Board of Regents president Kevin Schieffer stated pretty clearly at the June Regents meeting that there is no crisis of “intellectual diversity” at South Dakota’s public universities. Now Regent Schieffer takes to my morning paper to blast the right-wing extremists of the South Dakota Legislature who want to impose conservative hiring quotas with their fake “intellectual diversity” push.
Intellectual diversity at our universities is important. But we oppose misguided versions of it at the expense of intellectual integrity. Mandating louder voices from one ideological or political perspective to “balance” those of the opposite ideology is not education. Loud and even extremist voices should not be feared or quashed. However, they should be neither mandated nor confused with intellectual rigor. Extremist liberal or conservative intolerance and filibuster inhibit free thinking and speech — and undermine critical thinking skills. We cannot allow the polarized ideological forces that program the bloviated talking heads of cable news to marginalize academic rigor at our universities [Kevin Schieffer, guest column {paywall}, Aberdeen American News, 2019.07.16].
That last sentence is a kicker—polarized, bloviated, marginalize… while I might recommend bloviating instead of bloviated (the talking heads are doing the lengthy and pompous discourse, not having it done to them… and I don’t think one can be bloviated), Schieffer swings the vocab bat like he means business!
We support and will pursue proposals that define, measure and minimize problems if they exist. We oppose proposals that would require ideological testing during faculty hiring or promotion. That would be destructively chilling. We care how teachers teach, not how they vote [Schieffer, 2019.07.16].
Remember, Representative Sue Peterson, Speaker Steven Haugaard, House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer, and other Republicans called in writing for the Regents to hire professors based on conservative political beliefs.
Schieffer necessarily does some both-sides-ing, but he hits the nail on the head when he characterizes the fake “intellectual diversity” pushers as attention seekers whose wacky ideas can’t get traction:
Student learning is and must remain the focus of the university experience. Exposure to diverse ideas in political, philosophical, scientific, literary, artistic and other disciplines is an important part of that experience. Manipulated indoctrination into any one of them undermines it. Students overwhelmingly support free speech and diversity, but oppose being forced to fund disruptions by media-starved extremists [Schieffer, 2019.07.16].
It’s good to hear a Republican appointee standing up to at least one flavor of Trumpism in South Dakota. Against Republican bogeyman angst, Regental president Schieffer is telling the simple truth: there is no liberal indoctrination or icing of conservative views in South Dakota’s public universities, and there should be no laws favoring anyone’s political ideology in higher education.
Hmmm. I wonder what happened to Kevin. I remember him as the slavering power-mad acting US Attorney for SoDak who rolled out the National Guard to seize the bones of Sue the Tyrannosaur in Hill City in 1990. I remember he showed up in makeup, prepared for his campaign-for-something kick-off as his illegal posse comitatus sacked a private business in the background.
I remember his editorial in the Rapid City Journal defending his perfidy, wherein he claimed the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research had violated the 1906 Antiquities Act, which had to do with people dealing in anthropological treasures, not fossils. Never, in the subsequent prosecution was the 1906 Act again brought up.
Kevin Schieffer has, for about 30 years, represented to me all of the gel-haired punks, the ink still wet on their law degrees, who have populated prosecutor’ chairs and stuffed the prisons with people who are guilty of nothing a sane person can call a “crime.”
That is not to say that I am not happy to see that even a former gel-haired punk phony lawyer can seek redemption.
What happened to Kevin? The same thing that happened to Thune, his buddy. Only difference is that Kevin got his crooked foot in the doorway through Janklow, two peas in a pod. Then add Rounds and Joop in the mix, and you have the cartel. Gel-haired punk phony lawyer, is very well put, in my opinion. The Larson brothers suffered through all of this fake law crap with dignity.
While the Kafka-esque prosecution of Pete and Neal Larson would have demolished most businesses, the excellence of the science done and customer service performed by the Black Hills Institute resulted in world-wide attention. The longest criminal trial in SoDak history resulted in the irony of BHI becoming the best paleontological business in the world. So there, Kev.
By the way, Pete Larson’s book, “Rex Appeal” (see Amazon), is a well-written recount of the misapplication of the law originally prosecuted by Schieffer and taken up just as perfidiously by US Attys Mandel Zuercher and the absolutely mad (and well-named) federal judge Richard Battey.
CIRD, I was having similar thoughts about Schieffer. Didn’t he go from the Sue debacle to some type of railroad scam? Hearing him sound reasonable in the instance is causing my head to whirl a bit.
He was the CEO of the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad. That lasted about 15 minutes.
Could be the stopped-clock syndrome. His declamation of the SoDak Taliban makes it appear as if he may have read a book recently, though.
Still waiting for rural state liberals to ‘get’ the fact that hate of liberals (including them), NOT love of conservative sensibility, is why most all low populated areas are all red – all of the time. These people have been holding more hate in their hearts than every civilized member of American society for a VERY long time now, and that’s why Donald Trump is such a force to be reckoned with and why places like South Dakota want do things like create a legal framework to start firing ‘liberal teachers and professors.’
SD Dems need to make phone calls for candidates in other states, begging moderate voters in states that matter to outweigh our out-of-control radical rural population throughout our whole upper midwest region. We know better than anyone how crazy and stupid these people are and how our vote for things like President never actually counts.
It should be our second nature – call to action – obligation living in this world to do these things. I do not doubt that it will one day be more effective than most of you currently think.
“Trumpism” — any view espoused by someone recognizing Trump as our president, even potentially those viewpoints with which I agree as a Democrat operative.
Attacking the person as a core political strategy is why Trump is doing so well. He could shoot somebody in the face and we’d still vote for him as long as it was centered.
When the Democrat party learns to again focus on ideas, it will claw its way back to relevancy. Even then, as the party of the KKK and architects of the modern day plantation, thought leaders want nothing to do with the identity politics and doxxing coming from the Chinese and global bank sponsored commandeered Democrat party.
As long as this approach continues, Trumpists will occupy high office, and the only victories will come at the blade of corruption.
Bribery only works when you have the most money. Eventually, to win Democrats need better ideas and reasonable strategies for implementation!
#shadowbanme #stillwontwork
Nice try with your mumbles jumbo rant, Dale. Democrats have a lot of good constructive ideas on things such as how to make healthcare more affordable.
You Just choose to not read up on them. Does it not bother you just a little bit that Trump rallies his crowds to feel animosity towards these women? I fear for their safety, honestly.
I used to think that yeah maybe Democrats do tend to focus on race alittle bit too much, but after watching this man, a President that is supposed to be a leader to everyone – to all different ethnic groups, speak like this, it is quite disturbing and frankly makes me sad. This isn’t what our Country is supposed to be. I have never seen a president like this and I’m kind of worried for our country..
John Dale does nothing but criticize Dems. Why doesn’t he pack up and leave? Take Drumpf’s advice and go back when you came.
“Trumpism” — any view espoused by someone recognizing Trump as our president.”
Couldn’t be more wrong. I recognize Rancid Racist is the president and I’m not a trumpist.
trumpism must include racism and misogyny because those are his core beliefs. I would include lying and greed too, as those seem central to his behavior and motivation, respectively.
trumpism is a very simple belief system from a very simple man. Yes, he is seriously mentally ill, but cannot be excused for that reason. His belief system is typical for a narcissist– what he wants when he wants it. The latter is usually “instantly.” It’s a very immature illness and we see that in his behavior and verbiage, whether written or oral.