Sunday, April 29, 2007

Do they *really* believe this? Part I

From yesterday's Utah County Republican Convention...

"(Enid) Greene said she was disappointed in BYU professors who protested Dick Cheney's visit to campus, calling them "self-appointed intellectuals."

"I'm not calling for BYU to fire them but if no one signs up for their classes ..." she said. "If they say the Vice President doesn't have anything to say we want to hear, I'm not interested in having my daughter learn from them."

(Source - Daily Herald)

What I read from this - Attacks on academic freedom, name-calling, censorship, moral superiority, confusing dissent with disloyalty, impugning fellow LDS church members because they are not Republicans, attempts to disenfranchise dangerous free-thinking temple-recommend holders, mixing personal religious viewpoints with politics, stating publically that if someone disagrees with you then there is nothing to be learned from that individual, setting a lousy example as a party leader of statesmanship, always having to identify an "enemy" no matter what the situation.

Questions to Enid - How old is your daughter? When does she get to think for herself?

I don't get it. Do Republicans really believe this? Readers, please enlighten me.

9 comments:

Don L. Miller said...

Enid Greene should know that when Vice President Cheney left BYU he was overheard remarking -- "Heh, Heh, this was a Haliburton deal, I got an honorary doctorate of public service, the yokels got a 2 year old speech."

Anonymous said...

Professor should do as their told, not do as they want.

I can think of no other profession where people are not held accountable for their statements...way to go Enid !!!

Anonymous said...

I'm Republican and would not have attended, nor would I have encouraged my kids to attend Vice President Cheney's speech.

Clint Gardner said...

As far as I recall Enid Greene's religion has never been fully confirmed--it was ambiguous when she was in Congress as it is today. Is she or is she not LDS? I've heard both. I know she got her J.D. at BYU, but so have many non-LDS folks.

Mike Jones said...

I was at the convention and heard Enid's speech. You have to remember that she's speaking to the most conservative people in Utah County. She spent a fair bit of time playing to the audience.

Her problem was that the professor in question had closed his mind to Dick Cheney. That's a reasonable complaint. I agree that faculty should keep an open mind to all voices, not just those they agree with. If that's what Enid meant, then fair enough.

The interesting thing is that she then did exactly what she accused the professor of doing. It went something like this:

"I don't like that this professor had nothing to learn from Cheney, therefor, my daughter has nothing to learn from that professor".

Don't get too caught up in what's said at the Utah County Convention. Doing so is like using extreme Democrats to characterize the entire Democratic party.

Anonymous said...

I Was an LDS Republican and im sorry to say yes They Do Really Believe this. Some of The Slightly Liberal Republicans Like My Dad Can't Bare The Extreme Republicans. I'm Still Trying to find out Who started this Extremism. Way back when Republicans and Democrats never slung Mud. Now all Campaigns (Except the Jon Huntsman vs Scott Matheson one they are both good freinds to this day and that rase was a breath of fresh air)Sling Mud. Who do we blame Punditd like Bill O'reilly and Michael Moore?

Emily said...

It is difficult to know what is really republican party politics and what is "pep talk" to their party faithful. I agree with Mike Jones... the polarizing speak always comes out during convention time... on both sides. Not that I like that... I think politicians have a duty to find a "third way" -- but they never do.

Anonymous said...

It will be interesting to see if her daughter gets rebelious and does the opposite of what mama says. I think her daughter is 11 or maybe 12 now.

Anonymous said...

I was also at the convention. There was a wide range of opinion evident among the delegates to the convention. Allowing the silly Satan's Plan resolution to even be discussed could be seen as a healthy indication of free speech, since (if there had been a quorum of delegates still in the room) it would have been voted down, down, down.