The strange tales of Paul Mirecki

Townhall.com ^ | Dec 14, 2005 | by Michelle Malkin

[.cnI redruM]

Paul Mirecki -- the Kansas University religious studies professor who derided Christian fundamentalists as "fundies" -- is a strange man with strange tales of alleged persecution. Contrary to his knee-jerk defenders on the Left, it is not bigoted, hateful, or intolerant for me to scrutinize his story.

It's rational.

The professor first created controversy in November after penning an unhinged e-mail message expressing his desire to deliver a "slap" to the "big fat face" of the "fundies" by teaching an intelligent design course "as a religious studies class under the category 'mythology.'" The message was sent to the mailing list of the university's Society of Open-Minded (snort!) Atheists and Agnostics. Mirecki signed his taunting diatribe "Evil Dr. P." These are the words of an individual more than a few cards short of a full deck.

After his remarks were publicized, KU cancelled the proposed course. Mirecki was forced to apologize. And then, out of the blue, It Happened.

Last week, Mirecki claimed he was beaten by two mysterious white men on a rural highway. He says the unidentified assailants, in a pickup that tailgated him in rural Douglas County, Kansas, targeted him for his views while he was "taking a long, pre-dawn drive in the country to clear his mind," according to the student newspaper. Mirecki says he pulled over to the side of the road to let the men pass. He then said he got out of his vehicle. The alleged attackers got out of their truck and beat "the hell" out of him, reportedly using a "metal object," Mirecki said last week before abruptly clamming up about the attack and sequestering himself in his house.

News of the beating aligned perfectly with the mainstream media's template of Christian fundamentalists as right-wing vigilantes. Mirecki's liberal supporters on the Internet swallowed the story whole. The Wichita Eagle told those with questions about Mirecki's account to "give it a rest." A Kansas City Star columnist called allegations of a manufactured hate crime a "cheap shot."

Why?

Mirecki can't remember where the incident took place, according to local law enforcement, and has offered only the vaguest of suspect descriptions. There are conflicting accounts about Mirecki's physical appearance the day of the attack. While a faculty colleague claimed that "big swollen spots" had "transformed" Mirecki's face, Jesse Plous and Tiffany Jeffers, two of Mirecki's students, told the campus newspaper they didn't notice bruises or scratches when they met for his class six hours after the alleged attack. Lindsay Mayer, another student in the class, "said injuries weren't extremely noticeable." Mirecki did not mention the alleged beating in class.

Now, a week after the alleged attack with the alleged assailants still at large, Mirecki is poised to take both his university and the local sheriff's office to court for their insufficient support and investigation. The fundies! Academia! The cops! They're all in on it!

After university officials announced that Mirecki had voluntarily resigned as chair of the religion department, the professor came out of his shell to blast the school for forcing him to step down. The university stands by its account. Mirecki has complained that law enforcement officials have seized his car and computer, and doesn't like the direction of the probe. "If I have to sue, I will," he told the Lawrence Journal-World.

None of this smells right.

The truth is there are too many cases of hate crime hoaxers on campuses -- a phenomenon most left-leaning journalists are loathe to cover -- to dismiss the possibility in this case. Last year, Claremont McKenna College professor Kerri Dunn was sentenced to prison after she staged an anti-Semitic hate crime against herself. Earlier this year, a lesbian student at Mt. Tamalpais High School in Marin County, Calif., faked several anti-gay incidents to garner attention and sympathy. Leah Miller, a black student at San Francisco State University, admitted to scratching "NIGG" on a dorm room door and writing herself a note with the same epithet. Jaime Alexander Saide, a Northwestern University student, admitted making up anti-Hispanic threats against himself after the school rallied around him with "Stop the Hate" marches.

Strange, isn't it, how leftists on campus who sneer at blind faith are so often fooled by it themselves.

[.cnI redruM]

He may not be paranoid. This guy, in fact, may be such a major jerk that everyone in Kansas really does hate his guts.

[Sthitch]

It makes me wonder why an agnostic or an atheist would want to teach religion.

[wideawake]

You were defending this guy's course offering the other day.

Is there another side to Mirecki's story? Or is he as big a loser as he seems?

[goodnesswins]

"religion" of liberalism...

[FormerACLUmember]

Lawrence, KS - University of Kansas religion professor Paul Mirecki, whose planned course on creationism was canceled after he described Christian students as "redneck Taliban f*cktards who belong in formaldehyde, not in classrooms," was released today from a Lawrence hospital after an attack by a mysterious gang of Nascar racers.

According to Mirecki, he was driving his car at 3 AM on the outskirts of town when "20 or 30" Nascar race car pickup trucks suddenly appeared in a local WalMart parking lot and began following him menacingly, blaring AM talk radio. He says they ran him into a ditch, and began beating him with bibles, banjos and moonshine jars marked with 'XXX.'

"'This here's MERIKUH, and wee's all Jezus lovin' USA MER'KINS, yew gol-durn trickifyin' commernist smartypants! Stop challingin' our traditional backwoods bible valewz and tax cuts with yer dirty college book-larnin'!'" Mirecki quoted one of the assailants as saying. Mirecki said another threatened to "'shut up that thar purty professerin' mouth o' yers, lessen yew stop perluti-fyin' our Kansas hillbilly yunguns withen yore Satan monkey theories.'"

Mirecki was released from the hospital after treatment for minor bruises on his right cheekbone and fist.

Lawrence Police spokesman Carl Baher said that identifing the assailants would be difficult because, according to Mirecki, they were wearing Klan hoods and Sean Hannity masks. Nevertheless, Baher said his department would pursue all leads in the incident, the first recorded Nascar-related hate crime to occur in this quiet university town in more than 120 years.

"We are asking the Lawrence and KU community to aid in the investigation," said Baher. "Please report all sitings of white hillbilly Nazi plutocrats driving loud race pickups with large Halliburton or Enron decals."

(from IowaHawk)

[threeleftsmakearight]

You have nailed it!
What you wrote is, in essence, what an imbecile like this actually believes.
I love how his story has the "assailants" driving a pick-up truck. His story may have been more believable if his attackers were driving a church van.

To any DU lurkers out there; if you believe this guy's story, you are not nearly as smart and sophiisticated as you believe.

[FormerACLUmember]

Mirecki is a tenured fraud. Plus he even looks a bit like his fellow charlatan, Fake Big Chief Ward Churchill!

[Right Wing Professor]

While a faculty colleague claimed that "big swollen spots" had "transformed" Mirecki's face, Jesse Plous and Tiffany Jeffers, two of Mirecki's students, told the campus newspaper they didn't notice bruises or scratches when they met for his class six hours after the alleged attack. Lindsay Mayer, another student in the class, "said injuries weren't extremely noticeable." Mirecki did not mention the alleged beating in class.

This is really slimy of Malkin. She herself on her blog posted a picture of Mirecki with two black eyes and a bruise on his arm. She knows damn well he was injured. There may be a question how, but not if.

[Right Wing Professor]

Is there another side to Mirecki's story

You mean, other than that he claims he was beat up, and has black eyes to prove it?

[Liberty1970]

You mean, other than that he claims he was beat up, and has black eyes to prove it?

So who's hiding the pictures of his alleged black eyes? I haven't seen any.

And how does having a black eye prove that it was obtained by getting beat up? By two men? On a remote road? Because of his beliefs?

In short, in the grand tradition of evolutionists everywhere, he's a bit short on the evidence to prove his grandiose claims... and believing him requires a lot of faith while ignoring all the conflicting data (such as mentioned in Malkins article).

[Right Wing Professor]

So who's hiding the pictures of his alleged black eyes? I haven't seen any

You haven't looked very hard.

http://media.lawrence.com/img/photos/2005/12/10/Mirecki_Paul.jpg

Malkin linked to it.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004047.htm

[cgk]

Malkin ping!

Please FReepmail me if you would like to be added to, or removed from, the Michelle Malkin ping list!

[RJL]

Please add me to the Malkin ping list.

Thanks

[cgk]

Welcome aboard! :)

[bad company]

You mean, other than that he claims he was beat up, and has black eyes to prove it?

These black eyes? Sorry professor, that's makeup.

[VOA]

Mirecki has complained that law enforcement officials have seized
his car and computer

Wonder if the computer is his laptop...that happened to be in
the car during the alleged attack?

If so, Mirecki needs to watch more episodes of "Law And Order".
You report a crime, the crime scene gets a real going-over.

[VOA]

It makes me wonder why an agnostic or an atheist would want to teach religion.

Being a missionary for atheism (and/or agnosticism) with tenure
and a captive student body...all at state taxpayers expense?

Talk about a sweet deal!

[johniegrad]

Pusillanimous.

[twntaipan]

Black eyes of that magnitude would have been easily discerned by anyone who saw the man after the alleged beating.

This has all the trademarks of a fabricated hate crime, but then for liberals, "fake but accurate" is their trademark.

[okie01]

These black eyes? Sorry professor, that's makeup.

Are you making that judgment based on the absence of swelling? Or the odd symmetry?

Because "makeup" is the first thing that came to me...

The bruise on his biceps looks real, though. But that could have a lot of sources...

[Shanda]

He may have just not slept the night before. There are some bags under his eyes accentuated by the lighting, but it really does not look like someone who has really been beaten.

I have seen people who were worked over and they don't look even remotely like his face does..

[bvw]

Have given and gotten a bunch of black eyes in my life, those "black eyes" ain't, imo. It's the outside of the orbs that are attacked and hit --- where are the bruises there? And that arm bruise -- location seems off, shouldn't it be more to the side, if it were gotten in a beating?

[Gordongekko909]

He looks like the result of some sort of genetic experiment involving splicing the genes of Ward Churchill and Jay Leno.

[bad company]

Are you making that judgment based on the absence of swelling? Or the odd symmetry?

I've given and received more than my fair share. The symmetry is very suspect. I've never seen it except in silly movies. I've never seen them angled downward either. Black eyes on both sides is from a broken nose. His lacks swelling. Black eyes come from broken blood vessels under the skin. That much damage and they'd be talking about surgery to repair it.

[Gordongekko909]

Funny; my cousin got that exact same pattern of black eye when a toilet seat cover smacked him between the eyes (don't ask).

[Sthitch]

I can see a number of issues with those black eyes. That type of bruising is generally from a broken nose, the reason why I believe that is that there is no sign of any contusions on his face. However, the bruising is still wrong for a broken nose. There is not enough bruising around the eyes, and there is no obvious signs of breakage (generally there is a crease at the bridge of the nose).
The arm bruise is even less compelling evidence. It looks like someone punched him in the arm, not that he was hit with a metal object. It does not even appear large enough to be caused by a kick. The placement also looks wrong. From this angle it looks like it is on the top of his bicep, not really a place where an attacker would likely hit him.

[Tench_Coxe]

"I can see a number of issues with those black eyes. That type of bruising is generally from a broken nose, the reason why I believe that is that there is no sign of any contusions on his face. However, the bruising is still wrong for a broken nose. There is not enough bruising around the eyes, and there is no obvious signs of breakage (generally there is a crease at the bridge of the nose)."

More than that, the eyes, for black eyes of that type, would have a bloodshot look in the corners close to the nose. Nothing there.

[Right Wing Professor]

Sure. He submitted to a newspaper interview in make-up, and no one noticed the difference.

You guys are truly desperate.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

My Dear Professor

I have no idea of the truth of this matter, but allow me to add a bit of knowledge. I have worked my entire life in the oilfields of the US, Europe and Africa other than tree years in the Army. I have seen many, and been in a few fights. I can tell you for sure, this is not the look of a man who had the hell beat out of him with a metal object.

My son looks worse than this when his allergies kick in.

[Right Wing Professor]

And I have seen a man hit on the bridge of his nose, and he looked exactly like that.

[Tench_Coxe]

Don't bother. He won't accept anything out of his preconcieved notions. he should stick to the Crevo threads or DU.

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

Perhaps if hit ONCE, not many times with a metal object.

[F16Fighter]

"You mean, other than that he claims he was beat up, and has black eyes to prove it?"

Bwawwwwaaah...Yeah, right.

Why don't you go down to Mirecki's bachelor pad, dry both your tears, and make it (the fake truama) all better.

[Right Wing Professor]

Oh, sure. He was hit maybe a couple of times. Whatever happened, he's exaggerating. And I'm not claiming it couldn't have been someone he was in cahoots with. What annoys me is that Malkin knows exactly how he looked 4 days after the alleged incident, and yet she's pretending she doesn't. That's as bad as the liberals she abuses.

[yarddog]

It is a rare situation in which with so little info, one can say for sure that someone is lying.

I don't think the prof should be given any more benefit of the doubt. He is plain and simply making false statements.

He also sounds like a real prize, another Ward Churchill type who gets by with making idiotic statements because no one ever challenges him. When someone finally does, he is shown to be living in a house of cards.

[AmishDude]

It's not slimy. There were these conflicting accounts presented in different newspaper articles. In fact, if Mirecki wears his glasses, no one who didn't know he was injured would be able to guess.

And, in fact, the faculty colleague talked about "big swollen spots" which are in no way apparent on the picture you speak of.

[Right Wing Professor]

Why don't you go down to Mirecki's bachelor pad, dry both your tears, and make it (the fake truama) all better.

Why don't you? Sounds like you have some experience.

[.cnI redruM]

If it pays, why not? It's not like you have to believe to be a good agnostic.

[bad company]

This is what black eyes look like.

[AmishDude]

I can imagine those injuries on his face if he were hit while his glasses were on.

Of course, the glasses would have been damaged.

I wonder if he had the presence of mind to take them off before he was "assulted".

[HoustonCurmudgeon]

I will give you that, she irritates the hell out of me.

The other strange thing however is the time he was out driving, not knowing where he was, and the fact that two guys just happened to be out at the same time of the morning who knew who he was and disliked him that much.

[AmishDude]

No, those bruises may have been visible later, who knows? Note that he went to the hospital, treated and released, and returned to campus in time to teach his class.

[Right Wing Professor]

They were hit in the eye. Mirecki looks like he was hit at the bridge of the nose. If you look at the larger picture I linked to, you can see bruising there.

[AmishDude]

Do we know that the paper took the photo? What's in the background?

[AmishDude]

Mirecki first claimed that "maybe" a "metal object" was involved. He was much surer in subsequent interviews.

[yarddog]

Actually if the lighting was straight on as in the picture in post #5, I don't think the bags under his eyes would be particularly noticeable.

The light is from the top right and it really makes the bags stand out.

[AmishDude]

Regarding the students' recollections, if it's a fairly big class and they sit in the middle or the back, they might not have seen anything out of the ordinary. Especially with those huge glasses on.

[Right Wing Professor]

Oh, I don't accept his account verbatim. I think it's most likely he got into some sort of altercation on the road. Maybe at the time one of the guys he got into the fight with recognized him and said something. I really doubt anyone stalked him.

What really pisses me off are people who discount the entire thing simply because they don't like his opinions.

[Right Wing Professor]

Do we know that the paper took the photo?

Lawrence Journal World.

[AmishDude]

Do we have a photo by-line? I'm just curious. That background looks like a studio. Maybe they took him to the paper's newsroom.