Peter Greene says that people are mistaken to think that Betsy DeVos is a dope. She is not. She knows what she wants, and she is single-minded in pursuing her goals.

Just today, Peter posted an analysis of a long article in Politico about DeVos, in which the writer fails to mention her religious zealotry, and in which she blames her handlers for not preparing her for her confirmation hearings. What we learn from the Politico article is that Jeb Bush promoted her for Education Secretary. Bush, as events show, is a choice zealot, who like every kind of school except public schools. Actually, Bush recommended her to his friend Mike Pence, who ran the transgression. Both are anti-public school me. The article is more sympathetic to Betsy than most, and claims that she can’t do much damage and is constantly frustrated by the bureaucracy. We are reminded that this billionaire heiress never before worked in a large organization and is accustomed to unquestioning obedience.

Public opinion seems to have formed two impressions of DeVos: one, she is the most unpopular member of the Trump cabinet (I attribute that to the “billionaire smirk”). The other is that she is a dope.

Peter writes about the second impression:

“From the grizzly bear jokes of her confirmation hearing, to late night television lampoons, to satire from the Onion and Borowitz, DeVos has become an easy mark. Everyone’s in on the joke. Do the budget numbers not add up? It’s that wacky Betsy DeVos having trouble with math.

“I’ve said this before– it’s a huge mistake to think Betsy DeVos is a dope. She is something else ay more dangerous. I’ve been reading her word and a ton of words about her for a year (and you can, too– I’ve included an exhaustive reading list at the end of this piece), and while any game of armchair psycho-analysis has to come with huge caveats (like “I could be completely full of bovine fecal matter”), DeVos seems very much of a type that I’ve known my whole life, and it makes her both familiar and scary.”

He explains why, and he concludes his post with a valuable list of articles about her. She is a dangerous person, not a dope. She uses her wealth to buy politicians. She doesn’t trust democracy. She has the most important education job in government, yet she despises public schools.