A uniter, not a divider: Education Secretary Rod Paige said Monday that the National Education Association, one of the nation's largest labor unions, was like "a terrorist organization" because of the way it was resisting many provisions of a school improvement law pushed through Congress by President Bush in 2001. Mr. Paige made the comment in a private meeting with governors at the White House, just hours before the president stepped up the tempo of his re-election campaign with a speech attacking his Democratic opponents. The secretary later apologized for a poor choice of words, but repeated his criticism of the teachers' union as a group of obstructionists. His initial remark was described by four governors and confirmed by the Education Department. "The secretary was responding to a question," said Susan Aspey, a spokeswoman for Mr. Paige. "He said he considered the N.E.A. to be a terrorist organization. That's right, kids. Those teachers who come to work every day, and provide the education that policy analysts and politicians love to tout or dismiss - terrorists. Because they believe in standing up for what their vision of their teaching conditions and your learning conditions. This is, perhaps, a problematic message to be sending children - or perhaps just preparing them for life in Bush's America. As Nathan Newman puts it: This was not a slip of the tongue but a reflection of a mindset in a White House that sees all opposition as treason, all criticism as terrorism. And it's an administration armed with a Patriot Act which has allowed them to infiltrate opposition political groups to spy and undermine that opposition. This is a very scary group of people. Don't them let brush this language aside. Either terrorism is the most deadly threat we face, which means that no one would casually use hyperbole using the phrase and the domestic opposition is in great danger, or the administration is completely cynical on the issue and are manipulating the issue for political gain. Take your pick.