Council Hangs Up On Klein

January 10, 2008 (GBN News): The NY City Council yesterday overrode, by a 46-2 margin, Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of a bill effectively banning Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s Blackberry from DOE headquarters at Tweed courthouse. The bill bans from the building “… any electronic device that could be misused so as to cause disruption of the educational process, whether through gratuitous reorganizations, precipitous closing of schools, excessive standardized testing, overcrowded classrooms, confiscation of cell phones, or demoralization of teachers and parents.”

The law, which went into effect immediately, was put to the test early this morning when the Chancellor’s Blackberry was confiscated by School Security as he arrived at Tweed. An eyewitness told GBN News that Mr. Klein’s reaction “wasn’t pretty”. He reportedly demanded that security officers immediately contact the Mayor, but Mr. Bloomberg was busy denying his candidacy for the Presidency and could not be reached. Aides tried to avoid contact with the Chancellor as he angrily stormed towards his office, fingers twitching uncontrollably in the absence of the Blackberry. And matters went from bad to worse for Mr. Klein when his chef at home resigned in frustration after vainly trying to reach him to find out if he wanted beef or fish for dinner.

In a related story, Dr. Phil responded angrily to charges that today’s visit to Chancellor Klein in his office at Tweed was inappropriate. “It’s not a whole lot different than seeing Britney Spears”, he told GBN News. “Just another petulant individual with a sense of entitlement who thinks he can do no wrong”, he added. “I’ll have him straightened out in prime time - I mean in no time.”