If a quote from Bill O'Reilly's Radio Factor Web site doesn't spur teachers across the country into a united frenzy of letter-writing, then nothing will.
You, your jobs, your work ethics have been attacked, smeared, maligned, besmirched, spun out of control and flat out lied about by the no-spin meister.
From "The Demise of Ward Churchill" by Bill O'Reilly, coming to a newspaper near you on Sunday: "College professors may have cushier jobs than the rest of us, but they also have a responsibility to tell the truth."
If college professors have cushier jobs than the rest of us when they are dealing with a bunch of post-adolescent I-know-better-than-you; I'd-rather-be-anywhere-than-here; and, don't-bother me-with-the-facts, because I'm too drunk, or too hungover, or too busy looking up your skirt, or too busy looking at the bulge in your pants, wise-ass kids...then Bilge-O's right, they do have it cushier than the rest of us.
College and university professors have to put up with all the crap that's slung at them by the students they teach, the parents and school administrators, and all the while they are constantly fighting to keep their jobs by publishing, publishing, publishing. Publishing to the point where it's amazing they have any time to teach anybody anything... whether it's the truth or not.
If, as you say, Bill, they "have a responsibility to tell the truth"...then so do you!
You have an even GREATER responsibility to tell the truth!!!
Your first responsibility is to tell the truth! The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth...just as if you were in a court of law.
Why? You might ask, Bill "Mr. Twister" O'Reilly who still doesn't get it, not even after others have repeatedly pointed out the errors of your ways.
Answer: Because you are one of the priviledged few who has access to the public airwaves, paid for by the tax payers.
Answer: You reach a far larger audience than ONE professor.
Answer: Because you have the microphone, people believe you, no matter what driveling lies flow out of your big fat mouth.
You lied about Daily KOS being an evil, hate-filled, Nazi-mongering site, which was proven in several columns by Steve Young in both Op-edNews and the Huffington Post.
You claimed that you never heard of freerepublic.com when a caller suggested you check it out as a prime example of a right wing hate-filled site.
Young pointed out that on the day you and your so-called liberal sidekick, Lis Weihl, couldn't find any vicious postings by commenters during a three minute commercial break, he found four such postings in a two minute search of the site.
Young also made it crystal clear for your edification, that your former playmate at Fox News and good buddy at the White House, Press Secretary Tony Snow, was a frequent contributor to Free Republic.
Sandy Sand began her writing career while raising three children and doing public relations work for Women's American ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training). That led to a job as a reporter for the San Fernando Valley Chronicle, a weekly publication in Canoga Park, California. In conjunction with the Chronicle, she broadcast a tri-weekly, 10-minute newscast for KGOE AM. Following the closure of the Chronicle, Sand became the editor of the Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier newspapers in Burbank. She is currently a guest columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News and contributor to ronkayela.com
As a college professor, I didn't know I had a cushy job. I do know that I give my students a wide range of opinions and, hopefully, the truth, although truth comes in many shades and is seen by different people differently. Alas, the "truth" that O'Reilly spouts out is compromised by half-truths and misinterpretations meant to present only one view. He is a multimillionaire and, as Sandy says, using the public airwaves to spout his rants. This is OK with me. He's allowed to be a multimillionaire AND to use public airwaves. His views, though repulsive to many of us, are still allowed under the 1st Amendment--one of those "inconveniences" that Bush & Co. have tried to shred. (As a prof. and as a columnist/radio commentator, I get to use public airwaves, but I most certainly am not a multimillionaire, and I don't know any professors who are. -- Our average salary, according to AAUP, is about $72,000. More than most, not as much as the Bloviator. But, he is NOT part of the people--and has little idea of what the problems are.
walt brasch
by
Brasch (59 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 46 comments)
on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 11:30:18 AM
It does not bode well that that Bill O guy gets so much air time. Eventually hate eats up itself and all around it. I can safely say that only compassion, communication and understanding will, in the long run, bring us what we really want, happiness. Laugh all you want but wait and see, time will tell.
by
davy (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 241 comments)
on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 3:26:29 AM
Bill O'Reilly has not ethical or legal constraint to be truthful, and he takes full advantage of that.
Using the case of Ward Churchill to smear the American professorate is a good example of O'Reilly's utter unscrupulousness and mendacity.
There were deep concerns over Churchill's academic honesty, and these concerns were already under scrutiny well before he made his comments concerning the 9/11/01 attacks .
One could use the Churchill case more honestly to prove that the academic review system works and that the highest standards of academic honesty and rigor are strictly enforced.
Clearly truthfulness and fairness are not part of script on the O'Reilly Factor.
by
Robert Chapman (28 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 557 comments)
on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 12:23:03 PM
