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Old 12-16-2008, 12:57 PM
 
Location: Lake Arlington Heights, IL
5,479 posts, read 12,264,657 times
Reputation: 2848

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Too bad Vallas wasn't chosen. And why not Colin Powell for Secretary of State? Or did he get sullied by being in Bush's cabinet?
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Old 12-16-2008, 01:25 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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I think Vallas would have been better, but as other have suggested he certainly DID NOT WANT the job -- he can, and has, done more direct good headed up failing districts. He probably makes more money too.

US Dept. of Ed is a not exactly a "action" oriented agency. They mostly do things through mandating various reports and witholding / approving a relatively small pool of funds.

I am also fairly sure that sort of arrangement held ZERO appeal for Colin Powell. He thought he'd like being Sec. of State, as his view Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs was that State's failures led to Pentagon action, which as a peace loving post Vietnam kind of General he prefered. Unfortunately the "policy papers" and limted actions of the "be nice to us and our President will invite you to the WH for pictures" type diplomacy of the State Dept. was little good in the face of real (or hyped up) threats to nation's security aka Afghanistan /Iraq. Powell has seen that movie before and he really dislike the script... The analogy between Sec of Ed and Sec of State is suprisingly similar -- there is a War to have a high quality workforce, and America has not shown up. Our labor pool has a living standard awfully damned close to that the Swiss with skills that are more inline with someplace in the Third World...

Funny thing is that Obama knows this. He has talked about how back in the his community organizing days he personally encounted people that worked in SE side steel mills and other industrual sites. When they worked they made good money to literally push a lever to eject slabs onto rollers due to the United Steel Workers contracts. Once those mills left there were NO jobs left behind with any wages whatsoever, let alone jobs for people that never even made it to high school.
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Old 12-16-2008, 01:41 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,623,677 times
Reputation: 3799
Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahMom View Post
Maybe he needed a lap dog, for the real Wizard of Oz behind the curtain - Bill Ayers - VP of the largest educational organization in the US. AERA determines curriculum etc. Afterall, Ayers said that 'education is the pivot point of the revolution'. Crazy idea? Not so sure....
hahahahahahaha
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Old 12-16-2008, 01:49 PM
 
Location: Evanston
725 posts, read 1,849,631 times
Reputation: 195
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lookout Kid View Post

But B.O.'s choices for HUD, Interior, and Energy are absolutely wonderful.

Yeah, imagine that. A secretary of energy who is actually a scientist.
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Old 12-16-2008, 02:02 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
Ayers is not as bad a dude as Fox News commentators wanted to make him out as. He is, unfortunately completely ineffective as an educational reformer. He and other "radical pedogy" types have had ZERO impact on improving the performance of urban schools. His Vietnam Era goggles serve as blinders to the reality that there are some very capable teachers that come to schools that are complete mess and just cannot address the multitude problems that under privileged kids face. These classrooms don't need radicals, they need boxes of tissue and kids whose parents can be counted on to get them to school dressed appropriately.

Kids from poor areas have parent(s) whose lives are chaotic enough just getting the rent paid. They are not going to sit around dressed up like Muammar Qadhafi dreaming up ways to hook up with folks in Cuba. The liberal 'parlor conversations' of Ayers & Dohrn do them no good.

The few hardcore lefty nutballs that make their way to the Oak Parks and Evanstons of the US soon realize that any "power to the people" arguements are far less important to the other parents than trying to keep the thuggish kids from lobbing ice packed snowballs at their precious little Kwame or Kagiso...
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Old 12-16-2008, 02:04 PM
 
Location: The Land of Lincoln
2,522 posts, read 4,392,673 times
Reputation: 580
Quote:
Originally Posted by j33 View Post
What a surprise, Mamama Mia doesn't like an Obama cabinet choice. I swear he could choose God and she'd be complaining that he didn't have any "proven experience on earth".

Don't get me wrong, I've never claimed Obama was a saint, nor have I expressed approval of everything he's done, but this constant whinging over every single move the guy makes is getting annoying.

You know what? I have not make any comments about Obama's appointments. I have moved on. And I don't "whing", at least according to my knowledge.
But, I am an educator. In Illinois a superintendent needs a Type 75 and a superintendent's endorsement. Duncan was named CEO to get around that. I would like my Secretary of Education to have an education credentials...call me crazy.
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Old 12-16-2008, 02:05 PM
 
7,331 posts, read 15,386,950 times
Reputation: 3800
Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahMom View Post
Maybe he needed a lap dog, for the real Wizard of Oz behind the curtain - Bill Ayers - VP of the largest educational organization in the US. AERA determines curriculum etc. Afterall, Ayers said that 'education is the pivot point of the revolution'. Crazy idea? Not so sure....
Uh... yeah.... Hey, thanks for dropping by!

Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled broadcast...

I'm not crazy about the Duncan pick, but I'm not surprised, either, frankly. I want to see some more outstanding picks like Chu.
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Old 12-16-2008, 02:18 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,623,677 times
Reputation: 3799
I'm merging these two Duncan threads ...
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Old 12-16-2008, 02:29 PM
 
Location: The Land of Lincoln
2,522 posts, read 4,392,673 times
Reputation: 580
Quote:
Originally Posted by aragx6 View Post
I'm merging these two Duncan threads ...

Thanks!
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Old 12-16-2008, 03:19 PM
 
8,425 posts, read 12,185,391 times
Reputation: 4882
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mamama Mia View Post
Duncan was named CEO to get around that. I would like my Secretary of Education to have an education credentials...call me crazy.
That's like saying you gotta be a lawyer to be a politician. It helps (look at Reagan and the Bushes! Little do they know about the constitution.) but it ain't mandatory.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
The few hardcore lefty nutballs that make their way to the Oak Parks and Evanstons of the US soon realize that any "power to the people" arguements are far less important to the other parents than trying to keep the thuggish kids from lobbing ice packed snowballs at their precious little Kwame or Kagiso...
Do you know the name of the guy who replaced Obama in the state senate? I've never seen him throw a snowball. The guy was on the same high school basketball team as Arne! You think that's a coincidence? Get out your tinfoil hats.
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