That history professor being attacked by Scott Walker says they won’t find anything in his work email:
Cronon says the Wisconsin GOP will not find evidence of what they’re looking for. “It’s not there,” he says.
The next logical step is for Walker to try to get google or yahoo or whoever to hand over any email exchanges involving a work computer. In the meantime, cue the Stanley Fish blog piece about the limits of academic freedom, about how Cronon should have fucking better known better.
This all needs to be seen from a broader perspective. It’s similar to what the Virginia Attorney General dd to a climate science professor in Virginia, it’s similar to what James O’Keefe does to NPR and ACORN. If you constantly harass anyone for being openly liberal and constantly reward anyone for being openly conservative (BALANCE!), you create a system of punishments and rewards.
It’s why the “left-leaning” columnists at the Washington Post mostly take conservative positions, it’s why some scientists recommend their own profession be subjected to McCarthy-style hearings, it’s why Joe Klein wears his paranoia about hippies and black panthers so proudly, it’s why newspaper ombudsmen say James O’Keefe should be given a Pulitzer.
People, especially professionally ambitious people, are, for the most part, cowards and careerists. If they know they get slapped down for taking liberal positions and raised up for taking conservative ones, you can guess what they’ll do most of the time.
Southern Beale
It doesn’t need to be there. They’ll just make some shit up. Take stuff out of context. Hell they’ll take the grocery list his wife e-mailed him and rearrange the letters to make it say “Satan Is God.”
In other news, hundreds of people are severely ill and dying on the Gulf Coast. The fact that they all worked on BP clean up crews or spent the summer swimming in the Gulf is, I’m sure, a huge coincidence.
BGinCHI
Complete this sentence:
“The GOP is wired for power and the Dems are wired for _____.”
PWL
Well, I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Sometimes people are the mirror image of the things they profess to hate and fear.
Repubs loathed and abominated Soviet Russia, but when they get into power, they act like…Soviet Russians…..
J.W. Hamner
IANAL, but I seriously doubt that Google and Yahoo fall under the purview of this “open documents” law.
debbie
Why stop at public records? Conservatives have been trying to get access to medical records to discover which women have been Sat@nic enough to inquire about abortions.
Citizen_X
@BGinCHI: “…abject submission”?
Edit: Sort-of on topic: today’s the 100th anniversary of the Triangle fire.
Baud
Well, it’s not exactly rocket science there. So how do you propose setting up a countervailing system of punishments and rewards to combat this? Calling people “cowards” and “careerists” is great fodder for blog readers, but it really isn’t going to make anyone change their behavior.
srv
Cronon said he owned his computer so as not to worry about mixing private and university emails on a university supplied system.
*if a university allows you to use a private system, I can’t see how there can be a policy about using their network, but maybe that’s possible. gmail/yahoo would have the IPs.
Felanius Kootea (formerly Salt and freshly ground black people)
@debbie: Hah. I’d like to see them try. HIPAA violations cost $50,0000 and up for each disclosure without the patient’s consent. There’s even a former UCLA researcher who went to jail for egregious HIPAA violations (accessing co-workers’ and celebrities’ medical records).
Baud
@BGinCHI:
My humble suggestion:
“The GOP is wired for power and the Dems are wired for talking about it.”
Mnemosyne
Another way you know this is a pure intimidation tactic: does anyone really think that the Wisconsin state legislature’s only option in investigating a state employee is to file a FOIA request?
Arrik
Is there a link on that O’Keefe Pulitzer thing, Doug?
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@BGinCHI:
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@BGinCHI:
EDIT: Meh…any way to delete the blank post above this one? It won’t let me Edit or Delete it.
Trentrunner
Professor Cronon, from his blog post:
(Emphasis added.)
I guess a liberal is just a centrist who’s had his email raped.
Comrade DougJ
@Arrik:
I’m exaggerating. The Times and Post ombudsmen both said his “work” should get more attention.
Bullsmith
I’m sure the conservatives behind this see it as win-win no matter what happens next. Not only do they chill academics everywhere, but they also get to undermine support for FOIA laws by abusing them. Just like “citizens united” used free speech arguments to turn corporate speech into the only truly protected kind, they’re using FOIA not to keep the government accountable to the citizens, but to keep the citizens at the mercy of an unaccountable government. You gotta hand it to these bastards, they understand how to use perversion, projection and hypocrisy to incredible effect.
trollhattan
Far as I’m concerned they’re engaged in asymmetrical warfare, a.k.a. domestic terrorism. Now, how should we treat terrorists?
burnspbesq
Can I get a roll of paper towels over here, please? Need to clean up the sanctimony that is dripping from that sentence before someone slips on the wet spot and falls.
Socraticsilence
As disturbing as this is I do find something amusing about the idea of a bunch of anti-enlightenment zealots poring over a couple hundred 400 level history essays (if Wisconsin is anything like Montana the vast majority of essay submissions are electronic either via Email or through Blackboard and its equivalents). This will be stupider than the “Global Warming Hoax” emails because while a large portion of the populace lacks scientific literacy I would hope a majority maintains the erudition necessary to understand liberal arts papers.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
this is the last i am going to say on the subject, because i know i am the outlier on this, but to me, all this is is cronon getting his state employee wake up call.
there is a reason why they want to outsource government functions, and then make the government contract for those things. its to avoid things like foia.
artem1s
@PWL:
think this has any correlation to their problems with teh sex?
Socraticsilence
What I’m more curious about is if they try to extend this disclosure for student emails on public networks– after all the school owns the network so technically one could argue that there is no more of an expectation of privacy than exists in a dorm room. (not sure legal status of a dorm is equivalent to an apartment)– Or what about Pell Grants- those kids are “paid by the government” shouldn’t the state get to investigate them?
Southern Beale
You know, I just have to wonder: with all the time Walker’s staff seems to have on their hands to harass and intimidate every critic who bothered to pen an op-ed or give an interview, is anybody getting any fucking work done over there?
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@artem1s:
Considering how many virulently anti-gay conservative figures have been caught with men, and how many folks who went all in against Clinton being serial philanderers themselves?
Uh…duh?
@Southern Beale:
Feature, not bug, etc.
Don’t forget, less government works, the better!
Comrade DougJ
@burnspbesq:
I hate to say this, but pot, kettle.
Linda Featheringill
http://scholarcitizen.williamcronon.net/2011/03/15/alec/
Cronon’s blog. Worth a look.
celticdragonchick
@Socraticsilence:
We could all get together and email all of our old essays to the the prof and include some juicy tag words that will ensure they get caught up in the dragnet. That could be entertaining…
Incoherent Dennis SGMM
Anyone else recall the time that the Bush White House discovered that it had “lost” millions of emails that had been sent between 2003 and 2005? IIRC, the Republican reaction was outrage that anyone would suspect the administration of losing those emails on purpose. How times change – or don’t.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
A mite bit OT, but hey, guys, remember how we were discussing a NYTimes article about how GE not paying any corporate taxes? And how I was complaining how there were far too many folks who thought the solution to this was to cut or eliminate corporate tax altogether? Well…
Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin thinks that the real problem is that Corporate Taxes are just way too fucking high and need to be kicked down. Because folks like GE and Boeing and such just pay way too fucking much in Corporate Taxes.
Again, we’re being ruled by trolls, and people who refuse to listen to anyone else but fucking trolls. And that’s why we’re so fucking immensely fucked.
celticdragonchick
@Incoherent Dennis SGMM:
Dozens of tapes that were shot of coercive interrogations (and outright torture) of terror suspects were all destroyed to explicitly keep them away from FOI and legal inquiry.
Nobody went to jail for that either. We are at a stage where the executive branch at almost any level of government can do whatever the hell it wants and laws be damned.
FFrank
What is interesting/outrageous is that ALEC keeps its membership roster a secret. However, in the comments of one of the blog posts on Professor Cronin’s blog, one of the commenters described a simple way to find out if your favorite Republican is a member: go to the ‘forgot password’ section, and enter their email address, and voila!
Of course, we may well hear on FOX about how poor ALEC has been ‘hacked,’ but hopefully they will have more pressing issues in trying to get back into their coffin as the sunlight pours in.
singfoom
Wow. The professors blog post in response to everything that happened is comprehensive, logical and well-written.
They couldn’t have chosen a worse target for intimidation. Are they trying to turn Wisconsin blue forever?
Bully for the professor for standing up and calling this what it is. McCarthyism.
The problem is that the answer to “At long last, sir, have you no shame?” is “No, not a scintilla of shame.” when it comes to the Wisconsin GOP. And hell, the national GOP.
Again, the Republicans take the mask off and show us once again that they are not interested in governing, just profiting off of being in power.
Cris
Club Med?
Roger Moore
@Southern Beale:
Yes they’re getting work done. The Republicans will assure you that harassment and intimidation of liberals are an essential part of the government. There could be no higher purpose.
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Roger Moore:
No, no, no, no, no, you have that wrong.
Republicans will assure you that harassment and intimidation are solely the trade of the evil librulz and Demoncrats, and what they’re doing is simple grassroots investigative activism.
Roger Moore
@Cris:
FTFY. Terrorism should be treated as a law enforcement issue.
Fuck U6: A More Accurate Measure of the Total Amount of Duck-Fuckery in the Economy
Methinks Burnsey doth protest too much.
Poopyman
@Comrade DougJ: Well, Teh Googles tells me that at least one person thinks he should get a Pulitzer.
New Yorker
Public intellectuals are as reliable a target of thuggish bullying political movements as any group (even Jews). Color me unsurprised.
ppcli
@FFrank: Agreed – that blog is fantastic. For awhile it’s been transparently clear that laws keep appearing with virtually the same language, same rhetoric, supported by nearly identical pr campaigns in a variety of states simultaneously, and it is evident that extensive coordination is involved. But the mechanism has been a mystery. Prof. Cronon has performed a great service in taking steps to lay this out.
Cris
I agree with you, which makes us both unserious.
soonergrunt
@Socraticsilence:
We’re fucking doomed.
artem1s
countdown to Rush/Beck/Fox/et al claim the Cronin intimidation is exactly the same as some liberal professor forcing mouth breathing freshmen in BIO 101 to grasp and understand evolution. 3..2..1…
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@artem1s:
Dude, according to several GOP frontrunners for 2012, the latter is WORSE. You know, all that government indoctrination and all that poisoning minds better served by home schooling.
curious
Doesn’t Althouse work at the same school as this professor.
Do you have to be a resident of Wisconsin to file a Freedom of Information request for Althouse’s government e-mail account?
And how about Glenn Reynolds…isn’t he a professor at a public college?
Can we get his e-mail account too?
New Yorker
@artem1s:
I thought that was David Horowitz’ specialty….
My wingnut uncle once demanded from me an explanation as to why college professors are liberal. My answer was basically that they’re liberal by default because none of them would be part of a movement that a) rejects impirical reality and b) demonizes anyone with a college education as “elitist”.
I mean, let’s say there’s this economics professor (let’s call him Paul K.) who says that 2+2=4. Along comes some blowhard on the radio who sways that 2+2=11 billion and that only elitist fancy-pants professors who aren’t real Americans think that 2+2=4. Well, wouldn’t Paul K. automatically reject the political movement who takes said radio blowhard seriously?
bemused
@Southern Beale:
And not a whisper about this.
Is there any shrimp safe to eat anymore? Do we dare order a shrimp meal in a restaurant?
Nothing but crappy news every damn day.
slag
@Baud: Excellent question. After having given it a lot of thought over a goodly length of time, my answer to it is hardly surprising: I don’t know. I think part of our challenge is that liberals feel like we need to play by the same rules as Republicans, and many of us are deeply ambivalent about the morality of those rules.
Nothing new there either, but recognizing the boundaries of what liberals are willing to do is important because it at least excludes possibilities. The fact is, we don’t possess that ends-justify-means mentality, and we never will. So, we need to innovate, and figuring out what direction that innovation will take is a tremendous challenge–as you’ve identified.
What makes it even harder is that we lack compelling leadership. And the Joe Beeses of the liberal world continue to exacerbate that problem. Liberalism seems to be its own worst enemy.
Elia
Doug, you just wrote the blog-length version of Hedges’ Death of the Liberal Class.
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Oh yes they will. The cut-and-paste function is so easy to use even a conservative can do it.
bemused
@New Yorker:
I can likely guess but your wingnut uncle’s response was?
The Political Nihilist Formerly Known as Kryptik
@Shoemaker-Levy 9:
They managed to make Shirley Sherrod out to be an active racist, from a speech showing just how much she rejected her prejudices, even toward a client actively racist toward her.
If they want to make you into a monster, they can do it.
Socraticsilence
@celticdragonchick:
Hey, my graduation paper on the Antecedents of Violence which involved reading Mein Kampf; the Klansman (as prep for Birth of a Nation); the Turner Diaries and the Kangura would probably raise flags.
Comrade DougJ
@Elia:
I heard that guy on the radio once…is that his big point, that the liberal class is dead because its been bought up or intimidated into silence? I liked the interview with him but he was so mad and trying to hide it that it was hard for me follow what his real point was.
Southern Beale
@bemused:
Whole Foods labels where all of their seafood comes from. I believe this is the law in the state of California and they’ve just decided to do it everywhere. I seem to recall reading an article during the Bush years about an effort to quash COOL (Country Of Origin Labeling) laws. I might be a little hazy on the facts here.
Bottom line: I am now able to see which shrimp comes from the Gulf and which shrimp is farm-raised in Thailand or Costa Rica. Normally I’d “buy American” but in this case I haven’t. However, sometimes they will tell you the American shrimp is from South Carolina or the east coast of Florida, and I’ve bought that shrimp … with reservations.
But last time I bought shrimp I made a huge mistake. They told me it came from Texas — “Dallas.” Well that told me it was shipped from Dallas but was it harvested off of the Texas coast? And was that far enough away from the oil spill (which spread east) to be safe? I didn’t know. But I really needed shrimp because it was Mardi Gras and I always make etouffe for Mardi Gras. So against my better judgment I bought it. I didn’t want to know so I didn’t ask any more questions, always the stupid choice but what can I say. I am only human.
BIG MISTAKE! Several of the shrimp had this weird orange-y goo inside the gut, which I was cleaning out anyway but the flesh behind it was discolored and felt tough. I threw a couple of those shrimps away but I needed to keep a few. I will never know what the hell that was but I suspect it was oil or dispersant or something contaminated with oil or dispersant.
I just thought it was gross. I don’t eat a lot of shrimp anyway but I’m going to eat even less of it.
New Yorker
@bemused:
That I’m an elitist who can’t see outside my elitist cocoon. Is that what your guess was?
Do I have to mention that he’s a retired public school principal living on a nice public pension? And that I and another uncle who’s a big liberal (and also aruges with the wingnut uncle) both have MBAs? Irony….
Southern Beale
I guess this belongs on this thread: William Koch, brother of David and Charles, describes the family business as:
bemused
@Southern Beale:
Wow. Pretty hard to enjoy a meal not knowing for sure what was in that shrimp.
We live in the boonies, four hours away from Whole Foods or choices of supermarkets period. So it’s frozen shrimp that is usually origin labeled or the fresh shrimp SuperOne. I haven’t bought fresh since the oil spill so haven’t asked where it’s from yet.
That reminds me when I called a local meat market & asked if they had grass fed beef. The ditz on the phone didn’t seem to have any idea what I was talking about! We have gotten a quarter beef from a local farm but they stopped doing that so now I am searching for another source in my area.
And the R’s think it’s a fantastic idea to cut funds for food safety. Well, they really don’t give a rat’s ass about any kind of safety regs or funding.
bemused
@New Yorker:
I thought it would be more of a dismissal of anything a liberal says. The wingnut knows the liberal doesn’t listen to Fox and all the other fair and balanced news so whatever a liberal says can’t possibly be true.
Of course, your wingnut uncle lives on a nice pension and doesn’t appreciate how he got it.
The big liberal uncle/wingnut uncle arguments must be very entertaining! You should share some episodes sometime.
Bill Murray
@Socraticsilence:
don’t they already, at least a little bit? They certainly check for drug related incidents in your record.
Elia
@Comrade DougJ: Yeah he basically thinks the liberal class sold out throughout stages in the 20th century (usually due to being intimidated by war fevor, i.e. WWI and WWII, and red-baited into meek acquiescence). He thinks the media, the church, the unions, the academy, the democratic party and the arts have all sold out and either withdrawn from actually engaging in the public conversation, or have willfully catered to corporate masters.
He’s a haranguer and (unfortunately, in my eyes) voted Nader in 2008. But I think he brings some good stuff to the table. At the very least it’s refreshing to hear someone so clearly not give a shit about harming his contemporaries’ fee-fees.
Honestly, watching this is a fine substitute for reading the book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYCvSntOI5s
Baron Jrod of Keeblershire
@burnspbesq: Irony is well and truly dead.
Legalize
Tony Rocky Horror?
Cris
@Legalize: DougJ’s native language is Tarantino. I was giggling all yesterday afternoon over this comment he posted.
vernonlee
If this is the same William (Bill) Cronon who used to teach at Yale, a nicer guy you could not find.
virag
this whole post was nicely incisive, w/money shot.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@vernonlee: It is the same guy.
psycholinguist
Couldn’t this same strategy be used to request all of Scott Walker’s email sent from his state account? Wonder what that would look like.
Gary Farber
I did mine yesterday, too:
GOP’S RADICAL BREAKAGE CONTINUES.