Yet ANOTHER college professor has been fired for private tweets. This time, it’s Jeff Klinzman, an adjunct English prof at Kirkwood Community College who was terminated earlier today.
Credit here has to go first to KCRG, the local ABC affiliate that for some reason decided it was a good use of time to dig through years of Klinzman’s old Facebook posts and then dump the results on Kirkwood’s desk. Bravo, KCRG!
But we also have to acknowledge the bravery of @KirkwoodPrez, who capitulated to the Rightwing Outrage Mob in less than 24 hours. That’s got to be a new record.
And about that Mob: big shout-out to Fox News, the Washington Times, and every other anti-PC Free Speech Warrior who led the charge. You guys are the real heroes.
That’s why I’ve been going so much lately about how conservatives need to start calling their own side out. I feel like I’ve been clear on this point. @DavidAFrench have I not been clear?
Thankfully, this has been a slow year so far for faculty firings over political speech. I’ll check my spreadsheet later, but I think this is just the fourth confirmed incident so far. But unless people start raising a ruckus (@robbysoave@conor64), the number is sure to grow.
Also: “But he advocated violence!” “This was incitement!”
There is no person on earth with a stronger claim to my house than me because when I am in it, I remember that it is where my daughter took her first steps. No theory of Indigeneity or ethno-religious descent is more powerful than that.
IOW, what matters is community.
A rant:
It's important to keep in mind what the real crime of settler colonialism is. Not "theft" per se. No single ethnic group or cultural lineage can own the land, and if your political theory claims otherwise, it is evil and I want nothing to do with it.
The real crime of settler colonialism is the destruction of communities, the loss of one's home, the denial of self-determination. After all, that's what really matters to you, right? The freedom to move through the world how you like and in the company of those you love.
Another lawsuit has been filed against an anti-CRT bill. This time it's in Tennessee. @ThePlumLineGS has the details, which are pretty crazy. washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/…
@ThePlumLineGS The 2021 law at issue is what @PENamerica calls an "Inclusion" ban. That means it forbids K-12 teachers from including certain ideas in classroom instruction. The other types of bans, Compulsion and Promotion, are also bad, but less so.
@ThePlumLineGS @PENamerica In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the law is unconstitutionally vague. It permits discussion of "controversial issues", but only if they're "impartial". What do "controversial" and "impartial" mean? I have no idea, nor (I suspect) does the state. tnea.org/_data/media/82…
This incredible admission comes after plaintiffs pointed out (and a lower court agreed) that the law's ban on saying that "[a] person, by virtue of his or her race, color, national origin, or sex should be discriminated against...to achieve DEI" would bar support for AA.
Is affirmative action good or bad? Does it achieve its stated goals or not? Should we keep it, change it, or get rid of it all together?
What plaintiffs were trying to do was make a reductio: Florida's argument, taken to its logical conclusion, would ban faculty -- and even...
The brain drain is real. Tampa Bay Times pulled records on faculty retention at four Florida universities. Resignations are way up, failed searches are common, fear and self-censorship are palpable. A disaster in the making.
“These may be the times that try men’s souls (Thomas Paine, The Crisis, 1776), wherein the masses, yearning to breathe free (Colossus, 1883, Statue of Liberty) were instead everywhere enchained (Rousseau, Social Contract Theory…
Under HB 1069 (signed by DeSantis in May), county residents may object to any book they feel "depicts or describes sexual conduct." Challenged books must be immediately removed and quarantined pending the outcome of a formal review.
There is one exception, but it is narrow: books that are part of a sex ed course or have been explicitly approved by the Florida Board of Education. Remember this. It's going to matter in a sec.
https://t.co/YDdQfdajaHflsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2…