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Inside Politics: Liberal hubris
The Washington Times ^ | 11/23/04 | Greg Pierce

Posted on 11/23/2004 6:05:33 AM PST by Pfesser

Many liberal pundits and newspaper letter writers have been bragging about how brilliant they are while bemoaning the supposed stupidity of those who voted to re-elect President Bush earlier this month.

So it probably should come as no surprise that two college professors wrote to the New York Times to explain why a recent survey found that Republicans were grossly outnumbered in academia: Republicans simply aren't smart enough to teach at the college level.

"Academics are trained to reason using logic, to question evidence and to consider and evaluate several possible interpretations of events," Markus Meister, a professor of biology at Harvard, said in one of two letters published yesterday. "All these activities are discouraged and indeed ridiculed by the present Republican leadership."

The professor added: "Academic Republicans must indeed suffer from cognitive dissonance."

Mr. Meister's view was echoed by John McCumber, a professor of Germanic languages at UCLA.

"A successful career in academia, after all, requires a willingness to be critical of yourself and to learn from experience, along with a lack of interest in material incentives," Mr. McCumber said in his letter. "All these are antithetical to Republicanism as it has recently come to be."

(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: academe; politicalcorrectness
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Elistist eggheads.
1 posted on 11/23/2004 6:05:33 AM PST by Pfesser
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To: Pfesser

Actually the reason Republicans aren't teaching in academia is because they don't like to be around lazy, self actualizing hippy morons.

And because you can make a hell of a lot more money outside of academia than within it.


2 posted on 11/23/2004 6:07:40 AM PST by Bikers4Bush (Flood waters rising, heading for more conservative ground. Vote for true conservatives!)
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To: Pfesser

Delusional eggheads.


3 posted on 11/23/2004 6:08:20 AM PST by weenie ("A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants." -- Churchill)
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To: Bikers4Bush

Bingo!

The ugly little truth also is that most of the people in academia are morons, brilliant morons some, but still morons...


4 posted on 11/23/2004 6:08:52 AM PST by Pitiricus
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To: Pfesser

Democratic slogan for 2008:

Keep Dope Alive!


5 posted on 11/23/2004 6:09:17 AM PST by KidGlock (W-1)
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To: Pfesser
A successful career in academia, after all, requires a willingness to be critical of yourself ...

Just make sure that you don't let anyone else criticize you. "Academics" can't stand that.

6 posted on 11/23/2004 6:09:33 AM PST by FreePaul
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To: Pfesser

Those that cannot DO.... Teach.

There is no tenure in the real world.. you gotta earn your keep.


7 posted on 11/23/2004 6:10:22 AM PST by HamiltonJay ("You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.")
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To: Bikers4Bush

Those who can do. Those who can't teach...


8 posted on 11/23/2004 6:10:45 AM PST by Helotes
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To: Pfesser
"a lack of interest in material incentives,"

Interest in or ability to acquire?
9 posted on 11/23/2004 6:10:47 AM PST by Time is now (We'll live to see it......or something like it....)
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To: Pfesser

It would be interesting to see how liberal/conservative engineering professors are. I would expect they are more conservative since they deal more with the real world.


10 posted on 11/23/2004 6:11:56 AM PST by Oh Brother
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To: Pitiricus

I spend 8 to 12 years of my life getting a PHD... work for 30 to 40 a year and maybe work my way up to 70 or 80k a year when I get tenure... OR I can get my 4 year degree, go out in the real world and make more in under 5 years than they will be making after 20 years to 25 years in academia.......

You do the math on who's the fool.


11 posted on 11/23/2004 6:12:26 AM PST by HamiltonJay ("You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.")
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To: Pfesser

Isn't this pretty much the same argument the KKK used to use to explain why blacks couldn't read or write?


12 posted on 11/23/2004 6:12:59 AM PST by 9999lakes
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To: Pfesser
LOLOL.....to the two brilliant professors......

WHO'S YOUR DADDY

13 posted on 11/23/2004 6:13:01 AM PST by OldFriend (PRAY FOR MAJ. TAMMY DUCKWORTH)
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To: Pfesser

No they as latent Commies, that are bemoaning the fact that we don't have a Police state that would force us STUPID people to believe like them are go to a gulag.


14 posted on 11/23/2004 6:14:01 AM PST by marty60
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To: Pfesser

And the most ironic part, after saying something like this, is that they'll then turn around and immediately call conservatives/Republicans "bigots" at the slightest provocation, without even attempting to look at issues from our viewpoint.


15 posted on 11/23/2004 6:15:34 AM PST by kevkrom (Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. But it rocks absolutely, too.)
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To: Pitiricus
The ugly little truth also is that most of the people in academia are morons, brilliant morons some, but still morons...

These academics confuse knowledge of a subject area with intelligence. They really aren't brilliant at all, but some of them know a particular area well. Was it Shaw who said that the reason academic politics is so vicious is that there is so very little at stake?

16 posted on 11/23/2004 6:15:48 AM PST by from occupied ga (Your government is your most dangerous enemy, and Bush is no conservative)
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To: Bikers4Bush
Actually the reason Republicans aren't teaching in academia is because they don't like to be around lazy, self actualizing hippy morons.

That and the fact that the old axiom "Those who can do... those who cannot teach" is TRUE!

17 posted on 11/23/2004 6:16:41 AM PST by Bigun (IRSsucks@getridof it.com)
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To: from occupied ga

The difference between knowledge and wisdom.


18 posted on 11/23/2004 6:19:21 AM PST by L98Fiero
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To: Bikers4Bush

Ph.D

Stands for "Personality has Departed"


19 posted on 11/23/2004 6:19:32 AM PST by 5Madman2 (DemocRATS are Vermin)
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To: Pfesser
A liberal that is "critical of himself?" Are you friggin' kidding me? Liberals are NEVER wrong about anything. When have you ever met a college professor that was willing to admit he was wrong?

The only reason liberals flock to academia is that there is no measurable way to gauge their contribution to their jobs, thus they can't be "judged" and perhaps terminated. They basically get paid (usually from the public trough) for researching and teaching liberal thought.

Remember Ann Coulter's "10 minute rule." It's something like, "If you owned your own business, would you allow ANY liberal to run it for 10 minutes?" Yeah, and they are the 'intellectuals.' Pompous asses.
20 posted on 11/23/2004 6:19:44 AM PST by GianniV
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