DeSantis signs bill requiring Florida students, professors to register political views with state

[Galraedia]

Public universities in Florida will be required to survey both faculty and students on their political beliefs and viewpoints, with the institutions at risk of losing their funding if the responses are not satisfactory to the state's Republican-led legislature.

The unprecedented project, which was tucked into a law signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, is part of a long-running, nationwide right-wing push to promote "intellectual diversity" on campuses — though worries over a lack of details on the survey's privacy protections, and questions over what the results may ultimately be used for, hover over the venture.

Based on the bill's language, survey responses will not necessarily be anonymous — sparking worries among many professors and other university staff that they may be targeted, held back in their careers or even fired for their beliefs.

According to the bill's sponsor, state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, faculty will not be promoted or fired based on their responses, but, as The Tampa Bay Times reported Tuesday, the bill itself does not back up those claims.

Read more: https://www.salon.com/2021/06/23/desantis-signs-bill-requiring-florida-students-professors-to-register-political-views-with-state/

Republicans are going full fascist on Florida.

[MontanaMama]

1. I predict DeSatan will be the GQP nominee in 2024.

TFG will say he’s running in order to grift but he’s losing favor with his party because they can get all the tRump they crave with DeSatan without the hassles of TFG and his family. It’ll be a mess but I really think this is what’ll happen. If FL tolerates this crap, a whole bunch of red states will also sign on.

[WarGamer]

7. agreed... much more dangerous than TFG

[Cha]

27. Which is saying a HELL of a LOT.

Save Our Democracy💙 in 2022 & 2024!

[Caliman73]

53. I don't think it is actually saying too much....

Trump is a crook, but he is REALLY REALLY dumb. He is lazy and insecure. Overall Trump is pretty incompetent in most things. He is a pretty decent con, however you can make a pretty strong case that if he had not been born wealthy, he'd likely be dead or in prison.

De Santis is more dangerous because he simply possesses many of the same beliefs and viewpoints as Trump, but he is actually intelligent and articulate.

Trump does everything by the seat of his pants, without a plan, and primarily for his own profit. While De Santis is also motivated by his own power, he is also an ideologue and is able to delay his gratification in ways that Trump could not. This enables De Santis to not make so many of the stupid mistakes that Trump did.

Our American system, as much as we like to tout it as the most democratic, equal, and freedomy thing in the world, is built to reward and incentivize power. How many Presidents have ever actually been held to account for any criminal activity? You can basically do whatever you want as President, or Senator, or even Congressperson without too much fear of getting in trouble. Trump was exposed at being incompetent when he stepped into the glaring spotlight of the Presidency, but he still had the enormous power of the Office, to protect him. We do not like to hold powerful people to account in this country. Amazingly, Trump played such small ball that he could not totally destroy the country. De Santis, being smarter and more sinister than Trump, makes the situation more dire.

[underpants]

2. Sounds like a religious test or a Saddam-esque party requirement

Does he think will sell in a National general election?

[3catwoman3]

3. Not that I have ever wanted to, but there is no way...

…in hell I could live in Florida.

What happened to the GOP/Norquist notion of government so small you could drown it in a bathtub? This sure ain’t it.

[Cha]

28. I know.. I used to live in Florida in the

'70s.. liked it alot.

I still have loved ones there and I feel so bad for the scary shite going on there.

Fuck Off deStupidShit to Hell.

Save Our Democracy💙 in 2022 & 2024!

[Norbert]

59. Not sure I will ever visit Florida again

If my political views are somehow exposed to him what will happen? It's better to be safe.

[Sanity Claws]

4. I am shocked

This is completely unconstitutional. I guess i shouldn’t be shocked by anything these fascists do.

[WarGamer]

8. Don't forget which SIX people decide if it's Constitutional.

[Stuart G]

9. Quoting Sanity Claws: "Completely unconstitutional." & DeSantis knows it.

[Auggie]

5. Creative Writing: now a prerequisite for students AND faculty

[Hekate]

6. Full fascist

[C_U_L8R]

10. This odious survey deserves to be punked with absurd responses.

Culture Jamming 101.

[Cha]

31. The answers have to be to the

Jackboots' satisfaction or No funding.

Save Our Democracy💙 in 2022 & 2024!

[Takket]

11. this is a blatant violation of the 1st and 4th amendments

that being said, the current fascist SCOTUS will probably uphold it.

[Maraya1969]

12. I hope someone takes this to court because it sounds so unconstitutional to me.

What about right to privacy?

[usonian]

13. I hate to say this but California requires a loyalty oath.

Not as draconian but WTF.

(emphasis mine)
DU program code breaks the link. (Hello, Admins!)
https://www.ca.gov/serp/?q=loyalty+oath
Search, it's the first result.
Joe McCarthy's evil deeds live on.


ARTICLE XX MISCELLANEOUS SUBJECTS [SEC. 1 - SEC. 23] ( Article 20 adopted 1879. )


SEC. 3.

Members of the Legislature, and all public officers and employees, executive, legislative, and judicial, except such inferior officers and employees as may be by law exempted, shall, before they enter upon the duties of their respective offices, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation:

“I, ___________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.

“And I do further swear (or affirm) that I do not advocate, nor am I a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that now advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means; that within the five years immediately preceding the taking of this oath (or affirmation) I have not been a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocated the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means except as follows:

_____ (If no affiliations, write in the words “No Exceptions”) _____

and that during such time as I hold the office of _____ (name of office) _____

I will not advocate nor become a member of any party or organization, political or otherwise, that advocates the overthrow of the Government of the United States or of the State of California by force or violence or other unlawful means.”

And no other oath, declaration, or test, shall be required as a qualification for any public office or employment.

“Public officer and employee” includes every officer and employee of the State, including the University of California, every county, city, city and county, district, and authority, including any department, division, bureau, board, commission, agency, or instrumentality of any of the foregoing.

[Eko]

18. Dont most government jobs?

[usonian]

20. Dunno. My only government jobs were the service and U.C.

That language is straight out of McCarthy.

The rest of my jobs were in the private sector.

[Eko]

23. I dont think so but,,,

Everyone is different.

[Eko]

24. Also I'm pretty sure McCarthy wasnt around in 1879.

[TomSlick]

30. Wouldn't that disqualify all Rethuglicans from holding public office?

The core position of the party is the overthrow of the government by force or violence.

[KentuckyWoman]

32. My first thought as well.

[ancianita]

45. The difference in Florida is STUDENTS. They should not be compelled. It's unconstitutional.

Only in private universities would this hold.

[usonian]

47. Yup. That's for sure.

I sometimes gloss over things. Aging eyes, and something about rage that messes with the analytical.

But in good cause. IANAL, and I do what I can to counter the crap.

In my case, posting GOTV and other info. I'll gather the links in one place and post them here, and more generally.

Positive stuff, and "checked" either by me or by others whose links I share.

Again, private schools are a major aim ---- cuz any bullshit goes as fact.

[ancianita]

48. Hi, u!

[scarletlib]

52. This is not a loyalty oath to the State of Florida or the U.S.

It is a fishing expedition to ferret out those with views that might oppose DeSantis or his policies. It is a political move to instill fear into University personnel and teaching staff. Toe the DeSantis line or risk losing your funding and/or job.

[usonian]

54. Agree 100%. Sorry if it was off-topic.

My analogy (unstated) was to professors who quit the U.C. system in disgust, and went to (horror!) Stanford.

Part of a plan to destroy public education, or make it into a boot camp, so that doctrinaire Private Parochial Preps can Parrot Putin Party Propaganda.

This kind of litmus test can have reverse effects (I am a student of unintended consequences) in that the abortion and gun fiascos can solidify Dems and persuade persons to stop the madness, at public polling places, or in the privacy of their porches and patios.

[prodigitalson]

63. Given the year it was passed it was probably to root out Klan Members

and otherwise unreconstructed confederates who were moving to Cali after the war.

[usonian]

64. I only saw it have any repercussion when it was apparently used to root out "commies"

California wasn't always blue and gold. We had some flaming assholes, and shipped them off. Unfortunately, to the White House. Disclaimer: I was in Massachusetts at the time.

Even doo-doo loses its stink over time, but not when it's codified into law.

[ecstatic]

65. lol! If this country ever split, California will be ready!

I see so many disclaimers on products/websites that only apply to California. I would probably move there if it weren't for the earthquakes.

[usonian]

66. I've got it all mapped out!

I live in the Sierra Foothills, at least 100 miles from any known fault line. That said, I felt the place shake like it was the Bay Area! (about 30 years there, and nothing broke on me). Well, it was way off in Henderson Nevada -- 100 miles? --- and shook right through the Sierra Nevadas.

That war story told, there are plenty of places (like mine) with very little seismic risk. They also happen to be the most affordable places, since cities grew up on fault likes, like the nuclear power plants, for reasons that escape me entirely.

Drought? Naturally, being in the boondocks, I have an 1100 ft. deep well.

Most of those signs are Proposition 65, which covers many trace chemicals. As nuisance-ical as this can be, I'd rather pick up the bottle of chain lube and ignore the warning (Angry hummingbirds are more likely to kill me than the oil) than to wonder what the heck is NOT listed.

[ecstatic]

68. Interesting. I'll look into the safe zones

Hopefully the weather is just as perfect in those safe zones as well. Oh, and no fires too! 😥

[usonian]

69. Cool. It's complex.

The main fault lines run (of course) from L.A. up to the SF Bay, and then another runs up the coast. The north coastal faults, up to Washington, have been locked up, IIRC, so they could be explosive.

Long story short, if I had my choice regarding climate, quakes and fire potential, I might look at the coast near Monterey (Loma Prieta Quake may have spent fault energy) or San Diego area --- L.A. section of the San Andreas fault runs inland and into Northern Mexico/Mexicali.

Fires hit lots of places.

Fault, fire and climate data are available. I've been here long enough to "just know" much of it. Not sure where to point someone else.

Why CA? It leads the country BY 15 YEARS.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=16877942

[ecstatic]

78. thank you!! nt

[alphafemale]

72. That is standard oath of office.

You have a problem with it?

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Is anyone contesting this overreach?

[Mike Niendorff]

15. This is from 2021.

Not to minimize it, but this story is over a year old. It didn't just happen today.

MDN

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Take back the American Rescue Plan money

Public Law 117-2 allocated money to the University of Florida.

Between this and the Florida Government (people) using Covid Relief to lower taxes at my expense - its enough.

That's my hard earned money - not theirs.

Take it back and let NJ use it to fix the roads leading to liberty state park and to/from Port of Elizabeth.

[Liberal In Texas]

17. Well future college students...

Time to cross Florida of the list of possible schools. Lots of other schools out there.

[sakabatou]

19. This is old news.

[everyonematters]

21. There is no way this is constitutional.

[budkin]

22. How can this possibly be constitutional?

No fucking way.

[Tickle]

25. There's absolutely no way

this can be legal!🤯 he’s holding public funding if they don’t comply,😳😳 speechless I’m completely speechless

[Cha]

26. Chilling & Terrifying.. WTF business is

it of that Fcuckhead & his Jackboot Goons?

Save Our Democracy💙 in 2022 & 2024!

[tclambert]

33. It just makes it more efficient once the Supreme Court approves the prosecution of thought crimes.

More efficient yet would be to just arrest all the college professors. 'Cause you know they're all thinking about something. It's really the thinking that's the crime. Doesn't really matter what about.

[Cha]

37. Gawd! Who's running for Dem Gov?

I hope he wipes death iNSANITY Off the map!🕯🇺🇸🕊

[dogknob]

29. Sewing little blue mortar-board hats onto clothing, too.

[LiberalFighter]

34. Can't be nice to them.

[PXR-5]

35. Everyone in the colleges should just lie,

I would just say I am independent.
Or play with their heads, I am a Repu... No, wait, I can't say that lol

[mwooldri]

36. If I'm forced to register a political party (outside the electoral system)

Then I pick Monster Raving Loony Party. Though they're a "joke" political party, some of their policies came to fruition. If in tight races they will typically endorse the Liberal Democrat candidate. Or maybe Labour. But never Tory. I don't believe MRLP have a branch in the USA. They should though....

[keithbvadu2]

38. Do they really want this info on file and available if a democrat takes office?

Do they really want this info on file and available if a democrat takes office?

[Poiuyt]

39. They should all just say they're Republican

[Demobrat]

40. So eventually nobody will go to school or teach in Florida

except die-hard Republicans. The schools there will churn out totally indoctrinated disciples. Then what?Those students will be used to living in a right-wing echo chamber. What will they do after graduation when they come into contact with other viewpoints? Or will they ever? Will they just build a wall around Florida?

[Sogo]

41. I can't see how this isn't unconstitutional.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

42. How is this law constitutional?

[Straw Man]

43. It isn't.

Not even close.

[geardaddy]

44. WTF?

[lpbk2713]

46. Adolph DeSantis

He's turning the calendar back about 90 years. He will only allow one party to exist.

[Martin68]

49. That's got to be unconstitutional, not to mention, rather difficult to enforce.

They should all insist they are "Independents."

[Bettie]

50. This feels like they intend this to go to the right wing supreme court

to allow specific types of speech (liberal) to be excised from the first amendment.

And yes, I do think the current court would put limitations on free speech for specific viewpoints that they don't agree with.

[lindysalsagal]

51. I hope they all declare undying allegiance to the flying spaghetti

Monster. Cause it's not actionable.

[Brainfodder]

55. Not good luck with that!

WoW that over reach is going to blow up, get real!



I welcome that jackass as their nominee and I feel you should too!

[GB_RN]

56. Major 1A Violation Here...

But, I don't see Uncle Slappy, The Handmaiden and Rapey McBeerbong agreeing with me

[Joinfortmill]

57. Wow, Germany circa 1933+

[Initech]

58. Fox News is hell bent on running the country again.

[Samrob]

61. Why wouldn't this be challenged in court? nt

[Abigail_Adams]

62. They need to refuse

en masse. If the FL GOP tried to fire them all, there would be hell to pay. I'd say this needs to be challeneged in court, but the state supreme court there is in De Santis's corner. Sigh.

[raising2moredems]

67. Well in true puke fashion..

they can plead the 5th. Or claim to be an independent. Quicker way to end this nonsense is for colleges to lose football/basketball recruits. The gene pool in this state is filled with cancerous mutants.

[Demovictory9]

70. which he said were less about "intellectual diversity" and more concerned with maintaining the count

which he said were less about "intellectual diversity" and more concerned with maintaining the country's conservative Christian identity in the face of younger, more diverse generations that share a dimmer view of religious right-wing orthodoxy.

[roamer65]

71. I'd be pastafarian.

[Jimvanhise]

73. JUST MAKING IT WORSE

So Florida's response to Newsom's ad pointing out Floirda's attacks on freedom is to prove he was even more right than he knew?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

74. "Salon has now changed a 2021 headline that falsely said 'DeSantis signs bill requiring ...'"

CyborgSlavesOfPopehat Retweeted

Salon has now changed a 2021 headline that falsely said "DeSantis signs bill requiring Florida students, professors to register political views with state." The survey is optional for students/profs and anonymous (though some have expressed concerns about potential to be IDed).

Link to tweet

[Midwestern Democrat]

76. Thanks for correcting the record. I self-deleted my initial response to this thread as a result.

Usually, I'm pretty good about double-checking things that are posted here that sound awfully damned chilling for me to have not heard about it (obviously, if something this chilling was really true, you'd expect it to be reported on the front page of the New York Times and on the network nightly news), but this time I let my guard down - it won't happen again.

[Hortensis]

75. This is called the Viewpoint Diversity Survey. After a federal judge

refused to stop it and the survey was distributed early in April, the United Faculty of Florida union issued a statement advising staff and students to ignore it. A bunch of articles reported that then, but my casual googling didn't turn up any news items since. The results of the survey will reportedly be presented to the FL legislature during the 2023 session.

Of course the concerns for privacy and various hostile purposes these fascistic scoundrels could put the information they gather to are extremely well founded. The excuse for doing it -- that free thinking is being suppressed on campus -- is being advanced by hard-core conservatives who want to do just that.

Here's an article from Florida Politics showing the 13 questions on the survey:

https://floridapolitics.com/archives/513878-university-viewpoint-diversity-surveys-are-released-here-are-the-questions/

[pwb]

77. Say you are Independent.

Fugum.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

79. Fact check: Headline falsely states that Students have to register their political views in Florida

Salon has had some bad crap lately including attacks on Biden and demands that its readers no longer donate to Democrats. I have seen multiple threads on DU stating that DeathSantis has signed a bill that requires all students to register their political views. Salon made this headline up and this claim is false

Link to tweet

https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/08/politics/fact-check-desantis-florida-students-professors-political-views/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_term=link&utm_source=twCNNp&utm_content=2022-07-08T18%3A20%3A06

The liberal website Salon has changed a headline that had falsely said a bill signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis forces Florida's students and professors to register their political views with the state.

The 2021 law does require public colleges and universities in Florida to administer annual surveys on the subject of "intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity." But contrary to the inaccurate initial Salon headline, the law does not require anybody to register their political views. Students and faculty members can decide whether to participate in the surveys, which are anonymous.

Salon published the headline in June 2021. Its revision on Wednesday, more than a year later, came after the article went viral among some Democrats on Twitter amid talk of a possible DeSantis run for president.

Before Salon's revision, its false claim was promoted this week by various Democratic commentators, by Florida agriculture commissioner and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried (who subsequently deleted the tweet that linked to the Salon article), and even by renowned novelist Stephen King, who has more than 6.7 million Twitter followers and has been a harsh critic of DeSantis.