The StarTribune did the right thing this past weekend.  They condemned Hamline’s aborted offer to have Tom Emmer, the Republican nominee for Minnesota governor in 2010, teach business law classes.  They attacked it on ethical grounds, arguing Hamline promised diverse viewpoints and ideas as part of their mission and denying a conservative a teaching position was wrong.  They also stated it wasn’t fair to Emmer and it was bungled.  The StarTribune gave a nod to the idea “that offering students a broad range of perspectives better
enables them to discern the truth.”  By not offering classroom time to conservatives and Republicans, they are giving their students only half an education, and that is a dereliction of their academic duty.

I’m a 2002 graduate of Hamline University and learned a lot.  During my time there, almost every instructor was far left of center.  But, as a right of center guy, I injected a dynamic into the classroom when I challenged the dogmatic leftist paradigm.  While I may not have been the favorite of all my professors or classmates, I did get a few asides from other students for having the courage of my convictions and bringing the material to life with a different perspective.

This was the entire purpose of diversity in an educational setting; to give many different viewpoints to ideas.  It would give students an array of ways to look at things which gave the ideas a three dimensionality and value in the world.  Simply presenting a one sided argument seriously limits both the ability of the student to process the idea and make it applicable outside the academic exercise.  I was very enriched by liberal, libertarian, socialist, anarchist, Christian thoughts and ideas.  But, immersion in the Neo-Marxist and liberal thought process only gave me half the picture.  It took self-study on my part to get a full view of the world of ideas.

Since I was a non-traditional student and quite comfortable in my own philosophic underpinnings, their ideas intrigued me, but didn’t
change my perspective.  As a student of the truth, I actively sought the other side of the argument and read and listened to other thoughts about things.  I had to get the second half of my education on my own.

Hamline, by reneging on a promise to Emmer, has denied its students the full education I should have had and these students today deserve.  But, I was lucky to have the background in classical liberal thought that gave me a head start.  Not all students are so blessed.

We are seeing students from liberal colleges who don’t have even the most basic understandings of thought on the right side of the
spectrum.  When confronted with ideas about classical liberalism, individual responsibility, the power of capitalism and the inherent corruption in transfer payments from the private sector to the public sector, they are like deer in headlights.  They cannot even understand conservative language, ideals, and ethical contentions.  They weren’t challenged with these ideas and so don’t know how to counter them.

Several things happen when these poorly taught student go out into the world of diverse ideas.  First, when confronted with opposing viewpoints, they are shocked.  They think the ideas are stupid or wrong.  Then, when pressed, they begin to realize the world is intellectually a much, much bigger place than their professors introduced them to.  Finally, they question or they retreat.

If they question, they self-educate and many of them become conservative or at least receptive to these ideas.  They explore the entire world of thought and may even begin to question the foundations of their own education.  Or, it strengthens their own beliefs while
understanding the other side of the debate.  At least then they can argue coherently and purposefully.  These results are the most positive ones.  The other reaction is the growing reality of our political system.

Those who retreat race from anything that challenges their liberal convictions.  They become polarized and ignore any ideas which don’t comport with their indoctrination.  They rail wildly against other perspectives and attempt to shut down thoughts which are at odds with their paradigm.  These unfortunate students then also try to exclude conservatives from the debate.  Since they are ill-prepared to meet the intellectual challenges of opposing viewpoints, they close their ears and minds.

I’m not saying liberal academics don’t introduce any conservative ideas or thoughts in classrooms.  But what they do is present a biased view that excludes the heart and soul of a philosophic debate.  It is the guts of those ideas which are the meat of intellectual exchanges and without an understanding they are ill-equipped in the wider world of thinking.   A committed Neo-Marxist simply cannot understand the basis of capitalism or individualism or traditionalism at its heart.

In fact, we see it all around us.  The Left is frantically trying to press a narrative and philosophy that the rest of the country can see is morally and ethically bankrupt, not to mention isn’t working.  When confronting conservatives they must fall back on smear campaigns, ad hominem attacks, or daily doses of Democratic Party propaganda by their operatives in the media.  Hell, they even have to quickly whitewash the mushrooming scandals like Solyndra, Sun Power, MF Global, a failed stimulus, a failing Obamacare, and a stagnating economy with half-truths and distortions.  Instead of arguing merits, they argue strawmen and conjecture.  There is very little intellectual honesty on the Left and it is because of the half of an education that schools like Hamline provide.

In the meantime, our students are not given the tools to discover intellectual truths and explore the world of ideas because it’s too much work for European socialists like David Schultz to teach.  He just wants to present his little, moldy corner of the world.  Can’t let someone like Emmer show students just how limiting Schultz’s world view really is.  So, they lashed out and Hamline’s president, Linda Hanson caved.

Linda Hanson is a shining example of the intellectual narrowness of academia today.  In a bizarre apologia for their handling of the Emmer situation, Hanson begins citing all the ‘diversity’ Hamline engages in with the public.  However, with few exceptions, her list is just a laundry list of progressive, socialist, Democratic leaning events.  She cites one gun rights advocate as being on the law school’s staff, like he’s a token that proves how ‘diverse’ they are.

This is supposed to burnish their credentials as ‘diverse.’

“Two of our School of Business professors edit the prestigious Journal for Public Affairs Education. One of the top journals of its kind, the publication focuses on public administration, public affairs and government affairs.”

For three consecutive years, Hamline has hosted the Minnesota Economic Association’s annual conference. This year’s topic was on financial inequality and education.

This fall, Hamline School of Law’s Business Law Institute hosted a wide range of scholars, mortgage professionals and lawyers seeking
purposeful conversation around the critical issue of reforming the secondary mortgage market.” ‘Despite Emmer fiasco, Hamline embraces diversity’ by Linda Hanson, December 20, 2011, StarTribune.com

Really.  A public affairs journal that tries to figure out the best ways to have government run our lives, a conference on the artificial construct of class and how to fight an imaginary war on it and finally, reforming a system that would have never been broken had the government not had its fat fingers in the system trying to get people loans that they couldn’t afford.  This is Hanson’s lame-brained idea of intellectual ‘diversity.’  No wonder Hamline only provides half of an education.  The president of the college is half-baked.

Hamline isn’t the only college that simply refuses to embrace academic freedom in its curricula and staff.  However, they are certainly the poster child for why we need academic reform so badly.  If we ever hope to find the best solutions for our worsening problems, it will require people who see the whole world and not just the progressive/socialist/Neo-Marxist slice today’s education system offers.  It will require questioning, discussing, arguing, and passionately speaking truth to power.  Only then will we have a truly informed electorate and not an indoctrinated group of intellectual serfs.

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com

Day Two

This whole shutdown thing isn’t going quite as they planned.  Several problems are arising in Governor Mark Dayton and the progressive/socialist wing of the Democratic Party’s plan to starve out the Minnesota population with a government shutdown.  First, the economic pain envisioned by Dayton isn’t happening.  Second, we are finding ourselves with a ‘government by fiat’ situation instead of a democratic republic.  Finally, Minnesotans are taking the situation at hand and dealing with it which upsets all their apple carts at once.  The narratives are being dismantled and the memes are washing away.

Desperate for stories about human misery and Republican perfidy, the crack reporters of the DFL’s favorite pamphleteers at the StarTribune ran around the state looking for problems.  Since there weren’t any GOP mobs assaulting the homeless, they came up with some interesting case studies.

Stocked His Freezer with Canned Goods

Strangely enough most people weren’t terribly upset by the extra day off before a long 4^th of July weekend.  Undeterred, they reported this laid off uncritical state employee as saying, “My frustration and my anger are very, very high,” Yaeger said. “In the near future, we move to rage.”

Yaeger, who has stocked his freezer with canned goods and meat, said jokingly that he’s now accepting free dinner invitations from friends.”  ‘Feeling effects at home, in wallet,’ by Kelly Smith, Richard Meryhew, and Warren Wolfe, Startribune.com, July 2, 2011.

My goodness.  So this 53 year-old training coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health is so upset with the extra day off he’s moved to anger that could become rage.  This doesn’t sound like a very stable person especially with him putting his canned goods in a freezer.  Perhaps he believes without state government his canned goods will spoil and so he needs to double protect them.  Either that, or he really like frozen beets on a stick in this hot weather.

Regardless, the stories get even more bizarre.  There is a couple in Coon Rapids and the husband was laid off from his uncritical state engineering job.  “The couple started the day by pulling their 2-year-old from day care. For a time, he’ll stay at Mike’s parents’ house to help save money. Meanwhile, Heidi has set aside her “dream job” as a self-employed photographer to seek a second job.”  How desperate are the StarTribune reporters for a story that they come up with this remarkable tale.  Mike Mendiola has been laid off until Dayton sees reason.  They both know the state government will go back online sometime, but in the mean time they have to cope.

How are the Mendiolas coping?  They pulled their 2 year old from day care to stay with Mike’s parents.  Why the hell isn’t Mike just taking care of his child?  What would you need day care for if you’re home and laid off from work.  So what if poor Heidi has to look for a real job.  Quite frankly, these supposed tales of woe just make me more furious that we have 23,000 able-bodied Minnesotans soaking up millions of dollars in tax revenue on uncritical jobs and whining about having to take care of their own children.

This is ridiculous.  I know that Kelly Smith, Richard Meryhew, and Warren Wolfe were supposed to find people traumatized by Dayton’s Shutdown but this borders on a mockumentary in its effect.

Government by Fiat  (Not the car company.  That might be better)

Yesterday I listed off the noncritical items that were shutdown in Minnesota’s state government.  Quite a list of nonessential services I think.  These nonessential services were selected by dictator,  er Judge Kathleen Gearin, Chief of the Ramsay County District Court.   From the StarTribune, Times News Service, June 24, 2011, ‘Judge will likely decide next week on Minnesota government operations in event of shutdown.’  They reported this:

“Although the Minnesota Constitution says, “No money shall be paid out of the treasury of the state except in pursuance of appropriation by law” — meaning passed by the Legislature — Swanson argued that the U.S. Constitution contains an overriding requirement that the state cannot “deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”

So, our Attorney General argued that our state constitution requires the legislature to appropriate money unless it conflicts with her opinion on the other parts of the U.S. Constitution.  In other words, “no money” really means “unless it’s inconvenient to the Democratic Party patronage system.”  Swanson argues there are facets of state government which simply have to operate otherwise we’ll just be dying in the streets and public unions will not get their take of the public funds.

Gearin agreed and made an arbitrary laundry list of noncritical parts of the state government which could ‘safely’ be shutdown.  But, she decided to appoint a ‘special dictator, I mean, ‘master’ to review her arbitrary laundry list and allow funding to flow to vital services like rest areas for the incontinent and fireworks displays for the blind.

July 2, 2011, ‘Agencies make pitches for continued funds,’ by Star Tribune’s intrepid Mike Kaszuba reports:

“All took their seats before Kathleen Blatz, a former state Supreme Court chief justice appointed as a special master to hear the pleadings. Blatz promised to have her first recommendations as early as Sunday.

In some instances, she said she had heard enough. “I thought they made a strong argument here today that they were” a critical state service, Blatz said after Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services made its case.”

Congratulations Minnesota.  You’ve got yourself a tyranny.  Thank the heavens we have someone as distinguished and accomplished as Kathleen Blatz to decide where we need to spend money and what social programs are worthy of our tax dollars.  It’s not like we have a political branch charged by our CONSTITUTION to decide these things.  NOOOOOOO.  Now we’ve got ourselves a benevolent dictator to decide for us.  Does anyone really believe this glorified legal bureaucrat, once a state supreme court judge, is going to carefully decide funding based on public discourse?  Of course not.  That’s the new Undemocratic Party way, brought to you by the Prog/Soc wing of The Party.

Just as an amuse bouche of the kinds of testimony Minnesota’s ‘special master’ heard on Friday, we were treated with this.

“I don’t mean to scare you,” said Julie Tate of Minneapolis, who sat before Blatz in a wheelchair and lobbied for state funding for Vail Place, a community-based mental health program serving 1,700 adults in Hennepin County. “[But I] feel suicidal most of the time.”

Well, if you’re feeling suicidal, then let’s pull out the checkbook.  It’s not like it’s any skin off Kathleen Blatz’ nose.  So what if she decides to fund a mental health program without public comment.  If someone threatens suicide then we HAVE to fund their program.  I mean, if someone uses extortion, we have to fund them, right?

This is the nature of our policy making today.  We have abandoned all reason when it comes to public funding of anything.  The pain of cancer has been equated with the pain of ‘Mommmm, he looked at me funny.’  We no longer rationally evaluate public needs but simply cave to the most incessant whiner.  Everybody gets a place at the public trough.  That’s why we are all in the dilemma we face both in Minnesota and on the national level.

Robin Hood Visits Minnesota Parks

On the morning talk show on KTLK, former gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, the Republican endorsed candidate, gave a shout out to Minnesota residents.  He told them to walk around the closed gates at Minnesota parks and enjoy the scenery.  Sheriff of Nottingham Mark Dayton was hoping that closing the parks on a long 4^th of July weekend would make the people of Minnesota angry.  It did, but not at the Republican-led legislature.

In ‘’Closed’ doesn’t deter park visitors,’ Larry Oakes in July 2, 2011’s Star Tribune writes, “The gate was closed and the visitors center was locked, but hundreds of travelers still enjoyed the scenic splendor of Gooseberry Falls on Friday – even though all state parks are officially off-limits to the public as part of the government shutdown.”  It seems many people are taking Emmer’s advice.  Instead of meekly accepting the official park notices, visitors are streaming into Minnesota parks to enjoy the scenery and the beauty the state boasts about.

State officials weren’t too happy.  However, dragging eleven year old girls kicking and screaming out of a nature area doesn’t exactly present a positive picture of our state governmental officials.  Instead, the prog/soc’s issued grave warnings of peril.

“The state Department of Natural Resources, which manages state parks, is strongly advising visitors “not to enter the grounds of any state park during the shutdown.” The agency’s website offers this warning: “We are concerned about serious health, safety and security issues if visitors enter parks when there are no restroom facilities, water and staff available. For example, 911 calls might not be available due to lack of cell phone coverage.”

Oh no!!!  Can you imagine the horror of hiking through a park without a park staff member on hand to collect their entrance fee?  What are visitors going to do without having a rest room or water readily available?  It’s not like we have things like convenience stores and bottled water to rely on.  Oh no.  But my favorite little part of this warning is the cell phone coverage threat.  Are they trying to suggest that cell phones rely on state government park facilities to operate?  Are they really trying to scare people from visiting a park because Google might not be available?  Did cell phone coverage suddenly become more sketchy because we aren’t collecting the permit fees?

This kind of ‘theater of the absurd’ isn’t unique to this shutdown.  People in Minnesota are used to the nonsensical argument routinely pressed by our prog/soc officials.  That’s why people are visiting the parks even though Sheriff Dayton has warned them away.

Backfire

This entire experiment by the Left and the Democratic Party in Minnesota is instructive.  We are watching them spin and lie and fabricate and without any real effect.  They were so desperate to raise taxes on ‘the rich’, they were willing to give up all reason and sense to do so.  We are now seeing just how worthless and wasteful these social experiments really are.  We are starting to see that employing tens of thousands of state workers to push paper is stupid.  We are watching as the existential threats of a government shutdown are all air and no substance.  Antiseptic sunlight is exposing the hidden costs of liberal ideas.  It’s time to start cutting.  Not just because we can’t afford this mess, but because it goes to the very heart of our society and culture.  If we are willing to give up governing to special dictators and reason to political patronage, we are rapidly moving in a very scary direction.

It’s time to dissect the whole operation, throughout the country.

Crossposted at Looktruenorth.com

I don’t write about being gay and conservative because to me it isn’t important.  I’m first and foremost a proud American who believes in the founding principles, the American Experiment in capitalism, the American Experience in democratic ideals, integrity, honesty, and fair play.  It just so happens that I’m also gay.  I am going to write about my fury over the Human Rights Campaign and their actions against Target and Best Buy, based here in Minnesota.  The HRC’s blatant and dishonest attempt at blackmailing them is reprehensible.  As such, I’ll give you the ridiculous extortion letter HRC had on their website and my own indignation over their actions regarding me, other gay people, but especially to our civil rights.

Human Rights Campaign’s “Open Extortion” Statement

“Target has been a champion for workplace equality for many years. That’s why their recent donation to MN Forward was so at odds with their sterling reputation as a great employer for LGBT people. The fact that their political contribution was used to advance an anti-equality candidate was extremely hurtful to all fair-minded Americans.

We appreciate Mr. Steinhafel’s statement to company employees this afternoon but it doesn’t go quite far enough. Target’s apology is welcomed but without tangible action behind it, the LGBT community and our allies will continue to question the company’s commitment to equality.

The promise to evaluate political contributions in the future, while a step in the right direction, is provided without details and does not mitigate their $150,000 supporting an outspoken opponent of equality for LGBT people. Target can still make it right by making equivalent contributions to equality-minded organizations and by making clear the procedure by which they will evaluate potential contributions in the future to include issues of LGBT-equality.” Emphasis added for effect.

My Response to this Blatant Attempt to Extort Money from Fellow Citizens

Don’t you dare speak for me, HRC.  Don’t you dare.

You are speaking for yourselves, not for me.  I don’t want to be connected in any way with this shady, disgusting shakedown of our fellow citizens.  You do not speak for the GLBT community.  Do not make that presumption.  You may speak for the few thousand who belong to your organization and those who contribute, but you do not speak for me and many in OUR community.  For you to speak for me, I need to voluntarily become part of your organization, which I once did.  I am no more.

Your organization has become nothing more than a useful shill for the far left wing of the Democratic Party, period.  Since I do not believe that robbing our future generations and handing over unrestrained political power over our lives to a bunch of empty-headed bureaucrats is wise, I am no longer affiliated with you and your Marxist philosophy.  That’s my first problem with the ‘proclamation’ in OUR name.

My second problem with your sham organization is your words and intent.  It is none of your damn business who Target or Best Buy contributes money to, nor is it your business to decide who ANYONE gives money to.  You are acting like a big thuggish mob shaking down the businesses for your bosses in the Democratic Party.  I do not want my name dragged into the mud by a far left group of extortionists who think they can bully, yes, bully the rest of the country with veiled threats of name calling and fake boycotts.

I’m a proud American, who happens to be gay and I’m not going to let you get away with smearing my name.  The shear audacity of your openly published blackmail letter should make us all sick to our stomachs.  Are we in a Developing Country where you have to pay off the right people in order to just do your business?  Have we slipped behind the Iron Curtain where if you want the right to be heard, you must politely ask and pay off the right bureaucrat?  Are we in the court of Louis XIV where only money talks and influence walks and courtiers demand payment for access to the king?

HRC, you embarrass me.  You are little collection agents for your masters on the left.  You have no morals, no ethics, no right to do this thing, especially in OUR names.  You want to decide for Target and Best Buy what causes they can contribute to?  Think again.

I am sick of this kind of corrupt, Tiger kidnapping scheme and will act against you.  I’m not the only one furious at your blatant power grab.

I am engaged, and soon there will be others.