"Mitchell Holman" <ta2eneNo*Email@comcast.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9621D444F79CBta2eene2@216.196.97.131...

"Yang, AthD (h.c), Kicking AWOL's Cocaine Snorting *****"
<eacmole@/*AWOLBUSH*/mail.com> wrote in
news:aigv311mf5i0tjqc5lgvhei7s4jvsbpai1@4ax.com:

Just remember, to the NeoCon traitors, being "pro-life" is not as
important as being "pro-money".

Let's the "Pro-life" Nazis explain about that "conservative
compassion" behind governor AWOL's signing of the law allowing a
hospital to pull the plug on a 6-month old baby.

That baby suffered from a disease that would have killed it
very painfully within a few months. Putting it out of its agony
was a mercy. The mother refused to accept this. This particular
example isn't a good one.

==========================================
http://thinkprogress.org/index.php?p=480

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan defended a law Bush signed
as governor of Texas in 1999:

Too bad chickenhawk Bush hides behind his
press secretary and can't defend HIMSELF over
the law HE signed.

TALLAHASSEE - Republicans on the House Choice and Innovation Committee
voted along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill that aims to stamp out
"leftist totalitarianism" by "dictator professors" in the classrooms
of Florida's universities.

While promoting the bill Tuesday, Baxley said a university education
should be more than "one biased view by the professor, who as a
dictator controls the classroom," as part of "a misuse of their
platform to indoctrinate the next generation with their own views."

Students who believe their professor is singling them out for "public
ridicule" - for instance, when professors use the Socratic method to
force students to explain their theories in class - would also be
given the right to sue.

Things go from bad to worse:
Flori-DUH is putting it mildly. :\


Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:00 am

Capitol bill aims to control ‘leftist’ profs
THE LAW COULD LET STUDENTS SUE FOR UNTOLERATED BELIEFS.

By JAMES VANLANDINGHAM
Alligator Staff Writer

TALLAHASSEE — Republicans on the House Choice and Innovation Committee
voted along party lines Tuesday to pass a bill that aims to stamp out
“leftist totalitarianism” by “dictator professors” in the classrooms
of Florida’s universities.

The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Baxley,
R-Ocala, passed 8-to-2 despite strenuous objections from the only two
Democrats on the committee.

The bill has two more committees to pass before it can be considered
by the full House.

While promoting the bill Tuesday, Baxley said a university education
should be more than “one biased view by the professor, who as a
dictator controls the classroom,” as part of “a misuse of their
platform to indoctrinate the next generation with their own views.”

The bill sets a statewide standard that students cannot be punished
for professing beliefs with which their professors disagree.
Professors would also be advised to teach alternative “serious
academic theories” that may disagree with their personal views.

According to a legislative staff analysis of the bill, the law would
give students who think their beliefs are not being respected legal
standing to sue professors and universities.

Students who believe their professor is singling them out for “public
ridicule” – for instance, when professors use the Socratic method to
force students to explain their theories in class – would also be
given the right to sue.

“Some professors say, ‘Evolution is a fact. I don’t want to hear about
Intelligent Design (a creationist theory), and if you don’t like it,
there’s the door,’” Baxley said, citing one example when he thought a
student should sue.

Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, warned of lawsuits from students
enrolled in Holocaust history courses who believe the Holocaust never
happened.

Similar suits could be filed by students who don’t believe astronauts
landed on the moon, who believe teaching birth control is a sin or
even by Shands medical students who refuse to perform blood
transfusions and believe prayer is the only way to heal the body,
Gelber added.

“This is a horrible step,” he said. “Universities will have to hire
lawyers so our curricula can be decided by judges in courtrooms.
Professors might have to pay court costs — even if they win — from
their own pockets. This is not an innocent piece of legislation.”

The staff analysis also warned the bill may shift responsibility for
determining whether a student’s freedom has been infringed from the
faculty to the courts.

But Baxley brushed off Gelber’s concerns. “Freedom is a dangerous
thing, and you might be exposed to things you don’t want to hear,” he
said. “Being a businessman, I found out you can be sued for anything.
Besides, if students are being persecuted and ridiculed for their
beliefs, I think they should be given standing to sue.”

During the committee hearing, Baxley cast opposition to his bill as
“leftists” struggling against “mainstream society.”

“The critics ridicule me for daring to stand up for students and
faculty,” he said, adding that he was called a McCarthyist.

Baxley later said he had a list of students who were discriminated
against by professors, but refused to reveal names because he felt
they would be persecuted.

Rep. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, argued universities and the state
Board of Governors already have policies in place to protect academic
freedom. Moreover, a state law outlining how professors are supposed
to teach would encroach on the board’s authority to manage state
schools.

“The big hand of state government is going into the universities
telling them how to teach,” she said. “This bill is the antithesis of
academic freedom.”

But Baxley compared the state’s universities to children, saying the
legislature should not give them money without providing “guidance” to
their behavior.

“Professors are accountable for what they say or do,” he said.
“They’re accountable to the rest of us in society … All of a sudden
the faculty think they can do what they want and shut us out. Why is
it so unheard of to say the professor shouldn’t be a dictator and
control that room as their totalitarian niche?”

In an interview before the meeting, Baxley said “arrogant, elitist
academics are swarming” to oppose the bill, and media reports
misrepresented his intentions.

“I expect to be out there on my own pretty far,” he said. “I don’t
expect to be part of a team.”

House Bill H-837 can be viewed online at www.flsenate.gov

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