AWFUL QUOTE OF THE DAY - AT 6:12 P.M. ET:  As I've said before, I love academic people - real academic people.  That may exclude a disturbingly large chunk of college faculties today.

One of the things that drives me crazy is the corrupt moral equivalence posed by some academics today.  As you know, a professor in Binghamton, New York, was murdered several days ago by a Muslim graduate student who'd exhibited violent tendencies earlier.  In response to this crime, members of the Binghamton University (State University of New York) anthropology department did their usual thing.  From The New York Times:

Those from the anthropology department met for about 90 minutes on Monday in the same building where Dr. Antoun kept his office. Some of those who attended the meeting said that the group talked about how it was not only a tragedy that Dr. Antoun had been killed, but also that a member of their community had been accused of committing the act.

“We are all stricken with sadness for both parties,” said Prof. H. Stephen Straight. “It’s a terrible tragedy what happened to Dick, and it is a tragedy that the alleged suspect was one of us.”

That is bad.  That is very, very bad - setting up a moral equivalence between victim and perpetrator.  Of course, on the left that's normal talk, which is why the left can never deal effectively with violent crime.

I'm amused by the prof's name - Professor Straight.  You'd think he'd change it just to be politically correct.  Maybe "Professor Sexual Choice."

Dr. Straight said that university officials had advised those at the meeting not to speak with the media, but he chose to speak publicly because of a relationship with Dr. Antoun that extended back to the 1970s, when they both began teaching at Binghamton.

Does the term "cover-up" come to mind?  Why shouldn't they speak to the press in an institution that, presumably, celebrates academic freedom and the free flow of ideas.  We all know why. 

“It’s tragically ironic that he would fall victim to someone who had been paranoid and delusional about his identity,” Dr. Straight said. “Dick had spent his whole life trying to understand people and their identities.”

Yup.  There it is.  The Major Hasan defense.  He was just one screwed-up guy.  Nothing more, folks, nothing more.

According to Andrew Merriweather, the director of anthropology graduate studies, Mr. Zahrani, who is Saudi, was well regarded and had planned to travel to Dearborn, Mich., to do his fieldwork for his dissertation.

“We admitted him, we are very selective,” Dr. Merriweather said. “He came in with a master’s degree and he did very well in his classes compared to other students.”

Just a great student with a bit of a problem. 

Can you believe this stuff?

December 8, 2009