Black is White; White is Black: Bush and Freedom of Speech

At first glance both Jones and myself seem like nothing more than insignificant players in George W. Bush's War on Terror. But we are both, in our own ways, unfortunate byproducts of the Bush regime, two sides of the same coin even. While I agree with Teddy Roosevelt-"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public"-Jones feeds on the environment of fear that Bush and his team have pursued.

What seems to have gone largely unnoticed thus far is that Jones' actions-and, indeed, the actions of a growing number of self-appointed thought control police-are directly linked to the desire of the Bush administration and its supporters to deem any contrary opinion, any questioning of their actions, to be traitorous. Since immediately following the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration has not only outrightly suppressed dissension but has deliberately kept our country awash in fear so that Jones and his ilk are the inevitable products of our cultivated economy of fear and repression.

And Jones is not alone. In 2003, David Horowitz-a "reformed" liberal who, like a rabid former smoker, now demands that everyone think and act as conservatively as he-began his public campaign to coerce higher education to adopt his "Academic Bill of Rights." This is, of course, an ideologically one-sided fraud, much like his recent book, The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America (also check out Bernard Goldberg's 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America). Though he claimed in a recent Los Angeles Times op/ed to not just be gunning for public institutions, you shouldn't hold your breath waiting for him to go after, say, the debate team at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University, a squad that finds PatRobertson.com a legitimate source. (Yes, this is same Robertson who said recently about professors that "these guys are the out and out communists, they are radicals, you know some of them are killers, and they are propagandists of the first order and they don't want anybody else except them.") Regarding his debate team, Falwell makes no bones about its purpose: "We are training debaters who can perform assault ministry, meaning becoming the conscience of the culture." Karl Rove, also a true believer in the intersection of militarism and Christianity, was so impressed with Falwell's debate team that he hired its coach, Brett O'Donnell, to help George W. Bush prepare for his '04 debates. Of course, if Bush's '04 debates are any reflection of the debate squad's skills we need not worry. It is not enough for Horowitz and Jones that a majority of America's boardrooms, the federal government, and the Supreme Court are already on their team. No, as long as the academic liberals-who hold neither the keys to our national purse nor our military-are on the rampage, no one is safe. Jones says that he would be equally happy to receive "information about abusive, one-sided or off-topic classroom behavior" by conservative professors, but believes that such professors "are unlikely to act inappropriately."

I teach at a private Benedictine university and recently went with a group of students to see the film Brokeback Mountain. This was not a requirement of my class or anyone else's class-though I have assigned other Proulx short stories in the past. It was a voluntary, extracurricular event and part of an ongoing effort meant to encourage the intellectual interaction of faculty and students outside of the classroom. Aware that I had been the faculty advisor for the film outing, a student later asked me in class about my opinions of the film. Though we were scheduled to read one of my favorite authors that day-Raymond Carver-the class wanted to discuss the film and issues pertaining to sexuality. So on the spur of the moment I decided to open up the class discussion. I didn't want to miss a teachable moment. But because there was no mention of this discussion on the syllabus, Jones would probably be happy to spend his $100 to rat me out. Of course, this can't be done anymore because I am now telling you about it.

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