Condoleezza Rice at Boston College? I Quit (An open letter to BC pres.)

[ProSense]

Published on Friday, May 12, 2006 by the Boston Globe

Condoleezza Rice at Boston College? I Quit

by Steve Almond

An open letter to William P. Leahy, SJ, president of Boston College.

Dear Father Leahy,
I am writing to resign my post as an adjunct professor of English at Boston College.

I am doing so -- after five years at BC, and with tremendous regret -- as a direct result of your decision to invite Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to be the commencement speaker at this year's graduation.

Snip...

But I am not writing this letter simply because of an objection to the war against Iraq. My concern is more fundamental. Simply put, Rice is a liar.

She has lied to the American people knowingly, repeatedly, often extravagantly over the past five years, in an effort to justify a pathologically misguided foreign policy.

The public record of her deceits is extensive. During the ramp-up to the Iraq war, she made 29 false or misleading public statements concerning Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and links to Al Qaeda, according to a congressional investigation by the House Committee on Government Reform.

To cite one example:

In an effort to build the case for war, then-National Security Adviser Rice repeatedly asserted that Iraq was pursuing a nuclear weapon, and specifically seeking uranium in Africa.

Snip...

I would like to apologize to my students and prospective students. I would also urge them to investigate the words and actions of Rice, and to exercise their own First Amendment rights at her speech.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/05/12/condoleezza_rice_at_boston_college_i_quit/?p1=MEWell_Pos5

[Supersedeas]

1. This type of civil disobedience, we need more of

[ixion]

2. here here

very well said. :applause:

[CatWoman]

3. wow, Mr. Almond

sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don't.

Just kidding. :)

Bravo for you!!!

Bravo!!!!

:applause:

[Coexist]

4. KnR

[stillcool]

5. wow....a principled professor with integrity...

I can already here the cries of "He should stay and fight"...and here is my answer:
”This above all: to thine ownself be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” -Shakespeare-Hamlet ..

I cannot, in good conscience, exhort my students to pursue truth and knowledge, then collect a paycheck from an institution that displays such flagrant disregard for both.

[understandinglife]

"Simply put, Rice is a liar." - Yeap. And, she's a war criminal.

Never Forget: George W. Bush willfully violated National Security to cover-up his willful launch of a war of aggression and illegal occupation of Iraq.

[bluestateguy]

6. I'm not sure what good this will do

Everything he says about Rice is correct, and I suspect the only way he would have been able to publicly criticize BC's decision would be to resign. An adjunct professor has no tenure, no free speech and really no rights of due process at all. Adjuncts who get a reputation as boat-rockers or troublemakers are usually fired by way of being "not renewed" for the next year.

BC is just going to quietly find some graduate student to continue teaching English at a crappy salary. This won't even phase the Administration.

[ProSense]

7. It's a gesture

that got media exposure. That counts for something.

[xchrom]

9. and the author will find another job.

in the meantime -- this will get heat.

and get around -- doing what it intends.

bravo!

[reichstag911]

15. Steve Almond has another job:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=br_ss_hs/103-6310346-2576623?platform=gurupa&url=index%3Dblended&keywords=steve+almond&Go.x=11&Go.y=9 . Replacing him with a credible instructor, presumably of creative writing, won't be all that easy. How many talented people support this administration, and would be willing to step in knowing the circumstances of their predecessor's departure? Granted, most published writers don't make a whole lot, and could certainly use the money and position, but I believe most have sufficient commitment to their principles to resist the pecuniary temptation.

[xchrom]

17. that would indeed give a certain satisfaction

if it caused the college some discomfort in finding his replacement.

[Mind_your_head]

10. He stood up for what he believes in !!!

He has the courage of his convictions and was willing to *do* something about it.

I respect what he's done, and I hope 'Father Leahy' will rethink his ill-considered invitation to Ms. Rice.

[Supersedeas]

23. it lets some of us know where BC's priorities are--for parents with kids

[titoresque]

37. It's not about phasing the Admin.

it's about being able to sleep well at night.

[Bridget Burke]

8. He's not the only one objecting.

Battle lines form over BC selection of Rice as speaker
Political dispute divides campus
By Catherine Elton, Globe Correspondent | May 4, 2006

Hundreds of Boston College students joined a group of faculty members yesterday in opposition to the Jesuit school's recent announcement that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been invited to speak at graduation and receive an honorary degree.....

Student and faculty groups acknowledged that Rice -- the latest politician embroiled in a protest over a graduation invitation -- will probably speak as planned. But both sides in the debate expressed concern that the 2006 commencement is being hijacked by politics.

The conflict began this week when two leading theology professors circulated a letter opposing the college's invitation, asserting that Rice's views on international affairs and her actions in the Iraq war were in conflict with Roman Catholic values. More than 150 members of the 1,000-person faculty had signed the petition by early yesterday afternoon. The letter stopped short of asking the college to rescind the invitation, but a student petition circulated yesterday made that demand.

''While we are not in favor of censorship on the basis of Jesuit ideals, we feel that the gift of an honorary degree extends beyond the limits or invocation of free speech and into the realm of acclamation and endorsement by Boston College," the petition said.

www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/05/04/battle_lines_form_over_bc_selection_of_rice_as_speaker/

If she does make the speech, she may get an interesting reception. I could see letting her speak at the school--but this is GRADUATION!

[dogday]

11. You Sir---Uh Madam: Are A Liar!!!!

just about sums it up....

[formercia]

12. SJ, is that Jesuits?

If so, it would figure.....

[Bridget Burke]

14. Actually, it would NOT figure.

Some elements in the Church have long considered the Jesuits dangerously liberal.

Quite a few faculty & students are opposing this.

[formercia]

27. Until today I defended the Jesuits

against those who insist that the Jesuits are involved in the 'great conspiracy'. I now have my doubts in that inviting Condi Rice is tantamount to a statement of allegiance.
There were many jesuits during the war in Central America who suffered much in taking sides with the poor and defenseless against the death squads and those who gave them orders.

So, the question is where do the Jesuits really stand?

[WindRavenX]

38. the Jesuits ARE against this

the only people who supported her coming were the BC Administration, which is NOT reflective of the Jesuit community at BC; the jesuits often support the students on GLBT issues.

[WindRavenX]

13. I am an undergrad at BC

Leahy is a racist, homophobic, war-profitering bastard.

The overwhelming amount of students DO NOT want Rice to receive an honorary agree, though most think she should be allowed to speak.

WE ARE FIGHTING THIS.

[GHeatter]

16. Kudos to Prof. Almond

I'm also an undergrad--a 'mature' undergrad--in the English department at Boston College, and I applaud the professor for having the courage of his convictions. I got the news this morning from my theology professor who is one of the faculty members organizing this protest. I've blogged about it at ProgBlog and Postcards from the Imagination.

[reichstag911]

20. Welcome to DU!

That handle, does it have anything to do with a radio disc jockey named Jerry Blavitt (sp?), "the Geeter (sp?...again) with the Heater?" Used to be in Atlantic City, IIRC.

[GHeatter]

22. Afraid not

My name is Ginger Heatter. As the co-founding editor of a literary magazine, and an (infrequently so far) published poet, I'm not comfortable using a pseudonym to express my political opinions. It just doesn't seem right to use my real name in one context and not the other.

[reichstag911]

25. Well, then...

...Howdy, Ginger!
Ron

[mithnanthy]

34. I remember....Jerry Blavit

"The boss with the hot sauce." Takes me back....

[reichstag911]

35. Give the (wo)man a prize!

A couple of my college buddies at Penn were from South Jersey, Margate to be precise, and they used to love listening to that guy!

[Jack Rabbit]

18. Professor Almond is our hero of the day

In the fight against neoconservative despotism.



Liberty Leading the People (1830) by Eugène Delacroix
From the website of the University of Southern California

[Supersedeas]

30. i'll second that!!

[roody]

36. Why is Lady Liberty's shirt falling off?

[petgoat]

19. Condi lied to the faces of the 9/11 widows

when she said the August 6th Presidential Daily Brief did not warn of new attacks.

Lied under oath.

Here's what the memo said:

"A clandestine source said in 1998 that a Bin Ladin cell in New York was recruiting Muslim-American
youth for attacks.... FBI information since that time indicates patterns of suspicious activity
in this country consistent with preparations for hijackings or other types of attacks, including
recent surveillance of federal buildings in New York.

"The FBI is conducting approximately 70 full field investigations throughout the US that it considers
Bin Ladin-related. CIA and the FBI are investigating a call to our Embassy in the UAE in May saying
that a group of Bin Ladin supporters was in the US planning attacks with explosives."



Couple this with 52 FAA warnings about al Qaeda between March and September of 2001, 41 specific threats received in the same period by our intelligence community of a possible domestic attack by Al Qaeda, the fact that "the system was blinking red" and Richard Clarke was "running around with his
hair on fire."

Note that German journalists maintain that the original 8-6- PDB (entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack in US") was 11 pages long. Only 1-1/2 pages have been released.

We need a new investigation of 9/11. Soon. Before Bush either resigns, or does it again.

http://www.gnn.tv/forum/thread.php?id=7360

[freefall]

21. Thank you, Mr. Almond. I am hoping your courage will inspire me to

wear my "Save the Bill of Rights. ImpeachBush.org" t-shirt out in public. So far I have only been brave enough to wear it to events where I know people won't mind because I didn't want to be 'confrontational'. Again, thank you, Steve Almond. I salute you.

And thanks to you ProSense for posting this article.

Peace,

freefall

[stepnw1f]

24. Very Cool (nt)

[ismnotwasm]

26. That's the stuff...

I would object to have anyone involved in that heinous build up to war speak or received an honorary degree. Too many dead, too many injured based not only on lies, but unrepentant lies. Lies that continue to this day.
Remember that "who cares what you think?" story about bush? Ms. Rice has the same attitude. She is a war criminal who needs to be tried and convicted not honored.

[Terran1212]

28. That took bravery.

[GHeatter]

29. O'Reilly, of course...

...is calling us "loons," near-fascists, "fanatics," and writing "all their talk of diversity and freedom of expression is just so much BS at BC." He also says, "For the record, both Condoleezza Rice and John McCain are great Americans who are trying to make their country a better, safer place. You may disagree with their policies and opinions but their dedication is unassailable."

No doubt Hitler was unassailably dedicated too.

http://www.billoreilly.com/currentarticle">A New Low for Higher Education

[Usrename]

31. Who is this guy?

American heros are beginning to step forward every day. I love this country. Despite the damage this cabal has wrought.

[Disturbed]

32. Yes, why was she invited when it is well known that

she is a blatant liar? What sort of example for graduates is that?

[GHeatter]

33. Terri Gross Interviews Steve Almond on NPR

http://www.here-now.org/shows/2006/05/20060512_13.asp">http://www.here-now.org/shows/2006/05/20060512_13.asp