School May Fire Professor for 9/11 Comment (Gov. Owens asks for firing!)

[truthpusher]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050204/ap_on_re_us/speaker_protest_5


University of Colorado Police officer Greg Barthlome arrests senior Dustin Craun after he and other students distrupted the start of a Regents meeting in Aurora, Colo., on Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005. The special meeting was called by the Regents over the controversary of Professor Ward Churchill and a paper he wrote comparing the victims in the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers as Nazis. (AP Photo/Ed Andrieski)


School May Fire Professor for 9/11 Comment

2 hours, 41 minutes ago U.S. National - AP

By CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer

AURORA, Colo. - University of Colorado administrators Thursday took the first steps toward a possible dismissal of a professor who likened World Trade Center victims to a notorious Nazi.

snip

The raucous meeting drew dozens of protesters who back Churchill; at least two were arrested for disrupting the meeting and another was led away in handcuffs.

snip

Gov. Bill Owens issued a written statement saying he deplored the behavior of some of the students at the meeting, and that their behavior underscored the "culture of violence" that can be spawned by essays such as Churchill's.

Owens has called for Churchill's firing.

complette story:http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050204/ap_on_re_us/speaker_protest_5

[mountainvue]

1. The first signs of civil

disobedience? I don't agree with Churchill but I don't dispute his right to say what he thinks.

[Bill ORights]

2. The link doesn't go to that story--more info? NT

[Bill ORights]

3. Sorry--Your first link does. NT

[truthpusher]

5. Fixed...thanks!

[bluestateguy]

4. You just can't do that

I read that whole essay, and yes, he said a lot of stupid, mean-spirited things, as well as some things that made sense. In any event, the principle of academic freedom is one that I hold much higher than the non-existent right of Americans to not be offended.

[truthpusher]

6. and whats the deal with the Governor getting involved!

[Psephos]

11. Prolly got involved five minutes after talking to his pollster n/t

[truthpusher]

15. Owens is a super-huge-gigantic-prick!!! n/t

[hasbro]

40. Yes he is a prick

With an illegit kid.

Owens has been at war with the colleges for years. He's let Horowitz run roughshod and his toadie John Andrews is the designated protector of the College Republicans.

Owens hasn't missed a chance to grand stand on any contraversey at CU. That way people don't care he's slashing the budget to the bone.

[realisticphish]

22. Uncle Tenure

ain't gonna be pleased


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[wicket]

26. amen

n/t

[Hissyspit]

31. I didn't see anything stupid or mean-spirited

[NecrotizingE]

7. He's starting to lose it

Showed him swatting at a camera man and yelling at reporters. I think it's a matter of time.

[truthpusher]

8. who's starting to loose it?

[NecrotizingE]

9. Ward Churchill??!

[truthpusher]

12. ?

Who's Ward Churchill?


sorry, it's late, I'm messing with you a little...trying to help you get your post count up :evilgrin:

[truthpusher]

13. By the way....Welcome!!

[donheld]

36. Lose it? Did he ever really have it?

anyway Welcome to DU :hi:

[chascarrillo]

10. Ah, but you're assuming...

... that he hadn't lost it before.

The fewer moral cretins like Churchill we have in positions of authority, the better.

[mrbassman03]

32. But there is a thing called academic freedom...

He is a professor, if you don't like his views, don't take his classes. Nobody is forcing these people to listen to him.

[Hissyspit]

34. Read Churchill's Statement in his Defense

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=3045645&mesg_id=3045645

...in which he points out he has been misunderstood, misquoted, taken out of context, and misinterpreted, which is USUALLY the case in these academic freedom "scandals."

"Oh, boo, hoo. My professor said something I don't agree with and it has hurt my feelings. Boo, hoo, my adult children are having their widdle minds messed with by someone else now that they are old enough to live on their own. I'm so OFFENDED."

Here's what offends me: When I ask my students "How much has the war in Iraq cost the United States?" and none of them (20-30 usually a class) has any freaking clue.

[LynnTheDem]

18. Welcome to DU!

Enjoy your stay!

heh. :D

[Maria Celeste]

24. His ancestry claim is also suspect

Its from the media, so its always suspect, but if you believe them, his claim to native American ancestry is bogus.

Regardless, his days as an effective prof are history. He has already resigned as chair of the dept.

Regardless of what you think of his writings, its not a good day for academic freedom.

[Hissyspit]

35. I might start losing it, too, if someone took away my ability to...

make a living and support my family because of their intolerance and ignorance.

[Psephos]

14. The only speech that actually needs protection...

...is speech we don't like.

[Erika]

16. Exactly

Freedom of speech is vital for true discourse in this country, whether it be from Churchill or (gag) Rush.

[realisticphish]

23. for others who think thusly

click on the leftmost link in my sig ;)


:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[LynnTheDem]

17. "Free speech" in America is just a figure of speech.

Meanwhile, Coulter et al can go around calling for the bombing of the NYT building in New York, and the killing of "a few liberals" just for terrorist purposes, and the "executing by firing squad" of all who dissent on the illegal immoral unjust supreme crime war of aggression against Iraq.

Seems "free speech" is a right only certain approved rethuglicans have.

[UL_Approved]

19. If we hadn't abandoned Afghanistan after we drove out the U.S.S.R...

none of this "terrorist breeding ground" stuff would be happening.

His comments about the "little Eichmanns" is not very accurate. Most people in NAZI Germany went along with the leader because they were too afraid to show dissent. Its the same here, and the people who died on September 11th were victims of iconic outlash on behalf of whoever carried out the attacks.

He is right about the past abuses of he United States though...

[Skittles]

20. I hear shit worse than this while surfing the radio EVERY G.D. DAY

nt

[xchrom]

21. ain't it the truth

i don't surf the radio.
but rush listeners love to have their radios blasting when they listen to his innane drivel.

you stop at a stop sign -- some roofer with his truck radio blasting away at work-- blah, blah, blah, ... hillary feminazi, liberal hate blah blah,...
the country has gone to hell in a purple hand bag.
yes -- that is a comment about the mythological ''purple american''.

[0007]

28. ...ain't that the truth?

[bmbmd]

25. CU is a bastion of free speech.

They didn't fire Gary Barnett for defending the players that raped the girl placekicker. She had it coming because, as a kicker, she wasn't that good.

[Monkie]

27. co-ordinated online attack on professors by freepers & other RW groups

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=103008&mesg_id=103008

FoxNews Puts Me In Its Crosshairs

"I published an essay, "America and Islam: Seeking Parallels," in Counterpunch on December 29, 2004. A day later, I began to receive nasty and threatening emails, all at once. These were orchestrated by a www.littlegreenfootballs.com . Shortly thereafter, other right-wing websites got into act, posting excerpts from the essay; these included jihadwatch.org, campuswatch.org, frontpagemag.com, freerepublic.com, etc. The messages posted on these websites were equally vicious, and some of them, containing explicit death threats, were 'kindly' forwarded to me."

Churchill isn't the only one being targeted and it looks co-ordinated to me.
i'm not from the states and just want to add that unless people in america wake up to what churchill and others are saying, until you picture what america looks like from the outside, america and its way of life is doomed. and what scares me about that is america's capacity to destroy the planet with its nuclear/chemical/biological capabilities as it goes down..

[truthpusher]

29. Anybody from Colorado here Air America this morning?

[Hissyspit]

30. Culture of Violence???

What was all that stuff we just used against Iraq? Playfulness?

What was it the governor of Ohio used against college students at Kent State in 1970?

"Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes personally appeared on campus and promised to use 'every force possible' to maintain order. Rhodes denounced the protesters as worse than brownshirts and vows to keep the Guard in Kent 'until we get rid of them.' "

[Blue_Tires]

33. very slippery slope

look for this case to be used against any 'liberal' professors as deemed by you local college rebug chapter

[Rockerdem]

37. Consider him gone as predicted

Too unprofessional. If any other upper-echelon professional (lawyer, scientist, judge, broadcaster, etc. etc.) had talked like him they would have been canned too. That marine general who likes sniping isnt long for his job either. Too flaky for public consumption.

[Hissyspit]

38. Point taken. But it's his job... n/t

[nascarblue]

39. There is a war against professors

I saw this coming months ago when they started quoting statistics about the amount of Democrats vs. Republican professors. This can't be allowed to happen. We can't allow this to happen. We all know how the right works, they mass email and cause havok. And as we all now know after Michael Powell(who used to be a self professed liberal btw) found that 97% of the Merry Christmas/Desperate Housewives uproar came from these well funded and well organized righwing sites. We all have had plenty of laughs and jaw drops at the freepers quotes.

So come on, the guy is already under heavy fire. Swastikas spray painted on his car? His students arrested for showing support? Who would know the guy better... his students who see him every day, or som freeper that watched O'Reilly Factor and his spin and misquotes?

If you read, really read the real interviews with Bin Laden before all the counterfeit tapes and twisted translations, (I'm talking about the 96 and 98 interviews.) It's easy to see what Churchill was referring to. The World Trade Center was the hub of US globalization. Therefore representing JP Chase and others who are privatizating the world at the cost of thousands if not millions of lives. Kosovo, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Kazikstan, The Ukraine, Georgia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, and on and on.
If you really want some in depth education on this whole WTC thing, I suggest you head over to http://www.911review.com/index.html

IMO, he was making a clearer point on issues that have been brought up many times before. The Reichstag fire/911 new Pearl harbor PNAC realities for example.

Also, let's not forget the hypocrisy going the other way, Sibel Edmonds and Jesselyn Radack for example. Extremely educated and patriotic Americans whose lives are now ruined simply because they had a consciense and wanted to uphold the law as stated in the Constition and the Bill of Rights.

By the way, please sign Jesselyn Radack's petition at...
http://www.cradl.info/pages/3/
Read her story at...
http://www.rcfp.org/news/mag/27-3/_contents.html