November 22, 2005
First Amendment Charade? Warren County Community College Stoops To Silence Student UPDATED
Remember this post from only forty four hours ago? College "Teacher" in N.J. Urges Fragging of Officers In Iraq Now, forty four hours is not a lot of time, not even two full days. Yet, that is all the time it took for Dr. William Austin, President of Warren Community College to trounce the free speech rights of Rebecca Beach.
Rebecca Beach
A little background if I may. As I previously recounted, Rebecca sent out an e-mail urging professors at her community college to support an appearance by Lt. Col Scott Rutter who was going to speak about what is going on in Iraq. Needless to say, there would have been some truth telling there, not the hidden agenda of the MSM. But, Mr. Daly didn't see it that way. His full e-mail to Ms. Beach is here:
Dear Rebecca:(This guy is an English Professor, and he can't spell "Hurricane Katrina," or "profit" or "mega-profits?") Full Disclosure: I'm a lousy speller, but then I'm not an English Professor either.I am asking my students to boycott your event. I am also going to ask others to boycott it. Your literature and signs in the entrance lobby look like fascist propaganda and is extremely offensive. Your main poster "Communism killed 100,000,000" is not only untrue, but ignores the fact that CAPITALISM has killed many more and the evidence for that can be seen in the daily news papers. The U.S. government can fly to dominate the people of Iraq in 12 hours, yet it took them five days to assist the people devastated by huricane [sic] Katrina. Racism and profits were key to their priorities. Exxon, by the way, made $9 Billion in profits this last quarter--their highest proft [sic] margin ever. Thanks to the students of WCCC and other poor and working class people who are recruited to fight and die for EXXON and other corporations who [sic] earning megaprofits [sic] from their imperialist plunders. If you want to count the number of deaths based on political systems, you can begin with the more than a million children who have died in Iraq from U.S.-imposed sanctions and war. Or the million African American people who died from lack of access to healthcare in the US over the last 10 years.
I will continue to expose your right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like your [sic] won't dare show their face [sic] on a college campus. Real freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors and fight for just causes and for people's needs--such freedom fighters can be counted throughout American history and they certainly will be counted again.
Prof. John Daly
"Real Freedom will come when soldiers in Iraq turn their guns on their superiors and fight for just causes..." this was bad enough, now, Dr. Austin, a man who should certainly understand the difference between free speech and shouting fire in a theater (or urging soldiers to shoot their superiors as the case may be) and yet, Dr. Austin
said Prof. John Daly has “first amendment rights†to harass Rebecca. Furthermore, the President is trying to bully Rebecca into silence. He said Rebecca, not Prof. John Daly, is ruining the college’s name by going on talk radio and television exposing Daly’s mean spirited email. [From Young America's Foundation website]Now, this is to my way of thinking totally outrageous and despicable. How in the heck can a College President, no less, claim that a student's rights are trumped by a professors right. I'm not saying that the so-called professor (hmm, from the root profess meaning: To practice as a profession or claim knowledge of: profess medicine. To teach (a subject) as a professor: profess literature. ) doesn't have the right to share with Ms. Beach his thoughts about her organization, her claims, his claims or his beliefs. He does not have the right to suborn murder, he does not have the right to intimidate a student. Daly's own words are his conviction in any court of common sense:
I will continue to expose your right-wing, anti-people politics until groups like your won't dare show their face on a college campus."What, do you imagine, would be the MSM, leftist, ACLU-ish outcry if that had come from a conservative professor towards a liberal student?
Daly and Austin should be drummed out of the college, not because of their expression of first amendment rights, but because they have tried to trash the first amendment rights of a student, one that they are required to inculcate civil discourse, respect for others, and yes, diversity of thought. For shame Mr. Daly, Dr. Austin, for shame!!!
Wonder how either of those two Yahoo's would react if a student paraded around with a sign "FRAG PROFESSORS, NOT OFFICERS!" Somehow, I don't think they would be appreciative of that!
Others reporting on this travesty: Stop and Think For A Minute, Baby Troll Bolg, Maxed Out Mama [a must read], Professor Mike Adams [also a must read], News Gnome, And Rightly So, Big Dog's Weblog and others. Keep the pressure up!
UPDATE: Daly has resigned (via Mikes America)
Posted by GM Roper at November 22, 2005 05:37 PM | TrackBackAs LGF often states --- " You just can't make this stuff up."
I guess shooting the messenger is still a viable information filtering strategy. Who knew?
What did you really expect however? The 'left' can dish it out but they really can't take it. You would almost think they are ,at some level, ashamed of their behaviour.
But that is impossible. Isn't it ?
ps -- On a completely irrelevent note.
So far this week I have managed to accumulate a FU personal e-mail from a 'progressive' site AND, a question from a fellow Canadian as to why I don't leave since I don't worship at the usual alters here.
I can only conclude that I must be doing something either totally wrong or mostly right. Oh well, ever onward. Ever onward.
Posted by dougf at November 22, 2005 06:50 PM
It sounds like business as usual in academia. I once protested to a California college about class materials on the internet which were inappropriate. The President sent me the same bull about Free Speech.
Listen, when you work for a company or any organization, your free speech stops at the door. If I worked for GM (the one that actually pays) and talked all day about how FORD was better, they would fire me and would have every reason and right to do so. If a professor makes statements that are inappropriate and are in conflict with his duties and the ideals and standards of the university, then he should be reined in.
"Free speech" avoids the issue and is a false argument.
Posted by Woody at November 22, 2005 06:53 PM
It's digusting. Colleges are too liberal and the whackos we pay to teach our young need to go through a test now. To see if they can be fair and balanced. It sucks. I have two daughters in college and the things they tell me....
Posted by Raven at November 22, 2005 07:57 PM
The best answer to objectionable speech is more speech, not less or restricted speech. We all gain from the former and lose by the latter, thus our taboo against censorship. You would think educators would understand this...
Posted by too many steves at November 22, 2005 08:06 PM
Liberal educators know their arguments are not logical. That's why they spend so much energy trying to silence the opposition and brainwash the young.
Posted by hatless in hattiesburg at November 22, 2005 08:25 PM
This Just In.
Late today, the Board was informed of Mr. Daly’s decision to resign his Adjunct position at WCCC effective immediately. In its meeting, the Board voted to accept the resignation agreement and instructed the administration to make certain that students in Mr. Daly’s class are offered the highest quality instruction in this interim period.
We have already moved ahead in finding a very able member of our faculty to conduct the remainder of Mr. Daly’s classes for this semester. We will also rededicate ourselves to a review of our current policies and procedures to make certain that we continue to foster an open and collegial learning environment at our institution. I personally pledge to see that tolerance training is included in our next faculty and staff in-service, and to consider a broad range of student input in its development.
Damn fascist warmongers. Always supressing dissent and persecuting the 'enlightened' members of society. The man speaks 'truth to power' and look what happens.
I hope you're all happy now.
ps--'Tolerance Training ' --- Can this be any more lame? If you require ' tolerance training' you shouldn't be even considered for employment at an institution of learning in the first place.
Should you?
Posted by dougf at November 22, 2005 08:50 PM
To All Hands, Delighted Instructor Daly has elected to resign. I am an instructor at a community college and am also disgusted at the Lefties - they range om just loopy to downright evil. I am confident that I will be not be offered a contract sooner or later (we do not have tenure and are "hired" about mid July each year). The ONLY reason I am still here, or so I think, is that: a) I was with them when that only had about 1500 students in 1996 and now have grown to 17,000 and b) as a retired Marine [32 years of active duty, including Vietnam], they think I am somewhat crazy and maybe dangerous. I believe they may be right. Ha! Meanwhile, I constantly remind my students that they SHOULD attempt to find holes in what I "profess". Just because I am older than them and have a mess of degrees (degrees are of questionable value), they should never let me or anyone else led them around by the proverbial nose.
(Fade to a company of Marines singing the Marine's Hymn....and then the Marine Band comes crashing in with loud [the only speed the Marine Band knows] finale)
Posted by tad at November 22, 2005 09:34 PM
Looks like the Board faced up to its responsibilities. Whether on their own initiative or in response to public pressure, they did the right thing. Though if they really want to do right, they should fire Dr. Austin too, who sounds like the poster child for "Craven Administrator of the Year". I am puzzled about the "tolerance training" -- does that mean they will be treating conservative students as another protected minority?
Dr. Austin's latest speech above reminded me of an episode when I was in high school. This was the era when illegal drugs were just starting to reach the high schools and it was still being covered up at our school.
Well, one day the principal (or perhaps the superintendent) called the whole student body into a special assembly to discuss a radio newscast about some students who had been busted for drugs. But rather than criticize the offenders or give an anti-drug message, he proceeded to lambaste the unnamed informants who had tipped off the media, accusing them of "selling the school down the river" for a few bucks and denying the existence of a drug problem. He did stop short of invoking the name of Judas, but nonetheless I still remember vividly this first experience of my watching a "king" "shoot the messenger".
As I recall, this fellow didn't keep his position much longer, though I don't know if this was the straw that broke the camel's back for the school board. This was just at the very dawn of the PC era -- he probably was just a few years ahead of his time...
Posted by civil truth at November 22, 2005 11:29 PM
This whole story has left me aghast. A 19 year old student promotes an event with a speaker and a professor fires off a responding email loaded with vitriol and thinly veiled attempts at intimidation, not to mention the numerous fallacies he expounded on, and the college President jumps to his defense. Not the student, mind you, but the offending party gets his loyalty.
I would bet my whole week's paycheck Daly didn't "offer" to resign. People like that don't have such honor. I guarantee Austin asked him to resign. And Austin doesn't have the balls to admit that Daly was wrong and that he asked him to.
Professors like Daly are a dime a dozen. I took a pottery class at the local Community college and my pottery "professor" went on and on about his left wing politics on numerous occasions. A POTTERY teacher!
It's like a cancer. The only thing left is amputation.
Posted by Oyster at November 23, 2005 06:43 AM
Liberals advocate murder and suppresion of free speech rights.
And they call BUSH a Nazi?
Daly's out, a victory for our side. The College is holding "tolerance training" for faculty and staff.
Posted by Mike's America at November 24, 2005 01:33 AM
