Ward Churchill is finally going to be fired, and not for his inflammatory statements about 9/11 and chickens coming home to roost. As offensive as those statements were, it is a thousand times better that he is being fired for research misconduct, including plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification. Were many people motivated to fire him because of his statements? Of course. But if Churchill had been an honest and dedicated scholar, he would have been untouchable because he has the right to make offensive statements. As the CU Chancellor put it,
But, as is true with all liberties enjoyed by all Americans, with freedom comes responsibility. Appropriately, we in the academy are held to high standards of integrity, competence and accuracy, at the same time we freely engage in spirited, unimpeded discourse in the “marketplace of ideas.”
In spite of that statement, don’t forget that 200 CU faculty members displayed an astoundingly unacademic lack of curiousity when they wanted the investigation dropped because “the review was the result of political pressure, not a formal complaint of misconduct.” Wacademics seek to stifle debate, and find the “marketplace of ideas” just another sinister capitalist construct. There are some pretty funny comments at Hot Air about “Chief Running Mouth” and as Allahpundit pointed out, Pirate Ballerina has owned this story from the beginning.
Churchill was one of the best poster boys the wacademic left has ever had, and I hope he gets a high profile job that will really showcase his lunacy.
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Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger
Link to Pursuing Holiness and track back your latest and greatest here! I’ll be adding trackbacks to the body of the post as time allows, and I’ll bump this post to the top once a day as well.
1. Occidentality on 27 Jun 2006 at 10:38 am
Once upon a time there was a company, a very big company, that produced all the goods that were ever sold in stores — all sorts of things: pharmaceuticals, food, books. Everything from pots and pans to herbal medicine. To create these products, …
2. Occidentality on 27 Jun 2006 at 10:40 am
University Of Colorado Finally Resolves The Churchill Farce
“[Interim Chancellor] Phil DiStefano recommended that Prof. Ward Churchill be terminated as a staff member at CU.” Emphasis added and joy taken. Here’s the link.
3. Planck’s Constant on 27 Jun 2006 at 4:56 pm
Aksa Martyrs Brigades Pulling a Saddam
OK, two things:
1) They really have chemical weapons.
2) They don’t have chemical weapons.
