Imagine if universities tried to purge conservatives from our faculty. There’d be well-deserved protests from within the university as well as from without. We have strictly enforced policies for our hiring committees to prevent that from happening: our HR instructs us in the rules before every interview. You don’t get to ask candidates about politics, religion, or family matters…you interview exclusively on their qualifications to teach and do research.
This is not the policy when your administration is authoritarian and far right, and Texan.
Gov. Greg Abbott admitted in an X post on Sunday that Texas is purging professors with “leftist ideologies” — and people are not happy.
Abbott’s directive fits into a pattern of faculty changes and government interference on campuses across the state, including the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and Texas State University.
“Texas is targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation,” Abbott wrote in his post. “We must end indoctrination and return to education fundamentals at all levels of education.”
They must end indoctrination by purging the universities of people who oppose your ideological indoctrination. That’s blatant. No ideology but our ideology.
Univ. of Texas professor was dismissed from an administrative post overseeing university academic affairs because of ideological differences.
Texas is targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation.
We…
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 19, 2025
He’s a fucking fascist.
These days, stating that truth is truth will get you branded a leftist ideologue.
I’ve got Texas’ next university administrator right here:
Which means he is now available for a new job, possibly in Texas!
Probably you are astonished that there are still Republican senators who would consider Nazi proclivities to be a detriment to working in today’s federal government. I know I am.
This has a name.
This is what Stalin did in Russia.
Abbott is purging anyone he doesn’t like from the Texas universities.
He is obviously a real fan of Stalin and Stalinism.
At least those Texas professors won’t be sent to the slave labor camps in the Texas Gulag prison system. Yet, anyway.
They won’t be happy until the only Americans left are (mostly white, non-Jews) who will kneel before THIER GOD. We must repent now and declare the one true God! /s
Forcing religion and right-wing philosophy into schools and upper-level education, moving to control Congress through gerrymandering, punishing Blue States, and claiming anyone who doesn’t agree with them as un-American, or un-patriotic is only the beginning.
Abbott’s just jealous ‘cuz DeSantis started his university putsch in Florida first.
Remember, the Big Butthole Bill got passed with one vote…because Abbot/Texas Republicans had refused to hold an extra election after an old Democrat had died.
The grifters will cheat any way they can.
-Also, Democrats cannot afford to have representatives that are so old that they die on the job. We see now how Republicans use it to reduce the numbers of Democrats by delaying extra elections as long as they can.
Ravwn @ 3 : Lysenkoism.
Trofim Lysenko’s crackpot theories disrupted Soviet agriculture for more than a generation and also affected other sciences than biology.
.
From now on, objective reality is a far-leftist ideology in Republican stares.
We should hold Republicans responsible for their ‘MAGA Lysenkoism’.
Speaking of imposing Republican Correctness on academia:
Kirk, we should remember, after dropping out in his first year as an undergrad at Harper College in Illinois, established his intellectual credibility with a book titled The College Scam: How America’s Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away the Future of America’s Youth – a paragon of Republican educational ideals.
1.) Everyone else’s positions are ideologically based, their positions are based on TRUTH!
2.) The only thing that makes them happy is to be told that they are right and have always been right.
It’s offensive to think that Greg Abbott would be modeling his university purges after Stalin.
Clearly he’s modeling them after Hitler.
Pierce R. Butler: I’d love to see colleges name the road to the sewage facility after Kirk.
A friend once tried to endow a urinal (and even name it after himself). Sadly, the university turned down the gift.
Recursive Rabbit @1
If you are lucky, otherwise it will get you branded an “antifa terrorist”.
@8 Pierce R. Butler
Fair enough. Would ‘Racist Way’ qualify?
“He’s a f*****g fascist”.
I could have told you that when I left my teaching job there in 2009.
Our biology teacher was “let go” after parents complained about him teaching evolution. It was in the textbook!
A freshman entered my Latin class saying that she took Latin so that she could read the bible in its original language.
I quickly corrected her, and her evangelical parents began monitoring what I taught her and complaining about me to the administration.
There was a complaint that I fist bumped with a student wearing an Obama shirt the day after he was elected.
It must be much, much worse to teach in that state now that Abbott is ruling it like a tyrant.
I’m so thankful to live in California!
do these people have no idea what hypocrites they are?
they complain about cancel culture
they complain about social media blocking racist/hate posts (and laughably claim 1st amendment rights on facebook!)
they complain about being oppressed as Christians
the narratives they tell, none are actually is objectively true … but given the chance they pull this shit
that’s because every accusation is a confession – next time a pundit or talking head/guest is on faux news spouting why conservative christians are victims this week, take notes – that’s the playbook for the next jurisdiction that person gets to influence
???
The available data is that they don’t know and don’t care.
Nothing they claimed to believe in are things that they actually believe in.
A few examples since it is a long list.
.1. States rights.
They are OK with their National Guard being Federalized and invading another state though. The Texas National Guard is in Illinois and the California National Guard is in Oregon.
They could care less abut States rights.
It was never more than a dog whistle for slavery, segregation, and denial of voting and jobs for Black people.
.2. Family values.
Red states and fundie xians have the highest rates of divorce and child sexual abuse. Their idol, Trump has 5 children from 3 different wives and is almost certainly on the Epstein pedophile list.
There is no such thing as GOP family values in any sort of positive sense.
.3. Second Amendment rights to own guns and carry them everywhere.
Supposedly this was to prevent a tyrant from taking over the USA.
Live free or die.
Well, a tyrant did take over the USA and the so called freedom loving, flag waving, second amendment fans forgot to…resist tyranny.
Having easy access to guns was never about protecting the USA or protecting our constitutional rights.
.4. Pick any supposed fundie xian/GOP value and see how well they live up to it.
They never, ever walk their talk.
Lies?
Stealing including corruption in goverment?
Terrorism? ICE are just terrorists with a pension plan.
Freedom? They are actively trying to turn the USA from a free nation into a fundie xian/oligarchies dictatorship.
Etc.
Maine Senate candidate apologises for tattoo that resembles Nazi symbol
Sure, Jan.
Well, that’s something.
Maybe the tattoo is not the only problem.
Reginald, there is this: “Platner, who is running in a crowded Democratic primary to be his party’s nominee for the Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins, said he got the tattoo in Croatia with his fellow Marines in 2007.
He said they picked the image off the parlour wall while drinking.
“We chose a terrifying looking skull and crossbones off the wall because we were marines and skulls and crossbones are pretty standard military thing,” he said.
Platner’s campaign team said that military doctors had examined his tattoos and there were never any issues, as the Army does not allow people with tattoos with hate symbols to serve.”
(Warrior ethos! ;)
notaandomposter @ 15
Being hypocrites and immune to the consequences of it is what gives them a rush. They like saying one thing and being the antithesis of it for gits and shiggles because they get away with it.
While we are listing the daily atrocities from the GOP.
Right this minute, giant construction machines are destroying half of the White House.
.1. The White House isn’t Trump’s.
It is owned by the US people and he only lives in it for a brief time.
.2. This is highly illegal.
The number of laws that are being broken right now is so many that we are still counting them up.
.3. I’m heartsick at this display of vandalism by a senile old monster.
I’m also more or less speechless.
I don’t think the words exist to explain this and how wrong on so many levels it is.
On the bright side, there are some new atrocities that I can explain in English words.
ICE is now starting to shoot people with guns, as I predicted many times over the last few months. There is blood in the streets.
.1. ICE lied about the woman they shot in Chicago.
She didn’t ram their vehicle and she didn’t point a gun at them.
They rammed her and her legal concealed and carry gun was in her purse.
She was shot multiple times and I don’t see how she is still alive after that.
.2. ICE shot two people in L.A. with no good reason to do so.
There will be more people shot and killed by ICE, DHS, the National Guards, and the US army.
I can’t predict the numbers but more than zero is too many.
I hope some of that blood in the streets isn’t mine but it isn’t all up to me about that.
@20 raven
White House says it will submit ballroom plans for review, with demolition already under way
Yeah, that helps. /s
The East wing will be demolished by the weekend.
Today is Wednesday, so in two more days.
Everything Trump touches dies.
17) @Reginald Selkirk: It’s ok. He covered it up with a more Viking motif (and we all know how white supremacists hate the Vikings), and he’s got the kanji for “love” (恋) on his left tit, so it’s all good. /s
Honestly, I dunno how I feel about this. It could’ve been an ignorant decision under the influence of alcohol and the military like he says. Or he could be another stealth Republican like we’ve already seen too many times in the last few years (Sinema, Manchin, Tricia Cotham selling out NC…). If elected would he be worse than Collins? Hard to guess.
Tearing down the East Wing, where traditionally the First Lady’s offices are… This kinda sounds like a warning shot over Melon’s bow, disguised to the public as his ballroom dreams. Not that she’s ever there anymore, but it feels like she might get the symbolism. Behave and keep your mouth shut when the Epstein files finally come out, or start avoiding balconies and windows…
Or Fetterman.
The guy is toast or should be.
He is an unknown candidate at a time when we can’t afford mistakes or to gamble.
There are also a whole lot of other red flags coming out with social media posts.
It is a big world, pick someone with more of a track record.
If he is a serious candidate, he can run for state offices first and build up a record.
Where is Richard Widmark when we need him?
@ ^ cjcolucci : Who? Checks wikipedia :
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Widmark
Okay, why him in particular? I am puzzled here.
@ 17 – Reginald Selkirk “The tattoo was visible in a video posted on social media showing Platner dancing in his underwear at his brother’s wedding.”
Is he secretly a Republican?
There is an emerging pattern where certain candidates seek election as Democrats, only to subsequently switch their party affiliation. This approach appears to be a tactic increasingly employed by Republicans.
Over the past few days.
We will not destroy the east wing.
We are only going to take down a small part of the east wing out of necessity.
Then they destroy the east wing.
We will submit applications after the fact. And yes, it serves as a threat to Melania.
I haven’t seen the tattoo in question, but militaristic symbols are often seen as Nuttzy ones. There a lot of military badges that involve skulls- one would hope someone would recognize the distinctive German Totenkopf before getting a tattoo, but not all military types are well-read.
Barclay’s Bank had to stop using their coat of arms in some countries because it had an eagle displayed, and some people thought that meant they were Nuttzies.
I remember some local heavy metal band near my university had a logo that had an eagle holding a skull (because KOOL); they got banned from some venues because some people automatically associated eagles and skulls with Nuttzies.
NitricAcid, he’s already covered it up: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/maine-senate-candidategraham-platner-covered-tattoo-resembled-nazi/story?id=126774352
This is the original: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2025/10/graham-platner-maine-senate-tattoo-totenkopf.html
FFS, that is exactly a Totenkopf.
That’s the kind of tattoo that should generally be covered up with two metres of dirt.
#28
There’s a memorable scene in Kiss of Death, the relevance of which will jump right out.