Join The Fight at StoptheACLU.org Discussion Forum
Posted on 02/13/2005 7:03:02 PM PST by Jay777
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2005
The First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution protects Ward Churchill's right to speak or write his opinions and it protects the rights of his detractors to say they do not like what he wrote or said. The ACLU of Colorado stands firmly for these rights of free speech.
The ACLU of Colorado calls upon the Regents, legislators and the Governor to stop threatening Mr. Churchill's job because of the content of his opinions. This governmental interference with the content of Mr. Churchill's constitutionally protected opinions tramples on fundamental American values.
The Regents should take care that the Chancellor's investigation of Mr. Churchill's competence is not a fishing expedition to find something - anything - to use as an excuse to fire him. If that happens, their action will be subjected to a high level of scrutiny to determine if it is really a guise to fire him for the content of his writing. As Justice Anthony Kennedy said, "[t]he First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech."
Free speech means we may hear something we do not want to hear. However, that does not give anyone the right to stifle dissent, especially on a university campus. After World War I, when the United States was gripped with fear over the first red scare, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes urged Americans to tolerate even opinions "that we loathe and believe to be fraught with death." It is understandable that people found Mr. Churchill's comment offensive. His language was harsh and he pointed his finger of blame for the attacks at the U.S. government, not at the zealots who flew the planes....
(Excerpt) Read more at aclu-co.org ...
we're way beyond that!
if this were still a normal country, jane fonda would have been tried when she returned from hanoi.
I wish I could post a direct link to the commercials that cybersaint have worked on. For all those who go to view them at:
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/stokjok/
Let cybersaint know how much we appreciate the hard work.
The way I understand it, Comrade Churchill has had all the free speech he could stand. He's well published, has an internet site, is paid to spew his throw up around the country. How much free-er can his speech get?
If an employer doesn't want him employed any longer, then that's a different matter. Lots of employers let people go when their positions become irrelevant. He is free to speak freely after he is terminated, nobody said he couldn't.
So if I say, "all liberals are little America-loathing Stalins" on a college campus the ACLU will back me up? Wow!
You should try it and see! They seem to be turning on their own lately.
What on EARTH does the ACLU know about fundamental American values?
He can say anything he wants. And the University of Colorado can fire him all they want.
Let's get a professor teaching that the ACLU is a communist organization and see if the ACLU will defend their right of speech!
I totally agree. If, however, he tries to pass that off as teaching in his classroom then he should be fired.
We should sic Mark Levin on ole Churchill---Levin could take on Churchill and the ACLU with one had tied behind his back!!!
I hear you. Our principles have been so corrupted by activist courts for so long that they are now used as weapons against us. Villainous rabblerousers are held up as freedom fighters when the Founding Fathers would have hung them from the nearest tree. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way treason became synonymous with dissent.
Unfortunately, common sense in this country has been bulldozed by the focus on the "sensitivity" of others.
Sorry, ALCU. The Amendment guarantees free speach. It does not guarantee a right to be heard.
If a group haires someone to speak before them and then finds out that the hired speaker is crazier than a $hi* house rat, they have every right to cancel.
I really wish I could post those commercials Cybersaint made. They are great! I'd love to see what others think.
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/stokjok/index.blog?entry_id=347506
http://www.angelfire.com/mi4/stokjok/index.blog?entry_id=347506
The Constitution does not require any government, including its universities, to withhold judgment as to the suitability of its employees, including tenured professors.
Judgments about suitability may certainly be based on an employee's actions and statements that arise from employment. Judgments may also be based on actions that occur outside the employment situation, as they provide evidence about the suitability of the person for continued employment.
Ward Churchill actions and statements are clearly incompatible with the role of scholar, educator and university department head. He should be fired expeditiously.
oops
haires=hires
Ping!
The ACLU: just a bunch of little Eichmanns.
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