Cue cry and furor over Sect’y of Ed Ron Paige jokingly referring to the NEA as a “terrorist organization”.
Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation’s largest teachers union a “terrorist organization” during a private White House meeting with governors on Monday. Democratic and Republican governors confirmed Paige’s remarks about the 2.7-million-member National Education Association.
“These were the words, ‘The NEA is a terrorist organization,”‘ said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin.
“He was making a joke, probably not a very good one,” said Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania. “Of course he immediately divorced the NEA from ordinary teachers, who he said he supports.”
Okay, the guy deserves a good session behind the wood pile, at the very least. It was a stupid thing to say, impolitic in the extreme. Even as a joke, it can only make it more difficult for the DoED to work with the NEA — which, perforce, they must.
That said, the reaction has been both over the top, in a way that indicts both Administration supporters and critics.
First, I’d love to hear the actual comment he made. All we have (that I’ve seen) are round-about things like this:
“He was implying that the NEA has not been one of the organizations that has been working with the administration to try to solve ‘No Child Left Behind,”‘ [Missouri Gov. Holden] said.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, said of Paige’s comments: “Somebody asked him about the NEA’s role and he offered his perspective on 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.”
That the word “terrorist” has become so taboo that making the accusation makes people think that it’s a sign the Administration is going to send in jack-booted thugs with PATRIOT Act warrants kicking in the door of the NEA leadership is a sign of both the paranoia of the Left and the hyperbole of the Right.
In the best of times, the comparison would seem nastily improper — is the NEA really comparable to Hammas, or the IRA, or al Qa’eda? Dissent is not terror, nor is obstructing the Administration’s plans, even with fearmongering and activism.
On the other hand, while the quick backpedalling to distinguish between the NEA and rank-and-file teachers smacks of damage control, the fact is that the NEA is not the same as teachers. It is a labor union representing (or at least drawing funds from) teachers, but, as a former member (and former teacher), its political activism and positioning does not necessarily reflect the opinions of all, or even most, teachers, particularly when it comes to national policy (as opposed to negotiating with local school boards for raises and benefits).
In other words, it is possible to criticize the NEA and still support teachers and education (just as it is possible to criticize the Administration and still support the American government and its people). Calling the NEA a terrorist organization, even as a joke, is obnoxious — just as a lot of the rhetoric (joking and not) circulating around and toward Washington these days is.
From a major Cabinet official, that sort of impolitic comment is, perhaps, less forgivable — but I’d rather Paige get sacked for substantive policy reasons, not a stupid slip of the tongue.
How come you believe it was a “joke,” or a “slip of the tongue”? There’s no evidence to support either of those characterizations, just as there’s no evidence to say he stood up on a table and shouted it. Saying something or someone is a “terrorist” is an incredibly loaded term these days, and Paige’s administration helped load it. I think Paige’s comment was neither a joke nor a slip of the tongue, but I don’t have any more proof of my position than you do. But no matter what, it was a stunning statement for the head of the Department of Education about the country’s largest group of teachers.
1. The only folks who have characterized it (as quoted above) have characterized it as a joke, as has Paige. But that’s why I wish someone had actual notes of the discussion.
2. As I said, that “terrorist” has become loaded beyond what was already a perjorative sense, is an indictment against the Adminstration, which has used it it far too liberally (so to speak). Recognizing that its load has been due to hyperbole, though, to have Administration opponents turn around and treat it with the same gravity seems a bit opportunistic at best.
And here‘s a fine example of the Right tossing the word “terrorist” about (directly or in association) far too easily (and nastily).
Probably just talking the same way they all do at the White House. Don’t mean nuthin’ by it, honest!
Paige (who, in the picture, looks like he’s suffering the world’s worst migraine) has kinda-sorta apologized.
It was an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA’s Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind’s historic education reforms.
I also said, as I have repeatedly, that our nation’s teachers, who have dedicated their lives to service in the classroom, are the real soldiers of democracy, whereas the NEA’s high-priced Washington lobbyists have made no secret that they will fight against bringing real, rock-solid improvements in the way we educate all our children regardless of skin color, accent or where they live.
But, as one who grew up on the receiving end of insensitive remarks, I should have chosen my words better.
Yes, you should have.
The NEA and Dems continue to posture, of course.
In a written statement, NEA President Reg Weaver said, “It is morally repugnant to equate those who teach America’s children with terrorists. NEA is 2.7 million teachers and educators who are fighting for children and public education. Yet this is the kind of rhetoric we have come to expect from this administration whenever one challenges its world view.”
Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe called Paige’s words “hate speech” and said “President Bush and the Republican Party should immediately renounce” it. “Secretary Paige has demeaned America’s teachers and denigrated the men and women in uniform who are fighting a deadly enemy,” he said in a written statement.
“It is a revolting attack on America’s teachers to suggest that it is an act of terrorism to disagree with President Bush and to be outspoken advocates for students and teachers.”
Is it posturing to be fundamentally incensed and offended that your group was called a “terrorist organization”? And does it make it any better if it was in fact a “joke”? Is it an apology if you apologize while at the same time refer to “obstructionist scare tactics”? Paige’s remark was absolutely beyond the pale. If a Dem administration had said something similar, he would have been flayed alive for it.
More and more this incident reminds me that the administration believes, correctly, that they can say and do absolutely anything without fear of reprisal. Personal responsibility my ass.
It is posturing to take an attack on or characterization of the NEA as a union/lobbying organization as being an attack or characterization of teachers, particularly when the connection has been disavowed by the person who said it (just as it is posturing to say that an attack on or characterization of George Bush or the Administration is an attack on or characterization of the citizens of the US).
Yes, it is in fact better if it was a joke. No less rude or improper, perhaps, but if I really thought that Paige thought that the NEA was a true terrorist organization (with what that entails), I’d be a lot more worried. Just as I’d be worried if anyone actually who bandied about the T word was really serious about it.
And I did characterize Paige’s apology as a kinda-sorta thing.