Bill White wants to take the politics out of Texas textbooks — after he uses it for political gain

It's hard to find many people (besides the Republican block of nine on the State Board of Education) who are publicly thrilled about the dramatic changes approved for Texas textbooks and the state's social studies curriculum. Even Gov. Rick Perry (who selected current Board leader Gail Lowe) has declined to comment on the history switch that's causing a national uproar (any celebration in Perry's house in the Austin hills is for his eyes only).

So it's no great surprise that Bill White — Perry's opponent in the governor's race — is coming out hard against the shifting and reprioritizing of various historical events. Who doesn't want to put themselves on the other side of this issue?

“Obviously, I would pick a chair who would try to undo some of the damage that is being done as quickly as we can,” White told the Houston Chronicle. “We should have standards which reflect the views of professional educators and historians and respect the integrity of that process rather than injecting political ideology in the classroom — regardless where that ideology came in the political spectrum."

Yes, Bill White wants to take the politics out of Texas textbooks — right after he uses it for political gain.

White needs to deploy the textbooks controversy strategically like he must also use NASA shifting more and more into a Florida operation and Continental's flight to Chicago to have a chance to be be elected. That's how the game is played.

But does doing that really qualify as taking the politics out of something?