I had to read this story twice to be sure it wasn’t a joke.
Yesterday, at a private meeting with U.S. governors in the White House, George Bush’s Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called the National Education Association — one of America’s two national teachers’ unions, with 2.7 million members — a “terrorist organization”.
The union has responded by saying that “it is morally repugnant to equate those who teach America’s children with terrorists”. Obviously. But the really frightening part of the NEA response reads:
“This is the kind of rhetoric we have come to expect from this Administration whenever one challenges its worldview.”
Remember that in the USA of 2004, when a cabinet member calls a group a “terrorist organization,” that’s a highly explosive term. As they used to say in the Wild West, “them’s fightin’ words”.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for John Kerry, who recently won the unanimous support of the AFL-CIO in his bid for the presidency, said:
“Secretary Paige should apologize for his remarks calling the National Education Association a terrorist organization. These remarks are inappropriate, particularly at a time when our nation has experienced the devastation caused by terrorism.”
Inappropriate? Is that the strongest word one can think of?
The American Federation of Teachers emphasized — as Kerry’s spokesman did not — that “Paige’s remarks are more than an ‘inappropriate choice of words’.”
Today, Paige issued a brief apology, which began:
“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 . . .”
Maybe it’s just me, but I think we cannot accept that a cabinet member in the U.S. government can call a trade union a “terrorist organization”. And a simple apology is hardly the appropriate response. The apology should come from President Bush, following an announcement that he has fired his Education Secretary.
Not likely, right? Well, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to write to Rod Paige myself, telling him that an apology is not enough and that he should resign. His email address is Rod.Paige@ed.gov
What is the most constructive response to statements of this nature? Members of my family were blacklisted in the ’60s for being members of the Communist party. They had their homes monitored and lost their right to work. If education is one of the only bastions of solid progressivism in this country, and we have high ranking officials making reactionary comments about teachers, is this not a bar measure of urgency? We have to protect our educators. Thank you for posting this information.
It seems that every insecure regime resorts to fear mongering and oppression to establish its legitimacy and prolong its existence. The Bush regime appears to fit the mould perfectly and one can only hope that the American people will recognise the Paige slur against teachers for what it is. Rally around the values of truth, social justice, equity, honesty and integrity, all of which are sadly lacking in the Bush regime but promoted by teachers in public education and you will prevail.
Dear Sir/ madam,
As a trade union activist in the United Kingdom I am disgusted but not surprised by this remark.Norman Mailer has described the USA as a pre fascist state (under the Bush Administration), and I would agree.4 years of Bush would endanger the planet and force more authoritarian evangelistic madness on the citizens of the United States.Our Prime Minister is in thrall to Bush and I am ashamed.
Steve Sincock
I wouldn’t go so far as to call the United States a ‘pre-fascist’ state or anything like that. I would, however, say that in the age of Camp X-Ray and the Patriot Act, the use of the term ‘terrorist organization’ is not to be treated lightly. I don’t believe that the heads of the teachers’ unions are about to be arrested and deported to Guantanamo Bay, but it is essential to prevent an escalation of the dangerous rhetoric we heard from the Secretary of Education last week. Amazingly, a week later, he seems to be getting away with it.
Teachers need to do research on Bush at the following address
http://www.911research.wtc7.net
America may not quite be pre-fascist, but it’s certainly working it’s way there at flank speed under Bush and his questionable administration. One can expect them to say anything in order to maintain their cushy jobs and to stretch the truth beyond its limits. As a former substitute teacher, I find this accusation utterly reprehensible and worthy of a member of the Bush administration.