Give me a break!

Below is an article that really ticked me off. Comparing the honest legal endeavors of a free country such as ours to the efforts of a racist, genocidal facist government is an insult to the honor of the American Constitution. My reaction can be best summed up as follows:

David Lane: Kiss my ass!  While I understand your desire to raise doubts about the Government's ability to determine an individual's racial origins, to raise such an anology is both irresponsible and just plain offensive. Especially in such a public context.  So David, what standard do you expect, or would you like to be used?  The honorable word of your lunatic client?  No, you sir should take a deep breath, and shut your mouth.

Note: scroll towards bottom of link above to view the offending essay that placed Churchill at the center of this controversy.

Professor's Lawyer Challenges University
 
By Associated Press April 5, 2005, 8:15 PM EDT
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-embattled-professor,0,7417650.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

DENVER -- A lawyer for the professor whose remarks about Sept. 11 victims touched off a firestorm wants officials to clarify how they intend to prove he is an American Indian, asking if they plan to use "the Nazi standard for racial purity."

A University of Colorado faculty committee is investigating whether professor Ward Churchill should be fired over allegations he plagiarized others' work, and that he falsely claimed to be an American Indian to give his work more credibility.

"Do you wish to employ the Nazi standard for racial purity? Do you wish to employ the standard adopted by the United States government for determining Japanese ancestry in order to qualify for internment?" attorney David Lane asked in a letter dated Monday to acting chancellor Philip DiStefano.

The university launched the investigation after a 3 1/2-year-old essay came to light earlier this year in which he compared some Sept. 11 victims to Nazi bureaucrats. A panel headed by DiStefano concluded he could not be fired for his essay, but directed a faculty committee to investigate the plagiarism and ethnicity allegations.

Churchill has denied the plagiarism allegations.

DiStefano declined to comment Tuesday. The committee is expected to take up to nine months to make a recommendation.

In Cheney, Wash., Churchill lectured to ethnic studies classes and spoke at the Native American Awareness Week rally on the Eastern Washington University campus -- a compromise after a formal speech was canceled over safety concerns.

"It was stated clearly, and in English, that the administration's posture here, in attempting to cancel (the formal speech) ... carried clear implications of unconstitutional prior restraint of speech," Churchill said.

"The job assignment of any academic institution ... is to see to it that the academic mission of the institution is fulfilled, not to prevent it, not to shape it to the purposes of their funders."

Earlier Tuesday, Churchill had gone to a federal court to force the university to rescind its cancellation of his planned speech. The motion was denied.

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.