That piece of stenography filed by Cris Barrish was dictated to him by someone with some larger goal in mind. It was a hatchet job, but Barrish was just the witless trigger man in the operation. The person who put the hit on Mike is the one I’m curious about. Who decided it was time to take Matthews out, and what specifically are they trying to deflect interest away from?
Dave Burris: He is a shadowy Republican operative type, and he is certainly familiar with Mike’s early work. But I doubt it. Burris really isn’t this type of a-hole. He hates unions and has wrongheaded political ideas, but my sense is that he is a decent person. I could be wrong about that. It has been a while since we’ve had any contact.
David Andersen: If the horrible assholes in the DEGOP were lined up from the most horrible asshole to least horrible asshole, David Andersen would be near the front of the line. He is fully capable of pulling something like this. But what is his motive? Simple hatred? I doubt it.
Atnre Alleyne: I don’t know the guy but according to EdBlogger Kevin Ohlandt, he “hates DSEA. Hates Mike. Helped develop the god-awful RTTT teacher evaluations based on standardized tests that Mike fought like hell against. Worked for the DOE. Now runs the Delaware chapter of 50CAN, a right organization that… you guessed it… rails against traditional school districts and loves charter schools.”
John Atkins: He is a mean, grudge holding MFer. Hates Mathews but is he smart enough to dig through old blog posts and cull out and decontextualize the incendiary lines from the millions of non-incendiary?
Someone Else: A sore loser that the DSEA didn’t endorse? Someone inside the DSEA who didn’t like sharp elbows? I doubt it. This has the feel of being launched by someone who stands to make money based on the DSEA not being the effective, activist labor organization it was becoming under Matthews leadership.
Two people know for sure who did it and why. The person that did it, and Cris Barrish.