tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post113753240171153558..comments2023-10-28T10:12:35.184-04:00Comments on Big Tent: Ahh, the AcademyStephenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137604330622980992006-01-18T12:12:00.000-05:002006-01-18T12:12:00.000-05:00OK, if this guy were a neo-Nazi taxi driver I thin...OK, if this guy were a neo-Nazi taxi driver I think we'd all agree that he shouldn't be fired. But he was a university professor, and that is what makes this case so interesting - politics; his world view - was in many ways connected with his work. <BR/><BR/>I'm with Jeff. Technically, university students are adults, and I'm in favor of treating them as such. (Note: I have always disagreed thedudehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01000278418859952396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137602583142915972006-01-18T11:43:00.000-05:002006-01-18T11:43:00.000-05:00Jeff -- But the problem is that if you are tryinmg...Jeff --<BR/> But the problem is that if you are tryinmg to drum someone out of thew academy "for other reasons," those other reasons have to be there. You cannot fire someone for false pretenses or for things that other faculty slide on. <BR/> I think you bring a very strong point with the Schlesinger quotation. I wonder if the majority of American communists actualoly believed in overthrowing dcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09921385244556780254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137597720194385632006-01-18T10:22:00.000-05:002006-01-18T10:22:00.000-05:00I am going to disagree with your conclusions. The ...I am going to disagree with your conclusions. The guy seems like a freakin moron and I believe that on that basis he could be denied tenure and showed the door. However, I will borrow a phrase from Arthur Schlesinger who argued against purging communists from the ranks of university faculty b/c they had the "right to loathesome ideas." If the guys was a Nazi teaching elementary school you could Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137549891148168892006-01-17T21:04:00.000-05:002006-01-17T21:04:00.000-05:00Too dangerous for me to touch.Too dangerous for me to touch.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14620478836945715498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137547430267460772006-01-17T20:23:00.000-05:002006-01-17T20:23:00.000-05:00Tom-- No, I tend to agree -- membership in certain...Tom--<BR/> No, I tend to agree -- membership in certain groups may well be construed as prima facie cases of action. In other words, what a group advocates does matter. By any reasonable definition the KKK and their hooded friends are a terrorist organization and should be treated as such. Ditto the Aryan Nation, or Nazi party, or their equivalents. <BR/> So is there an acceptable range of ideas?dcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09921385244556780254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137538833040745502006-01-17T18:00:00.000-05:002006-01-17T18:00:00.000-05:00Let me add that I'm not sure I believe any of this...Let me add that I'm not sure I believe any of this--I'm willing to be convinced that I'm wrong.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12616206952252181603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137538615437164022006-01-17T17:56:00.000-05:002006-01-17T17:56:00.000-05:00I really don't know, or care to know, the policy i...I really don't know, or care to know, the policy ideas of the neo-Nazi group to which he belonged, but I would guess they flirt the free speech vs. imminent lawless action line pretty brazenly, which would be borderline actionable. If the group actually acts on their beliefs, I think the dismissal becomes more clear-cut. <BR/><BR/>I just don't know the law well enough to say definitively where Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12616206952252181603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6354819.post-1137533660049870422006-01-17T16:34:00.000-05:002006-01-17T16:34:00.000-05:00Tom -- I agree 100%. But I do have this serious qu...Tom --<BR/> I agree 100%. But I do have this serious question: Should he have been fired? Let's assume that he was not fired because he was missing classes (no way is that true, I do not believe the university for one minute). Should a professor who is otherwise doing his job be fired for his political or social affiliations, no matter how noxious, if it has no correlatable impact on his dcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09921385244556780254noreply@blogger.com