Trial balloons lofted in the Washington Post suggest President-elect Obama is about to select Joel Klein as Secretary of Education. If not Klein, then draft-choice number two is Arne Duncan, Obama's backyard basketball buddy in Chicago. Full Story »
Posted by Dale Penn
BBC Palast has become well known for his acerbic diatribes against the Bush family and corporate malfeasance. That he is taking a harsh tone with Obama seems to speak well for his independence.
This is an opinion piece with teeth. Palast seems intent on playing a role in the 4th Estate, regardless of what party is at the helm. This is very a healthy quality for an opinion journalist, and also a very rare rare it seems to me.
It is good to see the people who were very supportive of Obama during the campaign hold him to high standards now that it is time to deliver. This editorial questions his possible choices for Secretary of Education.
I'm not sure that being a professional educator with a Phd and a bunch of administrative experience is the way to make the big changes our schools need, but I'm glad that the liberal press is not just accepting everything Obama does.
Palast fires across the bow regarding potentially disasterous appointments for Secretary of Education. He pointedly punctures the qualifications of two bad names on the trial balloons.
Obama is dangerous on education. He seems to have bought into privatizing and corporatizing the schools with charter schools that focus on test taking instead of education. Charter schools remove democratic public control of the schools. Teaching to take tests creates occupation robots, not creative members of society.
I have read Greg Palast for some time, so I would by default say I believe he has earned his journalistic chops. I love his insight though I don't always agree.
Mr. Palast seemsto already have decided for Obama who to appoint, so this must take a lot off Obama's mind.
What Ive always thought the meaning of "floating a trail balloon" is just that. Throw some names around, see how they "float" and then, with this information and consulting with your staff and others, you make a decision.I believe he floated Hillary's name around a few weeks before deciding to appoint her, another with no State Department creditability.
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