Posted on 09/24/2004 7:35:01 AM PDT by Dr. Zzyzx
Invite Michael Moore to speak - get thrown out of office. Add insult to injury, the activist filmmaker never comes to your Orem college - and you pay him $40,000 anyway.
Sound implausible?
Not at Utah Valley State College, where an increasingly popular recall petition could do just that: dump Moore and the student leaders who invited him.
"We've never had anything like that," UVSC spokesman Derek Hall said Thursday. But "if there's enough outcry by the student body, an election like this could happen."
As it stands, though, the "Fahrenheit 9/11" director will speak Oct. 20. Moore's conservative counterpoint, Sean Hannity, is booked for Oct. 11. And to ensure that "balance," Republican gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. has offered his father's jet to bring Hannity to Utah.
Jim Bassi, the UVSC student body president locked in the cross hairs, worries a recall could prompt Moore to sue. By contract, the school still would have to pay the $40,000 speaking fee.
"It's a question of censoring," Bassi said, adding that free speech is "what this country is all about - especially on a college campus."
Multiple phone calls and e-mails seeking a comment from Moore were not returned.
The petition, launched by UVSC senior Sean Vreeland, has nearly 2,000 signatures. Under the student constitution, a recall needs 10 percent of the student body, or 2,415 signatures. Once a valid petition is posted for a week and published in the student newspaper, Hall said the dean can schedule a recall election.
If two-thirds of the student voters then back the two-pronged petition - provided the recall balloting draws more voters than the previous student government election - Moore's appearance could be canceled and Bassi along with his vice president, Joe Vogel, ousted.
Vreeland launched the petition - viewable online at http://www.recalluvsc.org - to stop what he calls the misuse of student fees, which are being tapped to pay Moore. "Of course, Sean Hannity isn't quite the extremist or activist as Michael Moore, but it's still on the students' dime," he said.
Hannity is waiving his $100,000 speaking fee, but is expected to have his travel and expenses covered by the Huntsman campaign, a $5,000 anonymous donation and student fees from ticket sales. Moore sold out in five days and Hannity has notched 1,100 tickets sold so far.
Fallout from the Moore announcement led administrators to poll the school's trustees to discuss the ramifications. "We've had many people tell us they'll pull their donations. That they'll never support the institution again," Hall said.
Enter Huntsman, whose campaign sprung to action more than a week ago to lure Hannity. Calls were placed to UVSC trustee and longtime Republican operative Michael Mower, who said he "knew [Hannity's] people and kind of knew who to call." Mower said Huntsman offered $10,000 and, according to Fox News, the jet to ferry Hannity from New York to Utah and on to Phoenix for the Oct. 12 presidential debate.
"He's trying to pander to the far right," said state Democratic Party Chairman Donald Dunn, calling the aid to Hannity "a risky thing to do." But Huntsman's campaign manager, Jason Chaffetz, called the political benefit "obvious."
"It probably wouldn't be able to happen without us," Chaffetz said. "It will give everybody a chance to hear a Republican view of the world, and that's obviously in our best interest." Huntsman's Democratic opponent, Scott Matheson Jr., used the episode to take a modest political swipe.
"I am encouraged they are seeing the value of political balance in Utah," he said. "That must mean I have a good chance of being elected governor." Bassi hinted at pressure by faculty and administrators to "cancel" the Moore appearance, but he remains undaunted. "I don't regret my decision at all," he said. "It was a decision based on principle."
Well, inviting Moore is pandering to the Far Left. $40,000 is a lot of money for having Moore come to visit. Let the DNC pay for his speech, if it's so important.
The people paying the bills have spoken.
"It's a question of censoring," Bassi said, adding that free speech is "what this country is all about - especially on a college campus."
*****
Okay.... so only those who like the liberal side of things get to have free speech?
Siiigh... same old, same old. $40K to hear Moore speak? He's one anti-capitalist who sure doesn't mind the benefits of capitalism, does he?
$40K paid = free speech?
So, if I went to that school, I would have no say that my tuition went to pay for Mooooo-re's "free-speech". BS. Typical liberals. Spend other people's money on crap and cream "Free-speech!" when those people get miffed that their cash is going to an anti-American socialist.
When I attended Purdue two things I noticed was that while the student body was mostly conservative (the College Republicans was the largest political club on campus) the student government and the school newspaper was very leftist and unrepresentive of the general student population.
I think 99% of college student governments is like Dan Rather, a bunch of liberal snobs thinking they know better.
"It's a question of censoring," Bassi said, adding that free speech is "what this country is all about - especially on a college campus."
Nice try Bassi - this has nothing to do about censorship. It is about misusing student funds. If private intersts had paid for Moore as they did for Alan Keyes visit to UVSC, this would be a far different affair!
That's always their justification for bringing on leftist whacks to indoctrinate the masses. Try inviting Wayne LaPierre or Clarence Thomas to speak at the university and see how their attitude changes. All of a sudden the "everybody's opinion matters" chant changes to "we can't have him, he advocates a mean-spirit and divisiveness."
Bassi is an idiot. No one would be happy about Michael Moore showing his mug on campus, but there wouldn't be the big flap if it weren't for the $40,000 it's going to cost to have him come and insult the sensibilities of the bulk of the student body. Bassi is merely facing the consequences of spending funds foolishly - it has nothing to do with censorship.
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