a university of wisc instructor presented his view to students that 9/11 was a cheney plot. a fireable offense

Question

university of wisconsin instructor kevin barrett presented his opinion to students that cheney orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. one legislator is asking for barrett to be fired:
wisconsin state rep. stephen nass, (r-whitewater), issued a statement demanding barrett be fired immediately, calling him an embarrassment and accusing him of spewing "garbage.''

"mr. barrett is free to stand on the street corner and advocate his nutty left-wing views. However, the taxpayers and tuition-paying families shouldn't pay this man one cent to perform his voodoo in a UW classroom,'' nass' statement read.
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agree or disagree? should barrett be fired? should nass just pipe down? why?

http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11076

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/07/21/Sept.11.prof.ap/index.html

http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/07/12/barrett

Answer 1

Barrett shouldn't be fired. College is all about hearing arguments and free speech because it forces one to consider both sides of an issue. This is an exercise that teaches students to have self control in the face of blatant non-conformist ideas. It takes the emotion out of the factual analysis for those who practice this exercise correctly. Students have a choice on whether or not to be subjected to his opinion and teaching.

The movie "Loose Change" is not completely plausible. Much of what they say in that movie is kind of disturbing and remains unaddressed by the media at large and the government. In my opinion some of the idease are worthy of being addressed. But some of them are kind of out there.

The people writing that he should be fired are just scared of finding out something that they didn't want to know. It smirks of nazi like behavior brought on by the fear of the unknown. It shouldn't come out of the mouths of anyone considering themself a proponent of free speech and education. History is all opinions of the winners anyway.

Answer 2

If Nass succeeds, its further confirmation that Communism has successfully taken over America. No Federal government official can dictate what can or can't be taught in a district run school. There not the same government. Why was the rest of america forced to stop flying just because New York City and the Pentagon were hit by airplanes if there wasn't some conspiracy going on at the very top of our Government?

Answer 3

Absolutely disagree. Nass should not be fired. Nass should present official findings also, but should not pipe down.

Zogby polls show that almost 50% of New York citizens believe that in fact the Administration was either responsible for or knew in advance and failed to prevent 9/11.

I was a resident of New York City. On 9/11 a friend of mine from the age of 12 (Mike Canty) who played in my D and D game through his teenage years, whose track meets we all attended, who was 31 years old and was preparing to marry his sweetheart, died trapped in his office. I mourn him still -- I also happen to believe that this administration was FULLY aware of the attack before it happened. There are enormous numbers of reasons to believe this to be true -- and I accept that it is. They wanted an excuse for war with Iraq and were willing to let Americans die in order to get that excuse in my opinion.

I would NEVER have mentioned my beliefs on this (which are shared by far more than half the people I know by the way, including medical doctors and non-elite attorneys, as well as factory workers and common sales people) if it had not been brought up, but since it was. There you go.

Regards,

Reynolds Jones
http://www.rebuff.org
[e-mail]

PS To Suzi -- oh come on. That's claptrap -- if you know ANYTHING about what the founders did or said -- you know that having people be little sheep going along with whatever the leaders said was NOT part of their vision, when we, as LEFT WING RADICALS rejected the government that GOD HAD GIVEN US and overthrew British rule.

Answer 4

No, he shouldn't fired, but he should also be told by the administration that this kind of pointless speculation is not beneficial to anyone. And doing so should not be tolerated because it may have nothing to do with the curricula.

Now, given that I wasn't there and I don't know the context in which this was delivered, I can't speak to whether Nass is overreacting or not.

Students also have rights. If they feel they're being "indoctrinated" they have the right to get up and leave class and complain to the administration.

Answer 5

Barrett probably has tenure, and knows he can't be fired. So he is purposely saying inflammatory stuff for kicks. Most university profs. are commies, anyway.

If Nass can get him fired, more power to him, but I doubt he can pull it off. This kind of goofy stuff happens all the time. It is a bigger problem for the University administrators, actually, since Barrett makes the university look bad.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean other people can't reprimand you.

Answer 6

I think he should be fired-- IMMEDIATELY!!! He has no business, as an employee of a college, to be voicing an opinion like that. It is up to the individual to form his own opinion. Personally, I believe it was al-quaida. And as far the WMD (Weapons of Mass Destruction), Iraq DID have them. A former Iraqi General who defected to the U.S. said they were moved over the border into Syria. Hallsie

Answer 7

He won't be fired, because teachers aren't fired for anything. The male teachers are all spreading lies and propagands, and the female teachers are all raping their students.

In fact, they shouldn't even bother calling them teachers anymore. So many of them are much more interested in indoctrination, in making sure their students hate Republicans, liberty, and self-determination. They should just be called propagandists.

Our public education system is the saddest thing in this entire country.

Answer 8

We know what kind of lies are presented by the White House.
I believe that Kevin Barrett is speaking the truth.
Read the new book, "The Rise and Rise of Dick Cheney," and you will see the light.

Answer 9

fire him yes I m so tired so these left wing people who have nothing better to do but to cause trouble under the name of teacher???????you know that we are the number one country in the world and yet we are the youngest country and yes we are learning that some laws should be laws and some should not be laws....Thur trail and error yet we are still number one and it seems like a whole lot of people around this world are all trying to come here.....we are a good country GOD has His blessing on us. Now if you have nothing good to say about this country of yours....shut up...yes we have faults but quit tearing down your own land your own country.......build America up hold her up say whats good about our country...your words can give life or death and I know i will never leave my country. United States has been good to me and I love America and I will stand behind our country to the very end. We have young people over seas who are dying for us here.FOR WHAT? so you can have the freedom to tear down the very country that they are dying for to keep us free and safe.......love Suzi

Answer 10

That's ridiculous. It's called freedom of speech and he should not be reprimanded for voicing his opinion. Especially since he's right. 9/11 was orchestrated by our own government - if you have any doubt whatsoever, just watch this video of factual proof and evidence and it will clear the doubts you have right up.