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Saturday, July 08, 2006

Sorry, but those commenters of mine…

…who wrote sympathetically about university search committees that come up with appointments like Kevin Barrett … the commenters who argued that it’s difficult to tell from paperwork whether you’ve got someone certifiable on your hands … are going to have to rethink their position.

I was tentatively sympathetic to these arguments, actually. Times being what they are, madmen may pass, fools may rush in…




But Kevin Barrett, recently hired by the University Wisconsin, Madison, to teach Islam, represents an instantly identifiable case of moronic paranoia. The search committee that rejected countless applicants for a teaching position in a sensitive and important subject in order to choose a man who signs a letter to the Governor of Wisconsin "Steve Nass, Reichschancellor, Thoughtcrime Division, University of Wisconsin-Madison" (Nass is one of Barrett’s many enemies.) is a search committee crying out for help.

Because of this committee, the state of Wisconsin must now contort itself to flush out of the body politic a pitiable conspiracy theorist who‘s about to teach at its flagship university.


This committee should write to the university community justifying or apologizing for what they did. And they should explain how Barrett’s being a University of Wisconsin Madison graduate played into this. Who taught him? Was his mentor on the search committee? Did he get preferential hiring treatment because he went to school there? What becomes of arguments that one can’t tell much about someone from mere paperwork when that person graduated from your school?



Meanwhile, though, we’ve got the correspondence of Barrett to the Governor to delectate… I mean, those of us interested in language and its uses have to appreciate -- for analytic purposes -- the willingness of Governor Doyle to make public Barrett’s text:


Gov. Jim Doyle is hinting that a controversial lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Madison may be unfit to teach.

Doyle told reporters on Friday that based on a letter he received from Islamic studies lecturer Kevin Barrett, the university must look closely at "whether he has the capacity to teach students."

In an interview, Barrett claimed much of the letter he sent to the governor was merely a parody, suggesting that anyone espousing critical or conspiratorial views would be considered unfit to teach at the university.

But based on Doyle's reaction, Barrett said, "I question his ability to govern the state."

He added that Doyle is "making himself into another McCarthyite."

Barrett has drawn fire for his plans to teach an Islamic studies course next fall that questions whether the U.S. government was involved in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Some state lawmakers, conservative commentators and Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green have called for Barrett's firing.

Doyle, a UW-Madison graduate, said the issue of Barrett's employment is not "a matter so much on what his political views are" as his fitness to teach students.

Doyle described the letter, dated July 5, as "sort of a diatribe about a lot of different issues."

"One of the things you want at the university is someone who bases their teaching on facts. If there's any institution that should be devoted to a factual analysis of what's going on, it should be the university," he said.

Doyle added, "This is for the university to look at, but I think they really have to take a hard look at that."

In the letter to Doyle, Barrett acknowledged the governor's previous criticism: "You apparently believe that I am incapable of performing well as an instructor of Islam 370 because I am convinced that the 9/11 Commission Report is a farcical coverup and that overwhelming evidence suggests top U.S. officials were complicit in the attacks of September 11th, 2001.

"I understand that you are under political pressure from your right flank, and that you may feel you have no choice but to call for my dismissal," Barrett wrote.

But he cited polls that show large numbers of Americans and Wisconsin residents believe the government's official report on the Sept. 11 attacks is wrong.

"I understand that there are Green and Libertarian candidates running for governor, and I predict that the controlled demolition of our corrupt two-party system by the 9/11 truth movement may begin here in Wisconsin this fall, with you and Mr. Green serving as first victims," Barrett continued.

Barrett also included a farcical questionnaire that he said would be required for anyone teaching at the UW. The questions included, "Do you believe that the Warren Report performed a thorough and unbiased investigation of the murder of JFK?" and "Do you believe that allegations of government involvement in the assassinations of Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, John Lennon, Mel Carnahan, and Paul Wellstone, and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, have been conclusively disproven?"

Anyone answering no to a question could be dismissed, he said, and signed the letter

"Steve Nass, Reichschancellor, Thoughtcrime Division, University of Wisconsin-Madison."

Nass is a Republican state representative from Whitewater who has called for Barrett's firing.

David Walsh, president of the Board of Regents at the University of Wisconsin, has characterized the issue as one of academic freedom and is not calling for Barrett's dismissal.

UW-Madison officials have said they are reviewing Barrett's plans for the class and will likely announce their decision on his hiring next week.



It is indeed an issue of academic freedom. The state university wants this man to teach its students. It chose him above all others.

Roman Hruska grasped this sort of situation very well during the G. Harrold Carswell controversy more than thirty years ago. Carswell, who Richard Nixon attempted to place on the Supreme Court, was by all accounts a mediocrity. To this charge, the Nebraska Senator responded: "Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. Aren't they entitled to a little representation and a little chance? We can't have all Brandeises and Cardozos and Frankfurters and stuff like that. I doubt we can. I doubt we want to."

Similarly, you might argue that a lot of paranoid cretins in this country are going without professors to teach them…



[via ann althouse]


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Update: I bow to Ben Wallace, a commenter over at Ann Althouse, who understands far more about this than I:


'I suspect the real Kevin Barrett was killed by the CIA or foreign terrorist groups in 2004 or 2005, shortly after defending his dissertation. The original Barrett mentioned the possibility of a conspiracy at a bar a couple of times in early 2002; such ramblings are how the CIA targets people for "replacement." What they do is find a left-leaning critic of the government and replace them with a plant who can unleash political controvery at will. There are actually undercover agents in all 50 states who can be activated at any time. In this case, the operative ("Kevin Barrett") was activated to help the Republicans continue to control the WI state legislature. Control of the state legislatures is obviously necessary to ensure the Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is successful. The next step of the plan is to activate the conspiracy theorists in Oregon. This will inevitably lead to the universities supporting the conspiracy theorists, thus providing a platform for Republicans to galvanize control of the Oregon state legislature.

And the reason why terrorists are working with the CIA on this is because a Republican-dominated US will continue the "war on terror," thereby giving them a focal point for recruiting new members.'


********************************

Second Update: Go back to Althouse's updated comment thread for some reliable sounding insider information about Barrett and others.

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Third Update: A little more information on this increasingly bizarre situation, from the Wisconsin State Journal:

Professor Muhammad Memon said he usually teaches the class himself, but he is going on sabbatical this fall.

Memon said Barrett, the only applicant for the job, was seen as a strong replacement because he gained familiarity with the class as a teaching assistant.

"I have good feelings about his teaching, and I trust he will do a good job," he said, adding that he was not aware of any complaints related to Barrett's political views when he was involved with the class.



So Ralph Luker’s right -- he said in a comment here that Barrett was the only candidate. How’d that happen?

Also - Professor Memon feels good about Barrett’s teaching. But can we trust his feelings? Here are three comments about Memon from Rate My Professors. And yes, that's very few comments, and you don’t want to generalize. But the content of these comments makes them worth reproducing.

Overall ranking for this professor: lowest possible.

before taking his class, i was really interested in it and afterwards, i felt as though i really did not learn much at all. i thought he was unapproachable, and did not really have organization to his lectures.. his tangents made me feel really lost, and no matter how hard i tried to pay attenion, i kept zoning out every time.


Absolutely awful. Lecture attendance is required, but he covers no material at all, just rambling about nothing in particular and clearly having done no preparation. He's also unfriendly if you try to approach him outside of class. He should be ashamed to accept money for teaching, since he doesn't do anything close to teaching all semester.



Worst professor I have ever had. He just rambles all lecture about things unrelated to the course. Exams don't reflect material covered in lecture, so discussion sessions are a must in order to figure out what's going on in the course. He takes attendance in lecture. Never seen so many people sleep through a class. It's awful