Leftist Professor's Hatemail to U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet (my title)

Nealz Nuze ^ | Nov 6, 2002 | Neal Boortz

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

THE HATE-FILLED LEFTIST PROFESSOR

OK .. in response to nearly 100 very demanding e-mail messages, here is what I have been able to find out about that incredible letter from the history professor at Saint Xavier University in Chicago to that cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

The Air Force Academy has a program called The Academy Assembly. You will read a description of The Academy Assembly below. An Air Force Academy cadet named Robert Kurpiel sent an e-mail to which ended up in the hands of Peter Kirstein at Saint Xavier. Here is the text of that e-mail:

Dear Sir or Ma’am

The Air Force Academy is going to be having our annual Academy Assembly. This is a forum for mainly but not only Political Science majors, discussing very important issues dealing with politics.

Right now we are in the planning stage for advertising and we would appreciate your help in the follow (sic) areas. Do you know of or have methods or ways for interschool advertising and or communications? What would be the best way for us to advertise at your school whether it is sending you the fliers and you making copies or by perhaps putting an advertisement in your local publication? We would appreciate your input and the cost of what your recommend. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Very Respectfully,

Cadet Robert Kurpiel

Now … here is the response from Professor Kirstein. Be sitting down when you read it.

From: Peter Kirstein
Sent: Thursday, October 31, 2002 1:46 PM
To: Kurpiel Robert C4C CS26

Subject: Re: Academy Assembly

You are a disgrace to this country and I am furious you would even think I would support you and your aggressive baby killing tactics of collateral damage. Help you recruit. Who, top guns to reign death and destruction upon nonwhite peoples throughout the world? Are you serious sir? Resign your commission and serve your country with honour. No war, no air force cowards who bomb countries with AAA, without possibility of retaliation. You are worse than the snipers. You are imperialists who are turning the whole damn world against us. September 11 can be blamed in part for what you and your cohorts have done to Palestinians, the VC, the Serbs, a retreating army at Basra. You are unworthy of my support.

Peter N. Kirstein
Professor of History
Saint Xavier University.

So … there you go. Through the instantaneous magic of the Internet these two messages were soon flowing through e-mail accounts and message boards, and before you could say “tenure” Professor Kirstein was up to neck in academic horse squeeze.

Kirstein is an odd bird. If you cruise through his Saint Xavier website you will see one page devoted to the gravesite of Karl Marx in England! http://www.sxu.edu/academ/artsci/history/pkirstein/pictures.html Now, does that give you any insight into this man’s politics?

I also perused some of the writings of this extreme left-wing (dare I say communist?) history professor. Here’s an excerpt from a letter he wrote in October letter to Arab News:

It is my hope that large segments of our armed forces would refuse to engage in aggressive military action that would disgrace their families, their nation and all those who have worn proudly the uniform of the United States. Air National Guard units should refuse activation in preparation for airstrikes. Aircraft carrier battle groups stationed in the Persian Gulf should refuse to refuel or preposition aircraft that could attack Iraq. Special forces such as navy Seals and army Rangers should refuse invading Iraq in a preemptive war against a non-threatening adversary. If additional ground troops are deployed, hopefully they would not obey orders to murder civilians or destroy wantonly the delicate infrastructure of Baghdad, Basra and other Iraqi cities.

Now that’s nice, isn’t it? Our history professor is asking American servicemen and women to disobey orders … to defect? Obviously Peter N. Kirstein would get along very well with Hanoi Jane Fonda. Maybe we should start calling him Baghdad Peter.

Moving right along. If you happened to uncover Baghdad Peter’s e-mail address, and if you sent him a blue-steam e-mail about his letter to the Air Force cadet, this is the response you would have received today:

Due to considerable off-campus interest in a private correspondence with a military person, I am posting this. The situation has been resolved with humility, mutual respect and considerable friendliness. Both of us consider this matter to be resolved. May nations also learn differences can be overcome, disagreements bridged and that peace and harmony are possible I will respond, as needed, to other e-mail.

Uh oh. It looks like the professor got taken for a quick visit to the woodshed, especially when you consider this short, terse e-mail response many got from the president of Saint Xavier University today.

Thank you for your expression of concern about the intemperate, angry words issued by Prof. Kirstein. He has apologized to the cadet, the Academy, and the University and all have accepted. His harsh words certainly do not represent Saint Xavier University!
- Dr. Richard Yanikoski, president

Yikes! It doesn’t sound like Professor Kirstein is on the presidents Christmas Card list this year, does it?

Up next ... an attempt by the Air Force Academy as they step in and try to calm the situation down a bit. Here is a letter from the Director of the Academy Assembly.

Subject: An Open Letter from the Academy Assembly

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There has been considerable attention given to an e-mail received by a Fourth Class Cadet here at the United States Air Force Academy from Professor Peter N. Kirstein of Saint Xavier University. Dr Kirstein's e-mail was a response to an e-mail he had received concerning the Academy Assembly.

The Academy Assembly is a forum to promote academic discussion of important issues of our day and to allow the student delegates from all over the North America to draft a report that is widely disseminated. This year our theme is America's Challenges in an Unstable World: Balancing Security with Liberty. I am pleased to say that a "cyber-episode" which started poorly has evolved into a more professional and academic discussion.

Please find below a letter of apology from Dr Kirstein which I received this morning, accompanied by a phone call. I have drafted this message in response to his correspondence and with an advance copy to Dr. Kirstein.

On behalf of the Academy Assembly I accept this apology in the same sincere manner in which it was given. Furthermore, I offer my own apology to Dr Kirstein for the way his original message, which was intended as private communication, was spread throughout the Air Force Academy and beyond. Since that e-mail was forwarded with such great vigor to many individuals both within and outside the Air Force Academy I would ask that you, the reader of this letter, please forward this e-mail to anyone to whom you sent the original message.

Two results of this are obvious and I want to share them with you. The first is that through well considered words and messages a situation that was initially highly inflammatory has become one in which diverse ideas can be compared and discussed; this is the essence of the Academy Assembly. Second, though emotions have run understandably high throughout the USAFA Cadet Wing in response to this e-mail, replies to this e-mail from our cadets have been, almost without exception, marked by great maturity and professionalism. I was presented nearly forty proposed responses to the original e-mail from cadets, but the one that best encapsulates the opinion of the cadet wing is a quote from their book, Contrails, which serves as not only a statement for others, but an admonition for themselves

"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag." ~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC

I would dare to add one thought to the above quote; that we in the military, as servants of the public, must carefully guard and cherish our relationship with the civilian community. We must always remain open and responsive to legitimate criticism that is presented in a spirit of willingness to improve the forces that guard our country and make them an institution that all Americans can take pride in. I am pleased to say that this discussion, of which many of you only saw the first portion, has moved towards that high plain.

Respectfully yours,
Captain Jim Borders, USAFA
Director, Academy Assembly
Instructor, Political Science

And here, as promised in Captain Borders’ letter, is the apology written by the Professor.

Dear Captain Borders,

I have expressed to Cadet Kurpiel my regrets over what I communicated to him in my e-mail. I did not mean to impugn his character. I am sure he is of the highest character. I should have written him in a more thoughtful and contemplative manner. As one who believes in non-violence and the avoidance of conflict, I could have been more circumspect and creative in my communication with him.

Cadet Kurpiel has sent me several generous, thoughtful and impressive e-mails. He has also expressed "apologies" for the unwarranted national distribution of a private e-mail correspondence which has caused me and others to receive 100s of e-mail messages. I hope this update on my response and the cadet's kind communication will serve to inform the public that this issue has been resolved with dignity and honour between myself and Cadet Kurpiel.

I remain respectfully yours,
Peter N. Kirstein
Professor of History
Saint Xavier University

Do you think Professor Kirstein is truly sorry he wrote that letter to the cadet? Get serious! He’s sorry the letter became so widely disseminated … nothing else. He was made to look like a fool. He embarrassed his university, and he had to eat crow. But tomorrow he’ll be right back at work poisoning the minds of those wide-eyed kids entrusted to his care.

[nightdriver]

"Let them know you like to be challenged and that your ideas and values are not a form of proselytizing or domination but a honest effort at conversation."

Ha! I'll just BET he really believes this! The entire brou-ha-ha started over a little insignificant challenge to his prejudicial views.

[wideawake]

Perhaps a constructive exercise for FReepers would be to help Dr. Yanikoski to improve the quality of history instruction at his institution.

He certainly seems like a reasonable man, and appears motivated.

One of the factors which enabled Emory University to rid itself of another grossly incompetent leftist professor was the excellent independent research undertaken by conservative activists into Michael Bellesisles substandard scholarship.

Let's see if we can find the publications of this Kirstein character and check and see if the sloppy thinking which is exemplified in his email also pervades his professional work.

I'm sure that glaring errors exist in his research and that many numbers have been massaged.

Let's hop to it.

[USMMA_83]

What was the email address you used to send your letter to the president of the university?

As a former academy graduate, I'd like to have a few words with the president.

[BluH2o]

"It is the soldier, not the reporter who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us the freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag, and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag."
~Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, Sergeant, USMC

Repeat after me professor ...

[Fintan]

He looks like a cross between Donna Shalayla and Janet Reno. He must really love to perform in front of his captive audience of college kids.

It always amazes me that the mental picture I have of these people before I see them is exactly what they look like.

And you're absolutely on the money: These so-called professors "perform", they do not teach or help their students develop their own thoughts. This clown is the typical wimp who has probably run away from any confrontation to his remarkably inane and childish "beliefs".

I'm betting he's quite popular on the university cocktail circuit.

[LiteKeeper]

store

[Timocrat]

The professor also does not know the proper use of the word "reign".

This disturbed me also. The leftist tilt to all academics is so endemic that his Marxism is no surprise but at the very least a history professor should be able to spell.

[FRMAG]

Way I remember it AAA (Anti Aircraft Artillery) went from the ground to the air. Not exactly a fun thing for the Air Force folks to into and thru.

[wideawake]

A poster named richardtavor had the email dialogue with Dr. Yanikoski, not I.

BTW, there is a curriculum vitae of Kirstein on the web listing his publications.

I suspect that his professional standing is somewhat tenuous.

(1) He has only published one book in 28 years as a professor - and that lone book was published 24 years ago.

(2) He has only published 20 professional papers in his career - and only nine in the past 16 years. That's not too impressive - many historians have published 50-60 professional papers in that time span. Only three papers of his in his 28 year career have deemed worthy of anthologizing.

He has published only 14 other articles, and 5 of them were letters or op/ed pieces to local newspapers.

All in all, this guy is an extremely unimpressive academic lightweight who has produced no work of any distinction. His work seems to focus again and again on two narrowly defined areas: the history of nuclear museums (?!?) and the anti-Vietnam protests of the 1960s. Not only does he rarely publish, he has done no substantially new research since 1986, it would appear. My guess is that he won tenure in 1986 and has been slacking off ever since.

If we can show his boss than the tiny, inadequate amount of work he's done in the past 16 years is either flawed, concocted or plagiarized - there would be a very strong case for firing him for gross incompetence.

[RightOnline]

I'd love to properly respond to this guy, but it always bothers me to see a grown man cry. Besides, the little pantywaisted dweeb would soil himself during such a confrontation...........no need to get physical; some things in life just wouldn't be fair..............and I couldn't stand the odor.

RightOnline, USAFA, Class of '77

[Apple Pan Dowdy]

It is for you and your fellow USAFA buddies that I wanted to post this thread.... to express all our concern that dweebs like this professor do not get away with slandering our national heros!

By the way.... check out the "dramatic photos" page on his web site and see who HIS "hero" is!
http://www.sxu.edu/academ/artsci/history/pkirstein/pictures.html

[richardtavor]

His email address was yanikoski@sxu.edu I do hope you write. I did not attend SXU, but I always get a good response from my University when I express concerns about honest teaching.

[Texas_Jarhead]

Bookmark BUMP

[beckett]

President of Saint Xavier University, Dr. Richard Yanikoski: yanikoski@sxu.edu

The more emails Yanikoski gets about the Kirstein, the more heat Kirstein feels.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Thanks for the link. This is my missive to the university:

Subject: Professor Peter N. Kirstein

Through the internet I became aware of Professor Peter Kirstein and of his opinion of the U.S. military and the role of the United States of America in the modern world. I have read his teaching philosophy on his web site. Perhaps you should, too. Having attended college when professors were in fact teaching, as opposed to advocating for the left, I find it unusual that a fine university like Saint Xavier would employ someone who publicly states that he is going to -

1. Teach peace, freedom, diversity, multiculturalism and challenge American unilateralism.

as well as -

4. Instructors should be secure and unafraid to express their opinions. They have every right to do so and should be free to engage in academic revisionism in their field.

In other words, instead of teaching History, this History Professor is teaching Social Philosophy while feeling free to change the facts to suit his own personal bias. This is an obvious deviation from his mandate and job description, or at least I suppose it is, unless Saint Xavier is also practicing deception on the students who attend the university and the parents who send them there. The public should expect better from its universities.

Sincerely,

Larry Chandler
Dallas, Texas

[beckett]

Good catch. You're absolutely right. He's got to use "rain" in that context.

[DallasDeb]

I'm the mother of a 4-degree cadet (freshman) at the USAFA. This email went through the Wing like wildfire. An order went out as quickly as possible to squelch responses to the professor from other cadets; and, of course, that command was obeyed. But, by that time, many responses had already been sent. Then the word got outside the Academy, probably by cadets sending it to their parents. I know there was much discussion (and not-so-tempered responses) by the parents of cadets.

The really funny thing is that on this prof's webpage, he promotes students having their own opinions. But by stifling the letter from the cadet, he was, in essence, making decisions for St. Xavier students instead of letting word about The Academy Assembly be dissemminated throughout St. Xavier University and students deciding for themselves whether they wanted to attend or not.

I wonder even now how many students at St. Xavier know about the Assembly after all the brouhaha.

USAFA06Mom

[beckett]

Let's see if we can find the publications of this Kirstein character and check and see if the sloppy thinking which is exemplified in his email also pervades his professional work.

Sounds like a good idea, but, as was noted above, this guy has had only one book published, and his output of scholarly papers is paltry. Given what we can glean from his less than stellar prose --- containing a risible misuse of the word "reign" --- I would guess he is nowhere near an academic superstar. He's just another tenured hack hanging on to a good gig. Second tier schools like Xavier are full of them.

We have the first real American liberal --- John Dewey --- to thank for successfully foisting the inherently unjustifiable concept of tenure on American institutions of higher learning.

[DallasDeb]

We should be sending him emails telling him that the election results show where his opinions stand with the American people.

He also doesn't know what he's talking about concerning the Academy. Cadets are NOT commissioned until they graduate. Maybe he doesn't even understand that the Academy is like a 4-year college (except that cadets take enough classes to have a Master's Degree by other university standards), and he was communicating with a cadet who may not even be 18 years old yet. (Yes, there are some 4 degrees whose 18th birthday hasn't come up yet.)

[archy]

I wonder even now how many students at St Xavier know about the Assembly after all the brouhaha.

As a former Chicago newspaperman I can pretty well guarantee you that they know, or very soon will; this story's far from dead, and has *legs* even if overshadowed by the recent political news.

Oh, granted, it would have been a lot easier for me in the days when Royko was still at it, or when the word could have been spread through the Chicago News Bureau or the Daily News pressroom. But just wait until the Polish-American Veterans Associations, the Chicago AMVETS and a few hard-core Chicago cops start getting the word out. I suspect Xavier University's Public relations staff is going to be very busy, indeed....

And I have a couple of other irons in the fire ready to apply to the commie professer's tootsies. Stay tuned to this channel!

-archy-/-