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Ben Sasse next UF president?

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by wgbgator, Oct 6, 2022.

  1. 96Gatorcise

    96Gatorcise Hurricane Hunter

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    They don't care what he has to say. Nothing he says will appease that crowd.
     
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  2. 108

    108 Premium Member

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    To be fair, those who were initially for him despite his unqualified resume, probably don’t really care what he has to say either, because they also have their mind made up..
     
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  3. G8torsRUL

    G8torsRUL GC Hall of Fame

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    Last edited: Oct 10, 2022
  4. apkgator

    apkgator GC Hall of Fame

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    Ironiclly, the exact opposite is more true. To go lockstep with the powers that be in the GOP would have been the easy path and benefited him the most politically....at a minimum just keeping his head down re Trump
     
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  5. gator_lyn

    gator_lyn All American

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    Who do they prefer? Barack Obama?
     
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  6. 96Gatorcise

    96Gatorcise Hurricane Hunter

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    I don't disagree
     
  7. philnotfil

    philnotfil GC Hall of Fame

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    That would be a big part of why he is getting out of politics. No place right now for principled conservatives in the current political landscape. I hope he does well as the president at UF.
     
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  8. G8torsRUL

    G8torsRUL GC Hall of Fame

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    He’s getting out cause he wasn’t gonna be voted back in. I have mixed feelings about it. The independent in me. It won’t matter much how I feel anyways. I’m sure what’s done is done. I can only hope UF maintains its status.
     
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  9. ncargat1

    ncargat1 VIP Member

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    Exactly. Sad the UF job has become a political appointment for a man who was going to eventually lose his job to another, more radical Republican.

    People still do not get it though. Bernie Machen was (privately) a conservative. However, he had tremendous experience running a massive university. He had experience being a leader, even and especially when his decisions were not popular. He had experience teaching at North Carolina and Michigan. He understood how to help attract industry to partner with UF and fund research programs. He was everything a university president should be...and his personal politics had little role in that.

    I will give Sen Sasse credit, he was a heck of an orator. His handlers from the Governor's office prepped him well on the likely questions and exactly how to answer them. Now, we see which pops up first, DeSantis' hand up his ass running the university like the puppet that I still believe him to be, or his own conservative nature gets the best of him and he starts costing UF research money.
     
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  10. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    He's going to have to prove it. Not sure what he could say to cure the concerns people have about him. Actions will speak louder than words.
     
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  11. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    Hypocritical ideologues engaging in self promotion.
     
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  12. G8torsRUL

    G8torsRUL GC Hall of Fame

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    Ill have to watch his Q&A. Thanks for the insight.
     
  13. G8torsRUL

    G8torsRUL GC Hall of Fame

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    No escaping it really. It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere.
     
  14. MichiGator2002

    MichiGator2002 Premium Member

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    Not a bit. They are going by rote like the vapid little automatons they are. Again, Ben Sasse is as temperate and centrist and equable a Republican as any of these goofs will ever hear of in their life - so much so that he's largely an annoyance to the right. He split on Trump impeachments, which it turns out to make everyone detest you.

    Point being, there is nothing discerning or reasoned or considered about their protesting; someone/something tells them to Outrage and they Outrage. It's why the NPC meme works and has held up.

    But more than now, UF has to go through with naming him or else they'll be enabling all the worst and most childish impulses of their students.

    EDIT: It also seems fairly obvious to me that he is desired to be someone associated with the Republican party to come into a high profile position in the State educational heirarchy to pick fights with DeSantis for the next two to four years. Ostensibly fights that those same protesting myrmidons would otherwise support. But they can't see, or think, around corners because nobody challenges them to do so.
     
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  15. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    There's nothing "centrist" about Ben Sasse. But that's not even a real response to the concern that he's a politician who is underqualified for the job. Maybe Sasse will be great for the university. But it's not surprising many people are unhappy when the Republican Party has been credibly accused of meddling with UF.
     
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  16. gtr2x

    gtr2x GC Hall of Fame

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    Well upon further thought, at least Richard Corcoran wasn't a finalist. That would have been an absolute disaster. So, there is hope.
     
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  17. gator_lawyer

    gator_lawyer VIP Member

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    He's certainly better than Corcoran. In that vein, Sasse is far from the worst case scenario. As I said, I'll give him a shot. But I'm not heartened by the university hiring a politician when many of us are unhappy with the way current leadership in the state is trying to inject politics into our state's great universities.
     
  18. gatorzilla91

    gatorzilla91 All American

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    All I care about is how he can help athletics.

    I don’t care about these students or their concerns.
     
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  19. gatordavisl

    gatordavisl VIP Member

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    I'm skeptical of Sasse as prez of UF, but that's just embarrassing. What a bunch of dumbasses, most who probably know little to nothing about the man.
     
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  20. tampagtr

    tampagtr VIP Member

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    I was OK with this appointment as about the best possible Republican there could be, posted earlier in this thread.

    But I have to tell you, I don’t know why the younger generation would listen to my generation about anything. We’re leaving them a pretty screwed up world. And Republicans being in charge of the state have pretty much ruined it and been pretty destructive of higher education. They have more skin in the game at their age. I’m not sure why they would feel the need to defer to the older generation or to any Republican.
     
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