Friends, kudos to the New York Post, which came out strongly in favor of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's efforts to combat woke indoctrination in our education system, and strongly against the recent moves by SUNY (the State University of New York) to require all college students to complete a course in "diversity, equity, and inclusion". The devil is in the details, as always, but the omnipresence of DEI ideology these days, and the insistence that everyone bend a knee to it, is immensely troubling. And make no mistake: the forces of wokeness are, by and large, still on the offensive. Once in a while they make a tactical retreat, but if you think the DeSantises of this world are winning the war, you're kidding yourself!
https://nypost.com/2023/02/02/suny-needs-its-own-ron-desantis-as-a-savior-from-woke-insanity/
In other news, a fierce debate continues in both parties about whether Biden and Trump are strong candidates, or even viable candidates, and you can see why. The polling evidence is ambiguous at best. Trump seems to have mounted a recovery of late, but that likely reflects the fact that news coverage has shifted away from him (temporarily). The bottom line for me is that, in our closely divided country, virtually anyone could win in 2024, including Biden and Trump, but that doesn't mean that either one of them represent the best that the Dems and the GOP have to offer.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/02/05/poll-trump-takes-lead-biden-eve-state-union-address/
RAY TO NICK
ReplyDeleteLast night I was watching a recent interview Bill O'Reilly had with Mike Pompeo, who indicated he (Pompeo) would make a decision on whether to run (or not) for President in a few months. Frankly, I think he would make a good President. I have a feeling there is going to be a big lineup on both sides, to include Mike Pence, and Newsom from California, both of whom are the same breed of cat, in my opinion.
Dr. Waddy from Jack: Re: SUNY totalitarians: Hooray for the NY Post. Gov. DeSantis naturally comes to mind. He was enthusiastically reelected in Florida, which is also one of the American states. Interestingly a significant portion of its population consists of former New Yorkers. Up to now, my perception of far leftist bias in SUNY was formed mainly from my attendance at SUNY University at Buffalo and SUNY NewPaltz, from incidental stories in alumni newsetters and the media and from your observations I raised issues over apparent widely practiced radical bias in SUNY as a whole with legislators but was told little can be done in NY, given its domination by the dem party. But this, THIS, latest development: this cannot be allowed to stand! Yeah, the Governor and the legislature as a whole are hopeless but the courts are not , especially the Federal courts which should take this disdainful state in hand as they did several recalcitrant southern states in the '60s. Oh, ok, prospective students can choose not to attend SUNY, why sure, but taxpayers,including students who may wish to attend their state university, you know, just like people in other states do, have no choice but to pay their taxes. This blatantly presumptuous graduation requirement that students submit to political indoctrination in a highly controversial concept is, as such, administrative law and as such may well manifest violation of Constitutional equal protection of the laws.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy fromJack: Now a course studying the concepts inherent in DIE and objectively considering pros and cons could be consistent with sound principles, practiced in actual universities, of free enquiry, academic freedom and unbiased examination of social and political issues. But you know danged well that isn't the intent and will not be the substance of this edict from the "dear leaders" of our state "university". Oh well, I suppose some things are more universal than others, yes? Required will be PASSAGE of this course, no auditing or pass/fail allowed. The commissars will want to measure student enthusiasm or lack thereof for the irrefutable truths so taught and student doubt may well be noted for future use in a "just" state. Passage of exams will of course be necessary and one can expect value laden questions to be the norm (eg"explain how lack of diversity is by definition unjust" or "outline the ways in which a just society expunges naturally
ReplyDeletehate filled opposition to the tenets of diversity, inclusion and equity as embraced by the educated and enlightened . . .).
Dr.Waddy from Jack: I talked today with staff for both our State Senator and our Assemblyman about this leftist power play. I emphasized that SUNY has crossed a line with it that the tax paying public.should not tolerate.
ReplyDeleteHey hey, it's Ray! I've missed you, Ray. Be careful what you wish for with the presidential field, though. More candidates means it will be easier for one who wins only a plurality to win. In the GOP, that could easily mean Trump 3.0. As far as the Dems go, I fully expect Biden will have challengers, but I doubt Newsom will be among them. He's already said he won't take on Biden (who's awesome, in case you hadn't heard).
ReplyDeleteJack, as you suggest, merely introducing college students to the ambiguous themes of "diversity, equity, and inclusion" doesn't necessarily violate anyone's rights. After all, none of those words mean much of anything until one starts to put flesh on the bones. The key is how professors interpret their mandate, and possibly the sort of rubrics, if any, that colleges develop to assess performance in the course. A lot of institutions, as you know, view any statement of support for color-blindness as a breach of DEI principles. If SUNY goes down that path, overtly, it will be treading on dangerous ground. If it skirts the issue with some subtlety, it will probably get away with this outrage and many more.
Dr.Waddy from Jack: Well said but here is my prediction: I would fully expect the wording of a mandatory course outline dictated by the SUNY central administration to manifest overt endorsement of the leftist construction of DIE, replete with derisive reference to "hate" generated doubt. NY state has a "so sue me! " attitude. A blatant recent example of this is the state's defiant and vindictive reaction to several SCOTUS decisions supporting individual rights to gun ownership and possession. With unseemly haste, statutes severely restricting the same far beyond anything previous were rammed through. They are now tangled up in Federal Court Constitutional challenges the sure prospect of which was no deterrent to NY's purposeful progress toward "people's republic" style dictatorship. Too, "hate crimes" statutes are already established and point to the imminent proposal of the criminalization of hate itself. As hate is one of the many terms of instant condemnation presumptuously annexed by the left, a legal statutory definition of "hate" would be that embraced by the far left NY junta: that is , " any expression of opposition to its undoubted wisdom and justice". SUNY may well assume that popular indignation and remedial action against its leftist power play will be far less serious than that it already sniffs and sneers at - 2nd Amendment Gun rights - and that it has little to fear from the Feds ( or for that matter, the NY courts). NY state needs a good hiding from the real America, personified by our now lawful SCOTUS.
ReplyDeleteDr.Waddy from Jack: And SUNY probably does not fear any opposition from alumni, as private schools must. Why, it has a guaranteed endowment from the taxpayer and need not honor the concerns of what Prince Cuomo terms "just a vocal minnahrity" of subjects which would do best to shut up and let the enlightened rule!
ReplyDeleteJack, in my experience course descriptions are usually fairly milquetoast in their verbiage, and, if they toss around a certain amount of jargon, it may or may not get much play in the classroom. I agree, though, that the suppression of "hate speech" is a rich vein of possibilities for the Left which they have yet to exploit fully. SUNY's Chancellor says that the new DEI course is about opening up a dialogue. Well, I think we all have our doubts about whether an honest, open dialogue is possible on many SUNY campuses. Frankly, many professors AND students don't want one.
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