Spring Break
The Daily OrangeAshcroft's visit highlights ignorance of SU's liberal students
By Kris Miller
Posted: 3/29/07, 1:12 AM EST Section: Opinion
Liberal students at this university are a tragic embarrassment. Truly, they have been failed by their parents, their education system and their predominantly liberal professors.
Sure, I partially blame the liberal bias of most professors for cultivating an effete and ignorant crop of young adults who can recite talking points from "The Daily Show," but little else. In 2005 the Washington Post reported that 72 percent of professors at American universities identified themselves as liberal, while only 15 percent admitted to being conservative. At "elite" schools, the percentage of liberal professors balloons to 87 percent.
Having survived one elite institution and presently enduring another, I believe that liberal students generally receive a political pass in the classroom. They rarely face the same challenges as conservative students.
Most philosophical confrontations are subtle. For example, you hear Professor X quip about Bush, or Fox News, and most of the class chuckles. It seems innocuous, but if you know that Michael Moore is a deceitful ignoramus and that voluntary school prayer doesn't actually cause cancer in bystanders, then you feel compelled to thoughtfully consider, evaluate and justify your conservative views. Liberal students, on the other hand, bask in the warm, welcoming glow of unchallenged group ignorance.
This ignorance manifested itself at John Ashcroft's speech, where he received a few thoughtless, sometimes inarticulate questions. These came from liberal students who seemed unable to either read or comprehend U.S. law, and were clueless as to the basic arguments that justify their opinions. When Mr. Ashcroft asked one young lady which fundamental rights she thought were explicitly impinged by the Patriot Act, you could actually hear his question echo inside her head. Eventually, a light bulb sparked and she responded: "all of them." Bravo!
Even I was embarrassed. This poor girl probably couldn't find Cuba, let alone Guantanamo Bay, on a map. Let me give you a hint, sweetheart: it's the big island just south of where you probably spent copious amounts of your parent's hard earned cash on Beast Light and chronic a few weeks ago.
Sure, I partially blame the liberal bias of most professors for cultivating an effete and ignorant crop of young adults who can recite talking points from "The Daily Show," but little else. In 2005 the Washington Post reported that 72 percent of professors at American universities identified themselves as liberal, while only 15 percent admitted to being conservative. At "elite" schools, the percentage of liberal professors balloons to 87 percent.
Having survived one elite institution and presently enduring another, I believe that liberal students generally receive a political pass in the classroom. They rarely face the same challenges as conservative students.
Most philosophical confrontations are subtle. For example, you hear Professor X quip about Bush, or Fox News, and most of the class chuckles. It seems innocuous, but if you know that Michael Moore is a deceitful ignoramus and that voluntary school prayer doesn't actually cause cancer in bystanders, then you feel compelled to thoughtfully consider, evaluate and justify your conservative views. Liberal students, on the other hand, bask in the warm, welcoming glow of unchallenged group ignorance.
This ignorance manifested itself at John Ashcroft's speech, where he received a few thoughtless, sometimes inarticulate questions. These came from liberal students who seemed unable to either read or comprehend U.S. law, and were clueless as to the basic arguments that justify their opinions. When Mr. Ashcroft asked one young lady which fundamental rights she thought were explicitly impinged by the Patriot Act, you could actually hear his question echo inside her head. Eventually, a light bulb sparked and she responded: "all of them." Bravo!
Even I was embarrassed. This poor girl probably couldn't find Cuba, let alone Guantanamo Bay, on a map. Let me give you a hint, sweetheart: it's the big island just south of where you probably spent copious amounts of your parent's hard earned cash on Beast Light and chronic a few weeks ago.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 5
Kelly Brewster
posted 3/29/07 @ 12:18 PM EST
It is always incredibly easy to place yourself on a pedestal and to brush off those that don't agree with your views as being "ignorant" and "inarticulate". (Continued…)
Joshua Hedges
posted 4/03/07 @ 1:01 PM EST
Ignorance? Relegating the world to "liberal" and "conservative" boxes strikes me as fairly ignorant; as does writing such a venomous, arguably homophobic, rant. (Continued…)
Mostlyiamwrong
BiCurious
posted 4/03/07 @ 1:43 PM EST
Mr. Kris Miller:
I would like to preface this by saying there are several problems.. nay... concerns I have about your article. The first is your overwhelming sense of accomplishment. (Continued…)
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