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August 31, 2010
Hilarious! Secretary of Education instructs employees to attend rally
You know, the counter-rally Al Sharpton held.
That's right -- or left -- the Secretary of Education was speaking at the Counter-Glen-Beck rally, so:
"ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan, the Reverend Al Sharpton, and other leaders on Saturday, Aug. 28, for the 'Reclaim the Dream' rally and march," began an internal e-mail sent to more than 4,000 employees of the Department of Education on Wednesday.Sharpton created the event after Glenn Beck announced a massive Tea Party "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, where King spoke in 1963.
. . .
Education Department spokeswoman Sandra Abrevaya defended Duncan's decision. "This was a back-to-school event," she said.
That's right -- making sure that there's no separation between a bureaucracy and the partisan appointees who run it! Inappropriate for any administration of any partisan stripe -- and pretty tacky to encourage your employees to come swell the crowd listening to you even if it weren't an obviously politically charged event, even if voluntary and even if on a weekend.
Someone from the Cato Institute interviewed for the story says the email doesn't violate the Hatch Act, but it's certainly not far off. I wonder how many DoE folks took their Saturdays to rally with Al and Arne?
Posted by CrankyProfessor at August 31, 2010 6:58 AM