Today’s blacklisted Americans: In Iowa the oppressed fight back
Not yet cancelled, at least in Iowa.
Today’s story about blacklisting might actually be revealing a hopeful sign, albeit only one which is still not resolved entirely in favor of freedom.
Our story begins in October 2020:
In October, David Johnsen, the dean for the college of dentistry at the University of Iowa, sent a mass email to the college criticizing an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump. The email condemned the barring of certain types of diversity training that aim to promote “anti-American race and sex stereotyping.”
A conservative student, Michael Brase, “replied all” to the email, asking clarifying questions and sparking discussion on the email chain of about 1,200 students, faculty, and staff. Between two email threads, 18 emails were exchanged over the topic. According to the Daily Iowan, in one of his follow-up emails on the thread, Brase says “simply do the trainings without intentionally race/sex scapegoating people in those trainings. That shouldn’t be that hard.”
According to The Gazette, administrators at the university then summoned Brase to a disciplinary hearing for “unprofessional behavior.” The letter used to summon Brase included warnings of “dismissal” based on his actions.
This is very typical of our modern fascist and bankrupt academia. While partisan Democrats and leftists always have the right to say anything they want, and use all resources — some that are entirely inappropriate — to spread their message, partisan Republicans and even non-partisan neutrals have no right to question this behavior, and if they do must be punished immediately.
In this case however Iowa elected officials actually appear to be doing their job. After getting his disciplinary summons, Brase immediately contacted his local legislator, complaining that this behavior by administrators in a publicly financed institution seemed unjust and wrong. And unlike most modern legislators, who routinely run for the hills when such issues are brought before them out of fear of being called racist, these legislators heartily agreed with Brase.
They immediately called hearings requiring Johnsen to testify. Simultaneously the university canceled Brase’s disciplinary hearing. More important, when Johnsen testified he publicly kow-towed for his own misbehavior.
“I would like to start by apologizing,” said Johnsen, according to the Waterloo Courier. “Michael’s comments in front of the committee on Wednesday laid bare his concerns and fear that he felt regarding his educational future at our college, and, for that, I’m sorry.” Johnsen vowed that he would never again use his voice “in an official capacity” to push personal political opinions. He also promised to review the committee and process that punishes students for violations of professionalism.
“Since October, we’ve been reviewing what happened, how the process worked and didn’t work, and we’re working to implement steps that will prevent this from happening again” said Johnsen.
Sounds good, eh? Well, whenever in the past leftists have make such apologies, it has routinely been only to deflect criticism and cool things down so that when the heat is finally off they can then resume their fascist behavior, oppressing some other innocent for daring to disagree with them.
And in this case it appears that Iowa elected officials are anticipating that game and are not accepting the apology at face value.
Republican lawmakers, however, were not pleased with the explanation and apology.
“This isn’t a second chance,” Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann said. “This is a repeated, decade-long and possibly and probably longer feeling of hundreds of students, if not thousands, that there are two different sets of rules. So as much as I greatly appreciate, dean, your efforts and look forward to seeing them implemented, I expect the entire university, all of you, to come up with a systemic policy.”
One Democratic lawmaker even said she agrees that the University of Iowa made a mistake.
We shall see. If it were up to me I would have Johnsen fired, along with every one of the administrators who worked with him to try to blackball Brase. How can anyone trust any policy they implement? They goal remains to get segregation reinstated, only this time with minorities in charge and whites oppressed.
The legislature should have them replaced by others who really understand freedom of speech, and who also know the appropriate venues for expressing it. More important, they should be replaced by individuals who do not advocate the racist policies advocated by Critical Race Theory, the “diversity training” that Trump banned from all government agencies.
Finally, big kudos to Michael Brase. Not only did he not back down, he fought back aggressively. The result was a victory for his freedom of speech and a blow against the new racism in academia.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
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Not yet cancelled, at least in Iowa.
Today’s story about blacklisting might actually be revealing a hopeful sign, albeit only one which is still not resolved entirely in favor of freedom.
Our story begins in October 2020:
In October, David Johnsen, the dean for the college of dentistry at the University of Iowa, sent a mass email to the college criticizing an executive order issued by then-President Donald Trump. The email condemned the barring of certain types of diversity training that aim to promote “anti-American race and sex stereotyping.”
A conservative student, Michael Brase, “replied all” to the email, asking clarifying questions and sparking discussion on the email chain of about 1,200 students, faculty, and staff. Between two email threads, 18 emails were exchanged over the topic. According to the Daily Iowan, in one of his follow-up emails on the thread, Brase says “simply do the trainings without intentionally race/sex scapegoating people in those trainings. That shouldn’t be that hard.”
According to The Gazette, administrators at the university then summoned Brase to a disciplinary hearing for “unprofessional behavior.” The letter used to summon Brase included warnings of “dismissal” based on his actions.
This is very typical of our modern fascist and bankrupt academia. While partisan Democrats and leftists always have the right to say anything they want, and use all resources — some that are entirely inappropriate — to spread their message, partisan Republicans and even non-partisan neutrals have no right to question this behavior, and if they do must be punished immediately.
In this case however Iowa elected officials actually appear to be doing their job. After getting his disciplinary summons, Brase immediately contacted his local legislator, complaining that this behavior by administrators in a publicly financed institution seemed unjust and wrong. And unlike most modern legislators, who routinely run for the hills when such issues are brought before them out of fear of being called racist, these legislators heartily agreed with Brase.
They immediately called hearings requiring Johnsen to testify. Simultaneously the university canceled Brase’s disciplinary hearing. More important, when Johnsen testified he publicly kow-towed for his own misbehavior.
“I would like to start by apologizing,” said Johnsen, according to the Waterloo Courier. “Michael’s comments in front of the committee on Wednesday laid bare his concerns and fear that he felt regarding his educational future at our college, and, for that, I’m sorry.” Johnsen vowed that he would never again use his voice “in an official capacity” to push personal political opinions. He also promised to review the committee and process that punishes students for violations of professionalism.
“Since October, we’ve been reviewing what happened, how the process worked and didn’t work, and we’re working to implement steps that will prevent this from happening again” said Johnsen.
Sounds good, eh? Well, whenever in the past leftists have make such apologies, it has routinely been only to deflect criticism and cool things down so that when the heat is finally off they can then resume their fascist behavior, oppressing some other innocent for daring to disagree with them.
And in this case it appears that Iowa elected officials are anticipating that game and are not accepting the apology at face value.
Republican lawmakers, however, were not pleased with the explanation and apology.
“This isn’t a second chance,” Iowa Rep. Bobby Kaufmann said. “This is a repeated, decade-long and possibly and probably longer feeling of hundreds of students, if not thousands, that there are two different sets of rules. So as much as I greatly appreciate, dean, your efforts and look forward to seeing them implemented, I expect the entire university, all of you, to come up with a systemic policy.”
One Democratic lawmaker even said she agrees that the University of Iowa made a mistake.
We shall see. If it were up to me I would have Johnsen fired, along with every one of the administrators who worked with him to try to blackball Brase. How can anyone trust any policy they implement? They goal remains to get segregation reinstated, only this time with minorities in charge and whites oppressed.
The legislature should have them replaced by others who really understand freedom of speech, and who also know the appropriate venues for expressing it. More important, they should be replaced by individuals who do not advocate the racist policies advocated by Critical Race Theory, the “diversity training” that Trump banned from all government agencies.
Finally, big kudos to Michael Brase. Not only did he not back down, he fought back aggressively. The result was a victory for his freedom of speech and a blow against the new racism in academia.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Hello Mr. Zimmerman.
Dean Johnsen will be stepping down as dean of the dental school in June. Great job by our legislature to monitor the activity of public based institutions in Iowa.
It would be instructive to see the emailed questions Mr. Brase posed, so that we may do the same or similar when in the same situation.
“Finally, big kudos to Michael Brase. Not only did he not back down, he fought back aggressively. The result was a victory for his freedom of speech and a blow against the new racism in academia.”
My advice: hold the kudos until he graduates and is awarded ALL the necessary licenses and approvals needed to actually practice dentistry, whether from the state medical licensing board, American Dental Association, license to prescribe drugs from DEA, etc.
Perhaps the Leftists will only learn to keep their activism more under the radar. But, this clearly indicates that the open punishment of Non-Leftist Dissidents (NLDs) will no longer be overlooked.
At least in Iowa.
They goal remains to get segregation reinstated, only this time with minorities in charge and whites oppressed.
Well, not really. Though some want to flip the power dynamic, some only want to exacerbate the ‘issue’ to maintain the grievance culture. Because grievance means you can promise something to someone for their votes.
The legislature should have them replaced by others who really understand freedom of speech, and who also know the appropriate venues for expressing it.
And those people would be whom in academia? Whence come they? Not anyone who has come through the proper accrediting organizations would be acceptable after our decades of progressive ownership of the “elite” institutions. (And by “elite” I don’t mean Ivy League and such; I mean the overall institutions that are “elite” – the schools, the “knowledge worker” upper echelons, the boardrooms, etc.)
And, yes, kudos to those involved here, who did nothing more than be sane and reject an extreme form of Progressivism.
Actually keeping him in power and forcing ( and monitoring him ) to create systemic solutions to the fascism they display sounds pretty useful. Then fire him.
What you are calling fascism is actually communism. The fascists fought against the communists. We are not facing any threats from fascism, the fascists all died. The few neo-fascists who exist are not threatening to censor anybody. Study history much?
“The death of Hauptsturmführer Connolly”
The Man in the High Castle S1E9
https://youtu.be/jNjSAUMy0vY?t=35
1:10