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Gold9472
07-14-2006, 08:42 AM
Nass still seeking Barrett's removal

http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=90930&ntpid=1

PHIL BRINKMAN pbrinkman@madison.com
7/14/2006

Saying the university needs to "see the light" or face retaliatory budget cuts, state Rep. Steve Nass on Wednesday introduced a resolution demanding UW-Madison fire a part- time lecturer who says the 2001 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the U.S. government.

By mid-afternoon, the resolution had 27 co-sponsors - more than a quarter of the Assembly - and Nass said he expected to have signatures from a majority of the Republican- controlled Assembly and Senate by the time he sends it to the governor and the university next week.

Nass, R-Whitewater, said if the university doesn't release Kevin Barrett from his $8,247 limited-term job, he would push to cut funding for administrative positions in the next two-year budget if he's re-elected.

"I'm hopeful (the cuts) will happen if the university decides to continue to thumb their nose at the Legislature and the taxpayers," Nass said, adding lawmakers may "need to step in" as they find out about other teachers touting controversial views.

Barrett, who was cleared by the university earlier this week to teach an introductory course on Islam following an internal review, called the resolution "ridiculous" and noted dozens of full-time professors at other universities hold similar views "and in many cases are doing intensive 9/11 truth research."

"There have been no moves to fire any of these people," Barrett said. "I am teaching one class on an $8,000 salary, and a tiny percentage of the class even touches on 9/11."

Earlier Wednesday, Barrett challenged Nass to a debate on the subject, which Nass immediately rejected.

Nass opted not to try to bring the resolution to a vote during Wednesday's limited floor session, noting Democrats could have easily blocked it under Assembly rules.

Assembly Majority Leader Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Republicans also feared a tit-for-tat exchange of resolutions by Democrats on a day in which the Legislature was honoring fallen soldiers and adopting state labor contracts.

"We were going to inject politics into a situation where it just didn't seem appropriate," Huebsch said.

Instead, Nass said he will circulate the resolution for additional signatures and send copies to Barrett, Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, and the university next week.

Nass' resolution is the latest salvo in an ongoing row between lawmakers and the university, including outrage over the decision to allow controversial Colorado professor Ward Churchill to speak at UW-Whitewater last year, and allowing a vice chancellor to continue earning his $191,000 salary after being demoted and going on leave for seven months.

Nass denied the Barrett case was about academic freedom but "quality and competence in the classroom." He faulted the review by UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell and other university officials, who looked over Barrett's reading list and consulted student evaluations that praised his teaching.

Asked where he would draw the line on instructors' controversial views, Nass said they shouldn't be "way out of bounds" and should be able to be substantiated.

"I think as we find out about those individual teachers and they are so far out and are off the mark . . . then we need to step in," Nass said.

Barrett said one week of the semester-long class will be devoted to a critical analysis of the "war" on terror, which he called "a strange idea, sort of like the 'war on drugs.'" He said students will explore different definitions of terror.

"The definition I would use is political violence of any kind," he said. "I don't draw any distinction between political violence by people in uniforms versus people who are resisting that violence."

But Barrett, who has drawn criticism for advocating the view that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were an "inside job," said he tries to keep his personal views out of the class and encourages students to reach their own conclusions.

"I don't want people to parrot my views," he said. "Somebody who had a completely different view of 9/11 who's teaching an introductory Islam class very well might teach it the same way I am."

Barrett offered to withdraw his arguments and apologize to Vice President Dick Cheney, who he asserts was an accomplice in the attacks, if Nass could refute his arguments in a debate. But Nass wasn't biting.

"That's the same as me saying 'The world is flat. Now you prove me wrong,'" Nass said. "I'm not going to spend the time on it. He is so far off the wall."

Barrett claims his views have been substantiated in books and Web sites by 9/11 detractors who argue, for instance, that the World Trade Center towers appear to have been brought down by controlled explosives, not suicidal terrorists flying airplanes.

"Anybody who at this point in history defends the (federal 9/11 Commission) report is the equivalent of a flat Earther," he said. "There's overwhelming evidence showing that report is a farce."

borepstein
07-14-2006, 11:19 AM
My two cents (http://www.yourbbsucks.com/forum/showthread.php?p=64481).

AuGmENTor
07-14-2006, 07:24 PM
Nass, R-Whitewater, said if the university doesn't release Kevin Barrett from his $8,247 limited-term job, he would push to cut funding for administrative positions in the next two-year budget if he's re-elected.




I'd call this the operative statement. I hope this jackass loses hands down.