{"id":5540,"date":"2004-02-24T09:47:40","date_gmt":"2004-02-24T16:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2004\/02\/24\/open-mouth-insert-foot.html"},"modified":"2004-02-24T09:47:40","modified_gmt":"2004-02-24T16:47:40","slug":"open_mouth_inse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/02\/24\/open_mouth_inse.html","title":{"rendered":"Open mouth, insert foot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cue cry <\/a>and furor <\/a>over Sect’y of Ed Ron Paige jokingly referring to the NEA as a “terrorist organization”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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.
\n“These were the words, ‘The NEA is a terrorist organization,”‘ said Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle of Wisconsin. <\/p>\n

“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.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

That said, the reaction has been both over the top, in a way that indicts both Administration supporters and critics.<\/p>\n

First, I’d love to hear the actual comment he made. All we have (that I’ve seen) are round-about things like this:<\/p>\n

“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. <\/p>\n

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.” <\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/i> 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 <\/i>when it comes to national policy (as opposed to negotiating with local school boards for raises and benefits).<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics-law","category-zt-pc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1036,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2001\/10\/22\/clearly_the_nea.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":0},"title":"Clearly the NEA didn’t exist then","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 22-Oct-01 3:21pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Clearly the NEA didn't exist then Rules for teachers in Saline Co., KS, in 1872. A complement to the test questions I posted earlier this month. Among the fun ......","rel":"","context":"In "Potpourri"","block_context":{"text":"Potpourri","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/potpourri"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10436,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/01\/15\/are_you_a_terrorist.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":1},"title":"Are you a terrorist?","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 15-Jan-07 9:12am","format":false,"excerpt":"Confirm whether you or your organization is considered terroristic by going to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. There you can find...","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13357,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/01\/14\/targetting_harry_reid.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":2},"title":"Targetting Harry Reid","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Jan-09 7:47pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Evidently, the Right is gunning for the Democratic Senate Majority Leader. A conservative organization is set to launch an all-out effort aimed at beating Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2010"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2010","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2010"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6407,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/09\/07\/beyond_reason.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":3},"title":"Beyond reason","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Sep-04 8:29pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Shame on Cheney for intimating that a Kerry victory is more likely to draw further terrorist attacks. Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday warned Americans about voting for Democratic Sen....","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2004"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2004","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2004"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4744,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2004\/01\/14\/petard_hoisting.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":4},"title":"Petard-hoisting","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 14-Jan-04 9:20am","format":false,"excerpt":"When Palestinian terrorist organization target border checkpoints between Israel and Palestinian territory -- the very checkpoints that Palestinians (20,000 a day at this particular one) have to be able to...","rel":"","context":"In "Geopolitical Brouhaha"","block_context":{"text":"Geopolitical Brouhaha","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/geopolitical-brouhaha"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15895,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/10\/01\/unblogged-bits-for-thursday-01-october-2009.html","url_meta":{"origin":5540,"position":5},"title":"Unblogged Bits for Thursday, 01 October 2009","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 1-Oct-09 6:00pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... what the world eats - Interesting -- though my family's food probably looks more like the Chinese one than the American one chosen (yeesh). Project Pigeon - Cue \"Stop That Pigeon!\" music. 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