Schadenfreude, Sweet Schadenfreude

Jim DeMint was just fired by the Heritage foundation:

The board of the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday ousted president Jim DeMint after days of turmoil and internal debate, blaming him for management and communication problems that have roiled the venerable conservative think tank.

Thomas A. Saunders III, chairman of the Heritage Foundation’s Board of Trustees, said in a statement that the 22-member board unanimously requested and received the resignation of DeMint, the firebrand former senator from South Carolina. Heritage founder Ed Feulner will serve in his place until a permanent successor is chosen.

“After a comprehensive and independent review of the entire Heritage organization, the board determined there were significant and worsening management issues that led to a breakdown of internal communications and cooperation,” Saunders said. “While the organization has seen many successes, Jim DeMint and a handful of his closest advisers failed to resolve these problems.”

In his own statement, DeMint called the critique “puzzling,” saying the board had praised his work for the past four years and approved annual performance bonuses for the entire management team.

He said he was proud of his work at Heritage, citing accomplishments such as the think tank’s role in helping lead President Trump’s transition team.

………

But board trustee Bill Walton said the issue was not “Needham versus DeMint.”

“It’s boring old management stuff,” said Walton, saying that excessive bureaucracy prevented papers from getting approved rapidly and scholars from getting permission to attend meetings. “We think we can make it leaner and more effective.”

I wish that there was a way for both of them to lose.

A friend of mine was fired by Heritage because she got cancer, so I am even less disposed to give them the benefit of the doubt than I would be otherwise.

I am sure that personalities were a part of this, but I think that a lot of this is that DeMint and his minions had no interest in managing a facsimile of a serious academic institution, since Conservatism of DeMint's ilk is generally opposed to ideas, and thinking, in general.