The Ward Churchill Affair

Ward Churchill, a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder has been quoted as stating in regards to the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center; “if there is a better, more effective way, to or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty on the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I’d really be interested in hearing about it”.
No doubt about it, Ward Churchill, professor of ethnic studies, is a grotesque yammering yap. There is something akin to senility that creeps over some people when they achieve academic tenure, they think themselves invulnerable and therefore spew out the most appalling things without let or hindrance.
Humble Elias can assure his gentle readers that he heard plenty of similar nonsense when he was both an undergraduate and graduate student, Churchill’s bluster pales into insignificance on at least one occasion long long ago. Predictably, the Hannity’s and O’Reilly’s have got their potatoes in a uproar calling on UC Boulder to fire Churchill with all due expedition.
Its hard to defend someone so heedless of consequences, so we will simply confine ourselves to defense of free speech even on behalf of yaps.
Let us remember though, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell didn’t lose their jobs when they said “America had it coming” on 9-12-2001. For that fact Mitt Romney sis still gainfully employed despite publicly listing terrorism and gay marriage as two grave threats to the United States. All grotesque demagogic bilge, but only Churchill seems to be in any danger of suffering the consequences for his palaver.
Are we then to have a speech code enforced by the diresome likes of O”Reilly and Laura Ingraham? If Churchill is beyond the pale, then so are Pat, Jerry, and Mitt. Alas America is a land where grotesque blowhards run amok twenty-four seven, it seems too late in the process to start making exceptions now. Not that any of that logic means a heck uh durn to Hannity etc, they see an opportunity and they’ll take it free speech or no free speech.