Well, glad to see you’re traveling among a better class of cyberfolks now (if you’re the same sparrow I’ve encountered here.

Not only is there a deafening silence from politicians of all stripes about this issue, but except for a tepid statement by the president, precious little about this. GW has made a goodly number of mistakes in this war against the Islamo-fascists (”Islam is a peaceful religion”), but if he doesn’t find a way to stop the execution of this chap I think I’ll join the THWTH.

It is a sign of the self hatred for our values. The Taliban is the exact opposite of everything this country stands for. It isn’t just different, it is a challenge to Democracy and human rights and it considers those principles as ideas that must be eliminated. Yet someone in our government felt enough sympathy for the principles of the Taliban that they thought an unrepentant spokesman for that group should be allowed in our country. If this gent had penned a complete denunciation of his previously held views I could possibly buy it. But his words are vague and hedged enough so there is no way to tell how much of his openly stated ideas of before have been purged from his thought process. And the sad part is that he will find teachers at Yale that will parrot many of the arguments that led him to the Taliban in the first place.

What am I missing about this story?

The academic left won’t put it in such crude terms but America as the great satan is the guiding principle of a large portion of the academic world so this scmuck fits right in. His mea culpa is weak and not complete. It doesn’t have to be. The totalitarian nature of the Taliban is ignored because his hate of America is enough. The academic world does not see the Taliban or similar Islamo Fascist as corrupt institutions, they see them as victims of American hegemony. Thus it is great to have a balance of opinion at their institution. Heaven forbid that they might be so ethnocentric to pass judgement on another culture, calling the Taliban evil is simplistic, unuanced thinking. If you could see the world from the ivy heights you would know how stupid you are. So please, keep your simple minded outrage to yourself. They will tell you what is right and don’t worry your little head about common sense. One must always give your enemy, even one that spouted a barbaric 12th century, sexist, homophobic, and fascist worldview, respect and a million dollar education.

And if he does lose his financial support from Yale, due to the external pressure, someone in the entertainment world will no doubt jump in to pick up the slack. He’s a “victim.”

I am a UC Berkeley graduate from the early ’70s and I can assure you UC will never see a cent from me. Their skirts are as dirty as Yale’s. If you must give these swine money, please be sure it is earmarked and that there are both a signed agreement and an outside trustee to verify how the money is spent. Otherwise the money will go to more diversity cordinators, and the lesbian eskimos studies department.