Louis, you should tell Bob Pollin that he's "window-dressing." Though there's a good chance he knows already.
On Sat, Aug 2, 2008 at 1:15 PM, Louis Proyect <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As a Bard College and New School for Research Graduate Faculty alumnus, and > a nearly 20 year long employee of Columbia University, my mailbox at work > and at home is perpetually filled with glossy brochures and magazines > trumpeting the latest human rights, free speech or multicultural > breakthroughs of these institutions. Among the thousands of beacons of > higher learning in the U.S., these three are near the top of the list when > it comes to liberal pretensions. You can call me a hardened cynic, but > mostly I regard the printed material from the three colleges as exercises in > public relations cant especially when you consider how often the noble > gesture is offset by some truly creepy maneuver, often occurring around the > same ballyhooed stunt. > > For example, when my boss Lee Bollinger decided to invite Iran's president > to speak at the university, he defended the action as a courageous effort in > academic freedom necessary to promote global communications. But in his > introduction to Ahmadinejad's speech, he repeated the talking points of the > Bush administration in a clear effort to grease the skids for war with Iran > after the fashion of Judith Miller in the run-up to the war in Iraq. So > effective was Bollinger that Rush Limbaugh replayed Bollinger's entire > introduction the following day on his radio show flapping his lips about how > great Bollinger was. > > Just about a week ago I got an alumnus magazine from the New School, where I > earned an MA in philosophy about 40 years ago mostly in an effort to evade > the draft. I have tried in vain to get off their mailing list after Bob > Kerrey became president of the school to no avail. My next step, I suppose, > is to send them a change of address notification that I have moved to East > Jesus, Nebraska. > > If Columbia's magazines are geared to liberal sensibilities, the New School > is pitched even further to the left. The magazine announced that Bob Pollin, > a New School alumnus, Marxist economist, and frequent contributor to > Alexander Cockburn's Counterpunch, will be joining the Board of Governors. > This might lead to the impression that the hammer-and-sickle will soon be > flying over 66 Fifth Avenue. > > full: http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2008/08/02/academic-cant/ > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
