Valley.
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” ‘…societies can only flourish when they allow for democratic governance, freedom of expression, and respect for individual rights…’ “
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dianeravitch
Nick Hanauer may have given you the answer to that question .
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Here is the problem . If the Republicans are beholden to right wing Plutocrats ALEC the BRT and Oligarchs , Koch ,Mercer ……
Who are the Democrats beholden to ?
Such an organization already exists Democrats used to be beholden to it for dollars and bodies . Than they discovered Wall Street .Now they pay lip service to it . Calling it
“the only thing standing between the American people and the barbarians at the gates”
That organization became to narrowly self interested . Yet in 2011/12 the leadership of that organization realizing that it was becoming irrelevant decided to expand into the progressive voice of America a true counter to ALEC on the Right . They proposed offering voting membership to other Organizations from the NAACP to the Sierra Club. They brought that proposal to their voting members and it died.
So retired teacher can you guess the name of that organization .
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I wonder if Gulen pays US income tax on the 40% kickbacks.
Of course, evading income taxes and being prosecuted for it are two different things and there appears to be no desire of our officials to go after Gulen for anything.
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That’s an excellent point, and the DOJ should look into it. Isn’t that how they got Al Capone?
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The difference is they were actually trying to get Capone.
Gulen seems to be an American friendly Turkish leader in exile waiting for an opportune moment to return to Turkey and take up the reigns of power. We’ve seen this (Harvey Weinstein) movie before.
And it’s hard for him to do that from a jail cell.
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Maybe Gulen uses the 40% from his teachers to pay the politicians to leave him alone.
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The gulen charter story would be a great book. Someone should investigate it- they are extremely politically clout-heavy and no one seems to know why.
Ohio politicians won’t even talk about it. They’re terrified of the whole subject.
I’m dying to know how this one religious/charter group managed to capture tens of Ohio lawmakers. There is a story here.
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The book is called Empire of Deceit.
It was written by an attorney Robert Amsterdam, hired by the government of Turkey. Very well documented.
Free download at website with that name
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Thanks. I once asked Bob Latta (US House) at a town hall meeting why Ohio was bringing in teachers from Turkey and he looked terrified. It was hysterical. He went full deer in the headlights.
It’s a simple question, but they will NOT answer it.
It’s absolute nonsense that they are “short” math teachers. This is a rural district and we get many more applicants every year than we can possibly hire.
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Maybe what they said was that they need short math teachers — not that they are short math teachers.
On average, Turks are shorter than Americans.
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Cuz, you know, maybe their blackboards are not very high.
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Dig deep enough and you will discover that the CIA supports Gulen and that’s why there is so much fear among many if not all elected officials when it comes to challenging Gulen.
“Gülen admits that Turkish Islamic reformer Said Nursi had the greatest intellectual influence on him. It is from Nursi that he also inherited a strong anti-Communist sentiment and propensity for entrepreneurial capitalism, important traits that later gained him great favour and friends at the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).” …
“In connection with this analogy it may be worth mentioning another set of allegations to the effect that some of the Gülen schools in Central Asia have served in the past as convenient cover for 130 CIA operatives in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, who spied for the US government while working as English teachers.
“In his memoirs Osman Nuri Gundes, former head of the Istanbul branch of the Turkish Intelligence Service (MIT) even mentioned “Bridges of Friendship” as the code name of those operations. This particular case of alleged abuse of the Gülen schools by the CIA was later elaborated on by Cibel Edmonds in her memoirs Classified Woman: Sibel Edmonds Story. Edmonds is a former FBI translator who later became one of the most well-known American whistle blowers in the domain of national security.
“Edmonds claimed that the key link between Fethullah Gülen and his movement with the CIA was Graham Fuller, a prominent intelligence analyst at the RAND Corporation, former CIA station chief in Kabul and Vice President of the National Intelligence Council.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/osman-softic/what-is-fethullah-g%C3%BClen%E2%80%99s-real-mission
Whenever the CIA is involved, the CIA will not tell you the truth. That is the nature of a beast built on spying and lying.
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How did this start? What was the first Gulen charter and how in the HECK did they manage to capture so many state politicians in a span of a decade?
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One of the Gulen charters in Ohio had a scandal involving kids who were assaulted because they weren’t supervised.
The charter’s response to this was to put over the top anti-union screeds up on their website.
Just CRAZY stuff. They have school furniture “subsidiaries” where the members of the family who run the charter also run the outlet that sells furniture to the charters.
A public school could NEVER get away with this, and these guys have been getting away with it for better than a decade.
I don’t know why they’re so politically connected but they must be VERY well connected because they are untouchable in Ohio.
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Chiara, read Empire of Deceit. Gulen schools buy all goods and services from Turkish firms.
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SomeDAM Poet
October 13, 2017 at 5:36 pm
Maybe what they said was that they need short math teachers — not that they are short math teachers.
On average, Turks are shorter than Americans.”
Sherrod Brown, who is in my opinion more straightforward than 99% of politicians I have met.
Even HE won’t touch the Gulen charters. He changes the subject.
They’re terrified. It’s the nuttiest thing I’ve ever seen.
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Maybe Sherrod Brown is afraid of short math teachers due to a bad experience in his early years.
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There is a staleness to this. Gulen and the 40% kickbacks is news from 3 years ago….and the reluctance of democrats to deal with it for fear of losing support from powerful corporate sources in the charter industry is the single most neglected story of all. Not just Gulen…..just a gift to the right wing which they have were smart enough to accept without being stupid enough to say thanks, or anything else. I cannot even get help publicizing the one Gulen school in St. Louis. Gateway. Maybe there are more. Nobody cares enough to talk about the subject
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Not stale at all.
There are still about 150 Gulen schools replacing public schools, taking public dollars, importing Turkish teachers, paying off politicians. Just because it’s been going on for years doesn’t make it stale.
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I too wonder a lot these days. When there is so much accusation of news being fake I wonder if it’s time to bring back The Fairness Doctrine. That way all news providers will have to provide information about other sides to issues. It might be a way to make sure people don’t hear only what they want to hear. After reading about the problems with the Doctrine it seems to have had good intentions. In today’s world information communication is a big challenge. I don’t feel equipped to tease out facts and their impact on the world.
If birds of a feather flock together then (private clubs, socially active religions, politically active schools…) the tribalization of our nation will become more severe. I’m very concerned. Will a national disaster be the only hope of unifying us?
Education is more segregated than ever and with taxpayer fund paying for underregulated and underevaluated programs, it’s a free for all.
If associations can provide health care now and can exclude they who are unlike the group then religions can discriminate they who don’t drink, smoke or you name it for lower cost to the group. What will happen then to religious groups that even use wine ceremonially (many Christians and Jews)? If one isn’t the right type are they doomed economically even more than before?
All of this seems to be a grand plot to create even a bigger division between the haves and the have nots.
The people without a good education, without good health care, and who live in substandard housing (think of the poor people of Texas and the aftermath of poor building codes) will be the low paid worker bees that will have few to no choices. They will be the base of the push for making America great again (in the eyes of the business that are pushing for it so they can exploit them) by building the pool of people. America could then stop importing so much and become self sufficient there by not having to play nice with others.
I wonder where it’s all going?
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Hopeful that the book Empire of Deceit will put the Gulen Network front and center, and reform and a full investigation occurs. Time is long-overdue. The misuse of public dollars is well documented in the book, yet an eighth Gulen school is set to open in NJ. This is all occurring while our property taxes continue to rise and our traditional public schools remain underfunded. #TransparencyMatters
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