A view from the right and a response
Well I allowed some friends of mine on the right to bait me into a discussion about Easton Jordan. First I had to find out who Easton Jordan is, thank you
Mahablog It turned into a long discussion needless to say but in the end we were caught up in how the right calls for everyone they disagree with to be fired. Easton Jordan and Ward Churchill right now, but not long ago it was Dan Rather. I then stated that I thought Brit Hume should be fired for deliberately shilling for the administration on Social Security destruction, and dissembling on FDR's intentions for Social Security on his February 3rd broadcast. They went into convulsions, of course. It isn't the same thing la la la.
Finally, I explained to them...
The point being is that people shouldn't be fired for opinions.Churchill should be protected by tenure, it was put there to protect academic freedom so that professors could have strange thoughts and opinions. It is sometimes how great things happen, it is also how we sometimes get extremists in academia. Students in higher education, are capable of learning from an extremist without being brainwashed, and being better off for it. I learned from all my professors and did not agree with all of them in fact I learned a great deal from some I agreed little with. I am the daughter of an academic, I take tenure seriously. I know why it exists and have seen why it is important first hand.
Jordan said something which he either backtracked from very quickly, realizing either one he was wrong, or two it was absolutely the wrong thing to say. But possibly because he cares about the safety of journalist in a war zone? (From what I have read) It appears at worse to have been anti-American. It isn't like he attempt to put a story on the air with no backing for it. He made an off the record comment that he backed away from about it. People don't lose their jobs for making a comment that they back away from in a closed setting one would hope? It seem like a high level of accountability to me.
The point being the more we call for firing someone because they exercise speech, the more we are hurting ourselves, and our rights to speak out freely.
Mahablog It turned into a long discussion needless to say but in the end we were caught up in how the right calls for everyone they disagree with to be fired. Easton Jordan and Ward Churchill right now, but not long ago it was Dan Rather. I then stated that I thought Brit Hume should be fired for deliberately shilling for the administration on Social Security destruction, and dissembling on FDR's intentions for Social Security on his February 3rd broadcast. They went into convulsions, of course. It isn't the same thing la la la.
Finally, I explained to them...
The point being is that people shouldn't be fired for opinions.Churchill should be protected by tenure, it was put there to protect academic freedom so that professors could have strange thoughts and opinions. It is sometimes how great things happen, it is also how we sometimes get extremists in academia. Students in higher education, are capable of learning from an extremist without being brainwashed, and being better off for it. I learned from all my professors and did not agree with all of them in fact I learned a great deal from some I agreed little with. I am the daughter of an academic, I take tenure seriously. I know why it exists and have seen why it is important first hand.
Jordan said something which he either backtracked from very quickly, realizing either one he was wrong, or two it was absolutely the wrong thing to say. But possibly because he cares about the safety of journalist in a war zone? (From what I have read) It appears at worse to have been anti-American. It isn't like he attempt to put a story on the air with no backing for it. He made an off the record comment that he backed away from about it. People don't lose their jobs for making a comment that they back away from in a closed setting one would hope? It seem like a high level of accountability to me.
The point being the more we call for firing someone because they exercise speech, the more we are hurting ourselves, and our rights to speak out freely.
posted by Rugo at 5:58 AM
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