Because nothing says “we’re serious about reforming your child’s education” like appointing a diva with absolutely no education background to advise the President of the United States, on education.
President Obama has appointed Colombian-born pop sensation Shakira to his Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics.
Known as an accomplished collaborator — her artistic accomplices include Beyonce and Wyclef Jean — she will now be set to work making sweet educational policy music with the likes of Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Navarro and Arizona local school district superintendent Kent Scribner.
In naming Shakira, the White House cited her record founding a group, the Barefoot Foundation, which operates schools in Latin America and South Africa, as well as her work with the World Bank on educational programs.
I’m of two minds about this appointment. Shakira is not a US citizen, and doesn’t have a degree. According to Jim Geraghty, she took all of one course at UCLA and wasn’t much of a student in high school. So as an education adviser, her resume is about as thin as the outfits she tends to wear on stage. But her appointment forced me to run a Google image search for pics of her. I won’t make unfair comparisons to other administration figures and appointees, but looking for pics of Shakira to cover a political news story beats looking for pics of, say, Frances Fox Piven.
See what I mean? No?
So you need some more convincing, huh? Well, ok then.
Are you convinced of her qualifications yet?
The bottom line is, she’s hot, she’s Hispanic, and she’s far more popular than Obama, and to get re-elected this president needs to pander in the worst way. So that’s exactly what he’s going to do — pander in the worst way.
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