Well, she finally had enough.
DeVos blamed Trumpian rhetoric for the riots, called it an "inflection point" for her, and became one more GOP Trump-fluffer to suddenly discover her shock and outrage for exactly the same kind of shit that he's been doing for four years. I mean, there's something deeply disingenuous about watching someone throw gasoline and matches around for four years and only getting all pearl clutchy and knicker twisty when the completely predictable fire actually starts.
She also said "Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgement and model the behavior we hope they would emulate." Which is as true today as it was when President Pussy-grabber talked about shithole countries and very fine people on both sides. It's an odd time to suddenly grow scruples. But at this point, I guess the wounded lame duck can't really do anything for her. The full letter can be read here. It actually starts with another rehearsal of her "accomplishments" as ed secretary.
She helped build this. She stroked his ego, gave him credit for having a hand in education policies when he mostly ignored the department. She is just one of the many enablers who taught him that he need not consider the consequences of his actions, words, behavior, ever. Walking away now with a sudden attack of ethical whirlies doesn't change the work she's done over years to build up this circus.
When you make a deal with the devil, sooner or later the bill comes due. DeVos signed up for this clusterfest because she smelled a chance to make her policies everybody's policies. Is she now hedging her bets? Ducking out before she gets asked to exercise the 25th amendment? Trying to avoid possible accountability for any of this mess? Getting out before someone asks her to actually do something to clean up the mess? Just bothered that rioting mobs are declasse? Who knows.
At any rate, she's gone, a whole 13 days ahead of schedule and a whole four years too late. It will have virtually no effect on anything, other than adding to the picture of rats deserting a sinking ship. If only the ship weren't the US government.
Becky Pringle said, "Her complicity, cowardice, and complete incompetence will be her legacy." But Randi Weingarten was pithier, with "Good riddance."
I know the news will be all over the eduverse, but I want to make sure you don't miss it. The MAGAs will call her a traitor; she'll never hear them from the comfy confines of her vast mansions, where she'll sit and figure out how to get back to the business of dismantling public education. She's not going away, but at least she won't be running the federal ed department any more. Hasta la vista, baby.
The cabinet officers who are bailing out — if they actually had any sense of honor — could have instead invoked the 25th. Now they can’t.
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