April 11, 2013

Old white guy — a USC polisci prof — rails against old white guys — the GOP.

"A professor... appears to have used a fall semester 2012 political science class to deliver sustained and angered attacks on Republicans, who he characterized as old, white, racist, and 'losers.'"

This video is edited, and I doubt if the edit is intended to do the professor any favors. And to my (lawprof) eye, this professor is trying to get a rise out of the students. He's muttering blunt and provocative statements, then pausing. Ah, but what's a student to do? Engage in classroom debate — the supposedly wonderful opportunity for which they pay exorbitant tuition? Some of them do. They're not entirely inert. The option of making secret video and dumping it online is an alternative to classroom debate, if you come to believe that debating with the professor is a mug's game.

Ironically, this professor is teaching that it's all about power and you need to use hardcore tactics to win, and the student seems to have learned this lesson well. The edited video, dumped on the internet is a hardcore tactic, flipping the power on the old white guy.

80 comments:

mccullough said...

This was pretty funny.

Seeing Red said...

He's an attorney.

What's his salary?

test said...

It's hard to understand how academia turns out so many groupthinkers. Well, not really.

Baron Zemo said...

This is why all professors should be replaced by the internet. Computers will be much better than these douche bags.

The University of Phoenix is the wave of the future.

With any luck thousands of colleges will close and the higher education bubble will burst.

And the pus (professors) will be expelled into the marketplace where they will have to get real jobs instead of molesting coeds and thinking up new victim groups.

jacksonjay said...


The lawprof is always teaching!

Paco Wové said...

"debating with the professor is a mug's game."

The problem there is that sometimes professors claim to want to stimulate debate - and may even honestly believe that they do - but in the end reward the "right" viewpoint, i.e., the professor's.

Renee said...

If you want an A or a B, don't EVER debate. Speak up and you may become a target in his class, much like a bully and his victim.

Paco Wové said...

If you're a student, it's safest to keep quiet until you know what gets rewarded and what gets punished.

dc said...

Yesterday he was probably applauding David Corn.
Today? He's probably outraged.

Renee said...

I read the mention of Ann Romney, geesh, the professor is the one 'making shit up'. The Romney's never had a nanny and they drove a station wagon!

mccullough said...

A lot of liberal arts education is learning to deal with ideologues without becoming one.

test said...

Paco Wové said...
"debating with the professor is a mug's game."


This is true. The standard tactic of the leftist professors in my day was to ask a question, but refame the question after the answer to make it seem unreasonable. Of course they would never grant their target the opportunity to clarify, you were a prop, nothing more.

Baron Zemo said...

You should never talk in class or ask questions. Especially if you are a conservative. You need to fly under the radar and regurgitate the liberal pap they had out or you will get straight "D's"

Liberal Arts is a "mugs" game for sure. Don't play it. Lie and conceal your views and get an easy "A."

Hagar said...

I was aching about receiving a B in English II, though having 8 A's and 2 B's out of 10 class papers.
The other guys looked at me and said, "Remember the time she asked you what you thought of T.S. Eliot, and you told her?"

"Yeah; what of it?"

"You did not know she wrote her thesis on Eliot?"

Amartel said...

Yeah, but let's all get wrapped around the axle because Rand Paul objects to government-sponsored racial discrimination in 2013 which might be unfair and mean.

Amartel said...

Stimulate debate? This guy hasn't been in a real debate since 1971 when his dad kicked him out of the house for smoking pot in his room.

Renee said...

"Lie and conceal your views and get an easy "A."

Pretty much, but you don't have to lie. Find some other concern that you both agree with and speak up then.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

I'm sure SNR Denton will be dropping all of its old white clients any day now.

Hope this douche enjoys his 15 minutes of internet fame.

Baron Zemo said...

The more you lie the better you do.

Which is really the best way for future lawyers to learn how to operate in their profession.

Law school is just the way to teach them to be better liars.

It's a win-win!

Paddy O said...



Railing against white guys is a quick way to gain relevance for those who have already achieved what they need to achieve.

Baron Zemo said...

Just imagine if you were a hard core conservative Christian who had roesch-voltaire as a professor.

You would have to be mute. Your best bet is to just bring in a rabbit to pet like Lenny in Mice and Men and mumble liberal pieties.

Guarantied A.

Anonymous said...

I had a former lawyer, up from D.C., teaching existentialism at Penn State.

He had a 'strident' tone, almost messianic, mixing his life experience with Sartre and Camus. Was it teaching, exactly?

No, not really, he was like an entertaining, egotistical uncle with a lot of 'life experience.'

I'd already had my doubts about French theory, and a lot of the humanities crowd. Logic and philosophy kept me grounded. I took courses in meteorology and they were drinks of sweet water.

bleh said...

Adjunct Assistant Professor.

WTF does that mean?

Nomennovum said...

Same old shit. Absolutely unsurprising. Our kids are ill-served by the boomer generation of intellectual thugs.

This professor's views are echoed here by leftist commenters everyday. What's amazing is how dumb and trite this guy is. Garage, is that you?

Anonymous said...

All the more reason to redefine the liberal arts away from the seductive pull of certain theories, much like political science from these crusty old 'white' men.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

Garage, is that you?

I think even shitty public colleges require you to have advanced past high school to teach a class.

Paco Wové said...

"Adjunct Assistant Professor.

WTF does that mean?"


It means somebody a nanometer higher on the academic totem pole than a senior graduate student.

chickelit said...

Ha Ha. Someone should secretly film Althouse teaching.

Amartel said...

I was "taught" by so many of these guys I started wondering if they all came from the same factory. (Rhetorical question: of course they did/do.)
King Klassroom, raging against the machine that ... pays him a hefty salary and bennies and allows him to pontificate about revolutionary utopia to a captive audience. P.S. Racism ain't nothing but white guys getting over on other white guys.

Known Unknown said...

If you want an A or a B, don't EVER debate. Speak up and you may become a target in his class, much like a bully and his victim.

I had a class like this with the bullshit title "Reading Texts." It was all about Noam Choamsky getting all riled up by racist and sexist 1940s Disney comic strips.

I wrote my final paper on the latent homosexuality and oppression inherent in the film Top Gun.

Every one was in on the joke. We all had fun lying through our teeth to appease our prof, who was card-carrying Maoist, but a nice guy.

Amartel said...

EMD,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyN8VN4BSzM

Tarantino on Top Gun.

MayBee said...

I like the way he advocates voter suppression and yet rails against voter ID.

Michael said...

He is not inviting a "conversation", he is not being "Socratic" he is verbally preening. I would dearly love to beat the shit out of this guy.

edutcher said...

The Gospel According to Robert Rogers - take the enemy's methods and beat him over the head with them.

Give 'em Hell and then some - no prisoners, no mercy, the only good one is a dead one.

Calypso Facto said...

this professor is trying to get a rise out of the students

But the students are so accustomed to hearing this same type of propaganda routinely that they don't recognize it as unusual. This would fit right in with what my son at UW Madison tells me about comments from some of his instructors...

Shanna said...

You should never talk in class or ask questions. Especially if you are a conservative.

Nah, you just have to know how to talk to people in a neutral way.

Or you could just take all business classes or math or some other subject where politics is not so much discussed.

MadisonMan said...

Professor Hubris.

His lecture style is not very engaging. I wouldn't want to speak up in his class, he's demonstrating his animosity towards people who hold contrary views. How does that invite a student who's not a Marxist to talk?

Baron Zemo said...

You are behind enemy lines when you are at an elitist university.

Just give them your name, rank and serial number. Don't let them know what you really think. Channel Ashley Judd in all political matters if there is any doubt.

Easy "A's" all around.

KCFleming said...

He's perfectly PC, and decent to boot.

Would make a great commencement speaker at Johns Hopkins.

I hear there's an opening.

hombre said...

Oh please. This guy is not inviting debate. He's propagandizing with Democrat talking points and propagating Obamadupes.

Parents are paying and students are borrowing thousand of dollars to listen to this horseshit.

damikesc said...

We all had fun lying through our teeth to appease our prof, who was card-carrying Maoist, but a nice guy.

Such a creature is as legitimate as a nice, friendly Nazi.

Stop cowtowing to them. If somebody is a Maoist, they aren't nice. They are evil.

Baron Zemo said...

Just imagine if you were a student in this class.

You stand up and say "I am a proud conservative Republican. I am against gun control, same sex marriage and abortion. Or rasing taxes to finance the ever increasing welfare state. I am for voter id's and work fare as well as tighter immigration policies to stop illegal immigration."

What grade do you think that someone who said that would get from this mook?

Chip S. said...

Why the fuck is USC hiring a Dem party lawyer to "teach" political science classes?

I've never seen a prof as blatantly political and generally craptastic as this clown. Shame on USC for charging tuition and giving academic credit for shit you can hear on MSNBC every night.

KCFleming said...

Attorney General sues Washington state florist for refusing to sell flowers to a gay couple for their wedding

But it's probably nothing.

edutcher said...

Baron Zemo said...

Just imagine if you were a student in this class.

You stand up and say "I am a proud conservative Republican. I am against gun control, same sex marriage and abortion. Or rasing taxes to finance the ever increasing welfare state. I am for voter id's and work fare as well as tighter immigration policies to stop illegal immigration."

What grade do you think that someone who said that would get from this mook?


At that point, you take it to the head of the department and, if that fails, to the President.

Guess what?

It works.

Mary Beth said...

I like the "as I say all the time in print and on the radio" part. Obviously a man of importance with important things to say.

test said...

Shanna said...
You should never talk in class or ask questions. Especially if you are a conservative.

Nah, you just have to know how to talk to people in a neutral way.


This works among the apolitical, but not among the politicized left. They interpret refusal to agree as denial.

Baron Zemo said...

edutcher you are living in a dream world.

Dude you can't even sell chicken if you won't bow down to the gods of SSM and political correctness.

tiger said...

So Professor:

Are you cutting this guy slack because you think he was intentionally being provocative

OR

do you think he got what he deserved calling for Republican votes to be suppressed and for Dems to steal elections?

Known Unknown said...

Stop cowtowing to them. If somebody is a Maoist, they aren't nice. They are evil.

I wasn't kowtowing.

I was a Freshman. "Reading Texts" had literally nothing to do with my final degree.

My friends and I made it a challenge to see who could get away with being the most absurd ideologically. It became a game.

MadisonMan said...

Pogo, I hope that a person's religious convictions will work in their favor here.

The prospective customer sounds like quite a whiner.

The sentence construct in the Daily Mail always cracks me up. So much use of the word emerged.

edutcher said...

Baron Zemo said...

edutcher you are living in a dream world.

Dude you can't even sell chicken if you won't bow down to the gods of SSM and political correctness.


No, you live in your own fantasies, on the silver screen and off.

The Blonde has done it and so have I.

RichardS said...

I assume that most students in the room are Democrats. Is this the way to get a rise out of them? I think this is simply relating how the Prof sees it.

It would be much more provocative to discuss cases of vote fraud than to say that voter ID laws are racists.

Limited Blogger said...

The left's intolerance doesn't just start in college.

http://twitchy.com/2013/04/10/caught-in-the-act-high-school-teacher-uses-class-to-bash-fox-news-photo/

Tim said...

It's somewhat illuminating to know that the Left exalts trolls so much a professor is willing to become one right in front of his very own class.

Bravo, troll, bravo.

Baron Zemo said...

Look at the Rutgers coach that just got fired.

He did peg a basketball at a kids head but coaches have been doing that since the dawn of time. I mean "The White Shadow" used to hit Coolidge and Salami in the noggin every practice.

He got fired for calling his kids "politically incorrect" names. It was cause for firing. If you don't bow down to the gods of political correctness you lose every time.

Tim said...

RichardS said...

"I assume that most students in the room are Democrats. Is this the way to get a rise out of them? I think this is simply relating how the Prof sees it."

Maybe so, but USC is supposed to be the private, Republican University in SoCal.

Baron Zemo said...

If you don't believe me....ask Don Imus about what happens when you call people politically incorrect names. In a comedy act. Just sayn'

Tim said...

Baron Zemo said...

"Look at the Rutgers coach that just got fired."

Trolling inner-city, minority "students" on athletic scholarships: Bad.

Trolling suburban, "white privileged" students paying full freight: Good.

Shanna said...

This works among the apolitical, but not among the politicized left. They interpret refusal to agree as denial.

That's where business school comes in handy. I don't remember my professors being obnoxious like this guy.

I did have to read a couple pretty horrendous books in freshman english (I have forgotten the name) but I got an A so I guess it didn't matter too much.

Tim said...

Baron Zemo said...

"If you don't believe me....ask Don Imus about what happens when you call some people politically incorrect names. In a comedy act. Just sayn'"

FIFY.

lemondog said...

Isn't he an old white guy?

Baron Zemo said...

That's the colorized version dude.

I never watch Turner's movie channel for just that reason. And his politics of course.

David said...

"They're not entirely inert."

High praise for today's college students.

Rabel said...

"Darry Sragow is a veteran Democratic political consultant. From 1996 through 2002, he was the chief campaign strategist for the Assembly Democratic Caucus, reporting directly to the Speaker of the Assembly. He has also served as campaign manager for former Senator Alan Cranston, former Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy and gubernatorial candidate Al Checchi and has worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein, former Controller Steve Westly and Rep. John Garamendi."

Your eye seems a little blurry. Might be from all the crying.

rhhardin said...

So many professors are not worth listening to for a second, let alone paying for.

Synova said...

You're there to get a grade. Tell the Prof what he wants to hear.

But don't let him get away with it.

Anonymous said...

For someone who hates old white guys, this old white guy must have a tough time getting up in the morning to face a full-day of self-loathing.

I mean, in today's world, he's got to be pretty stupid to not realize that everything he says and does could be recorded or video taped.

This makes him a stupid, old, white guy.

Anonymous said...

Time to start a program to tape all lectures, all the time and place them on the internet for all to see.

Alex said...

But you see, the prof is a progressive so he's one of the good white males.

Amartel said...

We've found that "the least flexible type of person" is an old white guy. They're "stubborn sons of bitches."

If you say so, Stubborn Old White Guy. You would know.

Calypso Facto said...

Is "adjunct professor" the new kickback scheme to Dem politicians (like Obama)? The Tyranny-Educational Complex.

Amartel said...

Man, he's really got a hard on for poor Ann Romney.

CWJ said...

AA Says ... this professor is trying to get a rise out of his students.

Riiiight.

Boomer - USC - polisci: sounds more like preaching to the AMEN corner.

Wake me when someone posts a video of him railing against the DNC, then I'll entertain the notion he was trying to be provocative.

virgil xenophon said...

Watxching that vid and reading the above comments all I can say is "GOD I'm glad I got all three of my degrees before the PC shit-storm reached flood-tide!" I may as well have been in college on another planet in another Galaxy far, far, away a long, long time ago in a parallel universe insofar as my experience compares to this sort of thing--although towards the end one could see the early waters rising.. (BA. '66, MA, '73, PhD, '77)

CWJ said...

My bad. Classic case of commenting on the text of the post and THEN reading the comment thread. Now there's an education.

Thank you, Rabel! That's quite a resume. Makes you wonder of all the candidates in all the world for a teaching job at USC, why him? But of course he was only trying to get a rise out of his students. Ann's eye never lies.

Adjunct Assistant Professor! My lord, just as I thought we could not get lower than Obama's UofC title, well there it is. The lecturers must have pitched a fit that Adjunct Professor would have put him too close to their own grade.

ampersand said...

Is he railing against old white guys or old white goys?

William said...

I wonder if he had described some other ethnic group as stubborn or stupid would anyone consider his remarks simply provocative. I think older white men, such as myself, who have, with the passage of time, become more conservative, are in fact more flexible and aware than this ossified liberal. He is crusted over with stale beliefs. I dont see any humor or irony in his delivery. I think he would greet any statement in opposition to his opinion with the measured response of an Inquisition interlocutor to a Mormon. I don't think he's an especially good teacher. He probably got the job more through patronage than any scholarly work,

Dante said...

The guy is just a sick MO-BO-JO.

William said...
This comment has been removed by the author.