Many people say nice things about our earnest Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. It's easy to see why, even if one thinks the Obama administration has made its share ofmistakes on education. He's a pleasant, even-tempered guy; has comported himself in Chicago and D.C. with class; and has gotten some significant stuff right, like giving his terrific "New Normal" speech and broadening out the reform agenda in helpful ways. But none of that explains the bizarre, mouth-breathing man-crush that New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has on him.

In a NYT column last week that I found fairly disturbing (Arne, please call the stalker hotline before you turn in tonight), Friedman instructs President Obama that his next Secretary of State should be Duncan. Friedman's got a number of reasons for this. My favorite is: "As our foreign budget shrinks, more and more of it will have to be converted from traditional grants to 'Races to the Top,' which Duncan's Education Department pioneered in U.S. school reform. We will have to tell needy countries that whoever comes up with the best ideas for educating their young women and girls...will get our scarce foreign aid dollars." Uhh, Friedman might want to check back with his sources at Foggy Bottom on the likelihood of all this. Imagining you can use an interesting and novel (if overhyped) domestic grant program as the foundation for revamping foreign aid is peculiar. Regardless, I love the notion of Duncan ordering would-be aid applicants to file their 500 page applications, filled with international development jargon, in line with his 19 priorities. That would be good fun.

Click here to continue reading.