You know, for a coledge ferpessor, Ward Churchill can be a bit thick.
Couple of day ago, ol’ Churchill got his fuzzy li’l butt fired from his cushy Colorado University job.
I would imagine that most of my Gentle Readers will remember Young Ward as the author of a slimy little hack piece naming the victims of the World Trade Centre attack as “Little Eichmanns” and stating that the dead on Sept 11 had it coming.
As one might expect, whole lotta folks took offence at that sort of thing and proceeded to lambaste Master Churchill and his college fairly thoroughly.
Well, said Colorado U. decided that Walking Eagle* was pretty much covered under the Right to Free Speech, and all that, so they really couldn’t ding him — so sorry.
Which led to a bunch of ornery rabble-rousing types — journalists, bloggers, investigators, Fox News, that kind of thing — deciding This Was Unacceptable and promptly starting digging up and publicizing various Unpalatable Facts regarding Young Warty Churchill.
Things like lies, plagiarism, lies, intellectual theft, lies, falsification, lies, research misconduct, and a bit of lying here and there.
Bear in mind that none of this was either a surprise, or a revelation, to Colorado University, but the level of negative publicity being trained upon C.U. and its Forked-Tongued Lecturer finally forced the moss-backs running the place to Pay Attention.
They organized an Official Investigation, which — to no ones surprise — turned up an absolutely delightful amount of misconduct on the part of Master Churchill.
I am particularly impressed by the allegation that Ward Churchill, upon discovering that no one else had published anything supporting the topic of his research, promptly assumed a pseudonym (or several — I’m kinda foggy on that part), used said fake name(s) to write a couple of small papers in support of his allegations, then used quotes from the papers he published under pseudonyms as research footnotes in his main paper.
Isn’t that like the Holy Grail of Research Fraud and Intellectual Dishonesty?
Anyhoo, much politicking and bally-hooing later, Colorado University hauled off and canned his fuzzy Anglo butt.
Now, things get really fun, because ol’ Ward is suing Colorado U. for violating his First Amendment Right to Free Speech.
Never mind the fact that Ward Churchill has not been gagged, lobotomized, had his fingers broken, or denied access to publishers or the Media. The man can still talk, trust me, he’s all over YouTube.
No, Churchill asserts that Colorado U. Vi-Oh-Lateded his Right to Free Speech by finding evidence of multiple, long-standing ethical misconduct AFTER he wrote an unpopular essay.
You see, in Ward Churchill’s little pink, fluffy, happy-bunny-world if you write an article outraging people, any fraud you might have committed before that time can’t be held against you. Or some such tripe.
*sigh*
And this is an example of some of the elements teaching the Youth of America these days.
I don’t know why I should have to edumicate a college-type edumicator, but here goes:
Yes, you have the Right to Free Speech. This in no way exempts you from the results of your exercising that right.
Yes, you have the Right to Free Speech. Exercising your Right to Free Speech in no way gives you a free pass on any thefts of intellectual property, plagiarism, official misconduct or lying through your pearly white Anglo teeth.
Yes, you have the Right to Free Speech. Just because you no longer have a cushy University job does not mean you have lost your Right to Free Speech. Plenty of people who aren’t tenured college types exercise their Free Speech every day — I have faith that you, also, will find a way to exercise that First Amendment right.
You schmuck.
LawDog
*Stuffed so full of crap that he can’t fly.
And unfortunately the taxpayers will have to pay the University’s Legal fee’s. If there was any justice in the world wrty would have to pay the fee’s after he loses the case.
“I do not think that Amendment means what you think it means.”
INCONCEIVABLE!
“I am particularly impressed by the allegation that Ward Churchill, upon discovering that no one else had published anything supporting the topic of his research, promptly assumed a pseudonym (or several — I’m kinda foggy on that part), used said fake name(s) to write a couple of small papers in support of his allegations, then used quotes from the papers he published under pseudonyms as research footnotes in his main paper.
Isn’t that like the Holy Grail of Research Fraud and Intellectual Dishonesty?”
Why no, that is SOP on the academic left. Remember Marc Herold and his phony little “study” of civilian studies in Afghanistan?
It’s sobering (and shaming) to realize that Chutch’s academic perfidy was so extensive…and yet, it took so MUCH to get him canned. As with his “Native American ancestry,” which turned out to be complete shite as well, no one called him on it.
Ostensibly, this is the sort of thing that the peer-review process is supposed to catch.
He is a festering chancre on the rude bits of academia. If there was justice, he’d never have another tenure-track slot — or ANY teaching slot — in any university ever again.
Unfortunately, there are places that will clamor for him, and he’ll probably get to publish more of his bile.
crankyprof: Unfortunately, there are places that will clamor for him, and he’ll probably get to publish more of his bile.
Maybe, and maybe not. Has anybody heard much from or about Michael Bellesiles since his academic career crashed and burned spectacularly under similar circumstances, five years ago?
“He is a festering chancre on the rude bits of academia. If there was justice, he’d never have another tenure-track slot — or ANY teaching slot — in any university ever again.”
I honestly don’t believe he’s that exceptional – I think he’s of a sadly common academic stripe, actually. I think a shocking number of academics are completely Machiavellian about indoctrinating little jelly-mold versions of themselves. Tenure needs to go the way of the Dodo bird.
Either-or, neither-nor, son; didn’t I teach you better?
Opps! I forgot; teaching is no longer the impartation of knowledge and learning.
LawMom
P. S. This creature’s adoption of an American Indian name is a shame on all the warriors who have fought and died in Afghanistan and Iraq. If he must have a name, how about Ruptured Bustard?
P.P.S. Mark, if the countersuit-and I hope there is one-is worded right, all fees can be built into the suit so that R. B. will have to pay them.
Either-or, neither-nor, son; didn’t I teach you better?
Whoops — fixed it.
Liars rank side by side with married men who pretend they are divorced in my book. Waaaaay down at the bottom.
I was a grad student in religious studies at CU-Boulder in the 1980s.
Churchill’s intellectual thuggery, if not his plagiarism, was known then, but he was off in a safe ethnic-studies ghetto and no one in the administration really cared.
As you say, once his public statements caused his scholarly record to be examined, the embarrassment was too much to stand, coming as it did on top of a couple of other university scandals.
Good riddance.
AD beat me to it!
Although this post is a classic “Let me esplain… no, there is too much! Let me sum up.”
AND he gets another year of pay on top of all of that!
And here I slave in academia, obeying the rules and making bupkis.
Too bad I’m cursed with a conscious, or I too would make up some phoney baloney Indian background and rake in the big bucks. But dishonesty will get discovered sooner or later.
BTW, Michael Bellesiles is MIA ever since his little scam was uncovered.
I’m not sure what makes me giggle more… the fact that Ambulance Driver had the same reaction to the title that I did, or the meaning of Walking Eagle.
You know what ALWAYS chaps my ass on the Free Speech screeching and whatnot that I see?
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
All folks who bitch about the free speech thing forgets that the point of the first amendment is so that the GOVERNMENT cannot restrict free speech. Let me tell you…anyone I don’t like on my blog…BAN. And I think private businesses and anything NOT having to do with something regulated BY CONGRESS can eat shit.
There. I said it. Yeah, will probably make me unpopular (I’ll go cry myself to sleep later), but from BOTH sides of the aisle, that free speech, first amendment thing gets on my nerves. Oh, that and ignoring the 10th amendment.
Churchill got what he deserved and he can screech all he wants, but in the end, he is being held accountable for his own actions, and I’m happy to see ONE person on this earth being held to that standard.
I have worked at a public university for the past 17 years. You would be very surprised to know what kind of people are teaching our youth these days. This guy is just the icing on the cake.