Tenure's After

So, a bunch of Republican state legislators got together and demanded (yet again) that Ward Churchill be fired. That seems rather stupid to me.

It's not that I'm not sympathetic. Apparently Professor Churchill has proven himself a terrible scholar and probably should be fired. It's just that, by demanding that the University bypass its own policies, they are encouraging the view that this entire thing is merely a political firing. That will only increase the likelihood that Churchill's inevitable wrongful firing lawsuit will succeed.

If we're going to fire people for making up facts and taking credit for other people's ideas, then I think we should take it further. We need to apply the same standard to our politicians. Let's investigate the lies by State Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany and his buddies casting stones at the University's glass house. Let's make a list of all the times they have taken credit for someone else's work. Then, we'll pick someone who knows nothing about the situation to publicly demand the ouster of the offending politicians.

Oh, and while we're at it, we should also demand the firing of any media pundits who are doing similar things. That means you, Bill O'Reilly.

Or maybe all we need to do is admit that, whether you are a university professor, a politician, or a pundit, being self-righteous does not make you right.