Agree to Disagree: DEI and the art of magical governance | Opinion
Welcome to another installment of Agree to Disagree, in which I discuss topics with people on different sides of the political spectrum. This time around, I emailed with former Republican state Rep. Adam Koenig, who served in the Kentucky legislature from 2007-2023. He is now the head of Koenig Public Policy and Political Consulting. We talked about diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as other timely topics.
Linda Blackford: Hi Adam, thanks for emailing with me. I wanted to talk about a topic that I thought might be going away, but alas, has not. There’s an interesting division between how a state like Kentucky dealt with diversity, equity and inclusion, compared to what the Trump administration is doing. I think we can all agree that the administrative bloat in higher ed around DEI was an ox worth goring, as far as Kentucky is concerned. But then we have the Trump administration which is now cutting medical research that mentioned the word “women,” firing the Librarian of Congress, and doing book bans at the U.S. Naval College. In fact, doing everything they can to say women and minorities are second class without actually saying it. What do you think?
Adam Koenig: I have always believed that no matter the policy change, there are positive and negative implications. The question is often how much is positive versus negative. There is likely plenty of administrative bloat at our colleges and universities. Targeting one particular part probably isn’t the most effective. There certainly is value in diversity and all that comes with it. The exposure to new ideas and new people from all types of walks of life caused me to grow more in those four years of college than I did in any other significant period of my life. The University I attended did not have an office to make that happen.
However, I see absolutely no positive policy results from the whitewashing (pun intended) that the President’s merry band of misfits has unleashed on myriad departments of government. I applaud stories of people powering through obstacles to achieve greatness, no matter their race, gender, creed etc. There is no need to eliminate those stories. Each and every one of us enjoys the fruits of science. Look around you right now, and the results of scientific discovery are everywhere. EVERYWHERE We need more of it, not less.
LB: There we go agreeing! The firing of the Librarian of Congress for being DEI (ie a Black woman) on the same day they allowed white South Africans as refugees, speaks louder than one of Strom Thurmond’s filibusters. But clearly, they’ve tapped into a tried and true set of resentments. The question to me is why can’t we tap into the idea that the real class struggle is that of Gilded Age billionaires versus the rest of us? DEI is a useful distraction from that. And it’s a useful lever to slash the size of government, but surely there are better ways to find waste, fraud and abuse?
AK: There was a system of finding waste fraud and abuse, it’s called Inspector Generals. Their job in each cabinet is to ensure that the laws are followed and to root out waste fraud and abuse. And the President summarily fired most if not all of them, under the guise of government efficiency.
It’s the David Copperfield form of governing. Look at the shiny object in this hand while my other hand is in your pocket.
As I wrote in a previous column, if Joe Biden did a small fraction of what this administration is doing, DC Republicans would be wailing and gnashing their teeth on the Capitol steps.
LB: It certainly seems that a kleptocracy poses more problems than DEI but how to convince voters of that?
AK: Well if I knew the answer to that, I would be making millions as a media messaging mogul. Most casual voters, who often decide elections that are in the balance, aren’t plugged in to the daily grind of these issues. They are busy with life, and 18 months until the next federal election does not fall under the category of life in this context. It should, but it doesn’t. While Elon Musk is claiming to save them money, he is picking the head of NASA as a contractor for that agency. Sweetheart deals to follow. Again the David Copperfield magic act.
But you are the media executive, you tell me how we convince the voters of that?
LB: I’m a media peon. But the media ecosystem is a big part of the problem, of course. People are being told diametrically opposite things all the time. We don’t have enough civics education or media literacy for many people to make sense of what they hear. We see that in Kentucky all the time. But at the same time, I’m sometimes heartened by things here: We have a red state with a blue governor, a red state that voted against constitutional amendments on abortion and school choice. No matter how you feel on those issues, it shows an independent way of thinking not bound by tribal politics. Issues like DEI are distracting culture wars and I wish we didn’t have to deal with them. I think Republicans like you — also unbound by political purity tests — are best suited to get the word out about them. What do you say?
AK: Well, I don’t know if I’m best suited, but I’m going to keep shooting my mouth off and find out! In all seriousness, I appreciate the opportunity to shoot my mouth off, and this has been fun. Let’s do it again soon!
