Despite the best efforts of Eastern Washington University President Stephen Jordan, Ward "Little Eichmanns" Churchill is coming to town. And get this: an EWU history teacher agrees with Churchill's assessment that America had 9/11 coming, telling Jordan in writing that "violence begets violence," and the Twin Towers were quite arguably a fitting terrorist target (capitalism being evil, you see). It appears that Jordan may be leaving for a college in Denver. Meanwhile, the effort to oust ol' Weird Ward from his tenured professorship at University of Colorado (Boulder) is going nowhere.
There's a lesson for the good Dr. Jordan. Let The Left hang itself. A controversial speaker on a college campus is easier to swallow than, say, an attempt to stealthily program vile anti-military performance art at the opening of a high-school's guest speakers' forum on the Iraq War. I still say that as objectionable as Churchill's America-hatred is, Jordan should have just let the good professor hoist himself with his own petard. Churchill is pretty darn good at that.
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at March 16, 2005 01:19 PM | Email ThisAs for controversial speakers, I belive his excuse that public safety was important. EWU is in Cheney, that is conservative territory if I ever saw any. Also, he has not tolerated bad behavior by students. including the time when the ASEWU president was caught drunk driving and brandishing a firearm in public. He was expelled.
He has been cool under pressure before. In 2002, and again in 2004, some whacko called in bomb threats to the school, he handled it cool and calmly. They had people go room to room on the campus, and tell the professors or Hall Directors(in the case of the Residence Halls) to have the students evacuate, and get to a certain location on Campus.
Posted by: MASSTRANSITFAN on March 16, 2005 02:29 PMI don't think there should be any tenure in public education. It is a silly notion that you are no longer scrutinized as is everyone else who works.
Tenure is a system to keep lunatics in positions like Mr. Churchill. Tenure is unnecessary because educators who do their job well will be kept on as long as there is funding (wholey separate issue). Tenure and race-based preferences only perpetuate a system that at best is forced to do the minimum and at worst is afraid to fire someone because they can't/won't do the minimum.
Posted by: Mike Leinweber on March 16, 2005 02:54 PMPersonally, I enjoyed Prof. Eugene Volokh's proposed compromise: Ward keeps his job on the condition he changes his last name to ANYTHING but Churchill. Heh.
Posted by: Seth Cooper on March 16, 2005 03:10 PMAs for Jordan, I do not think there is much he could do with the ASEWU's budget, it comes from fees assessed to students when they pay tuition. Although, this might give the student body something to think about, the Primary for next year's ASEWU elections may be coming up, or even the election itself, if I remember right.
Posted by: MASSTRANSITFAN on March 16, 2005 03:11 PMBesides, the more controversial the better. If the students don't like it, that's another story...
Perhaps we'll have to have a little welcome party for weirdo ward?
Posted by: Chairman Bell on March 16, 2005 04:44 PMThe EWU history teacher doesn't agree with Churchill's "assessment." She says his "premise" is hard to refute. Violence begets violence--that IS hard to refute.
You suggest that she sees the attack as justified somehow. She doesn't say that. She says its within reason to think "the buildings targeted on 9-11 were selected precisely because America's enemies saw them as sources or symbols of American/Western aggression." Well, duh. If anything, she should be faulted for offering no further insight than that.
The more interesting question here is WHY and HOW did our enemies come to those conclusions? Perhaps, I'm giving her more credit than is due, but I believe that was where she was going with her defense of his appearance.
Remember the whole Patty Murray flap? She makes a few comments about how we need to start figuring out what makes terrorists receive popular support in the Middle East and the next thing you know, everyone--including Nethercutt--is trying to hold her up as an example of a terrorist sympathizer.
That shit has to end. Ever hear the expression "Hold your friends close and your enemies closer?" There's some truth there.
That being said, I happen to think that there is very little that we can learn from old Ward other than how to be a jackass. I think he has done far more to harm than help honest and objective inquiry into 9/11.
Yes, let them hang themselves. The Democrat party will shrink further and further and fall off the cliff.
Posted by: Michele on March 16, 2005 08:55 PMOf course it's not. Tenure is the highest form of bureaucracy. A celebration of mediocracy, and sheer laziness. The Tenured university professor is a GOD among men (in his own mind anyway, just ask one), and has a duty to obtuse arrogance, wrought of hubris and forged in the crucible of conceit.
This was demonstrated for all to see, when the President of the UC stepped down, she knows her place. -Spin
Posted by: SpinDaddy on March 17, 2005 06:22 AMI thought the same thing until I realized that Churchill is just a product of the liberal craziness crying out for attention. You are trying to make sense out of comments that are not drawn from reason or thought but hateful stupidity.
I also agree with those who say that we should allow him to speak until he crosses the line into treason. Then the Governor of Colorado should be roast him like Lincoln ultimately roasted Vallandigham for the same type of activity. I believe that he has already crossed the line by calling for the violent overthrow of America but he is not really dangerous yet so the authorities are not exercising their discretion.
He is doing us a service as a scout dog ferreting out anti-american professors. If anything we should continue to put pressure on colleges and universities to clean house.
Michelle, your comments are right on.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on March 17, 2005 09:10 AMDo you have room for four or five College Republican Activists?
Get your Protest Warrior Gear and let's roll!
Posted by: Chairman Bell on March 17, 2005 01:36 PMThe reputational costs to the university for adopting the pusillanimous course will be severe, and they also have a dollar value. The lost donations and flagging political support will probably cost the university far more than they could save in legal fees by avoiding a fight.
I am also puzzled by those who take such delight in the embarrassments Churchill is inflicting on the academic Left that they would like to see the agony continued. Surely there is more at stake here than the elevation of one's own party. However amusing it may be, it cannot be good for the country to have its major educational institutions make fools of themselves.
Posted by: Tom Rekdal on March 17, 2005 04:17 PMI'll go.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on March 19, 2005 09:33 AM