Conservative columnist Piers Akerman probably thinks he doesn’t have much in common with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but he does. Intense and seething hatred of liberal secular academics.

“Today students should protest and shout at the president asking why some liberal and secular professors are still present in the universities,” he told a gathering of young scientists. “Our educational system has been under the influence of the secular system for 150 years. Colonialism is seeking the spread of its own secular system.” While acknowledging it was difficult to change this system, he said: “Such a change has begun.”

In like manner, LSA’s have been one of the American right’s favourite targets for years, and Akerman from the Daily Telegraph likes to take a few snipes now and again. He doesn’t even seem to pause for breath when making this rather tangential and pointless jibe.

Over the past three days “our” ABC, the al-Jazeera of the South Pacific, has given a platform to every civil rights lawyer and academic willing to protest against the Government’s control orders on self-confessed wannabe terrorist Jihad Jack Thomas.

He’s probably decided that if it’s only the fifth-worst item in a paragraph full of distortion and hyperbole, no one will have the energy to protest.

Why do conservative authoritarians hate liberal secular academics so? Is it our tough-minded and uncompromising intellect? (Yeah, it’s probably that.) Did they have a rough time at school, picked on by the smarter kids? No, can’t be that. I never picked on bigger dumber kids, preferring to let them eat their paste in peace. Perhaps it’s as simple as this: authoritarians can’t stand it when someone refuses to kowtow to their line of crap. People whose opinions are grounded in facts don’t need to seek converts for affirmation. People grounded in falsehood and faith do.

I feel bad for Iranian university students. Having attended BYU, I’m well aware of what happens when religionists crack down on academia. Believers in imaginary friends need to take lessons from universities, not dictate what should be taught there. At least Akerman’s not a president; just a crank who uses my profession like a swear word.

P.S. Check this link for the Hackerman getting the takedown. It’s a beaut. Don’t you wish there were something like MediaWatch in the USA? Or journalistic oversight?

Coming soon:

Held up by a secret service bodyguard in his dying moments after being shot in the stomach, this is President Bush being assassinated.
…
But rather than a repeat of JFK’s shooting or Ronald Reagan’s attempted assassination, this shocking image is part of a new Channel Four show.
The dramatic scene, which has caused outrage among Americans, has been created by a British film company for a programme about the effect of the War On Terror.

The Malkin wing is all over this. They think we’ll be watching the scene on loop over and over again.

Not me, and not any lefties I’ve talked to. I don’t want to see the guy shot. I may want to see him impeached and frog-marched off to the International Criminal Court in the Hague for his crimes. But not murdered.

Allahpundit asks:

Here’s the thing: if they really do believe Bush is a monster worthy of assassination — and some of them surely do — how can they stand it?
…
If you think Bush is Hitler, how the hell do you not take a shot at him?

I’m against capital punishment, that’s why. And unlike Bush cultists, I think the rule of law is worth keeping around. Potshots are for the gun nuts on the right.

Youngest Boy asked me what ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ mean. He’s 7, so I must be talking about these things too much around the house.

Here’s my answer.

The way I see it, everyone has a conservative side and a liberal side. And either side may be appropriate, depending on the situation.

There’s a good side and a bad side to conservatism. The good side of conservatism is caution. When there are wild animals or bad people outside, it’s a good idea to stay in the house. When you could lose a lot of money, you try to risk less. It’s just smart. And in some ways it may be better for a society if change doesn’t happen too quickly. Change can be wrenching and difficult to adapt to.

The bad side of being conservative is fear. That’s when caution becomes paralysis.

I’ve never seen a more fearful group of people than modern American conservatives, whether it’s fear of gays, fear of immigrants, fear of liberals, or (always always always) fear of terrorists. And conservative leaders know that they can speak to this fear to control conservatives, just like flicking a switch. They call it ‘throwing red meat to their base’, but it’s actually pandering to fear.

Conservatives are a bit like babies sometimes; they get fearful and need to be soothed. If they get angry, they can throw a tantrum. Unlike babies, though, their anger can turn them into aggressive people who are capable of real harm. That’s a way of life for fire-breathing conservatives like Limbaugh and Coulter. Yellow Elephants of our present day show both manifestations of fear: cowardice, and threatened aggression when they get called on it.

On the other side, liberalism is notable for its lack of fear in the face of threat. Liberals are able to say, “Yes, terrorism is a threat. But we need to approach it in an intelligent way.” Or, “I don’t want to be murdered by someone. But even so, I oppose the death penalty.” The anti-war stance is criticised as cowardly by so-called hawks fed on overhyped nationalism, itself driven by fear. But I see it as a desire to work around conflict, if possible. The coward is the one who thinks it’s all right to send others into a war so their anxiety can be assuaged.

The key question is this: is the world basically dangerous or safe? To answer that, I’d like to quote Al Gore quoting Ed Muskie:

“There are only two kinds of politics. They are not radical and reactionary, or conservative and liberal. Or even Democrat and Republican. There are only the politics of fear and the politics of trust.

“One says: You are encircled by monstrous dangers.

Give us power over your freedom so we may protect you.

“The other says: The world is a baffling and hazardous place, but it can be shaped to the will of men. …(C)ast your vote for trust …in the ancient traditions of this home for freedom….”

This latter approach brings out better things in me. I hope I can help my boys to be brave enough to consider other points of view, to not react automatically with violence, to be capable and secure enough to have a calm mind. In short, to be good liberals and good members of society.

Shorter Michael Reagan: English in the US is on its death bed because liberals won’t force immigrants — some illegal — to learn it.

Oy. Is he aware that English is exterminating other languages at a desperate pace?

Follow the link if you want, but the first paragraph tells you what you’re in for.

All across the U.S., hordes of immigrants – legal and illegal – are chattering away in their native language and have no intention of learning English the all-but-official language of the United States where they now live.

Those ‘hordes’ that are ‘chattering away’ — are they ‘brown hordes’, by any chance?

Bet he bitches when someone orders a ‘burrito’ instead of a ‘Mexican pie’.

A few articles converged for me this morning.

First, one from Jeff at Soma Vacation in which he describes the neglect that can happen when college boys live somewhere. I used to be a paperboy in that town, and I hated having to deal with guys in student housing. Sure, there were nice students, but the bad ones were the hardest to get money out of, and the most slovenly.

And I’d read the description of George W. Bush in US News and World Report:

He loves to cuss, gets a jolly when a mountain biker wipes out trying to keep up with him, and now we’re learning that the first frat boy loves flatulence jokes. A top insider let that slip when explaining why President Bush is paranoid around women, always worried about his behavior. But he’s still a funny, earthy guy who, for example, can’t get enough of fart jokes. He’s also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides, but forget about getting people to gas about that.

Just your basic good ol’ sociopath. For blogs that cite this article, the comparison of Bush to Frat Boy is common.

So if the President of the USA is basically a stereotypical Frat Boy, and if Frat Boys trash the place, then what should we expect to happen to the USA? Perhaps something like this.

A pipeline shuts down in Alaska. Equipment failures disrupt air travel in Los Angeles. Electricity runs short at a spy agency in Maryland.

None of these recent events resulted from a natural disaster or terrorist attack, but they may as well have, some homeland security experts say. They worry that too little attention is paid to how fast the country’s basic operating systems are deteriorating.

…

The American Society of Civil Engineers last year graded the nation “D” for its overall infrastructure conditions, estimating that it would take $1.6 trillion over five years to fix the problem.

“I thought [Hurricane] Katrina was a hell of a wake-up call, but people are missing the alarm,” said Casey Dinges, the society’s managing director of external affairs.

As the enduring image of Dick Cheney will be that of Elmer Fudd, Bush’s image will be that of the Frat Boy — irresponsible and immature. Why bother cleaning up? He’ll just be moving out soon.