"While we respect academic freedom, ADL is deeply concerned that the students in Barrett's class are receiving a taxpayer-funded indoctrination into the instructor's personal political views that the U.S. government perpetrated the 9/11 attacks, that America is equivalent to Nazi Germany and that Israel is a racist state," said Lonnie Nasatir, Regional Director of ADL's Upper Midwest office and a University of Wisconsin alumnus. "Students who have signed up for a class purportedly about Islam are being ill-served by this content, which has little to do with that great religion."...
"These 9/11 conspiracies are used to demonize Jews, Israel and America, and have become part of the core belief systems of anti-Semites and millions of others around the world," said Nasatir. "It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university would choose to offer a class that provides fodder to extremists, rather than seek to debunk these myths."
October 11, 2006
"It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university would choose to offer a class that provides fodder to extremists."
The Anti-Defamation League on UW teacher Kevin Barrett:
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It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university--
Waitaminnit... I thought we were talking about the University of Wisconsin at Madison! The place that employs the blithering idiot impersonating Altmouse!
It doesn't get fucking lower than that...
BTW, Kevin Barrett nails it:
"Hitler had a good 20 to 30 IQ points on Bush, so comparing Bush to Hitler would in many ways be an insult to Hitler."
'Nuff said...
Who needs Barrett, when we have Dave?
Yep Dave, that about says everything anybody needs to know about you, lol.
Re the IQ points... you know the Unabomber is smarter than all of us in IQ points, don't you?
A half a generation or so ago, this would have been sufficient to get Barrett booted. But since then, Jews have officially joined the mainstream, and, thus, anti-semitism is now legitimate.
I used to think that the ADL went overboard. And maybe at one point they did. But not any more. Teachers at major universities seem to have a pass for religious/ethnic bigotry against Jews now, and major African-Americans can now openly show anti-Semitism without repercussion. So, I think that the organization is relevant today, more than it has been for much of the last couple of decades.
"It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university would choose to offer a class that provides fodder to extremists."
They should have said.
"It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university would choose to offer a class that provides fodder to everyone who is not a raving lunatic."
Dave does have some cute pictures of cats and bunnies on his cat blog, though. So he's got that going for him.
Bruce - my main problem with the ADL is that they have never yet seemed to grasp the concept that a criticism of Israeli policy is not per se antisemitism.
Rev - black cats are hard to photograph, I've found. One of our cats is a black shorthair, and he never looks good in photographs although he's actually very handsome. Amber Taylor from the blog Prettier than Napoleon manages to get some good photographs of hers.
I have lived most of my life in neighborhoods that were heavily Jewish, and have had neighbors who had burn marks on their arms from concentration camps and have friends who have had relatives who perished in Nazi occupied Poland.
So I learned early on that those who suffered under Nazis have little patience for assholes who casually compare mainstream Americans to someone who slaughtered 6 million Jews. A lesson that Barrett hasn't learned even later in life.
George asked:
"Can that be right? $311K!" [re the UW Prez's salary]
I would have guessed about 2x or 3x that amount. I seem to recall the California Prez got an anual package of about $600K-$700K when hired about 2-3 years ago. Of course, that person had an engineering degree I think and perhaps they have to pay those with hard science degrees more money.
At my wonderful institution of higher education, a Jewish student group is putting on a discussion of the Middle East from 'an Israeli perspective.' They are being castigated by some faculty for ingnoring the 'sensitivities' of Muslim students.
Funny that the Muslim student are never called on hurting the feelings of Jewish students.
Once they gave him the class - it's hard to ditch him. But once his contract is up - ditch the moron. And give the real reason - which is simply poor scholarship on his part.
So dave (small "D" of course) is a catblogger? Well, that explains a lot...
On a related note, Bill O'Reilly did a segment tonight on Barett, speaking with a student working for a newspaper and one of the students in Barett's class.
For what it's worth, O'Reilly totally blasted UW.
Damn, I just got done watching South Park. They did a wonderful job of hammering at 9/11 conspiracy theorists.
It was a great episode, eventhough it didn't have enough of Cartman or Butters.
dave:
In addition to Palladian's cautioning you about consorting with cats, here is another hazard to ponder....it's a known fact that hanging around Althouse tends to make you far less liberal and just plain sensible.
Oh! I was watching "Project Runway"! Sorry I missed it. I'll set the TiVo for the rerun. I did just by chance happen to catch the O'Reilly (which isn't a show I watch ordinarily). I thought the students held up pretty well. He relied on a rather cheap move, which was kind of mean to do to a young person.
For what it's worth, O'Reilly totally blasted UW.
Really? O'Reilly went after a liberal university for allowing a 9/11 conspiracy theorist to teach his book?
You never know what that guy is going to say next.
I think the conspiracy theory needs to be more thoroughly debunked before we ostracize its proponents.
That's right, the onus is on the government to disprove it!
:P
On a tangentially related topic, the term "deeply troubling" or "deeply troubled" has been so overused as to make it almost a spoof of itself. I wonder how many people who say they are deeply troubled really are.
I think the conspiracy theory needs to be more thoroughly debunked before we ostracize its proponents.
That's silly. There is no aspect of the conspiracy "theory" that hasn't already been completely debunked. Any further effort is wasted -- we're long past the point where anyone who wasn't either mentally ill or of subnormal intelligence could possibly examine the evidence and conclude that the official story is fake.
downtownlad:
You nailed this one.
Interestingly, I just watched a show on PBS about the Hindenburg disaster that posited the theory that the dirigible's destruction was caused by the combination of aluminum powder and iron oxide in the cellulose acetate butyrate coating of the fabric skin of the ship. You know what that means: the Hindenburg's fiery crash was caused by thermite!
Quick, what's Barrett's office phone number?
"Students who have signed up for a class purportedly about Islam are being ill-served by this content, which has little to do with that great religion."
Soon we will get the lawsuit against the University claiming that a student who wanted an introductory course in Islam was defrauded, demanding a return of part of his tuition, and, of course, punitive damages.
Perhaps this will be fun after all!
"I think the conspiracy theory needs to be more thoroughly debunked before we ostracize its proponents."
I think that Oprah may get into this on her Thursday show. The real topic is the way the media spins stories, and how the public should demand better accuracy in reporting, and 911 is on the agenda (according to the previews). She's having some kind of "town meeting" on all of this.
Lightweights. Project Runway? Why does anyon bother with this moron's blog? Do people atually pay money to listen to her?
dave: "BTW, Kevin Barrett nails it:
"Hitler had a good 20 to 30 IQ points on Bush, so comparing Bush to Hitler would in many ways be an insult to Hitler."
And I'm sure you wouldn't want to insult Hitler.
Dave-with-a-little-d, it is not the magnitude of the IQ, it is how one uses what IQ one has. Case in point: You. Whatever your IQ may be is completely irrelevant due to the sophistic inanity of your writings.
While you may have an IQ as high as Hitler's, your writing only barely rises at times to the level of idiot.
Speaking of such, isn't it about time for you to melt down and call everyone names? Again?
"It is deeply troubling that a prestigious public university would choose to offer a class that provides fodder to extremists, rather than seek to debunk these myths."
Does the Univ. of Wisconsin have any classes which use the book Debunking 9/11 Myths as a text?
I trust UW won't be allowing this nutter to teach a second semester. If they do, then they should be protested more vigorously.
I had all kinds of profs I thought were a bit out there, but I was always able to respect them. Nothing like this guy. It might've been fun to be in such a class just to f*ck with the instructor, but I doubt I'd wanna stay at a school that hires complete psycho idiots.
And more galling to note that the three Presidents with the brighest minds of the last 100 years are Hoover, Nixon, and Clinton.
On what basis do people think Clinton has a mind so bright we're all supposed to take notice? I've always considered that a load of bullshit. They can go on about a Rhodes sholarship. If you look at the criteria used to select Rhodes Scholars - stuff like "moral force of character" and "truth, courage, devotion to duty" - it doesn't even apply to Clinton, so I suspect it's all about overly abmition youngsters brown-nosing their way in.
When someone tells me a president was particularly bright, I need to see ideas and/or accomplishments that back it up. He had 8 years. He'd have demonstrated it. He didn't. To the dustbin he'll go.
so I suspect it's all about overly abmition youngsters brown-nosing their way in.
I meant overly ambitious youngsters.
A previous governor of my state of Ohio (Dick Celeste) was hyped as a Rhodes Scholar and he was crap.
A previous governor of my state of Ohio (Dick Celeste) was hyped as a Rhodes Scholar and he was crap.
I read something the other day that Orwell wrote, that "Some ideas are so stupid, only an intellectual could believe them." That would explain a lot, especially when you look at the people who are self-styled intellectuals.
Fenrisulven said...
"I've been here about a month now, and I think Madison Man is the only liberal who's sane. Am I forgeting anyone? Not dtl not dave..."
DTL is a libertarian not a liberal; Doyle and Elizabeth have occaisional lapses, but they're usually valuable (and liberal) posters.
I've always found it amusing to see the most puerile minds talking about the value of human beings as a sort of intellectual weightlifting contest.
Elections as spelling bees, or speed talking contests.
What good is knowing things, if the things you know aren't worthwhile?
How smart is Kevin Barrett? And you, if you're paying attention to him?
I wouldn't hire him, or you, to clean the pine needles out of my gutters. The process would be too...deep for you.
Bill O'Reilly did a segment tonight on Barett, speaking with a student working for a newspaper and one of the students in Barett's class.
Yeah, and he kept saying no UW faculty had come out against him! Of course, he hates blogs. . .
You know what that means: the Hindenburg's fiery crash was caused by thermite!
Heh. I watched it and immediately thought of creating a "Hindenburg Truther" web site!
That theory has been around for a while actually. I remember reading about it, ohhh, in the early 90s or something. Back then though there still wasn't a good explanation for what the ignition source was. The spark-between-panels was rather neat, I thought, though that and actually comparing the combustability of different fabrics would be useful.
BTW Barrett's class must purchase his book of essays, The Myth of 9/11, by his co-conspiracist group, three of which essays are required reading for his class. This is scholarship??
The Myth of 9/11,
fenris, thank you for the compliment -- I'll say that I don't consider myself liberal, by the way, just common-sensical.
Now if I only knew my IQ.
Pat, Shanna -
I'm glad I'm not the only one who spotted that. So to the list of charges against Barrett, which have thusfar run only to want of judgement, stupidity and deriliction of pedagogical duty, we can - hilariously - add the charge of extortion (or at minimum, coercion): "buy my book about how the Bush regime is evil, or you will fail my class on Islam."
it is not the magnitude of the IQ, it is how one uses what IQ one has.
Um, you're giving both dave and Barrett too much credit here. So far as I can tell there is no publically-available IQ test score for Bush -- I suspect Barrett simply invented the claim to begin with. Still, it is likely true. The only US President known to have had an IQ higher than Hitler's 141 was Nixon, with a 143. Make of that what you will.
re: dave's cat blog. I just checked it out. He really likes cats. They obviously bring out the best in him.
But what I find troubling is that Hitler was an animal-lover, too.
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