N.C. Senator Phil Burger – Douche Bag of the Day

North Carolina Senate Majority Leader Phil Burger has his knickers in a bunch because he claims Democratic faculty members at the University of North Carolina out-number Republicans by 12:1. He claims it is because of discriminatory hiring practices. People in the real world know better, so Burger has earned our Douche Bag of The Day Award.

According to a piece in The News and Observer, Berger suggests that Republican job candidates are discriminated against when they apply for university positions, unless they “toe the line from the left.”

I’ve checked, and there is no box on the application form for “Political Party Affiliation.” I’m not sure, but I would suspect that asking for that during a job interview would at least be unethical, and may be illegal. So how exactly would the people doing the hiring even know someone’s party affiliation?

The article is an opinion piece by someone who has been involved in the hiring process at the University, he explains that there just might be some sound objective reasons why. Among the reasons he offers is:

One reason is the anti-science attitude adopted by many rank and file Republicans and supported by some Republican leaders. For example, a Pew Research Survey in 2013 found that only 43 percent of Republicans believe that humans have evolved over time. During the recent Republican primary season, only Jeb Bush could be found to have ever made a statement expressing belief in the theory of evolution. Several of the candidates were on record stating that they did not accept evolutionary theory.

It makes sense to me. The one that immediately came into my mind is that if my job prospects and future earnings are dependent upon a job at a school in North Carolina; I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be stupid enough to support the Republican platform of tearing down the public education system in the state, as has been the work of the Republican controlled North Carolina Legislature for the past 5 or six years. Why would I share their beliefs and policies, if it is going to negatively impact my vocation? (That’s not to say the Republicans haven’t done an amazing job of getting blue-collar workers to vote against their own best interests.)

Republicans by nature don’t like to engage in rational debates. They are a lot like fundamentalist Christians…they’re right, and you’re wrong, and it’s not open for discussion. Universities are all about an exchange of ideas. Again, why would a rational member of academia be a Republican?

So, Phil, for your usual total lack of self-awareness, you get today’s Douche Bag of The Day award.