Mainstream Republican propagandist Pat Powers’s dogged determination to beat down Toby Doeden’s outsider campaign for Governor has led Powers, remarkably, to a mostly correct conclusion about the First Amendment. Powers scorns Doeden for promising to fire USD political science professor Timothy Schorn and professors like him who don’t toe Doeden’s political line:
Doeden:
Freedom of Speech is a wonderful thing. I am a constitutional conservative and freedom absolutist. I will not, however, stand by and watch our tax dollars be spent paying exorbitant salaries to people who hate our country, insight violence on our leaders, and promote radicalized ideas to our impressionable young people…. Under my leadership, people like Professor Scorn will have no place in the classroom! [Toby Doeden, campaign FB post, 2025.10.01]
Powers:
Regarding Toby’s attack on Dr. Schorn; I know the professor says many things I disagree with. But demanding that he be purged from employment is dangerous territory, as Representative Jon Hansen recently found out in the case of the art professor being returned to employment after a hearing in Federal Court. You’d think that ‘Dumpster Fire‘ Doeden might have read the news last week before making his declaration? And we have the part where Toby declares himself a “freedom absolutist?” That’s a new one. What exactly has Toby Doeden done for the cause of freedom?
…‘Freedom absolutist’ Toby Doeden wants to fire a military veteran from his job because he doesn’t like what he says on Facebook? As I said, I know the professor holds views that I don’t agree with. But, especially considering his service to our country, I think he’s earned the right to his opinion.
Otherwise, do we really want to venture on to that slippery slope and start actively purging universities?
Because it appears that Toby Doeden thinks so [Pat Powers, “Toby Doeden Declares If He’s Elected Governor, He Will Purge Military Veteran USD Professor from University,” Dakota War College, 2025.09.30].
Powers errs in his own propagandist bent, asserting that we have to do some brave and manly thing like serving in the military to earn the right to express ourselves. Neither Powers nor I (nor Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and some other authors of the Constitution) served in the military, but we enjoy freedom of expression as full as that accorded to soldiers, police, or any of the other classes of patriots whom Powers puts on his posters to advance his propagandistic ends. We don’t have to “earn” the right to hold and express opinions; the First Amendment applies to everyone in America, recognizing every individual’s inherent human dignity.
But Powers is on the right track. I am thrilled to see a Republican respond to a Trumpist attack on free speech and higher education by linking to an article critiquing Nazi Germany’s politicization of universities. Powers also criticized Speaker and gubernatorial candidate Jon Hansen for advocating the firing of USD art professor Michael Hook for exercising his First Amendment rights.
Now when will Powers show some consistency and extend his critique to Governor Larry Rhoden, who joined Speaker Hansen in urging the purging of a professor with whom he disagreed? Does Powers truly believe in the First Amendment, or, like Charlie Kirk, does he only use it as cover for his own political agenda, punching down at his enemies but never up at his patrons?
While [Regents attorney Justin] Bell argued that Hook’s activities disrupted USD, Schorn said it wasn’t Hook’s post, but the “unhinged reaction by people from around the country that disrupted the university,” Schorn said.
“Don’t blame Professor Hook for this,” Schorn said. “This was a result of people deciding that faculty members should not have First Amendment rights, nor should they have academic freedom.”
He said elected leaders gave people “who perhaps were not thinking clearly the green light to engage in a campaign of harassment and disruption of faculty members in the university” [Morgan Matzen, “SD Professor on Turning Point Watchlist Calls Out Leaders’ Handling of Colleague’s Kirk Comments,” Sioux Falls Argus Leader, 2025.09.30].
I’m not claiming to know the fine points of this argument ( if indeed, their are
fine points), and I may be old fashioned, but it seems to me that if I am paying
a teacher I should have something to say about what the teacher is teaching.
Edwin, You just had something to say about it, Saying you ought to have something to say about it is the extent of you having anything to say about it. Your freedom of speech is one thing, but infringing on the freedom of speech of someone else because you pay taxes is way beyond any rights you have in the matter.
Mr. Pay beat me to it. I’ll add that Dr. Hook wasn’t teaching. He was posting on Facebook as private citizen “Michael Hook”. Mr. Arndt, are you old-fashioned, ignorant, or just disingenuous?
Charlie Kirk was a hateful Nazist reciting a death chant and in 2019 sleepy Vermillion became ground zero for Donald Trump’s war on America in South Dakota. In 2022 University of New Mexico schedulers expected protests but booked Tomi Lahren and Kirk anyway even knowing the decision would be seen as normalizing hate speech.
Pat Powers was ejected from SDGOP public relations at the winter meeting in 2024 so he no longer has any contract with the state party. But, Powers is so angry at the civil war being waged in his own political party that he denies the fact that the Black Hills watershed is being depleted faster than it recharges. Yet, he helps to make the Big Sioux River downstream of Brookings a sewer of biblical proportions by flushing his offal into the Waters of the United States
Daddy felon doe this and sometimes gets away wth it, so Doeden is following the head lemming over a 1st amendment and possibly other amendment cliffs.
” . . . if I am paying a teacher I should have something to say about what the teacher is teaching.:
1. In SD that would be UNDER-paying a teacher.
2. Why should individuals have a say about what is science, math, history?
3. You do have a say — your elected school board/board of regents.
Been busy this afternoon. I freely admit to being old fashioned and am ignorant
on a fair number of subjects. According to google I am not disingenuous. There
are times, in order to make your voice heard, you have to go around normal
channels, not through them.
As we have heard recently, freedom of speech is not absolute. If one feels strongly
about a certain subject, one can exercise that freedom and then live with the
consequences.
The First Amendment absolutely protects the right of every person on American soil to speak on matters of public concern on their own time. Commenters above correctly point out that we aren’t talking about classroom teaching decisions. And even if we were, O aptly notes that paying a teacher’s salary does not make the payer an expert in pedagogy and curriculum. Hire good teachers, then let them teach and get off their backs.
Why would anyone want to teach? There is too much white supremacy and phony kristian ideology that magats are trying to force in to all schools, not just the public ones. They also eliminate parts of certain amendments they don’t like to get their wy.
MFI, not to take too big of a stroll off topic, but the Right has a problem with education because 1) it does favor the Left because it tends to be fact-based/evidence-based and 2) as the Right continues to denigrate education and its workforce, fewer and fewer on the right get into education, especially at the teacher level — leaving a void for only the left to fill.
The Right tries to silence the evidence, the reality, the left through public policy, but that never lasts. Eventually the truth comes out, and those who attempt to hide it — successfully or not — are not treated well by history.
O has it right. I was the first sculptor that graduated from USD graduate school. Didn’t know about all the fuss happening there. What it has done is expose every Republican as anti Black, anti woman and homophobes. You could put anti Semitic in there too. All you have to do is quote Charlie Kirk. Literally dozens of his statements. Prove me wrong!. This will be a real boon next election. I’m waiting for the boring sculpture that will be put at New College here in Sarasota. You’ll be able to sit with a bronze Charlie and “debate him”. Can’t wait. I’ll bring my lunch. I was going to mention Jonboy but I’ve never heard him sing so I won’t judge him yet. My great grandfather paid the first taxes in Dell Rapids by the way.