Posted on 11/06/2001 11:03:20 AM PST by Jean S
For many Americans, the events of September 11 have breathed new life into patriotism, but many in academia and the media remain hostile to America.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (www.thefire.org) has intervened in recent instances where academic administrators intentionally stifled patriotic expression and retaliated against those who voiced support for our country.
At Central Michigan University, students were ordered by university administrators to remove patriotic posters and the American flag from their dormitory. The students were told that these items were "offensive."
Duke University in North Carolina shut down Prof. Gary Hulls webpage because he posted an article that called for a strong military response to the terrorist attack
At Pennsylvania State University, a professor was reprimanded by the vice provost for academic affairs for advocating military action as a response to the terrorist attacks. The professor was told that his comments were "insensitive and perhaps even intimidating," grounds for dismissal.
At Holy Cross in Massachusetts the chairman of the sociology department forced a secretary to remove the American flag that she had placed in memory of her friend Todd Beamer. Beamer was one of the passengers who challenged the terrorists on hijacked United flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania.
At Lehigh University, the vice provost of student affairs ordered the American flag to be removed from the school bus.
At Johns Hopkins University, Prof. Charles Fairbanks voiced his support at a public forum for an aggressive campaign against states that harbor terrorists. (All such states are Muslim with the exception of Cuba and North Korea.) He was accused of assisting people to commit hate crimes (against Muslims) and removed as director of the Central Asia Institute.
Academic Zoos
At the University of Massachusetts (one of the leading academic zoos), students were granted a permit to protest the war against terrorism, but students who wanted to rally in support of U.S. policy were denied a permit.
At San Diego State University, an Arabic-speaking Ethiopian student overheard three Arab students expressing their delight in the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. [See Human Events last week, page 10.] The Ethiopian admonished the Arabs and was put on warning by university administrators for "threatening and abusive behavior."
The Arabs were happy, he said. "I told them they should be ashamed." (Of four material witnesses arrested in San Diego in connection with the terrorist attacks, one is a San Diego State University student.)
At Florida Gulf Coast University, the dean of library services ordered the librarys employees to remove stickers reading, "Proud to be an American," from their workspace on the grounds that such expressions were offensive to foreign students.
At the University of Missouri, the director of the universitys TV station, KOMU, instructed employees not to wear red, white and blue ribbons in memory for those Americans killed in the September 11 attacks.
It is permissible to burn the American flag on university campuses. But dont try waving one.
America-haters have the upper hand on many campuses. They are ever so sensitive to the feelings of Middle Eastern Muslims and completely insensitive to the feelings of patriotic Americans.
Multiculturalists, feminists and a variety of other left-wing bigots have destroyed scholarship and turned education into a campaign against Western civilization. They seduce the minds of the young and fill them with shame of their country. These home-grown terrorists in academic garb are a more dangerous enemy than the Taliban and bin Laden.
While the United States conducts a war against terrorists, our own universities are conducting a terror war against the patriots on their campuses.
The Heritage Foundation is rightly calling for an end to World Bank and IMF subsidies to states that harbor terrorist organizations. We must also end taxpayer and donor subsidies to politically correct universities, which are Fifth Columns within our country.
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Mr. Roberts, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of The New Catholic.
I can personally verify that several of these stories have appeared elsewhere in mainstream media. You might also be moved to show a little initiative and run a news search yourself....unless you'd rather carp.
Since you didn't notice, I should point out that the article itself provides a source for its anecdotes in the first few paragraphs.
What is also amusing is that the author believes that only their particular view of America is the right one, and that there is no room for dissenting opinions.
How appalling that anyone would hold any view -- and furthermore believe that view to be right! Clearly whatever I believe about America (or Christianity, or ice cream) must be believed only with the caveat that it could be utterly wrong; presumably this will preclude any action based upon this belief.
I'm interested to know where you get your notion that the author of this piece finds "no room" for dissenting opinions. The author does not want these opinions supported by government funds. That's a far cry from censorship. Your logic is a dull blade, it seems.
Your 'logic' is a bit skewed. The author is pointing out that those who support America are having their dissent stomped on while those who hate America are encouraged in their proselytism.
I'm a Bad American-this pretty much sums it up for me.
I like big trucks, big boats, big houses, and naturally, pretty women.
I believe the money I make belongs to me and my family, not some midlevel governmental functionary with a bad comb-over who wants to give it away to crack addicts squirting out babies.
I don't care about appearing compassionate.
I think playing with toy guns doesn't make you a killer. I believe ignoring your kids and giving them Prozac might.
I think I'm doing better than the homeless.
I don't think being a minority makes you noble or victimized. I have the right not to be tolerant of others because they are different, weird or make me mad. This is my life to live, and not necessarily up to others expectations.
I know what SEX is and there are not varying degrees of it.
I don't celebrate Kwanzaa. But if you want to that's fine; I just don't feel like everyone else should have to.
I believe that if you are selling me a Dairy Queen shake, a pack of cigarettes, or hotel room you do it in English. As of matter of fact, if you are an American citizen you should speak English. My uncles and forefathers shouldn't have had to die in vain so you can leave the countries you were born in to come disrespect ours, and make us bend to your will. Get over it.
I think the cops have every right to shoot your sorry butt if you're running from them after they tell you to stop. If you can't understand the word 'freeze' or 'stop' in English, see the previous line. I don't use the excuse "it's for the children" as a shield for unpopular opinions or actions.
I know how to count votes and I feel much safer letting a machine with no political affiliation do a recount when needed.
I know what the definition of lying is, and it isn't based on the word "is"-ever.
I don't think just because you were not born in this country, you qualify for any special loan programs, gov't sponsored bank loans, etc., so you can open a hotel, 7-Eleven, trinket shop, or any thing else, while the indigenous peoples can't get past a high school education because they can't afford it.
I didn't take the initiative in inventing the Internet.
I thought the Taco Bell dog was funny.
I want them to bring back safe and sane fireworks.
I believe no one ever died because of something Ozzy Osbourne, Ice-T or Marilyn Manson sang, but that doesn't mean I want to listen to that crap from someone else's car when I'm stopped at a red light. But I respect your right to.
I think that being a student doesn't give you any more enlightenment than working at Blockbuster or Jack In The Box.
I don't want to eat or drink anything with the words light, lite or fat-free on the package.
Our soldiers did not go to some foreign country and risk their lives in vain and defend our Constitution so that decades later you can tell me it's a living document ever changing and is open to interpretation. The guys who wrote it were light years ahead of anyone today, and they meant what they said - now leave the document alone, or there's going to be trouble.
I don't hate the rich. I help the poor.
I know wrestling is fake.
I've never owned, or was a slave, and a large percentage of our forefathers weren't wealthy enough to own one either. Please stop blaming me because some prior white people were idiots - and remember, tons of white, Indian, Chinese, and other races have been enslaved too - it was wrong for every one of them.
I believe a self-righteous liberal Democrat with a cause is more dangerous than a Hell's Angel with an attitude.
I want to know exactly which church is it where the "Reverend" Jessie Jackson preaches; and, what exactly is his job function.
I own a gun, you can own a gun, and any red blooded American should be allowed to own a gun, but if you use it in a crime, then you will serve the time.
I think Bill Gates has every right to keep every penny he made and continue to make more. If it makes you mad, then invent the next operating system that's better and put your name on the building. Ask your buddy that invented the Internet to help you.
I don't believe in hate crime legislation. Even suggesting it makes me mad. You're telling me that someone who is a minority, gay, disabled, another nationality, or otherwise different from the mainstream of this country has more value as a human being that I do as a white male. If someone kills anyone, I'd say that it's a hate crime. We don't need more laws! Let's enforce the ones we already have.
I think turkey bacon, turkey beef, turkey fake anything sucks.
I believe that it doesn't take a village to raise a child-it takes a parent with the guts to stand up to the kid and spank his butt and say "NO!" when it's necessary to do so.
I'll admit that the only movie that ever made me cry was Ole Yeller.
I didn't realize Dr. Seuss was a genius until I had a kid.
I will not be frowned upon or be looked down upon or be made to keep silent because I have these beliefs and opinions. I thought this country allowed me that right. I will not conform or compromise just to keep from hurting somebody's feelings. I'm neither angry nor disenfranchised, no matter how desperately the mainstream media would like the world to believe otherwise.
Yes, I guess by some people's definition, I may be a bad American.
But that's tough.
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