OFF THE PAIGE
"Terrorist" is surely the blackest epithet in the Bush Administration's lexicon, so it would seem that Education Secretary Rod Paige owes the NEA more than just an apology for calling it a "terrorist organization." Especially, one would think, when the union's only sin was exercising its right of free speech to criticize aspects of the fancifully titled "No Child Left Behind" Act. Perhaps Paige is following the John Ashcroft model of branding critics of the Patriot Act pro-terrorist. Paige has been under fire in many states that say the Administration hasn't put enough money behind the act. So he needed a scapegoat. Who better than that old antiunion-GOP reliable--the NEA? Paige should go.
STOP THE COMCAST-DISNEY MERGER
Subscribe Now!
The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.
There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.
- Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 75 cents a week!
- If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.

Buzzflash
del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Newsvine
Reddit