Arizona State Commissioner of Education John Huppenthal admitted he left many comments anonymously on blogs.
This is causing him some problems in his re-election campaign, as some of his comments were highly insulting and inflammatory to various groups.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry canceled plans to honor him at its annual awards ceremony.
Here are what one blog calls his “top ten” anonymous comments.
Huppenthal is in hot water. As one editorialist in Arizona wrote:
“He called poor people “lazy pigs” and made inane comparisons between stuff he doesn’t like and Hitler, but let’s honor the First Amendment here and leave the content of his speech off the table. He did two things wrong – he hid behind pseudonyms, and when caught he offered up a non-apology apology.
“If you’re going out in the public sphere, use your name, be you and own it. Otherwise, you don’t deserve an audience.
“And if you step in it, do not say what Huppenthal did (and in a “statement,” no less): “I sincerely regret if my comments have offended anyone.”
“What a load of horse puckey.
“What he’s saying is, if no one’s offended by what he said, then he’s not sorry. So if there’s no fundamental level of sorry-ness, why are you apologizing?
Mr. Huppenthal, you’re a leader. If you’re sorry about what you posted, say, “What I said was wrong, I renounce it, and I promise not to promote those beliefs again.” If you’re not sorry, say, “Yeah, I said it, I meant it, and I will use my own name from now on.”
Huppenthal is identified on Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education website as “one of Arizona’s leading education reformers” because of his support for school choice and the Common Core.

However, owning up and apologizing doesn’t convince me that a politician has “changed”. Maybe I am unfair. But I do not believe that anyone can turn around 180° from posting horrendous comments about various groups and actions. Those feelings or attitudes are deeply embedded in a person’s self identity. Now there are always ways that people can work on their attitudes and change. , I don’t believe that it happens in an instant, particularly after being ” caught”. Just my opinion.
LikeLike
When Huppenthal talks, you can almost see the Koch brothers lips move.
LikeLike
In one of his posts listed on that link he complains about government workers making over $100,000. Well, I know at least one such government worker who could be eliminated….
LikeLike
I disagree with the editorial writer: Huppenthal is not a leader.
LikeLike
He has not one day on the classroom, no past college course work in education, and no ethics. It is hard to be a teacher in AZ.
LikeLike
Reminds me of Weiner and Spitzer, their wives in tow looking appropriately appalled, making their public apologies — so they could later run for office again. Voters were smart though; they said NO to these clowns. You have to get the truth to the voters; not everyone votes down the party line.
LikeLike
One of the strangest things about this epidemic of trolling and silliness is that the guys (and gals) somehow are do dumb — that’s the only word, DUMB. Don’t they realize that it’s very — VERY– easy to find out who is commenting, trolling, spamming, etc. Usually, our gurus on this stuff are ten or eleven years old. A couple of them having been playing Call of Duty Black Ops II a few feet from here, but are now going out to play some baseball. One of the elders in our family (who designed the current substancenews.net website from scratch when he was a high school senior here in Chicago) is now 25 and a computer engineer working in San Francisco.
If we want to find out precisely who “coolaw…” or “FATKAREN…” or “GEORGETHEPERVERT…” really is, we can ask. But usually we just enforce our comment rule — first and last name.
One of the interesting things about Glenn Greenwald’s Snowden book is how much care Snowden took to contact Greenwald and the other two who broke the stories. It’s worth reading, that book. The first chapter is a kind of whodunnit/John LeCarre stuff. Only in the real world. Any time we really need to know who someone lurking really is, it takes us less than five minutes with only a little help. While it is possible (and relatively easy) to do “off the grid” for those who need to, it reduces our efficiency. So, once again, transparency and real democracy is the best solution.
LikeLike
I’m sure it wouldn’t take much to find out who I am. When I first began blogging on this site, I had just been forced to retire. I needed some time to heal, so I used a short cut name, which was taken from my name. There is a difference between John Huppenthal and I. He is a public official, making his salary from taxes, which I help pay. He has hurt many teachers with his ideas, love of charters, and voucher program. As far as I know, I haven’t hurt anyone. I’m one of the ones he and his cronies have hurt. It is time for voters in Arizona to vote Huppenthal and Tom Horne (former Public Instructor of Education and now Attorney General) out. Both have proven their incompetency by their actions.
LikeLike
Arizona hasn’t had a decent State Supe in years – maybe as far back as C. Diane Bishop – who has now turned to the dark side (Great Hearts Charter schools). Horne and Huppenthal only used the State Supe position to move up their career status – they don’t care one bit about public education except how to profit off it. The crooked Horne envisioned himself the next governor, though I suspect his inability to keep his pants zipped during work hours has probably sunk his gubernatorial aspirations. Huppenthal is just a joke.
LikeLike
I am happy that this bounder is receiving his just desserts!!
LikeLike