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Post by Vince524 on Apr 18, 2018 11:53:19 GMT -5
www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article209197719.html
A Fresno State professor called former first lady Barbara Bush an “amazing racist” who raised a “war criminal,” and expressed no concern that she could be fired or reprimanded for her outspokenness on social media.
Randa Jarrar, a professor in Fresno State’s Department of English, expressed her displeasure with the Bush family within an hour after the official announcement that Mrs. Bush died Tuesday at the age of 92.
“Barbara Bush was a generous and smart and amazing racist who, along with her husband, raised a war criminal,” Jarrar wrote on Twitter. “F--- outta here with your nice words.”
I did a separate thread here, as I didn't want to spoil Cass's RIP thread.
I'm of the opinion her tweets were vile and in bad taste to be made within hours of the former first lady's passing. I'm also of the opinion her idiocy is protected by the first amendment. She didn't say anything that is a direct insult to students at the school, or even say conservative students. I can see and understand a student feeling offended, but someone might be offended by saying something nice.
I think if the college wants to not renew a contract because they are not happy with how she comports herself online, that's fine. Or if there's language in her contract that prohibits this sort of thing, maybe.
Thoughts?
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2018 14:17:59 GMT -5
On Twitter, I've unfollowed, and in a couple of cases, blocked, people who felt like they had to say really vile things about her as she was dying or in the immediate wake of her death.
I'm okay with saying those kinds of things when we're talking the death of a mass murderer or cruel dictator--someone with no regard for other humans, who didn't even try to be a decent human. But when we're talking a mostly gracious and classy woman who may have occasionally said something that fell short of that (or in a number of cases, was taken way out of context), my view is STFU.
I really especially hate it when it's done in a tribute thread (which is why I asked people not to do it in mine). It's in bad taste, petty, and mean-spirited.
ETA: It's not that I demand these people join in the homage. Hell, accurate criticism has its place, too. Who among us won't deserve some? And people don't become saints when they're dead. But there's valid, fair discussion of a person's flaws, and then there is this (from a "poet" I blocked on Twitter):
I won't be reading her poetry.
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Post by robeiae on Apr 18, 2018 15:13:58 GMT -5
True colors, shining through.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2018 15:35:35 GMT -5
I admit, I rebuked her for a couple of those tweets before I blocked her.
I think you have to be a pretty wretched human being to post those. Hell, we all know how much I don't love Trump, but if he were on his deathbed, or dropped dead, while I certainly wouldn't suddenly start saying what a swell guy he is, but I also wouldn't post juvenile crap like that. (And I want him out of the oval office, not dead. As far as I'm concerned, he's more than welcome to enjoy reality television, his gold-plated penthouse, etc., until he's 100. Dancing on his grave? There is literally no one on whose grave I would dance.)
I guess that's what gets me most about those -- it's not just that I liked Barbara; it's the juvenile mean-spiritedness of them -- and that they are so far nastier than anything she (or most anyone short of, say, Hitler) deserved.
F
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Post by haggis on Apr 18, 2018 16:36:12 GMT -5
Years ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I was guilty of that crime once, though not to that extent to be sure. A multi-voweled individual suggested to me that memorial threads were not the place for such snark, and he was right. The professor is a disgusting person.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2018 16:43:39 GMT -5
well, I guess it worked out that one time, but in general one should never listen to multi-voweled people.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2018 18:11:06 GMT -5
by the way, the professor now has a private Twitter account with protected tweets. Damn. I wanted to give her my opinion of her remarks.
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Post by robeiae on Apr 18, 2018 20:12:24 GMT -5
You know, Ted Kennedy was directly responsible for a young woman's death. And his behavior was, I think, certainly criminal.
But talking about that episode in the time of his passing--when speaking about his passing--was tasteless and classless.
Ten will get you twenty that:
1) Most of the people saying nasty stuff about Barbara Bush now where up in arms over people doing the same about Kennedy.
2) Most of the people who said nasty stuff about Kennedy when he passed are now up in arms over people doing the same about Barbara Bush.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2018 21:22:56 GMT -5
I really have no time for that crap. I really don't. Again, you don't have to pay homage. But you also don't have to shit all over a person before they're cold. And ffs, if you are going to do so, at least get your facts right and in perspective. And maybe save it for those who've truly done deep, deliberate harm to others.
The option of temporarily shutting up, or just saying it to like-minded people, is always there.
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Post by Optimus on Apr 18, 2018 21:38:08 GMT -5
Whenever I see dipshit, garbage humans like these people online saying "this person was a racist" or some other dreck, there's a 99% certainty they have no idea what they're talking about and they're mindlessly parrotting/regurgitating some propaganda bullshit they heard from some other complete dumb ass (I'm sure the "racist" accusations are referring to her inartful comments on Katrina victims in the Astrodome, though I doubt those people actually know that). Most hilarious part of that article: Seems like after all of her idiotic bragging and trolling that she can't be fired, someone from the University must have contacted her to inform her that she was wrong. Tenure does not make a person completely invulnerable to firing. Each University has its own exceptions to tenure and its own procedures they follow to get rid of a tenured professor (depending on the offense). Sometimes, there's a clear violation of some clause of the contract. Other times, when there's not a clear violation, the University can simply make it so miserable on the person (e.g., cuts their funding, takes away their teaching duties, shuts down their research lab, functionally ostracizes them from every important and enjoyable aspect of their job, etc.), or make clear to the person that they WILL make them miserable, that the person quits. There's also this: www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/2018/04/18/fresno-state-professor-calls-barbara-bush-amazing-racist/527864002/If Fresno State can't find cause to outright fire her, they might very well go with Option B: "make her miserable until she quits." To be clear, I think she has every right to say what she did and, had she simply tweeted it and left it at that, then I'd be really irritated that the Fresno State president was saying/hinting that they'd be investigating her. But, she went full dumbass by not only bragging that she couldn't be fired and bragging about how much she makes, but by tagging both the university and the university president in her tweets. That's just straight up stupid and pretty much daring (if not outright asking) for them to bring the hammer down on her. If they punish her for what she said, stupid as it was, that would be inexcusable in my opinion. But, if they punish her for acting like a jackass by dragging the university and its president into her Tweetstorm (thus changing her tweets from her personal opinions to messages affiliated with the university and its president), then I won't really have much sympathy for her, because that's a separate issue from the free speech part.
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Post by robeiae on Apr 19, 2018 7:38:45 GMT -5
Facebook is gonna give me an aneurysm.
Friends who I want to keep, who I want to believe are thoughtful, intelligent people are happily proclaiming how much better a First Lady Barbara Bush is than Melania Trump because a) Barbara Bush did something with her position* and b) Melania Trump is trash (paraphrasing).
I so much want to reply, but I just don't want the flame war, so I'm holding my tongue.
* As I'm sure everyone here knows, "First Lady" is just a title. It's not a job, not an office, not a position. First Ladies--and future First Gentlemen--have no formal powers. And that's as it should be.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2018 7:48:01 GMT -5
I agree. Moreover, I think Melania is in fact trying to do some traditional first lady stuff.
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Post by Vince524 on Apr 20, 2018 12:01:00 GMT -5
www.newsweek.com/fresno-barbara-bush-fresno-professor-bush-fresno-state-894773As if she wasn't bad enough. I'm not sure based on what I read if she just gave out a fake # and it happened to be a suicide hotline, or if she knew what it was. Or if she knew and didn't understand how this could put a person who needed help at risk. Unlike her bashing of a deceased 1st lady, this just might be enough to get rid of her.
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Post by robeiae on Apr 20, 2018 16:25:55 GMT -5
I'm enjoying the pushback that has appeared in defense of Jarrar. Like this piece: www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/opinion/the-politically-incorrect-randa-jarrar.htmlNote how the author has to say "award winning author," as if that is somehow a mitigating factor. And the writer actually argues--sans any sort of proof or evidence--the following: And this: Then follows those claims up with this: LOL. And I think the author is failing to appreciate the totality of Fararr's remarks. IMO, the "I've got tenure, so there" stuff in reply to Jarrar's initial critics is what really escalated the incident. And her last line is more high comedy: What bubble-world is she living in? People--left and right--on social media are being offensive 24/7. Is she actually calling for MORE of this? What a dumbass. Anyway, Vince has a fair point: tweeting out an emergency line in the way that she did is likely enough to get her canned. That was just idiotic. And thoughtless. And dangerous. But hey, I'm sure she's a helluva fine person...
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Post by Optimus on Apr 21, 2018 3:19:49 GMT -5
I didn't see the part about her tweeting out the suicide hotline number for people to call and complain. That takes her shitty, asshole behavior to a whole other level. I seriously doubt that she didn't know that was the hotline's number. Based on her idiotic tweets, she likely thought she was being really cute and high-level-comedic with that bullshit.
As I said above, if they punish her for what she said about Bush, that would be stupid and I wouldn't at all support that. But, the fact that she started tagging the university and its president in her tweets arguably changes the nature of those tweets to the type that could violate the CBA the university has with the faculty. That plus her being a miserably garbage person by tweeting out the suicide hotline number ensures that if she gets shit-canned (for that behavior, not for her Bush comments) that I won't feel at all sorry for her and will actually smile with satisfaction.
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