maandag 28 november 2016

Revival of McCarthyism

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 A new website launched by a conservative group called Turning Point USA targets what they believe to be college professors who are too liberal and anti-American. The site is Professor Watchlist, and the goal is
...to fight for free speech and the right for​​ professors to say whatever they wish​;​ however students, parents, and alumni deserve to know the specific incidents and names of professors that advance a radical agenda in lecture halls.
...to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom. 
Help us identify, and expose more professors who have demonstrated liberal bias in the classroom
Visitors to the site are invited to out “liberal, anti-American” professors so their names can be added to the list
The operation was founded by Charlie Kirk, a 22 year old up and coming conservative superstar in the Republican party. According to a piece in New York Magazine
Based on what Kirk claims on Twitter, he’s also been inside Trump Tower this week. If he looks vaguely familiar to you, it may be because he gave a speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention back in July.
and
from May 2015 reports that TPUSA raised $1 million in 2014 from donors that include “Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner; Montana-based technology entrepreneur Greg Gianforte, a donor to Christian causes; and Mike Miller, a suburban Chicago jeweler who’s given Turning Point $50,000.” (They’re a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and not required to disclose all their donors.) TPUSA also boasts that they have chapters at over 1,000 college and high-school campuses.
This is a witch hunt Charlie Kirk and his cohorts are conducting against these professors that would make Joe McCarthy proud, and with the backing of wealthy donors and the ear of the Trump administration, they could get some traction.
...college campuses across the country are the most treacherous terrain imaginable, The only way we're going to take back the youth of this country is to storm them and that is how we're going to make America great again."
and
But - as with nearly every volley in the culture wars - there's been a pushback. Academics and others have responded online by sending in fake tips and mocking the initiative on Twitter using the hashtag #trollprofwatchlist.They're poking fun at Turning Point by submitting reports on historical and fictional figures, including Jesus, Dr Jekyll and Indiana Jones.
Humor aside, identifying and listing educators as liberally biased anti_Americans can be dangerous to those on the list given the hateful environment stoked by the incoming Trump administration.
I uploaded a Google Doc of the list for those who don’t want to visit the site itself
The links are live and will take you to a page with a mug shot and crime report of each professor.

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