Boehner: Education "The Civil Right Of The 21st Century"

by JASmius



Now yes, the outgoing House Speaker was speaking in the context of touting school choice and charter schools, which is absolutely the right direction in which to go on education policy to get away from and out of the socialized indoctrination collective.  And yes, we know what he was trying to say with that hideously ill-advised phrase: that education is a very important issue and it's very important to the GOP, which is what Republicans always say when trying to make inroads on what has always been a core Democrat strength.

The problem is, (1) Boehner used the language of the other side, which will be all too happy to agree with him that education ought to be considered a "civil right," but as such can only "fairly" be kept right where it is in their socialized indoctrination collective, which alone can "guarantee" "fair and equal" access to it; and (2) the core constitutional premise of rights is that they are "natural," which is to say, God-given.  Nowhere in the Bible does God mention education as a right, and nowhere in the founding document is education even mentioned either as an enumerated power or as a "civil right".

But I'm sure GOP consultants told the orange Ohioan that the phrase focus-grouped well:

As parents – as Americans – we want nothing more than to see our kids go to the best schools. In my view, education ought to be the civil right of the 21st century.

This week, the people’s House took another step towards fulfilling that vital goal.

You see, in 2003, a small group of Republicans and Democrats came together to create something called the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program.

It is the only program in America where the federal government allows low-income families to choose the schools that are best for their kids.

The program has truly made a difference. All told, some 6,100 students have gone to better schools using these scholarships. Last spring, 90% of twelfth graders in the program graduated. That’s much higher than the city’s average graduation rate.

And of the 1,400 students this year, some 87% would otherwise be at a school that the government has identified as in need of improvement. These are the kind of results parents dream of for their kids.

Strictly speaking....well, I'm actually not sure of the constitutionality of this opportunity scholarship program since it's only in D.C. and doesn't extend to the States.  But I am certain of how not just leftwingnuts but a lot of low-information voters are going to hear Boehner's statement: "blah blah blah education ought to be the civil right of the twenty-first century blah blah blah blah blah blah...."  They're not going to remember school-choice-oriented scholarship programs, or school choice, or charter schools.  They're only going to remember John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, agreeing with Democrats that education, like health care, is a "right" instead of the service, the commodity, the product it actually is.  And it's the government that "guarantees" our "rights," doesn't it?  That's what the socialized indoctrination collective "taught" us.

Exit quote from President Gerald Ford: "Any government big enough to give you everything you want is powerful enough to take away everything you have."

Boy, Boehner can't go out that door fast enough, can he?