Posted on 02/21/2018 9:11:36 PM PST by Kaslin
Dear Montana Representatives:
On February 13th, I had the opportunity to speak in Dennison Theater at the University of Montana (UM). Events leading to the speech as well as events occurring during the speech made it clear that the Montana legislature must act to restore respect for freedom of speech on its publicly funded university campuses. I write today to ask that you pass specific free speech legislation we have already adopted in my home State of North Carolina.
Prior to my speech, in a bizarre statement to the entire university community, UM president Seth Bodnar stated, “Ours is a university driven by the core values of inclusiveness and equal opportunity. We stand united against divisiveness, intolerance, and hate.” He continued saying, “nor do we condone speech that is hateful or targets people based on their identities.” I characterize this statement as bizarre because he seems to be referring to me as the one responsible for “divisiveness, intolerance, and hate,” and as one who “targets people based on their identities.” This statement would have been more accurate had he been describing UM’s Dean of Journalism, Larry Abramson.
I have written previously with direct evidence that Larry Abramson had initially succeeded in excluding me from a limited public forum at UM based upon my viewpoints. I also documented indirect evidence that he did so based on my religion. (See my previous column, “Grizzly Bigotry at the University of Montana.”). There is now credible direct evidence that Abramson made his decision based upon my religion. This matter is serious and demands a formal investigation. I am fully prepared to supply the relevant evidence to the legislature should they decide to initiate a formal inquiry.
Unlike Dean Larry Abramson, I have never engaged in “the targeting of people based on their identity” for the purpose of excluding them from participating in the free exchange of ideas on a university campus. Accordingly, Bodnar is completely out of line when he lectures me while refusing to address the overt religious bigotry that exists within his own administration.
As embarrassing as Dean Abramson is, President Bodnar has an even bigger problem on his hands. As it stands, he is ruling over a campus that has been overtaken by petulant children who lose all semblance of emotional control when confronted with a contrary opinion. This was seen in my speech when an LGBT activist stood up in the middle of the theater with a sign reading, “Suck a (expletive for male sex organ) Mike Adams. I Won’t Judge You.”
As the adult male student waved the obscene sign in front of the women and children who were in attendance, he chanted “hate speech is not free speech!” Doubtless, he was encouraged by President Bodnar’s campus wide statement, which gave an air of legitimacy to their self-righteous indignation and mindless hysteria.
Shockingly, after police ejected the hysterical student, he returned for a second disruption. After the second disruption and ejection, he somehow managed to re-enter Dennison Theater again – this time standing behind me backstage concealed by the curtain. He shouted over me until he was ejected for a third and final time.
It was later revealed that this UM student (currently a music major) had stolen a key to the building allowing him to reenter at will. Therefore, this incident involves more than mere heckling. It involves criminal conduct. The incident underscores the need for President Bodnar to take a break from lecturing me on “divisiveness” and “intolerance” and “hate” and instead deal with the criminal/students that have overtaken his campus. Of course, there is little chance that he will display the courage necessary to bring that about. And that is why I am writing the legislature today.
The Foundation for Individual Right in Education, or FIRE, gives UM a rating of “red light” in its three level rating system. This means that UM has at least one policy, which substantially abridges freedom of expression. In the case of UM, the policy is a “harassment” policy, which is clearly overbroad. In other words, it bans more than just illegal and pervasive harassment. It also bans certain constitutionally protected speech. Ironically, the policy would allow the Muslim woman who shouted “bigot” during my speech to be convicted of harassment, although the substance of her outburst (in contrast to its expression at that time in the theater) was clearly protected by the First Amendment.
If Montana adopts a version of North Carolina’s HB527, student protestors will be able to call me a bigot and other epithets without fearing prosecution under an unconstitutional harassment policy. In other words, they will be able to show their a** with impunity. But other provisions of the bill will help better ensure that they are kept from doing it during my speech – and for the specific purpose of drowning it out and excluding it from the marketplace of ideas. Surely, President Bodnar would support this measure, given his previous moral posturing on the importance of tolerance and inclusion. If he refuses to take a principled stand, he should be over-ruled by the more intellectually honest adults in the Montana legislature.
In conclusion, I would also urge the Montana legislature to call their version of HB527 the “Jeff Cole Campus Free Speech Act.” It would bring honor to the most prominent journalist ever produced by UM’s School of Journalism. It would also serve as a reminder that the profession of journalism was once led by men of principle, honor, and integrity.
Sadly, that is no longer the case. And the same could be said of higher education.
Please Freepmail me, if you want to be added, or removed from the ping list.
I don’t know how Mike Adams stays with it. What stamina.
He seems to keep expecting the world to be fair. Well at least he’s a witness against it.
So sad this morning. I am a 1967 grad of the U of M and it was a great University. Guess anyone interested in a real education in Montana needs to go to Montana State at Bozeman. :-(
When God raises someone up and empowers them, they have the stamina.
And Mike Adams pales in comparison to what President Trump has to endure and the battle he is fighting.
Prayers up for both men and others in their situations. They need all the support they can get.
Unfortunately, Montana may be losing such a place of honor.
The average number of firearms in households that own firearms in Montana is 27. Not sure where that stands in the national average but it ain’t bad.
Plenty of patriots here to defend against the liberal infestation in Missoula. The UM is the reason for that infestation. But enrollment at the UM is declining and we here in the Bitterroot Valley, just south of Missoula, are quite capable of stopping it’s spread if it looks to be getting out of control.
Montana will be okay. You are welcome to come back and join our efforts, FRiend.
Thanks, I'm sure you are right. We feel quite comfortable here in Texas, as well, in spite of our proximity to Austin. There are similar liberal infestations here, but they're mostly kept in check by the population. "Proper gun control" means that you only need one round.
You probably never herd about an incident here at a theater in Texas that happened just several weeks after the theater massacre in in 2012 that killed 12 in Aurora, Colorado. The only difference here, was that an armed off-duty sheriff's deputy pulled our her weapon and shot the perp before he could take a second shot. That's how it should work everywhere.
Thanks for the ping.
We thought Mike Adams was fighting Cultural Marxism... not an easy task... but now we know he’s fighting both Cultural Marxism and totalitarian thugs in the Russian PsyOps teams.
Why are colleges filled with Communists ‘useful idiots’? Because the quality of professors has gone down as the ‘best and brightest’ moved on to better paying more interesting professions. The people teaching in colleges today would have been selling shoes at the five and dime 50 years ago...
“The people teaching in colleges today would have been selling shoes at the five and dime 50 years ago.”
Makes me wonder what middle school teachers would have been doing. Taking tickets at the swimming pool, maybe.
“but now we know he’s fighting both Cultural Marxism and totalitarian thugs in the Russian PsyOps teams.”
Has anybody seen any of these so-called Russian ads or posts? They keep claiming that they supported Trump, but I have seen zero evidence of that.
The problem is that that situation existed because of real sexism - a level of discrimination not acceptable.
Women who today run companies - - and represent us in legislatures around the country - - back then were restricted to 'teaching or nursing'... Lots of high level talent very cheap - - an early sexist version of the CHEAP LABOR EXPRESS.
A modern day solution might include raising teachers pay to $80,000 a year and having schools open year round with students allowed to choose the 3 months they take off for 'summer'... That would weed out people who see teaching as a 'side job' or hobby. It would also open up teaching slots to higher quality citizens. Also teachers should teach within a field... not be 'education majors'. But that's a different subject.
There's no evidence of Russians attacking Sanders ever... Of course Sanders honeymooned in Moscow and called himself a ‘socialist’ in the 60’s when it was widely known that the term socialist was interchangeable with the term ‘communist’. Russians attempted to paint Trump and his backers as racists... I'll see if I can find the link to that one... which fits the MSM meme... It would NOT surprise me to discover Russians were behind Charlottesville - that had 'commie community organizer' handprints all over it...
“The problem is that that situation existed because of real sexism - a level of discrimination not acceptable.”
Not only was it acceptable, it was essential, as we see from the mess around us.
We had better get back to that ASAP if we are to survive as a civilization.
More random stuff - looks like Russians were out to make Trump supporters look like racists - AND they hated Hillary. Seems they liked old Bernie. No surprise there... Bernie honeymooned in Moscow... he’s a socialist from the 60’s - - when everyone knew it meant ‘communist’...
https://thinkprogress.org/black-matters-us-site-90625b18f262/
“Black Matters US” also maintains a Google+ account – which included a post calling Bernie Sanders “the only [candidate] who really cares about people” – and a YouTube account that featured, among other things, a clip calling for viewers to join a #HillaryClintonForPrison2016 flashmob, with the video’s subject torching a piece of paper that says “Hillary Clinton fuck u!!!”
https://thinkprogress.org/armed-white-supremacist-protest-organized-by-russians-d730f83ca275/
Organizers behind armed white supremacist protest in Houston revealed as Russian
“It really gives an indication of the extent to which there must be a major Russian apparatus.”
https://www.rbc.ru/magazine/2017/11/59e0c17d9a79470e05a9e6c1
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/920262433914212352.html
7. Among the largest fake Russian accounts focused on politics, the “Army of Jesus” and “South United” accounts hadn’t been previously reported:
8. Fake Russian social media accounts even targeted Native Americans:
9. And while it hasn’t gotten much attention thus far, Instagram (in red) was just as abused as Facebook and Twitter by these fake Russian accounts:
10. The most popular Twitter account identified as Russian by the RBK investigation was @TEN_GOP, which had previously made its way into The Daily Beast, HuffPo, Fox News, Vocativ, etc.
External Tweet loading...
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by @collinrugg view original on Twitter
And for @PostOpinions, I wrote about what it was like to follow one of these fake Russian accounts since early 2016: washingtonpost.com/news/democracy…
Here’s Posobiec celebrating the return of a fake Russian Twitter account:
External Tweet loading...
If nothing shows, it may have been deleted
by @JackPosobiec view original on Twitter
K.
External Tweet loading...
If nothing shows, it may have been deleted
by @cjcmichel view original on Twitter
.@JackPosobiec deleted the tweet, but here he is cheering the return of that Twitter account revealed today as Russian:
Coda: Russian operatives tested out organizing protests in the U.S. via ... free hot dogs in Times Square.
Russian Trolls Used ‘Up To 100’ Activists To Organize Events In US, Report Finds
Alan Yuhas contributed English-language translation As many as 100 unwitting activists were recruited to help organize events in the United...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/us-activists-unwittingly-organized-events-russian-troll-farm
Last month, Trump publicly thanked a Twitter account that said it was run by the folks behind what we now know are Russian accounts:
Trump personally thanked fake Twitter account linked to Russia
The account, which was suspended by Twitter, received public thanks from the president.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-retweet-a-fake-twitter-account-149f3f9c1360/
‘@TEN_GOP was one of the top influencers in spreading the #Berkeley hashtag last April.’
New Charts Show What The Russian Troll @TEN_GOP Account Was Tweeting This Summer
The Kremlin-backed @TEN_GOP account pushed hashtags for divisive events, including the Charlottesville “Unite The Right” rally, according to a new analysis of Twitter data.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/new-charts-show-what-the-russian-troll-tengop-account-was?utm_term=.bvNZO2Dx4#.vxMegQ1Rk
More random stuff - looks like Russians were out to make Trump supporters look like racists - AND they hated Hillary. Seems they liked old Bernie. No surprise there... Bernie honeymooned in Moscow... he’s a socialist from the 60’s - - when everyone knew it meant ‘communist’...
https://thinkprogress.org/black-matters-us-site-90625b18f262/
“Black Matters US” also maintains a Google+ account – which included a post calling Bernie Sanders “the only [candidate] who really cares about people” – and a YouTube account that featured, among other things, a clip calling for viewers to join a #HillaryClintonForPrison2016 flashmob, with the video’s subject torching a piece of paper that says “Hillary Clinton fuck u!!!”
https://thinkprogress.org/armed-white-supremacist-protest-organized-by-russians-d730f83ca275/
Organizers behind armed white supremacist protest in Houston revealed as Russian
“It really gives an indication of the extent to which there must be a major Russian apparatus.”
https://www.rbc.ru/magazine/2017/11/59e0c17d9a79470e05a9e6c1
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/920262433914212352.html
7. Among the largest fake Russian accounts focused on politics, the “Army of Jesus” and “South United” accounts hadn’t been previously reported:
8. Fake Russian social media accounts even targeted Native Americans:
9. And while it hasn’t gotten much attention thus far, Instagram (in red) was just as abused as Facebook and Twitter by these fake Russian accounts:
10. The most popular Twitter account identified as Russian by the RBK investigation was @TEN_GOP, which had previously made its way into The Daily Beast, HuffPo, Fox News, Vocativ, etc.
And for @PostOpinions, I wrote about what it was like to follow one of these fake Russian accounts since early 2016: washingtonpost.com/news/democracy…
Here’s Posobiec celebrating the return of a fake Russian Twitter account:
.@JackPosobiec deleted the tweet, but here he is cheering the return of that Twitter account revealed today as Russian:
Coda: Russian operatives tested out organizing protests in the U.S. via ... free hot dogs in Times Square.
Russian Trolls Used ‘Up To 100’ Activists To Organize Events In US, Report Finds
Alan Yuhas contributed English-language translation As many as 100 unwitting activists were recruited to help organize events in the United...
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/us-activists-unwittingly-organized-events-russian-troll-farm
Last month, Trump publicly thanked a Twitter account that said it was run by the folks behind what we now know are Russian accounts:
Trump personally thanked fake Twitter account linked to Russia
The account, which was suspended by Twitter, received public thanks from the president.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-retweet-a-fake-twitter-account-149f3f9c1360/
‘@TEN_GOP was one of the top influencers in spreading the #Berkeley hashtag last April.’
New Charts Show What The Russian Troll @TEN_GOP Account Was Tweeting This Summer
The Kremlin-backed @TEN_GOP account pushed hashtags for divisive events, including the Charlottesville “Unite The Right” rally, according to a new analysis of Twitter data.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/charliewarzel/new-charts-show-what-the-russian-troll-tengop-account-was?utm_term=.bvNZO2Dx4#.vxMegQ1Rk
Besides the remedy is easy - pay more. Make teaching ‘full time’, eight hours a day, all year long.
If you pay a highly competitive wage, make it a year long job (NOT a nine month sinecure) - you'll get plenty of high quality people. Oh, and outlaw ‘education’ majors... except for elementary school teachers.
“If you pay a highly competitive wage, make it a year long job (NOT a nine month sinecure) - you’ll get plenty of high quality people.”
If the kids are going to go an extra 36 months in grades 1-12, I want them coming out of high school with the equivalent of 3 years of college. And not “today college,” but real college by world standards.
“Oh, and outlaw ‘education’ majors... except for elementary school teachers.”
When I was young, education departments were the joke of every university in the country. I guess X-studies departments are even worse.
I think elementary school teachers could be “prepared” by participation in seminars and student-teaching, in addition to a real major. I mean, if you’re too dumb to get a BA in sociology, you shouldn’t be allowed within a hundred yards of a school.
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