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CSU brats pick on the wrong politician: UPDATE
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- A four word editorial with a four letter word in it is sparking a spirited discussion on free speech at Colorado State University.
The Rocky Mountain Collegian published an editorial on page 4 of the paper Friday which read "Taser this ... F*** Bush."
The expletive was spelled out.
The last two words were in bold type, larger than most headlines. A caption below said, "this column represents the views of the Collegian's Editorial Board."
"I think they went over the line a little bit, but it's free speech and they're allowed to write what they want," one student told 7NEWS.
The editorial comes fresh on the heels of freedom of speech issues that arose from the Tasering of a Florida student at a Sen. John Kerry speech. ...
Unfortunately, this puerile attempt at provocation was misdirected. The headline should have read "Fuck Kerry," since it was the Senator who stood idly by while student Andrew Meyer was abused by the campus police.
Since the incident there has been a lot of speculation about Meyer's motives, and a disturbing amount of vitriol directed towards the kid.
Suffice it to say that in every White House press briefing over the past decade, either Helen Thomas or Les Kinsolving has asked a disrespectful, off-topic question, and refused to shut up when asked to do so. But neither of these two superannuated old farts has been tasered for their actions. What makes Meyer any less deserving of deference? This WAS supposed to be a political "forum," after all.
UPDATE: Tuesday, September 25
The Daily Camera reports an all-too-predictable reaction:
College Republicans at Colorado State University collected more than 300 signatures calling on CSU's Board of Student Communications to fire Editor in Chief David McSwane.
"It was very unprofessional," College Republicans chairwoman Chelsey Penoyer said at a tent her group had set up next to the Lory Student Center.
"The nation is looking at us as a bunch of uneducated children. It reflects horribly on CSU."
Well, they ARE "uneducated children." Generally those who attend university are barely out of their teens, and a product of the public school system.
I have to wonder whether the College Republicans would be calling for McSwine McSwane's firing if the headline had read "Fuck Kerry" or "Fuck Ahmadinejad." If I had to make book on it, I'd bet that those alternate headlines would have brought only 75 to 100 signatures from the College Republicans.
This is an issue about which the little repubs ought to have remained silent. There is no way to take a stand on it one way or another without appearing foolish. With maturity, people often learn that the best way to deal with someone's embarrassing social habits is to ignore them.