“I’m only racist on my mother’s side. My father’s people were misanthropes.”
That Brevard Community College will be firing Sharon Sweet for compelling her students to vote for Obama is, of course, evidence that such indoctrination is ubiquitous in contemporary academia. The first comment on that Daily Caller link states the case in its strongest form:
Liberal fascism at home on every campus.
Exactly! Those two words always belong next to each other on campus. Goes without saying. What I find interesting about this story is that there’s no racial angle to it. Sweet’s race is never mentioned in the article nor does a search turn up an image that’s unequivocally of her. But Jim Hoft knows what she must look like, so when he did a Google Image search for “Sharon Sweet” he carefully considered all of the faces that might be hers and went with his gut.
That it told him she must be the black woman in the mug shot doesn’t make Hoft himself a racist—just his gut. Which makes him, what? About thirty percent racist?
montag2:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
Umm, Jim Hoft is a really big bag o’ guts, so, I’d have to say, oh, 60-70%.
Jonas:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:16 pm
“That’s where the truth lies, right down here in the gut. Do you know you have more nerve endings in your gut than you have in your head? You can look it up. Now, I know some of you are going to say, “I did look it up, and that’s not true.” That’s ’cause you looked it up in a book. Next time, look it up in your gut. I did. My gut tells me that’s how our nervous system works.”
Johnny Sack:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
As soon as conservatives accuse liberals of something, they’ve given up their game. It’s always projection. Always.
Also, nuke Florida from orbit. It’s ok, I moved out a long time ago.
Derelict:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:17 pm
Is there any moronic/racist/incredibly dopey thing the stupidest man on the internet can do that is not ridicule-worthy? My gut tells me “no,” but my brain tells me there must be some lower bound below which it become like mocking participants at the Special Olympics.
Johnny Sack:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
I should say, they’ve given away their game. They never give up.
somethingblue:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
About three-fifths, then?
David Kaib:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:23 pm
How did she compel her students to vote for Obama? Did she make them get absentee ballots?
SEK:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:24 pm
I wasn’t making a fat crack, I just think the human body’s like 33 percent head/chest, 33 percent guts, and 33 percent legs. I don’t know why I think that, mind you, but my gut tells me I’m not wrong.
Brian:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
Win.
Johnny Sack:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
Yes, she had them get absentee ballots and fill them out under the supervision of Black Panthers
SEK:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:25 pm
She had them sign “a pledge.” Insidious! And no doubt 100 percent effective!
wjts:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:26 pm
I hardly think that the unthinking association of a mug shot of a woman who lives in Fort Myers with a professor of the same name who teaches in Cocoa (some 230 miles away on the opposite side of the peninsula) can in any way be considered even the slightest bit racist.
BigHank53:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Given that you have about 100 trillion bacteria living in your gut, you’d better hope those little bastards never figure out voting.
isaiah:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:32 pm
If you search google images for “professor sharon sweet” you can see that a bunch of right wing web sites have used that mug shot for this story. Although a few of them have comments saying that it isn’t the right picture.
Megan McArdle's intern:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:33 pm
It wasn’t a pledge, it was a statistical analysis.
Carol:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:34 pm
Ummm, how on earth did she compel her students to vote for Obama? Did she go with each one to the booth? How did she do that? Did they all claim they were blind and needed her to read the ballot to them? And did she really do what the Daily Caller accuses her of doing? Or did she simply do what she said she was dong? A bunch of right wing students in your classroom is a promise of problems to come.
spencer:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:36 pm
Also, nuke Florida from orbit. It’s ok, I moved out a long time ago.
Also, fuck you, but some of us haven’t been able to make it out just yet.
elm:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:44 pm
Please, warn people before sending them to that website. Holy crap, I didn’t need to read an anti-semitic racist’s conspiracy rants.
Speak Truth:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:48 pm
At the time of this comment, there are 17 other comments before mine. None of them address the issue of politics to children that are a captive audience and the power the teacher has over them.
If this were the workplace and your boss let you know in no uncertain terms that you should vote and support a conservative candidate, would that be just OK with you, too?
Speak Truth:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
Hey, this is kinda like “card check” ain’t it!!
You should be all about this.
SEK:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:54 pm
None of them address the issue of politics to children that are a captive audience and the power the teacher has over them.
If you understood sarcasm, you’d see that I address the “unjust” nature of her firing in the original post.
timb:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
Email us once you are clear, so we can go ahead and take care of that place.
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 3:59 pm
i find it odd that a report on a personnel matter has been made public, in violation of multiple privacy statutes, federal & state. this causes me to wonder if the school is going to find itself the respondent in a civil action? as well, at no point have we seen prof. sweet’s response, since the report was released just 3 days ago. they could only convince 43 out of 85 students to take part in their “survey”? seems odd, if prof. sweet’s behaviour was as eggregious as it’s been described, but maybe that’s just me.
if she is guilty of the acts she’s accused of, then clearly she has no business in a classroom. being a mathematician, i doubt she’ll have trouble finding gainful employment.
CaptBackslap:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:00 pm
If bacteria had any ability to politically organize, Chi-Chi’s would still be around.
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:01 pm
actually, it’s about 80% water, especially in your gut.
Uncle Kvetch:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Hey, this is kinda like “card check” ain’t it!!
Let’s connect the dots:
“Card check” contains two words, both in English.
“College professor” contains two words, both in English.
“Buckwheat pancakes” contains two words, both in English.
OH. MY. GOD…[staggers away from computer]
timb:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:02 pm
He told you he was sending you to Hoft’s place…..
[/sarcasm]
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
could you leave sanibel island alone, it’s a really nice place. but go ahead and take out the toll booth on the causeway, that would be fine.
timb:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Well, of course, the list of Republican CEO’s who threatened their employees was pretty long
Uncle Kvetch:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:05 pm
Oh, and bonus points for referring to community college students as “children.” Those poor widdle rugrats didn’t stand a chance.
Colin Day:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:05 pm
No! Only abstinence pledges are 100% effective. :-)
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
they aren’t children, they are college aged or even older. it’s a community college, not a high school.
“None of them address the issue of politics to children that are a captive audience and the power the teacher has over them.”
nor are they a “captive audience”, being adults, they could get up and leave any time they chose. as well, being a math class, where problems have definite, objective answers, i wondered how she would seek reprisal against them, change their answers on tests?
Uncle Ebeneezer:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:08 pm
How does Econ professors openly touting the merits of Supply Side/Invisible Hand etc., for the past 30 years, fit into Liberal Fascism?
Stag Party Palin:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
“None of them addresses” you clod. Jeebus, nothing upsets me more than using one of two acceptable grammatical forms that upset me. Except pancakes without genuine maple syrup. Now that really pisses me off.
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:12 pm
she threatened them with numbers, probably integers, they’re the most dangerous.
“Ummm, how on earth did she compel her students to vote for Obama?”
Substance McGravitas:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:15 pm
I wonder how the student body at Liberty University makes up its mind.
somethingblue:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:19 pm
Won’t somebody please think of the Pfannkuchen???
BigHank53:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:30 pm
I had the misfortune of being exposed to a microeconomics text last year that classified “entrepreneurship” as an additional fourth basic category, in addition to labor, capital, and natural resources. No, inventing a new business isn’t a specialized form of labor, like being a professor or doctor; it is unique and therefore deserving of an ever-greater slice of the pie.
BigHank53:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:32 pm
They don’t accept students who have doubts.
Mike G:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
Yes, because conservative-dominated institutions like the military and corporations are such bastions of free expression and tolerance of dissent.
Kyle:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
Economics and engineering faculty are inconveniently too conservative to fit the right-wing bogeyman role, so they pretend that colleges consist entirely of Black Studies, Chicano Studies and Women’s Studies departments.
Vance Maverick:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
This is a myth. Pancake Kid has plenty of real defects to attack — but the choice of number agreement for “none” isn’t one of them.
Manju:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:38 pm
OK, but Dinesh D’Souza – whose (ex?) wife’s name is Dixie (I add gratuitously just because its funny) – gets full credit for “Illiberal Education”.
This is a relatively sophisticated use of “liberal”, especially considering the source.
*note: No, I’ve never read Liberal Fascism. DW-Nominate is not the same thing.
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:39 pm
according to my son, who goes to school just a bit down the road from liberty, a six-pack or two usually does the trick.
“I wonder how the student body at Liberty University makes up its mind.”
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:45 pm
having made the mistake of reading some of mr. d’souza’s “work”, i’ve always come away thinking he’s just a ginormous dipshit, in a very expensive suit. it requires little in the way of hard analysis to deconstruct him, and i’m not all that bright. just imagine he and paul krugman in the same room. wait, that wouldn’t take long at all.
montag2:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:51 pm
Thus, begging for this quote: “One through nine, no maybes, no supposes, no fractions. You can’t travel in space, you can’t go out into space, you know, without, like, you know, uh, with fractions – what are you going to land on – one-quarter, three-eighths? What are you going to do when you go from here to Venus or something?”
Malaclypse:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:53 pm
So, as I think I’ve mentioned, I was educmacated in a fundamentalist “academy” up through high school. And every year in middle school, our English teacher (there was only one, for all of middle school) would have “writing assignments” where we would write a letter to our congresscritter on some cause (and the assignment, not we, determined if we were for or against). She would grade them, and them mail them off for us.
That was genuinely abusive. I remember that one of the assignments involved trying to get the IRS to leave poor Bob Jones University alone (and if anybody asks, yes, I did the assignments – to my discredit, it took until college to realize how fucked up my primary education was. Those Wonkette “Sundays with Christianist textbooks” series? I had an older edition of that text).
So, yea, what this lady is accused of doing? Freaking amateur hour.
somethingblue:
February 18th, 2013 at 4:54 pm
Hey, if you hate job creators so much, maybe you should just move to France. I’m told they don’t even have a word for entrepreneur.
Bill Murray:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:01 pm
well our anti-microbial habits are killing them off anyway, so it’s going to be a lesser issue as time goes by
DrDick:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:03 pm
Or business profs proclaiming that government regulations destroy businesses (which I have actually overheard in a lecture).
Happy Jack:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:11 pm
That photo doesn’t look to me like a 58 yr old woman. Then again, I’ve never been involved in an internet snipe hunt.
commie atheist:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:20 pm
Along with the move a few years back to turn the Officers’ Club into the Blue Oyster Bar
In times square now people do the polka
Dominance….submission…radios appear
This new year’s eve was the final barrier
Dominance….submission…radios appear
We took you up and we put you in the back seat
Dominance….submission…radios appear
From year to year we looked out for the venture
Dominance….submission…radios appear
Dominance….submission
Malaclypse:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:25 pm
With a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound
He pulls the spitting high-tension wires down
Godzilla, or Loomis?
Bill Murray:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:27 pm
Maple Syrup also is two words both in English and it goes well with buckwheat pancakes — and I, a college professor, have had maple syrup on buckwheat pancakes. I have also checked cards (although not in the Wittgensteinian card check sense)
sparks:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
b…but the irrationals!!!
Bill Murray:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:30 pm
as if there is a difference
Bill Murray:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:31 pm
so D’Souza is the one who drove old Dixie down
sparks:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:32 pm
You forgot Native American Studies.
efgoldman:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:37 pm
Hey, I’m old enough that we said the lord’s prayer and had a bible reading every morning along with the pledge of allegiance. In public school, where some very large fraction of the student body was Jewish. The Murray decision happened when I was in high school.
efgoldman:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:39 pm
For the win.
ralphdibny:
February 18th, 2013 at 5:40 pm
Ah, the memories. Like the time I was beaten with a paddle by my Bible teacher, who informed me that he wished he could take me outside the city walls and stone me, as the Old Testament commands for disobedient children. Or the time we took a “field trip” to a Reagan rally and we were all excited we were on the evening news.
In other words–yep, amateur hour.
Manju:
February 18th, 2013 at 6:11 pm
Well I heard D’Souza sing about her
Well, I heard ole D put her down
Well, I hope Dinesh will remember
A Southern gal don’t need him around anyhow
Malaclypse:
February 18th, 2013 at 6:37 pm
The pledge of allegiance? We had two: I pledge allegiance to the Christian Flag, and to the Saviour, for whose kingdom it stands. One Saviour, crucified, risen and coming again, with life and liberty for all who believe.
MAJeff:
February 18th, 2013 at 6:39 pm
We got out of school every Wednesday to go to church for confirmation classes. Kids who didn’t do that had study hall.
JustRuss:
February 18th, 2013 at 6:40 pm
That’s almost win-the-internets worthy! Keep it up, they’ll all be yours someday!
Green Caboose:
February 18th, 2013 at 6:48 pm
And I read that and thought – geez that sounds like Colbert. And I googled and it was, from that terrific roasting he did of Bush and the Villagers in 2006.
Sigh. That roasting had no effect of course. But whatever he does with the rest of his lift, Colbert’s decision to blow up any potential future career he had with politicians and make that speech will alway be one of the great, great, great moments in human history.
Pestilence:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:00 pm
Godzilla doesnt have a stick
commie atheist:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:05 pm
Actually, he pissed off the assembled media stenographers and asslickers more than he did the politicians. And, wow, color me surprised that Ana Marie Cox, during her ascendant phase, didn’t see what was so special about it:
DrDick:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:06 pm
They are already smarter than Hoft.
Leopold Kronecker:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:22 pm
probably integers, they’re the most dangerous
Mere man-made numbers are less destructive.
commie atheist:
February 18th, 2013 at 7:23 pm
+10
Also, D’Souza just published a book titled “What So Great About Christianity?” No lie. Here’s a review:
Throw all the bums out:
February 18th, 2013 at 8:09 pm
Fire this weasel loser and every other professor at a public university who mandates that his or her students vote for a Democrat, or who requires that his or her students volunteer for a particular political organization. I am all for it; for far too long many of my liberal colleagues have used their bully pulpit to endorse, or worse, enforce the choice of political candidates. But let’s not stop there. Let’s fire those at state universities who give extra credit for going to particular religious institutions. (Yes, it does happen.) And, whle we are at it, let’s revoke the tax exemption of every church or synagogue or temple where the congregation was told for whom to vote in the last presidential election. After all, fair is fair.
rea:
February 18th, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Entrepeneurship as distinct from capital? Okay . . .
cpinva:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:06 pm
no one’s ever accused ms. cox of being a particularly bright “card-carrying lefty”.
expatchad:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:24 pm
You’ve counted???
expatchad:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:26 pm
Your gut is getting a big head …
Tybalt:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:29 pm
FRIGGIN’ PROF. OBAMA!!
expatchad:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:50 pm
Confronted them with a googolplex
expatchad:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Yes, but its it’s in French.
expatchad:
February 18th, 2013 at 9:56 pm
I cannot find the EDIT FUNCTION. I shall DIE
The Dark Avenger:
February 18th, 2013 at 10:12 pm
One of my mother’s most scathing critiques was to call someone a ‘gutless wonder’.
That fits Jim Hoft, the world’s stupidest man on the Internet.
The Dark Avenger:
February 18th, 2013 at 10:15 pm
Transfinite numbers aren’t for sissies!
Vance Maverick:
February 18th, 2013 at 10:43 pm
Also, in TATBO’s state, is there a secret ballot? I can believe a few professors make themselves unpleasant, but unless I’m missing something, they literally can’t force a vote.
DocAmazing:
February 18th, 2013 at 11:28 pm
We’re learning our theology from Jiminy Cricket?
Warren Terra:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:09 am
Ok, you all hold still now …
Warren Terra:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:12 am
More like that she had to carry the card for proof, because otherwise how could anyone tell? Her blatant careerist opportunism certainly wasn’t going to let her progress be derailed by any considerations of principles or ideals (or ideas).
Warren Terra:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:16 am
It’s Poe’s law made flesh.
redrob64:
February 19th, 2013 at 12:59 am
Why in the name of all that is unholy are there even such creatures as business professors? I thought the whole point of the folklore of capitalism was that businessmen were brave doers, who didn’t need a bunch of eggheads to tell them how to do whatever it is they do to make a profit. Doesn’t the whole idea of business school run against the grain of their self-image?
wengler:
February 19th, 2013 at 1:38 am
That is the dumbest sentence I’ve read all day.
mijaba:
February 19th, 2013 at 3:10 am
Christianity has a flag?
Informant:
February 19th, 2013 at 6:12 am
Precisely what federal “privacy statute[s]” would preclude the release of this information? (There may be state statutes relating to personnel matters, but I’m aware of no federal law that would be likely to apply.)
john (not mccain):
February 19th, 2013 at 6:43 am
sadly, only 27% of people know that timeless, gut-obvious truth.
john (not mccain):
February 19th, 2013 at 6:50 am
1 – i lie to my boss all the time about things she could verify. i am certainly not going to get all tense over something she couldn’t. 2 – CHILDREN CAN’T VOTE.
NorthLeft12:
February 19th, 2013 at 7:43 am
Jim Hoft
That may be the next Republican breakthrough idea in reducing education expenditures. Sentence felons to terms of service as college teachers.
NorthLeft12:
February 19th, 2013 at 7:48 am
Conservatives always forget about Natives/Aboriginals.
Take it from a Canadian.
NorthLeft12:
February 19th, 2013 at 7:50 am
With a head on it?
Malaclypse:
February 19th, 2013 at 8:07 am
Mothra’s.
The Dark Avenger:
February 19th, 2013 at 8:39 am
I’d like to know what variety of Christianity that D’Souza belongs to where an man and woman who aren’t married to one another can share a hotel suite together and not break any Christian teachings.
That my friends, is literally the million-dollar question.
http://wonkette.com/487180/lazy-slut-who-did-no-work-dinesh-dsouza-resigns-from-million-dollar-christian-college-prez-gig
FLRealist:
February 19th, 2013 at 8:44 am
While I heartily agree with the sentiment, please don’t. Hubby’s a native, and he won’t let us move out of this god-forsaken place.
liberal:
February 19th, 2013 at 9:15 am
Entrepreneurship per se is clearly labor, not capital.
chris:
February 19th, 2013 at 9:49 am
To be fair, that goes for the pastors too, but they’re both still being jerks to use their pulpits (one of them literal) to try to coerce people’s political beliefs.
DrDick:
February 19th, 2013 at 9:55 am
Cthulhu alone only knows. B-schools are where minds go to die, horribly mutilated.
Njorl:
February 19th, 2013 at 3:27 pm
One thing we have to thank George Bush for is being such a good example to delineate the line between entrepreneurship and capital. When he was starting all of those businesses which went bankrupt, he was engaging in entrepreneurship, while his daddy’s friends were supplying the capital. He should be used in every econ 101 class as an example of how capitalism works, just so the kids can avoid confusion.
STH:
February 19th, 2013 at 3:49 pm
If she did pressure or compel her students to vote in a certain way, no, it isn’t right.
But I guarantee you that every single conservative who is horrified by this is also an advocate for mandatory prayer in grade schools, which DOES involve kids, while this case doesn’t. Because they don’t have any problem at all with pressure or compulsion, as long as they’re the ones doing the compelling. They only care about rights when somebody else is in charge.
STH:
February 19th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
I’m taking Business 101 right now (send help) and the lecture on Economics consisted of nothing but Republican talking points: the ACA and Social Security are socialist, Democrats are socialist, no minimum wage is needed because all minimum wage workers are teenagers, the ACA will mean old people won’t get health care, etc. When I pointed out that health care is presently allocated by who can pay, he responded with the usual talking point: poor people can just go to emergency room! I responded that this drives up the cost of health care, but he obviously didn’t want to hear it and ignored me. What pisses me off the most about this is that we’re in a pretty conservative area here and now all those students have had their biases and ignorance confirmed rather than challenged. (It also irritated me that I know more about Adam Smith than the prof apparently does.)
I sometimes feel like a freaking undercover agent in that class.
Mike Schilling:
February 19th, 2013 at 6:57 pm
This is the only time in history a conservative assumed that a math professor would be black.