# 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:** 56
**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, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1101 "2017-02-07T20:09:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > 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”. And my excitement and interest in a subject has no bearing on the amount of excitement and interest I have in other subjects _when I am talking about those other subjects_. ---
**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, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1102 "2017-02-07T20:17:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And my excitement and interest in a subject has no bearing on the amount of excitement and interest I have in other subjects _when I am talking about those other subjects_. So when you said “Last word on the subject” you didn’t really mean that? ---
**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, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1103 "2017-02-07T20:24:24Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > So when you said “Last word on the subject” you didn’t really mean that? Just wasting my time trying to give a polite explanation. Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1104 "2017-02-07T20:24:56Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yes, “just” the secretary of education. In a country where education is failing in very obvious ways. At least we agree then that\* something\* needs to be done to fix the American education system, if not on just what that something is. ---
**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, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1105 "2017-02-07T20:26:32Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Just wasting my time trying to give a polite explanation. > Sorry about that. What was polite about it? Or an explanation? It struck me as rude and pointless. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1106 "2017-02-07T20:29:37Z")
Hey, does anyone know whether DeVos is a creationist? ---
**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, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1107 "2017-02-07T20:29:44Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > At least we agree then that\* something\* needs to be done to fix the American education system, if not on just what that something is. Maybe abject ignorance about the system, combined with Creationism and an infusion of Christianity is just what this country needs! After all, it doesn’t really matter what a particular change is, as long as it is change, correct? I think I’ll pour some sugar in my gas tank, because I’m not getting the mileage I used to get. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1108 "2017-02-07T20:30:15Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 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. Another way of describing “teacher’s union” is “professionals who know what the hell they’re talking about with regards to education.” ---
**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, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1109 "2017-02-07T20:38:39Z")
[And, fast on the heels of Betsy DeVos’s approval as Secretary of Education, a Republican Congressman has introduced a bill to abolish the Department of Education.](https://massie.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-massie-introduces-bill-to-abolish-federal-department-of-education) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1110 "2017-02-07T20:44:28Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Why the vitriol? It’s just the Secretary of Education. Because in the event of Cylon attack, she could end up being the president. ---
**Author:** ![2ManyTacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/3da27b/32.png) [@2ManyTacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2ManyTacos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1111 "2017-02-07T20:45:02Z")
Devos is spectacularly stupid and unqualified for this position, but I really think that the Democratic outrage against her should have been redirected to thwarting the nominations of Tom Price (HHS) and Neil Gorsuch (SCOTUS). IMO anyway. ---
**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, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1112 "2017-02-07T20:48:50Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [And, fast on the heels of Betsy DeVos’s approval as Secretary of Education, a Republican Congressman has introduced a bill to **abolish the Department of Education**.](https://massie.house.gov/newsroom/press-releases/rep-massie-introduces-bill-to-abolish-federal-department-of-education) I thought that was\* her\* job. ---
**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, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1113 "2017-02-07T20:49:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Another way of describing “teacher’s union” is “professionals who know what the hell they’re talking about with regards to education.” Or fighting for bad teachers to keep their jobs. They are advocates for teachers, not the 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, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1114 "2017-02-07T20:53:56Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Because in the event of Cylon attack, she could end up being the president. It’s OK, because … We’re all Cylons anyways ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2017, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1115 "2017-02-07T21:12:05Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Or fighting for bad teachers to keep their jobs. They are advocates for teachers, not the kids. The fact that you say this shows that you do not know how teacher unions work. It’s not that was want teachers to keep there jobs, but rather that to remove a teacher that administrators have to follow the law or the contract. We feel that if we let admin/districts gets away with violating the law or CBA then no teacher is safe. ---
**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, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1116 "2017-02-07T21:43:07Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > 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. See, one of the things about that so-called laboratory of democracy? You have to admit when things _don’t_ work. Betsy DeVos pushed hard for vouchers and “school choice” in her home state of Michigan. [Her method failed miserably](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/opinion/betsy-devos-and-the-wrong-way-to-fix-schools.html?_r=0), largely as a result of her dogmatic beliefs about government intervention - the charter schools had little to no oversight, so what happened was exactly what you would _expect_ to happen when you add a profit motivation to a system already strapped for cash, then did absolutely nothing to prevent abuses. _There were a lot of abuses_. In fact, [voucher programs in Louisiana led to _worse_ results](https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-02-12/school-choice-lotteries-fail-to-make-a-difference). [The NEA marks them as a failure across the board, and backs it up with hard data](http://www.nea.org/home/16970.htm). For rural students, vouchers do exactly fuck-all to improve school choice due to sheer geography, and for urban students, there’s little evidence that they actually improve anything. > [@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? Here, you run into the same problem you’ll find with Trump, or perhaps Pol Pot: pretty much every source either gives a damn about the truth and opposes her as a result, or is probably published on Breitbart. The NYTimes article above is a good start. So is [this Vox article](http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/1/14475290/betsy-devos-confirmation-trump-resist). It’s like if Michael Brown (head of FEMA during hurricane Katrina) _also_ was of the opinion that the department he was utterly unqualified to lead shouldn’t exist, and also should be a lot more religious. ---
**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, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1117 "2017-02-07T21:47:10Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > At least we agree then that\* something\* needs to be done to fix the American education system, if not on just what that something is. Okay. So why do your guys insist that the correct way to move forward involves school vouchers, something which was _tried_ in the “laboratories of democracy” and failed miserably most of the times it was tried? > [@gytalf2000](#): > > Hey, does anyone know whether DeVos is a creationist? Young earth, with a serious anti-gay bend as well. Added bonus: [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-education-trump-religion-232150](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-education-trump-religion-232150) The billionaire philanthropist whom Donald Trump has tapped to lead the Education Department once compared her work in education reform to a biblical battleground where she wants to “advance God’s Kingdom.” I suppose it’s just a coincidence that school voucher programs open up a far greater audience to private religious schools. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2017, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1118 "2017-02-08T15:28:37Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Okay. So why do your guys insist that the correct way to move forward involves school vouchers, something which was _tried_ in the “laboratories of democracy” and failed miserably most of the times it was tried? > > Young earth, with a serious anti-gay bend as well. Added bonus: > > [http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-education-trump-religion-232150](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/betsy-devos-education-trump-religion-232150) > > The billionaire philanthropist whom Donald Trump has tapped to lead the Education Department once compared her work in education reform to a biblical battleground where she wants to “advance God’s Kingdom.” > > I suppose it’s just a coincidence that school voucher programs open up a far greater audience to private religious schools. Aw, crud! A “Young Earther”, eh? I was afraid of that. This ain’t no stinkin’ good at all… I just can’t believe that people this stupid are in power! ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1119 "2017-02-09T00:31:28Z")
Sessions is confirmed as AG, vote was 52-47, with Manchin siding with the Republicans > **[Jeff Sessions confirmed to be the next attorney general | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/08/politics/jeff-sessions-vote-senate-slog/index.html)** > > The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama as the next attorney general, surviving a vocal push by Democrats to derail his nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367/1120 "2017-02-09T01:18:40Z")
With all these futile attempts to block the appointments, all Democrats are managing is projecting weakness. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=55) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-cabinet-of-curiosities/771367.md?page=57)