Teresa Watch: Special Edition

She Did It Again!
I promised certain people that I would limit my notes concerning Teresa Heinz-Kerry to the Weekly Round-up. But as Teresa's latest utterances involve educators and education, they demand a response. To not do so would cause the EdWonk great pain. Her remarks concern First Lady Laura Bush and her career in public education.

For anyone that has been out of the "electronic loop," for the last 24 hours, a brief synopsis:

Teresa gave an interview to USATODAY in which she made some comments that show the true nature of Ms. Heinz-Kerry. When asked by the reporter how she would be different (from Laura Bush) as first lady, Teresa responded, "Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good. But I don't know that she's ever had a real job--I mean, since she's been grown up."

John Kerry's handlers were justifiably horrified, and an an apology from Teresa was soon fabricated and released to the media. Allegedly, Teresa had "forgotten" that Laura Bush had worked as a teacher and librarian in the Texas public school system.

Attacking a person as nice as Ms. Bush would be like someone attacking a beloved little sister. It just is not done.

For this Wannabe Lady to say such a thing about the First Lady shows to all the world a sample of what Heinz-Kerry would be like as First Lady. (Oops, Teresa doesn't like the term "First Lady"--more about that this weekend.) Heinz-Kerry seems to know nothing about self-control and consideration for others, what us "ordinary people" call good manners.

She is what she appears to be: A wealthy woman that has her every whim indulged and has never had to answer to anyone for what she says or does. She has probably never heard the word no applied to her, though we are sure that she has applied it countless times to others. Such individuals as Teresa consider "pushing around little people," as a form of entertainment to "liven up" a lazy Saturday afternoon.

What we have always found mystifying here at The Education Wonks, is the fact that many people justify her lack of self-control by saying, "She speaks her mind. She is so frank. She tells it like it is. Etc."

And what about Teresa's job history? According to her bio, she "worked" in New York at the United Nations as a translator for a couple of years before she met her first husband on a tennis court in Geneva, Switzerland.

Of course, she does "work" by traveling around the world in her private jet, The Flying Squirrel (Your EdWonk will always find that name hilarious.) and appearing at this or that social function on behalf of the various charitable trusts that she oversees. We are sure that Teresa herself would consider hob-nobbing with wealthy liberals in some of the world's swankiest locales as labor, as she must periodically leave one of her five large homes.

It appears to us here at The Education Wonks that Teresa is the one that has never held a real job.