OHIO IDIOT FILE

No, I'm not talking about drivers or the BMV -- not this time. The state's elected officials from Gov. Taft (who even Republican field marshall Grover Norquist called an idiot) on down make the crazed weavers on 77 look like MENSA members. Today's example is State Sen. Larry A. Mumpher, who seeks to ban intellectual freedom in the state.

Marion Sen. Larry A. Mumper’s "academic bill of rights for higher education" would prohibit instructors at public or private universities from "persistently" discussing controversial issues in class or from using their classes to push political, ideological, religious or anti-religious views.

Senate Bill 24 also would prohibit professors from discriminating against students based on their beliefs and keep universities from hiring, firing, promoting or giving tenure to instructors based on their beliefs.

Mumper, a Republican, said many professors undermine the values of their students because "80 percent or so of them (professors) are Democrats, liberals or socialists or card-carrying Communists" who attempt to indoctrinate students.

"These are young minds that haven’t had a chance to form their own opinions," Mumper said. "Our colleges and universities are still filled with some of the ’60s and ’70s profs that were the anti-American group. They’ve gotten control of how to give people tenure and so the colleges continue to move in this direction."

Sadly, Mumpher is not alone in his quest.

The language of Mumper’s bill comes from a 2003 booklet by conservative commentator David Horowitz that lays out how students can persuade universities to adopt the "bill of rights." The booklet says it is "dedicated to restoring academic freedom and educational values to America’s institutions of higher learning."

The issue has gone national.

Horowitz created Students for Academic Freedom, a group based in Washington that has chapters on 135 campuses, to promote his views.

I cannot imagine why people who think and read for a living might be opposed to the conservative agenda in the United States, especially once that agenda begins restricting freedom and liberty. Stalin would be proud of Mr. Mumpher and his totalitarian ilk.