http://www.850koa.com/shows/rosen/index.html
Posted on 02/07/2005 2:30:03 AM PST by ajolympian2004
Rosen: The professor must go
February 4, 2005
Isn't it ironic that a man who trampled on the free speech rights of Italian-Americans marching in the Columbus Day parade, now hides behind the First Amendment to save his job at the University of Colorado?
Let's make one thing clear: this is not a First Amendment issue. As an American citizen, Ward Churchill can defame the memory of Americans murdered on 9/11 and spew his brand of mindless bile without fear of legal prosecution because the First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws that abridge his freedom of speech. But this isn't a criminal matter; it's an employment issue, and his employer, CU-Boulder, should be free to fire him for his hateful, absurd and grossly insensitive utterances. Liberty is not license. Freedom of speech is not absolute.
On my radio show Monday, Churchill conceded that students and faculty should be held to the same standard regarding penalties for reprehensible expression. Students have been suspended or expelled for statements far less offensive than Churchill's. Where's their First Amendment protection?
Churchill has referred to those murdered on 9/11 by al-Qaida fanatics as "little Eichmanns," and has declared that those innocent civilians - among them women and children, and the firefighters and police who tried to save their lives - got what they deserved. Imagine the fate of a CU professor who said something like: "CU women deserve to be raped; they're little sluts"? The point is that, even when protected by tenure, the right of professors to speak their mind with impunity is not absolute. You remember how quickly CU president Betsy Hoffman suspended football coach Gary Barnett for remarks that turned out to be entirely defensible. (She later had to apologize for slandering him on national TV.) No one can say precisely where the line is but Churchill has crossed it and he deserves to be fired far more than the 9/11 victims deserved to die.
Almost as sickening as Churchill's hateful, anti-America tirades were some of the mealy-mouthed early responses of some CU regents, administrators and faculty members (News columnist and CU law professor Paul Campos excepted). Interim Chancellor Phil DiStefano said "I may personally find his views offensive," but then went on to misrepresent the First Amendment as a defense for Churchill. When he got nailed for that "may" qualifier and had a few days to see which way the wind was blowing, he belatedly summoned the courage to stiffen his tepid criticism.
Regent Patricia Hayes explained that the regents' meeting, scheduled for yesterday, was to be less about considering Churchill's termination and more "to show the community and the rest of the university that we are appalled." In other words, it would be public posturing to cover their backsides. I'm not impressed that they're "appalled," that goes without saying. As I write this, I'm hoping some regents show a stiffer backbone and take action. If Churchill isn't fired for cause, and pronto, CU officials might find Coloradans and their elected representatives unreceptive to their pleas for more taxpayer money from the legislature this year.
Churchill has equated America with Nazi Germany. He also reiterated that statement on my radio show Monday. In an interview with a left-wing organization, Satya, Churchill - pictured in combat fatigues, a Che-style beret, dark glasses and cradling an assault weapon - declared that more 9/11s may be necessary, and that he wants the "U.S. out of North America, off the planet, out of existence altogether."
As an Indian activist, he's so blinded by his hatred for America and the white man that he can't think straight, much less objectively. He doesn't just have a chip on his shoulder; he has a giant redwood. And this was the chairman of CU's Ethnic Studies Department?
Ironically, Churchill has turned his self-indulgent obsession into a profitable career. If CU is pressed for cash, it should not only terminate Churchill, it should eliminate this department and this major. There's nothing in it that can't be adequately covered in history, sociology, anthropology and other legitimate disciplines. What do you do with an ethnic studies major, anyway, other than repeat the cycle and teach ethnic studies, fomenting anger and resentment within the next generation of college students? It's a breeding ground for divisiveness, separatism and irredentist fantasies to settle past scores.
Don't waste any tears on Churchill. If CU fires him, he won't be unemployed long. He'll likely become a celebrity and martyr in leftist academe, and be snatched up by some other depraved university. That's OK. At least he won't be peddling his hatred at the expense of Colorado taxpayers.
Mike Rosen's radio show airs daily from 9 a.m. to noon on 850 KOA.
http://www.850koa.com/shows/rosen/index.html
http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-1.wma http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-1.wma http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-1.wma
http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-1.wma http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-2.wma http://www.startcolorado.com/iac/KOA-AM/churchill-3.wma
Actually... I'm listening to the interview right now. Mike tears people like this to shreds and allows them to discredit themselves by allowing them to speak.
Inviting scumbags to your show, helping them to peddle their garbage
If you listen, you need to listen closer, you heard what another freeper said: Mike tears people like this to shreds and allows them to discredit themselves by allowing them to speak.
Why do I need to? I already know about this Churchill character more than I ever wanted. Neither do I care to listen him debating the finer points of his worldview.
Just finished listening to Mike's interview. Ward Churchill is a dangerous person to have in any school preaching to young impressionable students in our country. He mixes half-truths and lies together in a manner where he sounds very convincing. I can see how some of his students at the Univ. fo Colorado and others who have attended his talks around the country would fall for his brand of hate and distortion.
This guy is a certified nut case.
No, he is not dangerous. He is a perverted moron with a big pie-hole. The dangerous ones don't give interviews
Are you folks aware that Ward Churchill is going to give his 9/11 speech TOMORROW at CU. Roll out the red carpet.
This is an odd statement to make. I suggest you examine your own convictions to determine why you feel the lure of the dark side ;-) Seriously, anybody equating the victims of 9/11 to Adolf Eichmann, is simply beyond the pale. All attention should be not on the nut job himself, but on those who tenured him, invite him for interviews, give him platform to talk
This is the place to begin cleaning up their act.
So you don't need to listen.
Other people may not have heard.
Letting this idiot run his mouth is a good thing....
IF he is the war heroe he wants everyone think he is --he
ought know th eterm shoot and run--or shoot and scoot.He done did shoot his wad and this posturing about what he's gonna do if they fire him is just an un,ilitary as Hanoi Jane/John With all their handholding with the enemy.
Ping
Lawmakers should be on notice: Ward Churchill goes or CU is shut down.
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