The Ends of Men
or maybe just
Hinders
ETA: Now I"m left wondering (due to the charging port image) if he’s not drinking raw eggs, but rather the contents of a lava lamp?
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It’s just straight up recycled fascist imagery. Go watch Triumph of the Will at some point.
Let’s not insult a happy mutant.
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Well, they are using Chuck Tingle’s favourite typeface.
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I don’t know that it’s all that bad, but it is surprisingly homoerotic. And it definitely implies that Tucker is counting on the white alphas to save him .
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Save him? From what?
Something I find despairing is that anger-feeding grifters like him never seem to face any consequences. They just get more and more wealthy, until they die (cf. Rush Limburger). I suppose the potential impending bankruptcy by lawsuit of Alex Jones offers a bit of hope.
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Existential shame.
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Nah. Dude’s obviously incapable of feeling shame.
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…a quality found amongst every lauded member of today’s Republican Party.
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Of course not, and I don’t think I’ve said they do. As you note, most universities want to be seen as being “on board,” with their principles. That’s why many many universities say so explicitly, either in Faculty Handbooks, or in CBAs. And at that point their Statement does become a legal thing.
Art faculty do speak to the human condition, but someone teaching painting who offers an opinion as I outlined is likely to get dismissed, observer of the human condition or not. On the other hand, asking students to paint based on the idea of slavery being a positive good . . . Likely a call from the Dean and a public stink, but protected.
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The problem I see with TV and newspaper interviews, especially on an “entertainment” program like McNear Swanson’s is that they wouldn’t book some rando Amy Wax. She only gets onto that show because of her title and affiliation, which they feature prominently. So whether she wants to or not, she’s leveraging that position to amplify her bigotry. There’s no way that’s protected, and there’s no way it should be. This wasn’t a professional conference, it wasn’t a government consulting gig, it was pure ego. That’s not what tenure or academic freedom are for, and it diminishes both by abusing them.
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I don’t think there is much difference in how painting a statement and stating a statement get treated. Arts faculty make extreme political statements all the time, whether there is any blowback depends on where they stand relative to the administration. (Or sometimes, in the case of state schools, relative to the legislature or governor.)
In Wax’s case, it could be argued that she has been speaking completely within her lane, however reprehensible the actual statements, but that won’t protect her from her administration going after her if they decide there is benefit to them to do so.
ETA: Some of her latest statements are outside her lane, so “completely” deleted. Also, it should be said that Penn administration has gone after her in the past for statements that were less repugnant.
Blatant racism like this isn’t protected political speech, though. It’s hate speech. It’s not like she spoke in favor of some public policy that’s controversial. She just spouted outright hate and bile on camera.
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I did not see her on camera, but I’ve seen many of her statements quoted. They are repugnant for sure, and it is shocking that someone with her roots would have gone in that direction. Whether they are protected speech is a matter for the courts. I think Penn would be within their rights to not have her teach students from the groups she derided, especially the groups where she said the students are not capable of quality work.
(Just to be clear, I agree that she is racist. This can’t have been a sudden thing, I’m surprised she made it through the tenure process without it being detected, especially as she was a fairly public figure before joining Penn.)
ETA: As others have rightly noted below, this is problematic as worded. Obviously, any class she teaches might expose students, whatever their background, to her racism, and Penn is within their rights to mitigate this.
I really hate this kind of weasel wording. We’re not making arguments in front of a panel of judges. We’re having a conversation. If you disagree with my opinion, just disagree with it already.
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I don’t disagree. To me it is hate speech. I think my use of “repugnant” and “reprehensible” indicate my feelings about this. However, the discussion Les and I were having were about university authority over this kind of speech, so is very much about legalities.
If Penn cared to fire her for it, they would prevail, though maybe it would cost them a lot of money to do so. But frankly, they have an obligation to do so if they actually give a shit about their students, employees, and their community.
As a society, we have to stop giving bigots free passes for this bullshit. Make Racism Wrong Again.
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They tried before, 4 years ago.
They tried to fire her 4 years ago for her racist rant on Carlson’s show in the future? No wonder they failed!
I think they have a better case now that she’s actually done it.
ETA: she keeps escalating both the degree of racism and the profile of the venue where she exhibits it while flaunting her credentials. Penn needs to get rid of her before she streaks nude during the national Anthem at the Super Bowl chanting the N-word. That’s the trajectory she’s on.
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But hey… “both sides are bad”…
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