tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post4005701764458979268..comments2023-12-30T23:02:57.931-08:00Comments on Deep Thought: Ward Churchill may get fired for his comments. But he shouldn't.Eli Blakehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00792743206074537073noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-69892890446662859972007-06-03T07:15:00.000-07:002007-06-03T07:15:00.000-07:00"The man has a Ph.D., so there is no question that..."The man has a Ph.D., so there is no question that he possesses the legal and appropriate academic qualification for his job."<BR/><BR/>No question? You gotta be kidding me.<BR/><BR/>Pardon me for saying so, but you clearly are either very young, or don't know many PhDs. Maybe both.<BR/><BR/>My wife is a professor at a top-notch university in mid-career. I have met more PhD candidates, postdocs, researchers, professors, and fellows than I can count.<BR/><BR/>They are somewhat more intelligent, on average, than the average person, but they often have the most appalling judgment and are woefully lacking in real-world experience, incapable of running a hotdog stand.<BR/><BR/>And many of them are dumb as posts.<BR/><BR/>Mere possesion of a PhD means squat when it comes to job qualification. "Who you know" is EXTREMELY important. Or sometimes if you are a favored color or gender.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-53792275982175987742007-05-30T21:37:00.000-07:002007-05-30T21:37:00.000-07:00Freedom of speech is, so to speak, a bitch.Pardon ...Freedom of speech is, so to speak, a bitch.<BR/><BR/>Pardon my language, but I think you can see that I meant the offensive word to trigger irony.shrimplatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08347542266047278227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-23244075247511740262007-05-30T11:07:00.000-07:002007-05-30T11:07:00.000-07:00Define, 'stupid.'The man has a Ph.D., so there is ...Define, 'stupid.'<BR/><BR/>The man has a Ph.D., so there is no question that he possesses the legal and appropriate academic qualification for his job. I agree that what he said is certainly stupid, but I'm not sure what evidence you can provide that he himself is stupid, and further, is 'stupid' to the degree that would disqualify him from teaching in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado.<BR/><BR/>Really, those people who want him fired keep coming back to what he wrote. If that is why he should be fired then go ahead and say it. If not, then let's be honest here-- if he hadn't made the 9/11-Eichmann comment in his essay then who outside of his little sphere of influence would know or care who Ward Churchill was, certainly not enough to go to extraordinary lengths to find a reason to fire him? So if he is fired (or faces any other disciplinary action, for that matter) then it will be a direct result of his writing and publishing that essay, no matter what the official justification given turns out to be.Eli Blakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00792743206074537073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14231145.post-75350808539751671482007-05-30T06:35:00.000-07:002007-05-30T06:35:00.000-07:00I don't think he should merely be fired because of...I don't think he should merely be fired because of what he wrote in that essay. The real problem is that he is stupid - and a stupid man should not be given an assignment as a university professor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com