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Thursday, August 03, 2006
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Buyer's Remorse... ...has definitely set in at the University of Wisconsin. After a few heady days defending the free speech rights of 9/11 conspiracy theorist and faculty member Kevin Barrett, the provost has leaned in for a closer look. The distinction between Barrett's right to bark like a dog on the subject of 9/11, and the university's obligation to inflict Barrett's barking on its students, has, in the light of day, become clear to the provost, judging by the angry letter he's just written Barrett (who is scheduled to teach in the fall). Here's part of an AP story about it: [The provost writes:] "In summary, if you continue to identify yourself with UW-Madison in your personal political messages or illustrate an inability to control your interest in publicity for your ideas, I would lose confidence ..." Note the patronizing nature of the email. The provost writes to Barrett not as a colleague but as a wayward child. No doubt this tone will offend Barrett (who after all is in possession of truths about the world the provost can never hope to grasp), and he will respond in kind, setting off a long epistolary give and take which we will all follow in the papers. |