# 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:** 55
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1081 "2017-02-07T18:57:40Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Lets leave out a critical point, shall we? > [Nationwide rate is 83%](http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/10/17/498246451/the-high-school-graduation-reaches-a-record-high-again) So, even with laughable grad standards, 1 in 4 students weren’t in position to graduate? With standards that would make a diploma worth something, the rate falls to 1 in 2. The government has been failing the poor and working class students. This is one good argument why vouchers should be in place. Let parents find a better school hot their kids. ---
**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, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1082 "2017-02-07T18:59:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Last word on the subject: I am not going to play along with this because I think it is a diversion from the real topic. > Do you agree with her positions about teaching religion and Creationism in schools? I don’t even know what her position is, so I can’t really offer an educated opinion on the matter. Do you have an unbiased source you’d recommend I review to get a good sense of what her position is? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1083 "2017-02-07T19:02:11Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t even know what her position is, so I can’t really offer an educated opinion on the matter. Do you have an unbiased source you’d recommend I review to get a good sense of what her position is? He will dance and divert and never give you the courtesy of a straight answer. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1084 "2017-02-07T19:02:30Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It’s a not-uncommon conservative view that educational matters should be handled by the states, that the Constitution doesn’t give the federal government authority to govern educational matters, etc. So are we “one nation” or not? What is to be gained by having 50 different educational standards instead of a single, national standard? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1085 "2017-02-07T19:05:51Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > So are we “one nation” or not? What is to be gained by having 50 different educational standards instead of a single, national standard? So local voices matter? So one crazy bureaucrat can’t screw up the entire educational apparatus? ---
**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, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1086 "2017-02-07T19:09:52Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > So local voices matter? So one crazy bureaucrat can’t screw up the entire educational apparatus? Maybe as a safeguard, we shouldn’t nominate and confirm crazy bureaucrats? ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1087 "2017-02-07T19:10:33Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > So local voices matter? So one crazy bureaucrat can’t screw up the entire educational apparatus? That would seem to be an argument against the whole of the “United States”, then. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1088 "2017-02-07T19:12:36Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Maybe as a safeguard, we shouldn’t nominate and confirm crazy bureaucrats? I get your point. Luckily she won’t be able to do much harm. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1089 "2017-02-07T19:14:54Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > That would seem to be an argument against the whole of the “United States”, then. No. In a massive country like ours with a very diverse population, its better to let locals decide what is best for their kids. Also remember that we are a Republic and many issues are reserved for the States. ---
**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, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1090 "2017-02-07T19:17:57Z")
> [@Darwins\_Finch](#): > > So are we “one nation” or not? What is to be gained by having 50 different educational standards instead of a single, national standard? It’s the same answer as is given to any other question about why we have states and not one big government. The states are supposed to be, ideally, political laboratories that figure out what works and what doesn’t. If one state shows, decisively, that its way of doing things in a particular area works incredibly well for its people, the others will adopt that state’s innovations. And since some of our states are the size of other people’s countries, the lab is big enough to prove/disprove the method. Every time the federal government grabs more power and forces all states to follow, they vandalize this ideal more and more. ---
**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, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1091 "2017-02-07T19:19:40Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > I get your point. Luckily she won’t be able to do much harm. And again I say that the absolute failure of previous reassurances about what Trump and his Trumpettes will/won’t be able to do doesn’t put your current reassurance in a good light. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1092 "2017-02-07T19:27:44Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Actually, the Dems control all the government here. Especially the educational establishment. Thank God. ---
**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, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1093 "2017-02-07T19:30:26Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > It’s the same answer as is given to any other question about why we have states and not one big government. The states are supposed to be, ideally, political laboratories that figure out what works and what doesn’t. If one state shows, decisively, that its way of doing things in a particular area works incredibly well for its people, the others will adopt that state’s innovations. And since some of our states are the size of other people’s countries, the lab is big enough to prove/disprove the method. > > Every time the federal government grabs more power and forces all states to follow, they vandalize this ideal more and more. Sounds great in principle but then in practice you wind up with Mississippi and Arkansas bringing up the rear, as always. I can’t understand why Common Core is as despised on the right as it is- why doesn’t it make sense to make sure all of our children can master the same material at the appropriate age? ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1094 "2017-02-07T19:30:53Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Would you rank this as a bigger deal or smaller than the following events: > Taiwan tweet? > Immigration EO? > Gorsuch nomination? The Taiwan tweet and Immigration EO showed how badly things go when Trump tries to work by decree, without the reasonable advice of professionals in State or Justice. With competent administrators these things could have been accomplished (more or less) without this degree of bomb-throwing and possibly failure (and even if you disagree utterly with their politics, Tillerson and Sessions aren’t incompetent in that way - Gorsuch is also competent, no argument there). With an incompetent administrator, like DeVos, that’s out the window for education, so that’s nothing but damage regardless of what you think of her ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1095 "2017-02-07T19:32:32Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > He will dance and divert and never give you the courtesy of a straight answer. Are you talking about HurricaneDitka? Because it sure applies more there than to Czarcasm. What the rest of us hear: > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > And if you’re not bothered by this, _you are part of the problem._ Yeah, obviously there’s no need for you to “defend” her now that she’s in the position, but how about defending your own convictions? How about standing up and saying, “Yes, I’m okay with this, and here’s why”? Why is that so hard for you to do? Your party just confirmed for SecEd a person who wants to destroy the American public school system and replace it with a voucher system which _demonstrably did not work in her home state_, who has no understanding of what the job entails, and little understanding of education, period - and that’s _before_ you open up her disgusting views on science and religion in the classroom. I wouldn’t wanna defend that either. Then again, I’m not a republican, so I don’t have to. Why do you? What HurricaneDitka hears: > [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > … ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1096 "2017-02-07T19:41:02Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Thank God. What are you thanking God for. What successes can they brag about here in Los Angeles? They are also in the pocket of special interests…in this case the California Teachers Union. IMO, many Trump voters voted against our corrupt system. Our graduation rate should be a wakeup call to shake up the system. But it won’t happen. ---
**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, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1097 "2017-02-07T19:46:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I don’t even know what her position is, so I can’t really offer an educated opinion on the matter. Do you have an unbiased source you’d recommend I review to get a good sense of what her position is? There is [Religious News Service](http://religionnews.com/2017/02/06/5-faith-facts-betsy-devos-trumps-pick-for-secretary-of-education/) and [Politico](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/why-evangelicals-are-speaking-out-against-betsy-devos-214710) for a start. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1098 "2017-02-07T19:53:36Z")
> [@](#): > > What are you thanking God for. What successes can they brag about here in Los Angeles? They are also in the pocket of special interests…in this case the California Teachers Union. Well, for one thing, they’ve kept the religious right from taking over the schools and imposing vouchers which only the white people whose kids don’t need special ed can use. ---
**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, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1099 "2017-02-07T19:58:25Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Are you talking about HurricaneDitka? Because it sure applies more there than to Czarcasm. > > What the rest of us hear: > > What HurricaneDitka hears: I didn’t see BPC’s post addressed to me until you highlighted it with this post, so, in a way, you were right. ---
**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, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1100 "2017-02-07T20:03:31Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > There is [Religious News Service](http://religionnews.com/2017/02/06/5-faith-facts-betsy-devos-trumps-pick-for-secretary-of-education/) and [Politico](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/01/why-evangelicals-are-speaking-out-against-betsy-devos-214710) for a start. Thanks for the links. I’ll read them, but to sort-of respond beforehand, and to address BPC’s post to me at the same time: The Department of Education isn’t a very big issue to me personally. I have a hard time getting animated about who runs it. The Supreme Court is important to me. DoD is important to me. Education, HUD, HHS, or the Bureau of Indian Affairs are all kind of “meh, whatever”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=54) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=56)