Althouse: "When you don't know who has said/written/done something, don't take the expression at face value."

August 22, 2013

"When you don't know who has said/written/done something, don't take the expression at face value."

"Where the identity of the speaker/writer/actor is hidden, think about who has a motive, who has an interest."

That's what I said back in March, when Oberlin canceled classes over some purported racial incident.

Today, the truth comes out. It was, as anyone who's been paying attention should have guessed, a hoax.

"The good news about America in 2013 is that if you’re a lefty and you want a racial incident to fire up the troops, you pretty much have to make it up yourself."

34 comments:

campy said...: You can't see it, but I am making my shocked face right now. Really, I am.; 8/22/13, 7:39 PM
mesquito said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/22/13, 7:43 PM
richard mcenroe said...: The bad news is the Oberlin's admin apparently knew it was a hoax and suppressed that fact in order to push a "diversity"-enhanced environment on its student body based on a bogus guilt trip...; 8/22/13, 7:48 PM
mesquito said...: What did Oberlin know and when did they know it?

http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/08/what-did-the-oberlin-board-of-trustees-know-about-the-racism-hoax-and-when-did-it-know-it/; 8/22/13, 8:00 PM
Original Mike said...: "Bleier also describes himself on Twitter as an “atheist/pacifist/environmentalist/libertarian socialist/consequentialist.”"

He left out smug little prick.; 8/22/13, 8:01 PM
rcocean said...: Looks Wikipedia needs to change its entry on Oberlin.

FROM:
"In 2013, after a string of hate crimes and prejudiced attacks on campus, president Marvin Krislov cancelled classes in response to student demands[22] and issued a day of reflection and change."

TO:
"In 2013, after a string of FAKE hate crimes and FAKE prejudiced attacks on campus, president Marvin Krislov cancelled classes in response to MORONIC student demands and issued a day of reflection and change."; 8/22/13, 8:07 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, it costs $50,000/year to go to Oberlin and has only 3,000 students. Their endowment of $700 million. Which averages out to approximately $233,000 a student.; 8/22/13, 8:15 PM
RecChief said...: Never let a "manufactured" crisis go to waste.; 8/22/13, 8:20 PM
Michael K said...: Dave Brubeck had a great concert at Oberlin in the 50s. Nothing much worth while has happened there since.; 8/22/13, 8:37 PM
Big Mike said...: At least Oberlin had enough integrity to expel the perps. That's more than I expected from a far-left wing university.; 8/22/13, 8:39 PM
Matt Sablan said...: I am shocked, shocked that there is gambling going on here.; 8/22/13, 9:02 PM
sean said...: What I find amusing is that her academic colleagues have no interest in what Prof. Althouse has to say, so she has to lecture the rest of the world on not behaving like college professors.

Don't worry, Prof. Althouse, I assure that there is no other institution in America that would behave as stupidly as Oberlin when faced with a situation.; 8/22/13, 9:24 PM
tim maguire said...: I don't think it was a hoax at all. I have no doubt those kids are racist homophobes and we shoudn't let them off the hook with this "hoax" business.; 8/22/13, 9:24 PM
Greg Hlatky said...: The usual pattern is being followed:

1) Alleged incident occurs.

2) Teach-ins and rallies, including accusations and two-minutes hate directed against ideologically unsympathetic groups.

3) Mandatory race/gender/orientation sensitivity training, principally directed at the “wrong” sort of student.

4) Implementation of draconian speech codes by the administration.

5) Incident is found to be a hoax.

6) Perpetrator confesses, says it was done to “raise awareness.”

7) New policies remain in place.

Sort of like the Kirov assassination writ small.; 8/22/13, 9:28 PM
Paul Kirchner said...: "The good news about America in 2013 is that if you’re a lefty and you want a racial incident to fire up the troops, you pretty much have to make it up yourself."

And the bad news is that leftists are perfectly willing to create fake crimes or make hate crimes out of incidents like George Zimmerman's self-defense shooting, and they will dominate the media's attention for days, weeks, months. And the next fake hate crimes will be accepted with just as much credulity, so let's not pretend that common sense will eventually prevail.; 8/22/13, 9:37 PM
eddie willers said...: I have kept "score' anecdotally (meaning me) since the Tawana Brawley hoax came to light.

Every single (and I don't mean "most" or "quite a few") but every single story of "N*gger Go Home" or similar written slurs has been a hoax perpetrated by the "victim" or a (well intentioned, I'm sure) liberal trying to give us all a "teaching moment".

Last summer it was a lesbian "attacked" and tied up in her basement. I immediately called it, was excoriated, and later, of course, proved right.; 8/22/13, 9:48 PM
Thorley Winston said...: He left out smug little prick.

It was implied.; 8/22/13, 10:24 PM
Eric Jablow said...: This reminds me of the Susan Smith case, where she reported that a black man had hijacked her car with her children inside. It turned out that she had instead driven her car into a lake to drown her children.

When this happened, I guessed instantly that it was a perfect example of "Medea frenzy".; 8/22/13, 10:58 PM
rcocean said...: "I have no doubt those kids are racist homophobes and we shoudn't let them off the hook with this "hoax" business."

I agree white racists are everywhere, even posing as left-wing Obama supporters! The Wreckers are very clever, Comrade.; 8/22/13, 11:11 PM
richard mcenroe said...: ""Bleier also describes himself on Twitter as an “atheist/pacifist/environmentalist/libertarian socialist/consequentialist.”"

He left out smug little prick."

And pygmy giraffe.; 8/22/13, 11:23 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Portrait of the artist as pygmy giraffe.; 8/22/13, 11:26 PM
richard mcenroe said...: Link here:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RHH9sKRmrBs/UhaDjVEtUCI/AAAAAAAAQZI/oCtSIg7w6ks/s1600/Dylan_Bleier_Oberlin.JPG; 8/22/13, 11:27 PM
n.n said...: Ever since the Republican Party was formed and successfully opposed selective liberty, redistributive change, and other degenerative processes of the day, their opponents have maintained an inferiority complex which predisposes them to exhibitions of fanatical and even extreme behaviors.

That said, they should never have incorporated reactive movements in for-profit (i.e. political, economic, and social) enterprises. Denying individual dignity and devaluing human life has general consequences. The ensuing corruption was inevitable.; 8/23/13, 12:37 AM
Old RPM Daddy said...: Quoted by Original Mike: "'Bleier also describes himself on Twitter as an “atheist/pacifist/environmentalist/libertarian socialist/consequentialist.'"

What's a "libertarian socialist?" Does that mean, "I wanna do whatever I want and nobody can say anything, but everybody has to pay for it?"

I'd look up "consequentialist," but something tells me not to bother.; 8/23/13, 6:45 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Honestly, given the phony waitress gets mean note on check, phony bank employee dishes on mean boss, phony racism, phony attack on McCain worker, phony Tea Party connections to the census worker suicide -- Why does ANYONE believe ANYTHING from the media without verification?

If it is too good to be true, it probably isn't.; 8/23/13, 7:00 AM
mikeski said...: [...]the Oberlin's admin apparently knew it was a hoax and suppressed that fact in order to push a "diversity"-enhanced environment on its student body based on a bogus guilt trip...

"Fake, but accurate."; 8/23/13, 7:44 AM
dmoelling said...: This is an overall leftist campaign to demolish years of civil rights and racial reconciliation. Without the ability to trap groups in endless victim status they lose clout. This is designed to have whites say that's it, we've had enough with black/hispanic/Gay complaining. The NYC mayoral race is full of this (stop and frisk etc.) The race peddlers figure they would rather have concentrated political power in the cities rather than racial harmony and safety.; 8/23/13, 8:10 AM
Scott M said...: Why do all of these hoaxes seem to germinate on the left?; 8/23/13, 9:24 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: It's not just with racial incidents - you see the same thing with global "warming."; 8/23/13, 9:25 AM
CWJ said...: I agree that these hoaxes come from the left. OTOH, what would a right wing hoax look like? What sort of fake flyers would a conservative distribute that would effectively tar the left? Perhaps its my lack of imagination but no easy examples come to mind. What would be the equivalent right wing version of "fake but accurate?"; 8/23/13, 10:14 AM
CWJ said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 8/23/13, 10:14 AM
LuAnn Zieman said...: Scott M said...
Why do all of these hoaxes seem to germinate on the left?

I do recall a gay WI Republican campaign worker who claimed he had been attacked because he was conservative. It turned out he had done the damage to himself. But, of course, that's the only one I can recall offhand that involves a conservative.; 8/23/13, 11:20 AM
Gabriel Hanna said...: What's a "libertarian socialist?"

1) A contradiction in terms, like "married bachelor".

2) A progressive who supports gay marriage, legal marijuana, and the full panoply of the welfare state, and wants to sound edgy.; 8/23/13, 11:20 AM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Scott M,

Why do all of these hoaxes seem to germinate on the left?

Because there's no point in doing this sort of thing on the right, yes? If someone is purporting to menace minority or female or gay students on a college campus, you get exactly Oberlin's reaction: Shut down the campus and put the student body through a brief but vigorous bout of sensitivity training. I don't think that a student writing "Fascist Scum!" on his own dorm door would get a like response.; 8/23/13, 11:45 AM