Education Sec'y: Katrina 'Best Thing That Happened to the Education System in New Orleans'

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan says that Hurricane Katrina was "the best thing that happened to the education system in New Orleans."

Democratic response: silence.

A few years ago, Rep. Richard Baker, a now-retired Republican, said this: "We finally cleaned up public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "insensitive"; Rahm Emanuel: "extraordinarily insensitive"; Rep. Elijah Cummings: "unconscionable"; DNC blog: "culturally insensitive"; INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence: "intensely hateful."