Professor Nicholas DeGenova: Are You Hoping My Son in Law Dies?

dfu | 3-30-03 | dfu

[doug from upland]

E-MAIL TO PROF. NICHOLAS DEGENOVA, Columbia University Asst. Prof. of Anthropology:

Professor DeGenova, I would appreciate an answer to this communication. I want to briefly introduce you to my son-in-law Josh who is currently serving in the Middle East helping to defend the freedom of the United States. He is 22 years old, and my little girl misses him terribly. It is a great sacrifice for both of them. He is patriotic, dedicated, a hard worker, and has just signed up for another three years.

You have been quoted as recently saying, "I wish for a million Mogadishus." Since I have not heard a retraction, I presume the quote is accurate.

I do not usually take personally the statements of those who oppose the current war. We all have our viewpoint. Josh is proud to defend yours, unless, of course, the viewpoint includes advocating the violent death of Americans.

Let me put in bluntly. Is Josh among those whom you wish dead? Would you take joy in watching his body mutilated and dragged through the streets of Baghdad? If not him, whose sons and daughters do you wish would suffer the fate of the men who were mutilated in Mogadishu?

Professor, you have a short window of opportunity to take back your statement and issue an apology. I hope you will be man enough to do it.

I wish no harm to you and your family as you apparently wish to Josh, my family, and all those serving and their families. What action will be taken should you refuse, I do not yet know, but you have made this personal.

Please do the right thing.

==========================================

I don't know where this will go, but it cannot stand. Columbia receives federal government funds. Those funds should cease until he is fired. He has the freedom of speech to say what he wants, but advocating the death of Americans during time of war should have consequences.

Will someone please provide info regarding the university's major donors?

Perhaps NY FReepers might want to FReep him in person.

Letters to the editor certainly need to be written.

Maybe an ad can be placed in the school newspaper that shows bodies being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu.

Perhaps his neighbors and every veteran's organization in the area need to see his words in print on a flyer.

[Rocko]

Other people there tried to "distance" themselves from his remarks. They should have walked out.

If they didn't walk out or speak up at the time, their "distance" comments were just damage control.

[Schatze]

Here ya go: bollinger@columbia.edu

[Atticus]

My parents are graduates of Columbia University. They have regularly given money to the University for almost fifty years. They are not major benefactors by any stretch of the imagination, but their faithful generosity did not go unrewarded when I applied to the University myself in the 1980s (I took a pass and went to a less competitive Northeast party school). I am going to try to prevail upon them to withhold their giving until Columbia rids itself of this professor.

[AAABEST]

Here's the contact information for the Provost, his boss in the Anthropology Dept. and Public affairs:

Jonathan Cole (Provost)	email: jrc5@columbia.edu phone: 212-854-2404
Nicholas Dirks (Anthropology Dept Head)	email: nbd7@columbia.edu phone: 212-854-4552
Columbia Public Affairs Dept	phone: 212-854-5573

[doug from upland]

Dennis Prager was a Fellow at Columbia University's School of International Affairs, where he did graduate work at the Middle East and Russian Institutes. I expect that he will be all over this on his radio show on Monday (9 to noon, Pacific) --- hear real audio by going to www.krla870.com.

Dennis is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against Barbara Boxer. This issue could be a good launching pad. Please write to him regarding this matter --- dennisprager@dennisprager.com

[KC_Conspirator]

Yes, in fact Professor De Genova hopes many Americans die. He also hopes for another Holocaust since he seems to hate Jews as well.

[ladyjane]

Here are some Trustees Emeriti

ARTHUR OCHS SULZBERGER
Chairman Emeritus
The New York Times Company

CHARLES F. LUCE
Chairman Emeritus
Consolidated Edison of New York, Inc.

LAWRENCE E. WALSH
Counsel
Crowe & Dunlevy

W. CLARKE WESCOE
Chairman and CEO(retired)
Sterling Drug, Inc.

CHARLES M. METZNER
Senior United States District Judge
U.S. District Court

MARTHA T. MUSE
Chairman
The Tinker Foundation, Inc.

CONNIE S. MANIATTY
Honorary Managing Director
Salomon Smith Barney

THOMAS D. FLYNN
Partner (retired)
Ernst & Young

THOMAS L. CHRYSTIE
Partner (retired)
Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.

SAMUEL L. HIGGINBOTTOM, Chair Emeritus
Chairman and President (retired)
Rolls-Royce, Inc.

MICHAEL I. SOVERN, President Emeritus of the University
Kent Professor of Law
Columbia University

G.G. MICHELSON, Chair Emerita

WARREN H. PHILLIPS
Director, Chairman and CEO (retired)
Dow Jones & Co., Inc.

STANLEY L. TEMKO
Senior Counsel
Covington & Burling

EDWARD N. COSTIKYAN
Counsel
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison

JOHN GOELET
Goelet Corporation

HENRY L. KING, Chair Emeritus
Senior Counsel
Davis Polk & Wardwell

JERRY I. SPEYER, Chair Emeritus
President
Tishman Speyer Properties, Inc.

JOSEPH D. WILLIAMS
Chairman and CEO (retired)
Warner-Lambert Company

LIONEL I. PINCUS, Chair Emeritus
Chairman and CEO
Warburg Pincus
 
MARYLIN B. LEVITT
Assistant Professor
George Washington University

JOHN J. CURLEY
Chairman, President and CEO
Gannett Co., Inc.

EDWARD BOTWINICK
President
Botwinick-Wolfensohn Foundation, Inc.

EDWIN ROBBINS
Of Counsel
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom

ARNOLD S. RELMAN
Professor Emeritus of Medicine and of
   Social Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Editor Emeritus
New England Journal of Medicine

WALTER BURKE

ANNA K. LONGOBARDO
Director, Strategic Initiatives (retired)
Unisys Corporation

MARGARET E. MAHONEY
President
MEM Associates, Inc.

MATHY MEZEY
Independence Professor of Nursing Education
New York University

PETER K.C. WOO
Group Chairman
Wheelock and Company Limited

MAUREEN A. COGAN
Children's Advocate, Philanthropist

DONALD F. McHENRY
University Research Professor of
   Diplomacy and International Affairs
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service

YUZABURO MOGI
President and CEO
Kikkoman Corporation

STEPHEN FRIEDMAN, Chair Emeritus
Senior Principal
MMC Capital, Inc.

JOHN E. ZUCCOTTI
Chairman
Brookfield Financial Properties

JEROME A. CHAZEN
Chairman
Chazen Capital Partners, LLC

GEORGE E. RUPP, President Emeritus of the University
President
International Rescue Committee

LAURANS A. MENDELSON
Chairman, President and CEO
HEICO Corporation

ROBERT A. MCCORMACK
Executive Vice President (retired)
Citicorp

[doug from upland]

Great. Please have your parents contact them so the university knows it will lose money if it fails to act.

[Schatze]

I think there may be some full e-mail boxes at Columbia tomorrow ... and rightly so.

I'm going to write to the professor myself -- using a quill dipped in venom.

[doug from upland]

Thanks for that info.

[backhoe]

Good for you, doug- here's what Jeff Head sent the little SOB:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/879351/posts
My Message to Columbia Professor Nicholas De Genova regarding his death wish for our forces
FreeRepublic | March 29, 2003 | Jeff Head

[tbpiper]

I was steamin' when I read about this the other day. My son is in the 101st and I din't take kindly to what he wished. I believe this.....(series of very non christian adjectives)...'professor has no real idea what he's wishing. None the less, I sent this email:

As reported from the recent teach in:

Thunderous applause and whistles greeted anthropology professor Nicholas De Genova's sick desire that "a million Mogadishus" be visited on U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq

If this attribution is true, then;

Mr. De Genova: may the next terrorist attack be in your presence. May the anthrax spores find a home in your lungs. May your body be covered in pox. May you have to choose between flames and thousand foot fall. And may all the pains of hell be your eternal reward.

From a proud father of an American soldier.

[workerbee]

"We do not desire the deaths of American soldiers."

Yes they do. That's the sickest part. This is exactly what the left, Bush-hating, anti-American crowd (which hides behind the name anti-War) wants. They want dead American soldiers because they think it will translate into power -- in the form of Democrat votes.

I'm truly convinced of this.

[ladyjane]

You're welcome, Doug. It's not worth bothering with DeGenova. He is toast. He has only been at Columbia since the fall of 2000 after he got his degree from, of course, University of Chicago. His position is tenure track, however, I suspect he won't be at Columbia for long. And he'll have a tough time finding another tenure track position.

[doug from upland]

I agree with you. Ellen RATner was not merely exercising in hyperbole when she said she hopes "Bush messes up the war." She admitted that she said it because she doesn't want him re-elected. The RATS do indeed want many, many soldiers to die because they believe they will benefit. Damn the RATS to hell.

[Noumenon]

here's the response to Dr. Bollinger:

Dr Bollinger -

Mere words cannot express the shock, dismay and outrage that I experienced when the full extent of Nicholas De Genova’s recent remarks came to my attention. You have doubtless since received a great deal of email and commentary regarding this individual’s outrageous behavior, but I would be remiss in my responsibility as a citizen of the United States and as a rational human being if I did not register my sentiments and observations. For your review, I have attached a copy of the email I sent in response to Mr. De Genova’s vicious and hate-filled statements. Before you dismiss me as some naïve country redneck – or as Mr. De Genova would have it, a white supremacist – allow me to provide you with a little bit of my background.

I received what used to be regarded as a classical education in both Jesuit and secular institutions. I was fortunate enough to have been born with a ferocious curiosity about the world and a mind facile enough to facilitate a lifetime spent in the acquisition of comprehension. As a successful Microsoft alumnus, several years ago, I moved my family to a stunningly beautiful rural area where our 16 year old fraternal twins’ education could proceed in relatively non-politicized schools. We have successfully raised our kids to be philosophers, warriors and spiritually sovereign individuals. We have trained them to judge individuals as their parent do - by their character and their competence. We understand that concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong are not matters of mere opinion, nor are they subject to a majority vote. We’ve taught our children well concerning the bottomless abyss that is the destination of moral relativism. And yes, we are patriots. We love our country and we have a deep and abiding respect for the principles upon which it was founded. If this is what it takes to earn Mr. De Genova’s epithets and hatred, then we’ll wear them as a badge of honor.

The above brings me to the point of this letter: there is only one circumstance under which I and the rest of my family will ever set foot on the Columbia campus, your thin gruel of an apology for De Genova’s remarks notwithstanding. I’ll get to that circumstance in a minute. You see, it isn’t so much the fact that Mr. De Genova’s remarks were cruel, hateful and yes, seditious. It isn’t so much the fact that De Genova’s credentials extend to publication in the post-modernist journal Social Text. You do recall the recent case where Social Text published an article by a physicist who lampooned the entire post-modernist intellectual fraud by writing a meaningless article couched entirely in their dense, impenetrable jargon? It isn’t so much that you are apparently willing to tolerate Mr. De Genova’s continued presence on the Columbia faculty, and that you believe your tepid disavowal of his remarks to be sufficient.

No. None of the foregoing spoke so eloquently of the atmosphere of hatred for this country and its founding principles as the applause with which De Genova’s spew of hate was greeted. That’s the sort of applause heard at the torch lit Nuremburg rallies of the 1930s. That applause tells me that the rot and the corruption and the hate at Columbia are not confined merely to one individual. That applause tells me that not only will your institution never see a dime from my family, but that we will deny you access to the minds of our bright and accomplished children. That applause tells me that I will do all that I can to dry up your sources of funding.

Mr. De Genova’s remarks make it clear that he is unfit to live in a free society. Your tolerance of his presence and your responsibility for the creation of an academic atmosphere of Stalinist political correctness and hatred of this country renders you unfit to hold your position and to live in a free society.

In closing, here’s the one circumstance under which my family and I would ever set foot on the Columbia campus – and that’s with rifle in hand and a job to do. Realize that when it comes to that, you and Mr. De Genova will have earned it.

Ward Dorrity
Spirit Lake, Idaho
warddorrity@starband.net

[M Kehoe]

Bttt.

5.56mm

[Noumenon]

My respnse to De Genova -

Nicholas De Genova,

I thought that I had heard and seen the worst in terms of anti-American, pro-tyranny hate from the sidewalk defecators and the window-smashing anarchists in cities like San Francisco and Portland, Oregon. I thought that they had reached a new low when I saw a photo of a pair of demonstrators holding a large banner that read, “We support our troops when they shoot their officers.”

But you, sir, achieved a new low when I heard your call for the men and women of the US Military to suffer a "million Mogadishus." I read that you had described our armed forces men and women as not having a decent regard for life. I found several published accounts quoting other statements that you made, such as, “The only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military," and "If we really believe that this war is criminal ... then we have to believe in the victory of the Iraqi people and the defeat of the U.S. war machine." You also made the assertion that Americans who called themselves "patriots" were white supremacists.

These statements of yours – which I understand were received with approval and applause – have placed you beyond the pale of civilized society. I could write page after page in refutation of what you have said, but I also understand that post-modern, Marxist multi-culturalist intellectual frauds like yourself aren’t in the least bit interested in the truth. You lack the price of admission to any sort of reasonable debate: that is, a respect for facts, logic and the principle of cause and effect and a healthy regard for the truth. It isn’t possible to reason with those like yourself whose final 'argument' is the barrel of a gun and the gulag.

Mere words cannot express my heartbreak and rage at your perfidy, the extent of your murderous hatred and slander. Even more outrageous is the fact that you are pouring this hatred and poison into the minds of those you purport to ‘teach,’ although I suspect that ‘indoctrinate’ is the more appropriate term.

This is not merely uncivil – it is criminal.

You have no business teaching.

You have no business living in this country.

Those who are dedicated to the destruction of a free society are unfit to live in that same society. So I would applaud the day that your body swings from the nearest lamp post. I would nod with satisfaction if you by some quirk of cosmic justice were able to experience a smorgasboard of the brutality and torture that is the stock and trade of the regimes that you support. I will cheer the day that you are held to personal account for your call for the murder of our servicemen by those same servicemen.

I can assure you that this will not be forgotten. I can assure you that at some point, you will reap the justice and the retribution that you so richly deserve. I will do all that I can to keep alive your words and your hatred for this country and the people who love it - you won’t be able to slink away or apologize your way out of this. I won’t forget. Neither will others.

You will be held accountable.



Ward Dorrity
warddorrity@starband.net

[clintonh8r]

One of the things RATs have in common with Communists: They put party above country.