Posted on 01/17/2003 1:21:34 PM PST by Interesting Times
OK. Just when you think you've heard it all, along come the left-wingers with an even MORE outrageous stunt. Get this...
On March 3, 2003, a certain Laura Whitehorn is scheduled to speak for the African and African-American studies program at Duke University in North Carolina. Here's how the university is billing Ms. Whitehorn on their website:
"Laura Whitehorn is a revolutionary anti-imperialist who spent over 14 years in federal prison as a political prisoner. An out lesbian, she initiated and worked in HIV peer education and support projects in each of the three federal prisons in which she did time. Since her release, she's worked with POZ Magazine, a national monthly for the communities affected by HIV. She is now writing about HCV/HIV co-infection in the prisons. She has also researched the many cases in the U.S. of HIV positive people locked up for supposed 'crimes of transmission.' She is also involved in work toward the release of all the remaining political prisoners in U.S. prisons, and she lives in Manhattan with her lover, the writer Susie Day."
Judging by the cover, you'd think this was just another run-of-the-mill anti-American gay activist...hardly anything unusual for today's university campus.
But, as they say on late-night TV, there's more...MUCH more.
As James Taranto of OpinionJournal.com revealed yesterday in his "Best of the Web" e-newsletter, Ms. Whitehorn isn't exactly the "political prisoner" victim her PR flaks are trying to make her out to be.
A documentary uncovered by Taranto titled, "OUT: The Making of a Revolutionary," tells the rest of the story...
"Planting a bomb in the U.S. Capitol Building in 1983 was the culmination of a lifetime of radical protest for Laura Whitehorn, and 14 years in federal penitentiary have only solidified her stance as a committed American revolutionary. . . . More than simply a life and times story, OUT: The Making of a Revolutionary is a powerful indictment against the incarceration system, where still today over 100 political prisoners remain imprisoned for speaking out against the U.S. Government."
Whitehorn is no "political prisoner" who was persecuted for "speaking out against the U.S. Government."
She's a frigging TERRORIST BOMBER!
And Duke University is rolling out the red carpet for this woman and giving her a platform of legitimacy?
To be fair, it's quite possible - maybe even probable - that the university president, Nannerl O. Keohane, knew nothing about this woman's true past and identity. Nevertheless, he knows now. And he should be rolling up that red carpet and immediately canceling this terrorist radical's appearance.
I'm all for free speech - and this wacko is free to spout her views on the street corner 'til the cows come home. But she has no *right* to mouth her bile from a lectern at one of the nation's great institutions of higher learning. Duke should tell Ms. Whitehorn to take a hike and get lost.
If you agree, you can contact Mr. Keohane at: president@duke.edu
Duke University 207 Allen Building Box 90001 Durham, North Carolina 27708-0001 Telephone: (919) 684-2424 Facsimile: (919) 684-3050
I recently visited Chapel Hill and as I exited I 40 on 15-501, i could feel the chill as I entered the depths of the Blue zone.
BTW, do you know why God made the sky Carolina Blue? Because he hadn't been to New Mexico yet.
Note the entry for March 3:
Laura Whitehorn spent more than 14 years in federal prison for her role in planting a bomb in the U.S. Capitol building in 1983, in protest of the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
They knew she had bombed the Capitol when they invited her.
The great tradition of classical Western education slouches on...
3 Laura Whitehorn, revolutionary anti-imperialist currently working with POZ Magazine, a national monthly for the communities affected by HIV. Teaching Race, Teaching Gender Speakers Series is sponsored by the African and African American Studies Program at Duke University with additional support from the Mary Lou Williams Center for Black Culture, The Duke University Women's Studies Program, the Franklin Humanities Institute's Mellon Project "Making the Humanities Central" and the Duke Women's Center. For more information about the Speakers Series or the seminar, Teaching Race, Teaching Gender (AAAS 299S, WST 210.02, SOC 299S), please contact Professor Becky Thompson at 684-3987 or bthomp@duke.edu. John Hope Franklin Center, Room 240, 4:00 PM
Interestingly, a search of the Duke web site doesn't turn up the bio quoted in Chuck Muth's email, which is identical to the one used by the African and African-American folks, except that Duke deleted the Capitol bombing reference. It would seem that whoever authorized that version has no problem with a domestic terrorist speaking at Duke, but thought it might be prudent to skip over that particular point.
I don't know whether it was this or the fact that Maryland just inaugurated a Republican Governor for the first time in over 30 years, but the DOOKS went down to ignominious defeat today.
Actually, I felt a bit sorry for Coach K, because he is obviously a Republican - a supporter of Elizabeth Dole in the recent election.
Feb 05, 2003
Heard about the firestorm kicked up by California State University at Fresno - the one started when the school announced a conference entitled, "Radical Faith: A Dialogue Between Anti-Abortion Protesters and Academics"? No? That's because there is no such colloquium. The very idea is almost laughable.
What about the outrage over the school's colloquium, "Revolutionary Environmentalism: A Dialogue Between Activists and Academics"? Haven't heard any? That's because there has been no outrage - though the conference is very real.
It will occur in mid-February and include discussions of such topics as "The Ethics of Sabotage." Those slated to attend include Paul Watson, wanted in Costa Rica and Iceland for sinking whaling ships, who once told a reporter there is "nothing wrong with being a terrorist, as long as you win." Other attendees will include representatives from the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, parts of a fringe element that has been identified as one of the most dangerous domestic sources of terrorism.
Academia has a love affair with left-wing terrorists and apologists for terror. Harvard recently invited Irish poet Tom Paulin, who has advocated the killing of Israeli settlers (the event was postponed indefinitely). In March, Duke will sponsor an appearance by Laura Whitehorn, who bombed a room in the U.S. Capitol to protest the U.S. intervention in Grenada. Last year, for a September 11 commemoration, George Mason invited anti-American British journalist and terrorist apologist Robert Fisk to speak.
In the meantime, even mainstream conservative voices - those such as Jeane Kirkpatrick, William Bennett, or Ward Connerly - are lucky not to be shouted down, if they are lucky enough to receive an invitation to speak at all, and courageous enough to accept. The double standard has been around for ages, and railing against it does no good. But one would think in the post-9/11 world that the academy - where hurt feelings over the use of a politically incorrect word can bring down judicial wrath upon the offender - would at least pause to reflect on its romanticized infatuation with those who use, advocate, or explain away violence and destruction in the name of leftie causes.
One would be wrong.
RTD Editorial
Shining our spotlight on the leftists who openly advocate and engage in violence should be high on our priority list.
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