Show-Me Institute Mislabeled, Misidentified, Misconstrued … Again

There’s some discussion over at NCLBlog about research by Show-Me Institute scholar Mike Podgursky that was published in Education Next. This particular article deals with teacher pensions in states other than Missouri, and wasn’t published by the Show-Me Institute — but because how we pay teachers is a hot issue here, too, I’ll try to cover the substantive points in a later post. Right now, I just want to point out something funny in the comments on NCLBlog. When they mentioned MIke’s affiliation with SMI, they labeled it (as people often do) a "right-wing" think tank. I’ve just about given up on correcting that error by now — the funny part is what comes next. Someone else commented that the "right-wing" label is unhelpful, and here’s the response:

I don’t think it’s juvenile or ad hominem to label a right-wing think tank as such. I think it’s important to remember the folks who told us the smoking gun might become a mushroom cloud, that there were WMDs in Iraq, that Sadaam was in league with Al Queda, that they’d welcome us with flowers, that it might be six days, six weeks, they doubt six months, that the mission was accomplished, that catching Sadaam’s kids would end the war, that catching Sadaam would end the war, that things were getting better, that if we didn’t fight them there we’d fight them here, and whatever other notions they’d created.

People, you’re thinking of some other think tank. We don’t write about Iraq or take any positions on foreign policy. Trust me, this is a Show-Me Institute rule, and it’s enforced. I risk getting my Show-Me Daily posts pulled altogether if I even mention words like "Iraq" and "war."