Posted on 06/28/2008 7:01:21 AM PDT by SE Mom
The Washington Post has published an unintentionally amusing article this morning about one Danielle Allen, a "razor-sharp, 36-year-old political theorist" at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Studies. Allen, with doctorates from Cambridge and Harvard, won a $500,000 MacArthur Foundation genius grant a few years ago and now conducts studies at the Institute, where, according to the Post, "she works alongside groundbreaking physicists, mathematicians and social scientists. They don't have to teach, and they face no quotas on what they publish. Their only mandate is to work in the tradition of Einstein, wrestling with the most vexing problems in the universe."
And one of the most vexing problems in the universe, which Allen has decided to pursue in the tradition of Einstein, is the origin of a number of e-mails claiming that Barack Obama is a Muslim. Using the advanced research tools at her disposal, the razor-sharp Allen found…a couple of posters on the Free Republic website, plus a former political rival of Obama's who sends out zillions of e-mails to reporters every day.
The former political rival appears to have been completely open about the stuff he sent out, some of which was based on arguments similar to an op-ed that appeared in the pages of the New York Times. As for Free Republic, according to the Post, Allen "counted 23 freepers among those engaging in regular discussions about Obama's religion, and isolated a handful whom she began to suspect as having a role in the e-mail. Sifting through hundreds of postings, she began to piece together their identities."
Allen gave her information to the Post reporter, who used it to track down two allegedly offending freepers, one a 69-year-old retired grandfather in the suburbs of Boston and the other a 60-year-old schoolteacher in rural Washington state. Both said they had nothing to do with the emails. And that's about it.
But the article has a pretty clear subtext, and it is that the exchange of such information on the Internet should be controlled. "I started thinking, 'How does one stop it?'" Allen told the Post. "Citizens and political scientists must face the fact that the Internet has enabled a new form of political organization that is just as influential on local and national elections as unions and political action committees…This kind of misinformation campaign short-circuits judgment. It also aggressively disregards the fundamental principle of free societies that one be able to debate one's accusers."
Of course, we have laws that regulate the political activities of unions and political action committees. Is it going too far to guess that the scholar from the Institute for Advanced Studies might be searching for some way to do the same for Free Republic?
06/28 08:45 AM
Lordy mercy.
Let’s hope the TRUTH matters to enough people that it keeps this anti-American Marxist from becoming President!
Not anathema to a “Jack Muslim” apparently.
No, I’m Spartacus!
..just wait until someone finds out his REAL name on his REAL birth certificate...
I’m thinking about taking bets on BARRY DUNHAM.
(PS. That’s a RUMOUR I started.)
Wonderful post! Miss America contestants notwithstanding, world peace does not mean a thing--unless it's accompanied with FREEDOM.
.
Yer welcome potlatch!
I, for one, will continue to refer to the Allen woman the way I do the Nancy woman, and whenever something interests me I will raise questions as appropriate.
http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-57700_ITM
“...He was raised largely by his white grandparents in a white community in Hawaii and went by the name Barry. Obama jokes that today he would be known as “Barry Dunham” had he taken his mother’s name...”
Think about it. It’s hilarious...but it’s not a joke, he’s virtually admitting he CHOSE what name he would use.
VOTE FOR BARRY DUNHAM! BARRY DUNHAM FOR CHANGE! LOL!
Ah, yes, Clownposse ~ I doubt they know this Allen woman ~ but the a$$clown at the WarshPost could be one of them. Has that peculiar slant in his approach to Freepers.
Guess a letter to the FEC might turn that “grant” into a campaign “donation”, but since it’s from a corporation (the foundation is, in fact, a corporation) it would be PROHIBITED BY LAW and the directors of the foundation could probably be severely penalized. And this Allen woman, if she doesn’t “give it up” (the money) could be found to OWE IT TO THE FOUNDATION!
Of course he doesn't know, but he said it, and he may well be the "source" of all the rumors.
Do they just GIVE them away?
WOW! News travels fast, it’s up on Google already...
Latest Posts I’m thinking about taking bets on BARRY DUNHAM. (PS. That’s a RUMOUR I started.) Post Reply | Private Reply | To 222 | View Replies ...
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Oh yes! Allen is just brighter than everyone else , you see, which justifies fascist methods of censorship!She sees conservatism as a conspiracy, rather than a way of life?
I swear, she is all belfry with no bell.
She needs to have a hit from a trojan free, Conservative red neck, 250 pound, 12 inch nailed, lumber jack from Oregon.
Therein lies her acquisition of some practical knowledge to dilute her pompous fascist tendencies.
That just goes to show ya' that OSAMA Hussien Obama is more than willing to throw his own family under the bus in his quest for power. And I thought the Clinton's were the most power-mad scum of the earth.
Just wow on the Chart you posted. I am very pround of Beckwith.
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