Over at Yglesias we read,
Sen. JOHN McCAIN: I would certainly favor doing away with the Department of Energy and I think that given the origins of the Department of Education, I would favor doing away with it as well.
I was under the impression that the “origins of the Department of Education” lay with Republican Congressman of Minnesota Ignatius Donnelly*, who introduced this resolution to the House of Representatives on December 14, 1865:
Whereas republican institutions can find permanent safety only upon the basis of the universal intelligence of the people; and whereas the great disasters which have afflicted the nation and desolated one half its territory are traceable, in a great degree, to the absence of common schools and general education among the people of the lately rebellious States: Therefore,
Resolved, that the joint committee on reconstruction be instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing in the capital a national Bureau of Education, whose duty it shall be to enforce eduction, without regard to race or color, upon the population of all such States as shall fall below a standard to be established by Congress; and to inquire whether such a bureau should not be made an essential and permanent part of any system of reconstruction.
A while back Ari asked where was the Amity Shlaes of Reconstruction. Maybe it’s John McCain.
*Who was, yes, crazy, but not about this.
The Edge of the American West 
12 comments
September 9, 2008 at 12:28 pm
karen marie
you may well have come across this by now but given the fast and furious pace of information coming out about palin’s less-than-pristine activities, past and present, but then again you might not.
the Alaska National Guard Adjutant General, Major General Craig Campbell, who initially told the truth about Palin’s responsibilities with regard to the ANG, has now swung 180 degrees, and three days after he made the switch, palin promoted him to the rank of Lieutenant General and gave him his third star, “signifying Governor Sarah Palin’s support of the Guard and her commitment to reinforcing the cooperation between federal and state military assets.”
the republicans are now relying exclusively on the adage that bad publicity is better than no publicity. good thing the media is doing their job and tamping down all the fires for the mccain campaign to prevent the public from hearing anything other than “mccain” “pow” “palin” “maverick” 24/7.
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=42C597C0ED23A2D65AAE291F6541FBDE?diaryId=1869
September 9, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Vance Maverick
The most charitable interpretation of McCain’s words is that the Department of Education was necessary in the emergency that followed the Civil War, but that education is now sufficiently universal that the federal government no longer has a role to play.
September 9, 2008 at 12:39 pm
zunguzungu
It sounds to me like a simple anti-Carter diatribe (both DoE’s are Carter creations). While the republicans might still be fighting the civil war, they don’t actually *know* they’re still fighting the civil war.
September 9, 2008 at 12:48 pm
zunguzungu
That, is in its modern incarnation; I’ve just learned from Wikipedia about the short-lived DoE during reconstruction. You learn something new every day. But that still seems like an awfully high pitched dog whistle to me.
September 9, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Vance Maverick
Right, I was responding to Eric’s comment without looking into the modern history. The Dept. of Energy gives a somewhat tangled explanation of its origins, but clearly counts the Carter-era reorganization as its year zero. And then it goes on to explain the real reason for McCain’s opposition:
September 9, 2008 at 12:58 pm
ari
The answer to the question is, no. The rest is noise.
September 9, 2008 at 1:08 pm
zunguzungu
Vance, it’s interesting that the DoEnergy actually goes into it. By contrast, the Department of Education’s origin is pretty boringly told at their site (no mention of the reconstruction episode Eric cites). Possibly because it’s more obviously political?
The fact that he’s more invested in getting rid of the energy department, though, might speak to McCain’s slightly different articulation of conservative principles. A *real* social conservative would be against both, of course, but they’d be more invested in being against liberal big gommint, with nuclear war added on as a bonus. McCain is seems exactly the opposite: his real first love was the cold war, not the civil war.
September 9, 2008 at 1:37 pm
eric
no mention of the reconstruction episode Eric cites
Not so. And what is it, McCain apologist day here in the comments? It seems to me the man is (or in 1994, was) either ignorant or contemptuous or both of the Department of Education’s origins.
September 9, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Nick
Lately it seems like every day is McCain apologist day in America.
September 9, 2008 at 1:55 pm
zunguzungu
You mean John McCain, POW and patriot? Via the McCAin POW rule, anything he is ignorant and contemptuous of is officially unamerican. Because he’s a POW.
You can be forgiven for not knowing that, since his incredible modesty prevents him from bringing it up very often (probably a trait he picked up in Vietnam, when he was a POW).
September 9, 2008 at 1:56 pm
Vance Maverick
I believe only my somewhat footling comment above could be construed as apologetics. (And Ari balanced that emphatically.) Meanwhile, Candidate John McCain sure sounds like he would work through a Department of Education. (Example: “John McCain will target $500 million in current federal funds to build new virtual schools and support the development of online course offerings for students.”)
September 9, 2008 at 2:22 pm
eric
Vance Maverick: objectively pro-McCain. How that squares with your enthusiasm for pinko campesinos, I don’t know.