Politics, culture, and whatever else crosses our NOVA minds
Madison and Boulder have a lot in common. Great towns. Vibrant, fun communities. And “Nutty Professors.” Here’s a classic from NRO.
Barrett and Churchill are peas in a rotten pod.
It’s copyrighted, so I guess I can’t hyperlink to it, but I would encourage everyone to read this:
[ed. note- Sure you can. 
]
Realize I’m way late on this, but it’s ridiculous enough that I had to speak my mind.
I seriously doubt that even Ward Churchill would sit down for tea with this guy Barrett. Oh, who am I kidding? But that’s neither here nor there.
This is what your money will get you if you send your child to Madison for “higher education.” In an almost laughable attempt to justify his decision, UW-Madison’s Provost assures us all that the instructor’s “views are expected to take a small, but significant, role in the class. To the extent that his views are discussed, Mr. Barrett has assured me that students will be free - and encouraged - to challenge his viewpoint.”
I’ve said it explicitly here before: We at the Arena are all about freedom of speech. And I, as a contributor, wholeheartedly accept the Provost’s assertion that “our students are not blank slates. They are capable of exercising good judgment, critical analysis and speaking their minds. Instructors do not hand over knowledge wrapped up in neat packages. Knowledge grows from challenging ideas in a setting that encourages dialogue and disagreement. That’s what builds the kind of sophisticated, critical thinking we expect from our graduates.”
Students that are sharp enough to be accepted to Madison undoubtedly have the requisite intellect to challenge whatever idiocy this guy might throw at them. Problem is, anyone who’s ever been a student in the hallowed halls of American academe knows that profs tend to test you on what they present to you, and most of them are not too keen on challenges when exam time rolls around. I can just see one of this guy’s essay questions: “Discuss the attacks of 9/11, providing details about the perpetrators, their motives, and their methods.” And by golly, if you heard a lecture from an instructor telling you that the Government pulled this off, you’d spout his line if you wanted an “A.”
I sincerely hope that the Provost’s assertion that “critical thought” at UW-Madison is an expectation, and I hope that he will personally ensure that “critical thought” - particularly by those students who choose to challenge this nut-job - will be rewarded, and that this “instructor” will be held to the assurances he gave the Provost.
Oh, by the way…this Barrett fellow has just a few simple hurdles to clear before his “inside job” theory will have any traction. WE HAVE VIDEOS OF LIVE TELEVISION COVERAGE OF AIRPLANES FLYING INTO BUILDINGS!!! WE ALSO HAVE VIDEOTAPES OF HIJACKERS AT AIRPORTS. AND LASTLY, WE HAVE TELEPHONE CALLS FROM VICTIMS ON THE PLANES, TALKING TO THEIR LOVED ONES FOR THE LAST TIME.
Mr. Barrett needs an inside job himself - it’s called a lobotomy.
And of course we have to wait for next week’s election results to say for sure, but the poll numbers for Ned Lemont are just scary.
If the people of Connecticut want to replace a liberal, but sensible Senator with a liberal, but senseless man, that is their right. But it is a very dangerous sign. Yet another signpost on the Democratic path toward irrelevancy.
All Americans want health care, but most pay for it. All Americans want fair wages, but most have it already. Without a fawning media and a so-far-brilliant media strategy, Ned Lamont would be nothing more than a footnote. More than anything, Americans don’t want to be killed by radical Islamists. While Lamont wants money and power, coverage and a Senate seat, there are monsters in the world who want to kill him, me, you, and everyone else.
Socialism doesn’t work, it never has, and it never will. Yet another pillar-example of the electoral college has raised up. Lamont will be but one of 100 senators (should he be elected) and his voice in a Republican Senate will be small.
But his views on security are voiced through the Kossacks, the spineless pseudo-Dems’, who are so lost in the woods that their opinion on national security matters should either stay silent, or be completely ignored.
In late 1990 or early 1991 I was a senior in high school. We had a school assembly where then-Rep Bill Alexander (AR) and current-Rep Charlie Rangel (NY) came to my school to talk about drug abuse. Noble cause. I was the first person in my school’s history to be allowed to be a part of the media program for two years. Usually only seniors were allowed in, but I was there as a junior, and then allowed back in as a senior.
Terri Tackett, Jason Nall, Jan Jenkins, Amber McLean, Michael Willock… I’m forgetting a lot, but they know who they are… a lot of other gals and guys were fun to work with that first year, but this was in my second year.
In that second year I was essentially the producer for the TV show that we made. I was jack-of-all-trades. I produced, edited, taped, ran the cameras, setup the studio…. all of it.
I was able to arrange an interview with Alexander and Rangel while they were at the school. Bryan Jackson conducted the interview, I did the camera and sound setup. Alexander had terrible teeth, and Charlie Rangel had the worst dandruff I’d ever seen in my life. Flakes the size of Kansas rested gently on his coat collar and lapel…. anyway.
Big Charlie is back in the news. (quick aside- the most dangerous places to be in Washington DC are between cameras and either Rangel or Chuck Schumer)
Rangel says he’ll quit if the Democrats don’t take back the House. He’s also really upset at the Cuban-exiles who are celebrating the pending death of Castro.
Rangel is a Castro-lover and socialist. I particularly like this quote:
Instead of condoning celebrations of a death that has not occurred in Cuba, the Bush Administration would be better served by rethinking a policy that has failed to achieve its ends after nearly 50 years.
Kennedy started the embargo, and about 1983 Reagan just forgot about Cuba. With reason. It’s a repressed regime with a nut-case dictator as a leader. On the world stage Cuba is completely forgetable.
I argued in 2002 that with Iraq being the next front in the war on Islamic jihadism, the Florida National Guard should warm up by taking Cuba and releasing all the political prisoners, freeing the country, and giving those Cubans some relief. It’d take a weekend at most.
Rangel is a Castro-lover and a socialist… but, back to the other point….. Mr. Rangel has said that he will resign Congress if the Dems don’t take back the House.
Rep. Charles Rangel, a senior Democrat in Congress and the dean of New York’s congressional delegation, said Wednesday he’ll retire if the Democrats don’t retake control of the House this year.
Now would seem like a good time for the state of New York to start planning a special election. But, in reality, this dandruff-ridden schlub will do just like the scores of Hollywood types who PROMISED to leave, and never did.
I wager now, publicly and truthfully, 100 dollars to the Ronald McDonald House in Memphis- the house that supports St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital- that the GOP will gain seats in both the House and Senate. 100 for each. If the Senate is even, I’ll send 100. If the House stays even, I’ll send 100. If they both stay even or go over to Dem control, that’s 200 smackers out of my pocket. Anyone wanna counter that bet ?
UPDATE: As usual, NRO says something poignant:
New York congressman Charlie Rangel, a 35-year veteran of the House and an unapologetic race-baiter, is in line to chair the Ways and Means Committee if Democrats take back the chamber in November. This week he announced (promised?) that he will quit the 110th Congress if his party returns in the minority. There may be no better reason to get out and vote Republican this November.
But he likes fishing too, and we all know that fish are very dangerous.
And I think, in some subconscious, visceral way, Bill Clinton hates Al Gore. Why else would he say something like this ?
“I ran a partnership, not a one-man show,” Clinton said about his presidency. “And if it hadn’t been for Al Gore, a lot of those things wouldn’t have happened.”
And if it hadn’t been for Clinton, Al Gore might be president today…. shudder the thought.
since Sherman’s scorch and burn march to the sea…
Rep. Cynthia A. McKinney is grabbing all the face time she can get with voters between now and Tuesday’s runoff election.
The embattled Georgia Democrat bought cable television ads that are scheduled to air 1,175 times in a five-day period, which began yesterday, according to public filings at the Comcast Spotlight Atlanta office.
That means some unlucky, channel flipping bastard may see Princess Cynthia up to 235 times a day.
That’s worse torture than this priceless web-gem.
