I'm no fan of teachers' unions, but this is just ridiculous:
Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" Monday, taking on the 2.7-million-member National Education Association early in the presidential election year.
Paige's comments, made to the nation's governors at a private White House meeting, were denounced by union president Reg Weaver as well as prominent Democrats. Paige said he was sorry, and the White House said he was right to say so.
The education secretary's words were "pathetic and they are not a laughing matter," said Weaver, whose union has said it plans to sue the Bush administration over lack of funding for demands included in the "No Child Left Behind" schools law.
Allegedly it was a joke, but it was a pretty poor one (though not "hate speech"). As Joanne Jacobs puts it:
I fear that "terrorist" is joining "Nazi" as an all-purpose word meaning "someone of whom I disapprove." There are real terrorists out there.
Update: Joanne is more right than she knows. Drudge notes that presidential hopeful Kerry has lobbed the terms at Republicans in the past:
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'...
That was pre-September-11th, but still. There should be a moratorium on anyone using the word "terrorist" so lightly.
Posted by kswygert at February 24, 2004 11:01 AM