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The Eight Grossest Reactions to Education Reform

Activist Campbell Brown endures sexist, anti-Semitic attacks from union backers

Campbell Brown / AP
August 11, 2014

Education reformer and former CNN host Campbell Brown has had to deal with a series of vile Twitter attack from teachers, trolls, and pornbots since launching her court challenge to teacher tenure.

Esquire’s Charles P. Pierce set the tone for the debate when he posted a story headlined, "Who the Fck is Campbell Brown?" Pierce—a product of private, Catholic school—declared that her cadre of rightwing "mountebanks" and "grifters," such as former Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs, are shilling for Wall Street. Pierce’s readers relied on public school language to voice their support for teachers unions and tenure.

The Washington Free Beacon noticed some trends in the trollosphere when it came to Brown.

1. Brown’s critics have a tough time with spelling.

2. Brown’s critics have a tough time with intentional misspelling.

3. Chief Brown opponents Derp Johnson and Mort_Magirt have strikingly similar diction, style, and thinking, but are totally two separate fake users.

4. Brown’s opponents have a message that resonates with pornographers.

Per the New York Post:

The campaign, by the New York-based Alliance for Quality Education, sought to paint Brown as a front for deep-pocketed special interests and lightning-rod former Washington, DC, schools chief Michelle Rhee.

And by Sunday, dozens of the porn-tinged Twitter feeds repeated BuzzFeed’s headline, "Progressive Groups Launch Campaign To Paint Campbell Brown As a ‘Right-Wing Elitist’" and linked to its story.

5. Brown’s fight against tenure is "fascist," a "war crime."

6. Stephen Colbert betrayed liberals by interviewing her.

7. An account "parodying" Brown suggested she can afford her campaign because she’s Jewish.

8. The anti-Brown tweets were actually a false flag campaign designed to discredit her critics.

Published under: Education