Secretary of Education Rod Paige, that is. I don’t care how much you may not like the National Education Association (I don’t, much): explicitly calling it a terrorist organization – even if it was supposed to be a joke – is not appropriate behavior. This looks like the best quote about it:
Gov. Jennifer Granholm of Michigan, a Democrat, said the comments were made in the context of “we can’t be supportive of the status quo and they’re the status quo. But whatever the context, it is inappropriate – I know he wasn’t calling teachers terrorists – but to ever suggest that the organization they belong to was a terrorist organization is uncalled for.”
Balanced, yet resolute; if she says stuff like this all the time, I can understand some Democrats’ frustration that her Canadian birth excludes her from the highest offices. Anyway, I don’t think that the Democrats will let us get away with abolishing Education outright in response… but I think that the stresses associated with this upcoming election gives Paige an excellent impetus to go work on his memoirs.
(Via John Cole of Balloon Juice, who rips both Paige and some guy on the Corner a new one on this – especially here, and Mark Kleiman, who’s getting a tentative blogrolling)
Just a plug for Mark Kleiman, who I’m coming to consider one of the best bloggers around – eloquent and balanced. Here for example is a small Sister Souljah moment that made me reconsider my anticipation of a certain story.
If you would, put Kleiman on the more-than-one blogroll. I’ve been contemplating adding him to mine for some time. He’s excellent.
Go away for one stinkin\’ weekend…
…and suddenly the country becomes infiltrated by terrorists. I wouldn’t believe it if it hadn’t seen it on CNN, which along with Coca-Cola seems to be running the Atlanta airport.
By the way, as the son of a teacher, I have the utmost respec…
Sheesh, I detest the NEA, and think that teacher’s unions are one of the main causes of our educational malaise, but even hinting at the word ‘terrorist’ with respect to them is completely ridiculous.
Re running for Prez — not if Arnold has his way.
Oh, and Kleiman’s great, but also a little coy re Stuff You Don’t Know. The gov rumor is the latest. A couple weeks ago it was the Bush Rumor From Reliable Sources That If True Makes Him Unfit For Office.
All things in time, I guess.
Agreed that Paige deserves criticism.
But why is Kerry getting a pass?
Via Drudge (no link, front page now):
As Democrats express outrage over comments made by Education Secretary Rod Paige [he called the the nation’s largest teachers union ‘a terrorist organization’] a DRUDGE REPORT flashback can reveal Democrat presidential frontrunner John Kerry Has Called Republicans ‘legislative terrorists’… MORE… In Jan. 1996, commenting on the federal government shutdown, Kerry called the House Republicans ‘legislative terrorists,’ who used federal workers as pawns and disrespected them. Asked about his terrorist comment, Kerry explained, ‘Terrorists hold hostages, and the Republicans are holding the government hostage’…
Oh, and Kleiman’s great, but also a little coy re Stuff You Don’t Know. The gov rumor is the latest.
Harley, if you really want to know the governor rumor, I’ll be happy to fill you in, but I tend to agree with Kleiman that that sort of thing really doesn’t have any place in the discourse. If you feel that way, you’re in a difficult spot, since it’s hard to talk about how that sort of thing shouldn’t be done without getting specific. So I don’t hold it against him.
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