 Ron DeSantis by far is one of the worst governors in the United States and All of the things that I find irredeemable about him like that's precisely why he's becoming a rising star within the Republican Party Like he had one of the worst COVID responses where he actually banned local governments from issuing mask mandates and because of that like Republicans are citing his response as something to be celebrated, but he has another law You know, this is after the law where he basically made it easier to legally run over protesters where you're you're gonna react Like he's reacting in this photograph your mouth should hit the floor if you actually know In any way how this could be implemented in a very very negative way I mean right now you might read this law and think okay, this doesn't necessarily seem like that big of a deal It's relatively inoffensive albeit unnecessary But the way that this law that he just signed into law can be used is It's Orwellian to put it lightly So as Julia Conley of common dreams explains Democratic lawmakers and educators nationwide are expressing alarm over legislation signed this week by Florida governor Ron DeSantis Which is ostensibly aimed at ensuring college students and educators in the state feel permitted to express a variety of political views and Which critics say could end up punishing professors whose opinions don't line up with those of the state's right-wing leaders DeSantis on Tuesday signed House bill 233 into law Requiring more than three dozen public colleges and universities in Florida to conduct yearly surveys of their students and faculty members Beliefs to determine the institution's level of intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity Yeah, the law is vague regarding how state authorities can proceed if a university is found to be Insufficiently welcoming to certain viewpoints state representative Spencer Roach a Republican who sponsored the bill in the House told the Chronicle of Higher Education The survey results quote could shape whatever action a university president may want to take or whatever action a future legislative body May want to take at a news conference on Tuesday DeSantis said his government could intervene if it finds Universities to be hotbeds for stale ideology without specifying what that ideology might be and Suggesting funding cuts could ensue that's not worth tax dollars and not something We're going to be supporting moving forward the governor said the law does not ensure that surveys will be taken anonymously Raising concerns that faculty members could also raise retaliation if they express progressive views or share that they would not welcome certain viewpoints For example discriminatory or abuse of comments directed at a student in their classrooms under the law Students will also be permitted to record professors without their consent in connection with the complaint According to the Chronicle now, there's so much to say about this first of all It's got to point out that it's ironic that he says that he wants to defund universities if they are hotbeds of stale ideology You mean like the ideologies that you subscribe to Trickle down economics. That's not a stale ideology. That's been disproven a thousand times in a thousand different ways Really on top of that the union in the state or one of the unions in the state that represents 20,000 instructors They're basically saying look he's signing this bill into law and he's Creating a solution for a problem that doesn't exist because there's been no increase in complaints about ideological diversity There's been no, you know condemnation of folks with conservative viewpoints like this isn't necessarily a thing That needs fixing because it's not a problem and furthermore if he actually wants to ensure greater ideological diversity Defunding public colleges in the state of Florida. That's not going to ensure greater diversity You actually should give them more money if you want more ideological diversity because then obviously These institutions can offer more courses hire more instructors. So what he's doing here I mean, I think it's pretty transparent most people who know what this guy is about Should understand what this is about as a state lawmaker and a Eskimani puts it sounds like fascism to me Exactly. I mean it is incredibly dystopian. It's Orwellian and we know that there's this meme that colleges are liberal factories So if a college for example might be a little bit too liberal or left-leaning Well, you know, this is giving him basically an opportunity to defund it based on really broad and Vague terms and for just unspecified reasoning. It's just it's so weird I mean, obviously the scientist is trying to create some disincentives for colleges And you know, he wants to make sure that they don't have an incentive to teach a broad range of things Contrary to what he says, you know, they teach a little bit too much critical race theory courses and women's studies And you know what conservative student complains? Perhaps that school can be penalized. It's just weird like the second The government says we want to track people based on their political ideology in and of itself like The red flags should be going up in your mind. I mean conservatives are against a database for gun owners but yet they want to track students and faculty members based on their political ideology it's Absurd if you did this to any Conservative for whatever reason like if you said we're going to keep track of the political ideologies of members of churches They would be Screeching at the top of their lungs and guess what they'd be right I would side with them in that instance because that is not information that the government needs to know Obviously, you're just setting up this situation where if you want to you can penalize them because of their political Ideology precisely what conservatives claim is happening to them constantly So this bill is a disgusting and if I had to make a prediction This is not going to be used in a way that would be beneficial to increasing ideological diversity it's going to Do the opposite