- And a Woman-Hater -
RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
I have limited time today so I will deal with the “men’s rights” very sick individual in the next few days. Yesterday, “she” posted this link to a CNN report titled, “The other face of domestic violence.” Obviously domestic violence goes both ways and is not acceptable under any circumstances by either sex. But it is women who are being killed everyday in this country. This “woman” has stated that she was beaten so badly by an ex-boyfriend that he killed her unborn, third-trimester child. Yet all “she” has done for the last two years is degrade women and lie about violence against women and child support. I will review her posts and document dangerous lie after lie after lie shortly.
Please check back tomorrow for a news round-up and the promised story, “Gib It Up!”
IT’S NOT DEBATABLE
Many voters are not aware that Bob Casey Jr., Democratic candidate for the Senate against Rick Santorum, is pro-life. “Casey and Santorum both hold anti-abortion views, but the poll indicated 69 percent of voters were unaware of Casey’s stance and 8 percent erroneously described him as favoring abortion rights.” The quote is from yesterday’s New Era article, “Casey’s lead over Santorum trimmed slightly to 11 points.”
There is an important debate this Saturday between the Democratic candidates, Casey, Chuck Pennacchio and Alan Sandals. Pennacchio and Sandals are both pro-choice. The debate is from 7-9 p.m. at Slippery Rock University and will be televised on the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN), which is available throughout the state. It can also be viewed on line at http://www.pcntv.com/. A list of PCN carriers is here: http://www.pcntv.com/affils.htm .
TERRY CHRISTOPHER
“Well, I’m the good looking blonde kid that Gil refers to in his article, and I was wondering if littledutchboy is in college or just making assumptions what college is like based on what he sees in the news. If anyone actually sat through the hearing, which granted did get boring after a while, you would have heard more students come forward during the open forum section, and not a single one had a complaint.
Now I’m sure there are republicans that will consider me a turncoat, but I would be surprised if those same people were as active in local politics and local republican committees as I am. Personally, I was offended about Gib ignoring what I had to say, we had a 15 minute recess right before I spoke so there was ample opportunity for him to take a break if he needed, he simply didn’t care about what I had to say because we disagreed.
The humorous part is that after my name got tossed around in a few news papers, Armstrong called me personally to work on his campaign, however I ignored his requests like he ignored my testimony. If anyone wants a full copy of my testimony I’d be more than glad to share it with them, just so you can know the full story.”
Terry posted this on Talkback under the Sunday News article that featured him, “When facts don’t fit, he won’t sit” (click here). The full text of his speech is below. Please take the time to read it. It is excellent and I would like to thank Terry very much for sending me a copy.
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~ Lower Our Tuition ~
DON’T CENSOR OUR CLASSROOMS
I would like to start by thanking the members of the legislature for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of the students of Millersville University.
My name is Terry Christopher and I am a junior studying Speech Communication here at Millersville. I also spent two years studying at the Lancaster Campus of Harrisburg Area Community College and I have been a resident of Lancaster County for the past eight years. I am a veteran of the United States Air Force, and an active member of the Reamstown Republican Committee.
I’m here to tell you that there is no problem with academic freedom at Millersville, and to urge you not to pass legislation on this issue.
When I started college, I understood and expected to encounter a variety of new opinions and ideas. At the same time, I anticipated the opportunity to debate with those who hold differing views. One of the arguments that this committee presumes about students is the idea that students are blank slates, and just blindly accept the opinions of their professors. I hold myself up as an example contrary to this argument, as a veteran of the military and participant in local politics.
I have taken courses with professors on both ends of the political spectrum, and I’ve found that their political affiliations are not what have made me learn or not learn. I have learned best in classes that are open to free debate. In fact, growing up in a traditional conservative Lancaster County family I had limited contact with different points of view. When I attended college for the first time I was surprised by the number of different ideas and opinions, however this diversity facilitated a well-rounded education.
While studying at HACC, a professor named Stephan Williams was the head of the history department and taught nearly every history class offered. Stephan was honest about his perspective and always encouraged debate between him and students alike. He did not sugarcoat history, teaching subjects that are by their nature controversial, such as “Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler.” When taking this subject matter into consideration one must understand the necessity to use material that could be deemed offensive. Even though our political views differed greatly he was by far my favorite professor.
I never missed one of his classes because I actually learned. In fact through exposure to views and opinions contrary to my own, my values have been strengthened.
In reality, growing up most of your thoughts are really just restatements of the ideas your parents have given you. When my beliefs were challenged in college it forced me to closely examine them, and in doing so it my values were verified and reinforced. Because of this fact I now have a better understanding of myself, and my beliefs. Unfortunately for the students at HACC, and the integrity of that educational body Stephan was forced to resign a few weeks ago because he made a comment in class that offended a student. This is exactly why these so-called Academic Bill of Rights proposals can not gain any strength, quality professors will lose their jobs or have to censor themselves and many elements of college life will be catastrophically affected.
I am a Republican because I feel that our party especially at the state level is strongly committed to responsible spending; the cost of implementing such legislation must be taken into account. From my perspective, Millersville’s tuition is expected to rise approximately five percent next year, up from the usual two to three percent, and I feel that the constituents of the commonwealth would be much better served by spending tax dollars on reducing tuition costs rather than censoring professors. Personally the political party I belong to would not allow the government to get involved in such matters and would work to solve actual, existing problems.
Our universities don’t have a problem with academic freedom, in fact students learn best when we’re confronted with ideas we disagree with. Let me leave you with this. Justice Anthony Kennedy once wrote: “The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is beside the point. Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.”
If every American had the same ideas, and agreed all the time, we wouldn’t need freedoms, rights, or protections afforded to us in our Constitution. The first amendment was written to protect unpopular speech. This fundamental element of our constitution is exactly what this so called Academic Bill of Rights is jeopardizing. Professors may say things that offend students, students may say things that offend other students, but this is all part of the educational process. You know, in their own time the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution themselves were deemed controversial. Thank God we didn’t censor those ideas.
If you really want to help students in Pennsylvania, pass a bill to lower our tuition, instead of a bill that censors our classrooms.
Again, I want to thank you all for giving me the time to speak. I know students at this school appreciate you coming here to hear our views on legislation like the Academic Bill of Rights.
I look forward to answering your questions.
