Posse Incitatus

When academic freedom isn't

By chance last night we saw Eugene Volokh on the O'Reilly Factor gamely defending Ward Churchill's First Amendment right to advocate the murder of US military officers.

Volokh argued that while a few of the more obnoxious liberal professors would surely be cashiered for their remarks, far more conservatives would be purged in the interests of "balance."

The Posse disagrees with this on two points:

1.  Conservatives are already being cashiered.  Arguing that things will be worse seems at this point unrealistic.  The status quo is indefensible and were faculties to react by finishing off the last vestiges of dissent within the academy, they would be exposed beyond all doubt for what they are.

At present, campus conservatives serve as "tokens" to prove the open-mindedness of their colleagues.  Firing them would defeat the purpose of keeping them around.

2.  The larger point is that the very words "academic freedom" no longer have any meaning in the traditional sense.

Academic freedom originally was about free scientific inquiry, a necessary precondition for an unbiased and unfettered pursuit of verifiable truth.

It should never be a license to advocate treason, or to shield oneself from the negative consequences of free speech.

There is almost no other occupation where an employee can make such outrageous remarks and be free of any sort of sanction from the employer.

College professors should represent the hightest standard of academic excellence.  When idiots like Ward Churchill sound off, they denigrate the scholarly reputation of the institution that employs them.

The institution therefore suffers very real harm.  They should be able to fire or otherwise discipline them.

And in fact they can, they simply choose to do it mostly against professors to the right of center.

Faculty may rally around calls for murder on the grounds of academic freedom, but daring to suggest that men are fundamentally different from women (a verifiable truth, by the way - exactly the kind of exploration that should be protected) and they will burn you at the stake.

Thus, given that academic freedom doesn't really exist, why persist with the fiction?  It is better for everyone involved if the fig leaf is removed and universities can be held fully accountable for the misdeeds and idiocy of their employees.

As for the remarks themselves, we suggest that Churchill get a pair, rather than collect his hefty salary and urge others to do the dirty work.

The man is a contemptible coward in every sense.

The Great Independence Day Litmus Test

After reflecting on the president's speech last night and reading the blogosphere reaction to it, the Posse is convinced that many of those commenting have missed a singularly important part.

LT SMASH isn't one of them.

We would like to highlight this line in particular:

This Fourth of July, I ask you to find a way to thank the men and women defending our freedom...

One of the recurring theme's of George W. Bush's political career is how his opponents "misunderestimate" him.  The number of times these people have contemptuously walked squarely into one of his traps is beyond our reckoning.

Obviously, Karl Rove's choice remarks about liberals are a recent example of this.

We believe this line forces the flag-burning extremists squarely into a corner.  On the one hand, they will feel even more pressure to have an anti-American demonstration lest they be accused of honoring President HalliBushBurton W. Chimpler's request.

Yet if they hold their Old Glory Bonfires, they will be clearly identified as the treasonous weasels that they are.  No longer will they be able to hide their ingratitude and hatred of our military behind the thin veneer of "dissent is a way of celebrating patriotism."

They will be clearly, unmistakably picking a side - a side in clear opposition to our troops.

As it becomes more obvious that the left (and increasingly, the Democratic Party as a whole) are actively working for American defeat, their electoral fortunes will face total collapse.

While the Posse laments the fact that one of America's two major political parties can't resist playing footsie with Fifth Columnists, we believe that only such a debacle will allow the loyal Americans within the Democratic Party to regain control.

Like the technicolor yawn resulting from ingesting spoiled meat, the way to restored health is often unpleasant and certainly not pretty, but it is still something that has to be done.

A great speech

The Posse considers this Bush's best speech.  Arguably it was twice as long as it needed to be (we get the point about Iraq having to take control of its own destiny) but the repitition helped spell out what is at stake for even the most dense.

And we particularly applauded his tribute at the end to American's fighting men and women.  As the milbloggers might say:  "Outstanding."

We also liked his call for Americans to serve.  This is several years overdue, but better late than never.  The cowards and traitors we have documented here will never know the satisfaction of having served their nation in wartime with honor.

It is a very worthy calling.

And to our military readers and honorary members of the Posse:  thank you again for defending our freedom.

Defeatist triumphalism

Arthur Chrenkoff has done an excellent job of illustrating the incredible cynicism of the Democratic left.

What is most interesting is that the entire purpose of Kos' arguments is to shield the Democrats from the stink of defeatism.

There is no interest in American security or winning the War on Terror, only cold political calculation.

Essentially, it is about false advertising.  The Democrats aligned with Kos don't believe that Iraq was about spreading freedom or democracy in the Middle East; for them to suddenly proclaim it to be so immediately invalidates all of their previous anti-war arguments.

Thus as soon as leftists try to take this line, they will be hammered for inconsistency and asked at what point Iraq stopped being about oil/Jewish neoconspiracies/Halliburton/Bush's daddy and became a transcendal mission to free enslaved humanity.

The other line holds more promise, except for the fact that once one hangs out with people who proclaim solidarity with the "minutemen," it is difficult to recast oneself as the second coming of George S. Patton.

Wesley Clark tried to have it both ways:  The pacifist hawk, the anti-war general.  It didn't work.  Perhaps some political junkies will be able to find some parallel to the way in which he squandered a commanding lead in the polls by the simple act of campaigning, but we can't think of any.

Lying about treason

Lt Smash is organizing a counter protest to the usual flag-burning antics of the anti-war movement.

The Posse congratulates him and his fellow patriots and we cannot help but wonder why those so obsessed with hating their homeland can't come out and give clear reasons.

We understand that this could be because they are too muddled in their thinking to have any.

But let us for the sake of argument give them the benefit of the doubt.

It seems to us that there can be only two real reasons to so despise their native country:

1.  Sour grapes over electoral defeats, or

2.  A true, deep-seated dislike of everything America stands for.

In the case of the latter, emigration is really the only alternative.  The US isn't going to fundamentally alter itself within their lifetimes.

In the case of the former, it is highly illogical to try to win votes by descecrating national symbols of unity.

The Posse has had serious issues with various decisions taken by our government, but never once has love of country left us.  The very notion is alien to us.  Even with our party or belief system in the minority (as it often is particularly in local politics), we have never yet come to the conclusion that America itself is evil and requires death and destruction as punishment.

Nor would we even consider making common cause with thugs, muderers and torture experts.

Yet that is exactly what so many of these "anti-war" activists are doing.

That is why we can only assume these people are deranged.  Logic simply can't explain their actions.

The geeenius of Rove

The speech we referenced below is causing Democrats fits of apoplexy - and Republicans are have a ball with it.

To reiterate, the Posse thinks it is a sad commentary on our culture that a major party has embraced defeatism and anti-Americanism.  On the other hand, it is time more Americans came to face this fundamental truth and for respectable, patriotic Democrats to purge their party of these traitors.

Winds of Change has an outstanding roundup of this mindless blather and we are grateful for the reminder that at a time when America was subjected to the most devastating attack in its history, Michael Moore, MoveOn.org and other leftists immediately blamed the US.

Pelosi ends the war in Afghanistan

For the first time in a long time, the Posse frequented Drudge.  Imagine our surprise to learn that the war in Afghanistan was over.

At least, that's what the Democrat House Leaders says.

The beauty of this is that it concides exactly with fake Democratic outrage over Karl Rove's remarks that liberals don't take national security seriously.

Let us review, particularly for the benefit of our fact-challenged trolls.

Here is Rove:

"Conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 in the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers," Mr. Rove, the senior political adviser to President Bush, said at a fund-raiser in Midtown for the Conservative Party of New York State.

Citing calls by progressive groups to respond carefully to the attacks, Mr. Rove said to the applause of several hundred audience members, "I don't know about you, but moderation and restraint is not what I felt when I watched the twin towers crumble to the ground, a side of the Pentagon destroyed, and almost 3,000 of our fellow citizens perish in flames and rubble."

That sounds about right.

How many remember the hand-wringing and reluctance to support operations in Afghanistan even by nominal feminists?

Now let's look at what Pelosi has to say:

     "I assume that the war in Afghanistan is over, or is the contention that you have that it continues?" she said to a reporter.
    A few moments later, she said: "This isn't about the duration of the war. The war in Afghanistan is over."
    House Democrats tried but failed this week to force a floor vote on creating the commission to study reported abuses. [emphasis added]

Sounds exactly what Rove was talking about.  The Dems are quite uninterested in the progress of the war; what they are looking forward to is beating up the administration as soon as that stupid "rally 'round the flag" notion is gone.

We find this particularly interesting given the monolithic Democrat silence in the face of Sen. Dick Durbin's smear of our troops and subsequent non-apology.

Where was Sen. Chuck Schumer's outrage when our brave fighting men and women were equated with Pol Pot's mass slaughterers?

Apparently the threshold for Democrat outrage is anything that actually calls them out on who they are and what they believe.

The Posse derives little pleasure from this episode.  We believe that the fact that one major American political party has lost the will to defend this country's interests is a huge problem.  It may profit the Republicans in the short term, but in the larger scheme of things, it is very unhealthy.

An honest "loyal opposition" wouldn't need to constantly proclaim that its patriotism is genuine; its own actions would bear that out.

The Posse goes cowboy action shooting

Yesterday, the Posse had the opportunity to try a little cowboy action shooting, thanks to the good folks from GLSSA.

Cowboy action shooting is quite a bit different from the other styles we've tried.  It has all of the urgency of sporting clays, the pressure of military-style qualification and the fun of plinking.

In many ways, it reminded us of military-style shooting:   There is a time element and it is essential for the shooter to remain cool under pressure.

The course of fire was somewhat complex (and humorous), which is what really sets this style of shooting apart from the rest.

The scenario was that the participant had just gotten paid and was in town for some recreation.  Alas, evil men were gathered in force:  Time to do something about them for good.

The first task was to "sweep" three metal plates at short range with twin revolvers, using one revoler in turn.  After this, the shooter was to engage four plates with a rifle, double-tapping each.  A clay pigeon was available as a bonus target.

Finally, there were four close-range targets for shotgun work.

Keeping everything straight was tricky (in our first attempt, we swept with the revolvers and the rifle) but once we figured it out, it was tremendous fun.

We quickly picked up that one of the things that makes this style of shooting attractive is that the targets are pretty easy - the time element is what really sets shooters apart.

We highly recommend participating in this rewarding sport.  As soon as we can spring for the guns, we're getting more involved.  As the popularity has grown, the prices on guns and ammunition have come down nicely.  It should be well within most shooters' price range.

The Form 180 water torture continues

Via Captain's Quarters, we learn that a Powerline reader has copies of Kerry's signed Form 180.

You can see the scans here.

Once again, however, this disclosure is still incomplete.  Only three media organizations are listed and none have provided a full accounting of whatever records they have received.

The Posse is dumbfounded as to why this is so difficult.  The man ran for president as a war hero.  At the very least, his full military record should be open to scrutiny.

Why this drip-drip-drip method of going through his records?  Is the man incredibly stupid or does he have something to hide?

And when will the mainstream press develop enough curiosity to find out?

So much for "You'll never take me alive"

Captain Ed points out a very positive development:  The capture of another leading terrorist figure in Iraq.

What makes this particular capture of interest is that the man in question had sworn never to be taken alive.

Morale within the jihadist ranks can't be good.

By almost any indication, the Coalition is winning.  The Iraqi government continues to build up its military and political strength. 

For example, Tim Blair notes that Australian hostage Douglas Wood's whereabouts were revealed by a "walk-in" tipster, no doubt fed up with the constant warfare and death.

While defeatists like Dick Durbin wring their hands over alleged American atrocities, victory looms ever larger on the horizon.

What will the anti-war movement say then?