Illegal spying now a cornerstone of Republican culture

A Republican group is offering UCLA students $100 for proof of "liberal views" being espoused by professors during class. First off, this is sleazy (but not out of character for right wingers these days). But second, it's strictly a violation of university rules. Class lectures are copyrighted protected material, and there are specific rules about the use of any recordings.

The group who is exploiting college students is called the "Bruin Alumni Association," which has no official association with the university. A bit misleading, perhaps? Of course. Orwellian in style? Definitely. Which probably explains their "black list" of professors they deem radical, all of which are supposedly liberal.

Are we surprised by this? No. The GOP/cons have been attacking education for decades because they teach people things that don't jibe with right-wing rhetoric. For them, the truth is "biased" against them. (You can imagine why big corporate polluters would be upset that a university biology class educates people about the environment. These things end up cutting into their profits, and therefore are "liberally biased." I have lungs on both the left and the right, and my totally non-partisan respiration system says there's a lot of dangerous crap in the air these days...)

If I were a UCLA professor on this black list, I would tell my classes about this spying plot. And then I would tell them that I am still willing to help them make some extra cash by beginning every class with a "liberal" statement. With about 30 students per class and three meetings per week (and, say, four courses being taught), that should cost these spies over a 15 week semester about $540,000 per semester per professor. With 31 professors on that list, that tallies up to over $33 million for the year.

And then hit them with a lawsuit once they balk at paying the students.