Iowa state Rep Bobby Kaufmann [R-73] introduced “Suck it up, Buttercup” legislation to make it easier for the police to arrest anti-Trump protesters and for the courts to give them long prison sentences; the bill’s headline element, though, is that it would order campuses to end the provision of counselling and other services for students anxious about the election of a man who ran on a white supremicist ticket.
CBC’s As It Happens interviewed Rep Kaufmann, and reporter Carol Off asked him for examples of the kinds of coddling he was worried about. He described a situation in which a professor allegedly offered to bring a pony into class to help students. Ms Off asked him where this had happened and he demurred, saying he didn’t want to “name names.” Mildly, Off pressed him, saying, “I’m not asking you to name names — just where did it happen?”
Then Rep Kaufmann hung up.
As It Happens — the flagship news program of Canada’s impartial national broadcaster — called him back and he said he would not resume the interview because, “I don’t speak to media outlets with an agenda.”
Suck it up, buttercup.
CO: And where have you seen the coddling on campuses?
BK: I’m not ready to point fingers on specifics but I think we’ve all seen the reports across the entire country. We’ve seen them live on reports from reputable media sources. I have people reaching out to me from different states saying, hey, my kid, at this particular college today, the professor was actively discussing the possibility of bringing in a pony — a miniature pony so that people could use it to feel better about the election.
CO: Can I ask you where did that happen? Where was the discussion about bringing a pony to school?
BK: My job is to be finding this out. I’m not prepared to name names right now. I’m doing an investigation.
CO: I’m not asking you to name names — just where did it happen?
BK: Okay… [hangs up]
(Images: cry-baby, Beth, CC-BY; Bobby Kaufmann, Gage Skidmore, CC-BY-SA)