# Trump's Cabinet of Curiosities **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 10, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367 "2016-11-10T16:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 52
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1021 "2017-02-07T17:33:43Z")
Pence just broke the tie and [DeVos is confirmed](https://twitter.com/AP/status/829019648523919361) by a vote of 51-50. The only cite I can find right now is on the AP Twitter account but it was just on MSNBC. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1022 "2017-02-07T17:36:50Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Pence just broke the tie and [DeVos is confirmed](https://twitter.com/AP/status/829019648523919361) by a vote of 51-50. > > The only cite I can find right now is on the AP Twitter account but it was just on MSNBC. I’d like to say that Pence now owns any idiotic decision she makes in the future, but we all know what’s going to happen the first time she totally screws up: . . . . . . . . Obama’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1023 "2017-02-07T17:39:34Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Pence just broke the tie and [DeVos is confirmed](https://twitter.com/AP/status/829019648523919361) by a vote of 51-50. > > The only cite I can find right now is on the AP Twitter account but it was just on MSNBC. I watched the vote live on the _New York Times_ vote tracker: > **[How Senators Voted on Betsy DeVos (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/07/us/politics/betsy-devos-confirmation-vote.html?action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&module=Trending&version=Full®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article)** > > The Senate voted to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1024 "2017-02-07T17:40:54Z")
Bitch got confirmed after they woke Pence up. Just as everyone thought. Only two of 52 Republicans have a soul. Just as I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1025 "2017-02-07T17:43:27Z")
At this point Trump could nominate a dead horse and they would confirm it. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1026 "2017-02-07T17:46:25Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Bitch got confirmed after they woke Pence up. Just as everyone thought. Only two of 52 Republicans have a soul. Just as I thought. Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1027 "2017-02-07T17:48:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. I think her new title is “Sekritry of Ejukatshun”. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1028 "2017-02-07T17:50:34Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. Seriously. Who the fuck wants a bunch of well-educated voters? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1029 "2017-02-07T17:50:47Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. I assume it’s because they (and me!) think education is very important, and DeVos has demonstrated extreme ignorance about education. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1030 "2017-02-07T17:50:54Z")
So far the Democrats’ biggest accomplishment that they can brag to their base about is “We almost managed to stop DeVos’s nomination”. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1031 "2017-02-07T17:55:36Z")
I understand that most people here disagree with DeVos about the use of vouchers or charter / private schools in educating the youth of America. That’s fine, we can disagree. But why be so disagreeable? “Bitch” “only 2 of 52 Republicans have a soul”. When I first stumbled across this place, the thing that I thought made it really cool and unique was the default assumption that posters here, and people generally, had good intentions. Oftentimes, when posters disagreed about things, it was understood that those disagreements came from different life experiences, or different perspectives or priorities, not malice or ill will. Since the election that’s something I think the Dope has largely lost. There’s a ton more vitriol and rage here, and a whole lot less charity about the intentions of one’s political opponents. It’s sad. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1032 "2017-02-07T17:58:23Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > So far the Democrats’ biggest accomplishment that they can brag to their base about is “We almost managed to stop DeVos’s nomination”. And the Republican’s biggest accomplishment is that they can get any ignoramus nominated, no matter how unqualified they are. Being able to get away with doing stupid/harmful things to our country does not make it right to do so. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1033 "2017-02-07T17:58:46Z")
Madsircool wrote: “Fake news is just another partisan bludgeon. It no longer means anything to the general public.” And that was the intent. Extensive use of the term by trumplodytes have rendered it functionally meaningless, so they can keep on using “fake news” in furtherance of their agenda. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1034 "2017-02-07T18:00:42Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I understand that most people here disagree with DeVos about the use of vouchers or charter / private schools in educating the youth of America. That’s fine, we can disagree. But why be so disagreeable? “Bitch” “only 2 of 52 Republicans have a soul”. > > When I first stumbled across this place, the thing that I thought made it really cool and unique was the default assumption that posters here, and people generally, had good intentions. Oftentimes, when posters disagreed about things, it was understood that those disagreements came from different life experiences, or different perspectives or priorities, not malice or ill will. > > Since the election that’s something I think the Dope has largely lost. There’s a ton more vitriol and rage here, and a whole lot less charity about the intentions of one’s political opponents. It’s sad. It shouldn’t be surprising that, on a message board that’s mostly liberal, there will be more anger and negative feelings (including rage and vitriol) after a big political defeat than before. But most of this that I’m seeing is still directed at Trump and other politicians in office. And that’s pretty normal – I recall the same kind of thing said (e.g. assuming bad intentions) about Obama and other Democrats in office over the past 8 years, on this board and elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1035 "2017-02-07T18:01:46Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I understand that most people here disagree with **DeVos about the use of vouchers or charter / private schools in educating the youth of America.** That’s fine, we can disagree. But why be so disagreeable? “Bitch” “only 2 of 52 Republicans have a soul”. > > When I first stumbled across this place, the thing that I thought made it really cool and unique was the default assumption that posters here, and people generally, had good intentions. Oftentimes, when posters disagreed about things, it was understood that those disagreements came from different life experiences, or different perspectives or priorities, not malice or ill will. > > Since the election that’s something I think the Dope has largely lost. There’s a ton more vitriol and rage here, and a whole lot less charity about the intentions of one’s political opponents. It’s sad. Because she lied about [graduation rates.](http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/04/513220220/betsy-devos-graduation-rate-mistake) > [@](#): > > “Their” refers to virtual schools, of which DeVos has been an outspoken champion. The “poor” refers to a large body of research — study after study after study — that raises serious questions about the quality and efficacy of schools that attempt to educate full-time students through the computer, without traditional access to teachers or classrooms. In response, DeVos wrote: > > ``` > "High quality virtual charter schools provide valuable options to families, particularly those who live in rural areas where brick-and-mortar schools might not have the capacity to provide the range of courses or other educational experiences for students. Because of this, we must be careful not to brand an entire category of schools as failing students." > > ``` > > “The following virtual academies have four-year cohort graduation rates at or above 90 percent,” DeVos wrote, listing some apparent success stories: > > ``` > "Idaho Virtual Academy (IDV A): 90 percent > > Nevada Virtual Academy (NVV A): 100 percent > > Ohio Virtual Academy (OHV A): 92 percent > > Oklahoma Virtual Charter Academy (OVCA): 91 percent > > Texas Virtual Academy (TXVA): 96 percent > > Utah Virtual Academy (UTV A): 96 percent > > Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIV A): 96 percent" > > ``` > > There’s just one problem with these numbers, Pallas points out. > > They’re wrong. > > The Nevada Virtual Academy, for example. Its graduation rate for the class of 2015 wasn’t 100 percent. It was 63 percent, according to Nevada’s own school report card. > > Ohio Virtual Academy’s 92 percent graduation rate? Try 53 percent. > > Utah Virtual Academy’s 96 percent rate? Cut it in half. > > You get the point. > > Where did DeVos get these inflated numbers? Questions to the Trump administration went unanswered, but they appear to have been lifted verbatim from this report by K12 Inc., the for-profit company behind the online schools listed. DeVos herself was once an investor. It would not be the first of her answers to senators that appear to have been borrowed without citation. > > K12 Inc. has already responded to the controversy, explaining that its numbers are “the graduation rate of continuously enrolled high school students – those who enrolled in ninth grade and remained enrolled until twelfth grade. This is not the federal graduation rate and our report makes that clear.” > > If it’s not the federal graduation rate, as DeVos suggested it is, what is it? > > “It’s a fictitious rate,” says Russell Rumberger, professor emeritus of education at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “It ignores almost all of the students who transfer out or drop out.” > > As K12 Inc. acknowledges, the rate it published only accounts for students who persisted, remaining enrolled for four years. The federal rate, on the other hand — known as the four-year cohort graduation rate — requires schools to account for all students who transfer or drop out. > > In short, DeVos’ numbers implied that few students had dropped out of these virtual schools when the actual rates, reported by states, suggest otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1036 "2017-02-07T18:02:38Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I understand that most people here disagree with DeVos about the use of vouchers or charter / private schools in educating the youth of America. Might you have forgotten about all the _other_ reasons we opposed her…or are you unable to defend her almost total ignorance of the job she is taking on and her desire to promote Creationism and religion in general in public schools, and so pretend that those reasons were never mentioned? ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1037 "2017-02-07T18:03:30Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. Yes, “just” the secretary of education. In a country where education is failing in very obvious ways. > [@Okrahoma](#): > > So far the Democrats’ biggest accomplishment that they can brag to their base about is “We almost managed to stop DeVos’s nomination”. Ha! Those wimpy liberals, couldn’t stop us from installing an unqualified secretary of education who has run education into the ground in her home state and clearly has no idea that she’s talking about! Given an almost laughably unqualified candidate for an important cabinet position, we couldn’t find _three_ republican senators who were willing to step out of line. And neither of you two seem willing to defend her either. Hey, c’mon, can you name a single positive for her? One good reason why she should hold this government position? And no, “she’s for school vouchers” _does not fucking count_. My uncle Mike the auto mechanic is in favor of school vouchers, but you probably wouldn’t want him in charge, and he’d _still_ be a better choice because he’s _not a fucking young earth creationist_. So far I’m seeing, “Who cares, it’s just SecEd” and “HA! LIBERALS ARE BUTTHURT!” So… little chance of republican _voters_ holding their representatives responsible for this. I got nothing. I’m just going to go drink. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1038 "2017-02-07T18:05:58Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Hey, c’mon, can you name a single positive for her? Sure can. She is pro-school-choice. And it does count. > [@](#): > > I got nothing. I’m just going to go drink. That’s more productive than the show Democrats put on during confirmations. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1039 "2017-02-07T18:07:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Might you have forgotten about all the _other_ reasons we opposed her…or are you unable to defend her almost total ignorance of the job she is taking on and her desire to promote Creationism and religion in general in public schools, and so pretend that those reasons were never mentioned? It doesn’t matter if I defend her or not. She’s the Secretary of Education now. I’m not particularly interested in re-fighting old battles and there’s way too much anger in this thread to make it an entertaining or worthwhile exercise. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1040 "2017-02-07T18:08:02Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I understand that most people here disagree with DeVos about the use of vouchers or charter / private schools in educating the youth of America. That’s fine, we can disagree. But why be so disagreeable? “Bitch” “only 2 of 52 Republicans have a soul”. If you think the only problem democrats have with Betsy DeVos is “she is in favor of school vouchers and charter schools”, then you have _not_ been paying attention, either to what we’ve been saying, or what _she’s_ been saying. This is like when Bush nominated Michael Brown to FEMA, except that this time, the scope of the disaster won’t be fully clear until after DeVos is dead, and the Trump administration is so blatantly shameless that it would be pretty much impossible to make her resign in disgrace after completely screwing the pooch. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=53)