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SIGN OF THE TIMES

by Open-Publishing - Thursday 19 October 2006

School-University USA Peter Fredson

SIGN OF THE TIMES

By Peter Fredson

October 19, 2006

Today I ran across an article that reflected the stress under which Americans are living. It said:

“University Bans Humor Quotation From Student’s Door
CNSnews.com ^ | 10/19/06 | Nathan Burchfiel”

“Posted on 10/19/2006 10:05:37 AM PDT by Froufrou”

“Officials at Marquette University have ordered a Ph.D. student to remove a quotation critical of the federal government from his office door, because the hallway the door faces is not a "free speech zone."

“In August, Stuart Distler, a doctoral student teacher, posted a quotation from humor columnist Dave Barry on his office door. "As Americans, we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful and relentless," the sign stated. "I refer, of course, to the federal government."

When I was a professor I used to post what I thought were humorous quotations on my door for student amusement, and never once did anyone order me to take any down.

However, with the Bush sensitivity to criticism and with provisions of the new Patriot and other Acts, any criticism could be construed as treason.
Today we are living in a semi-fascist atmosphere, complete with waving flags, rambunctious fundamentalists, constant alerts, made-to-Neocon-order, indefinite detentions, secret jails, torture, and constant administration lies, so no one can act like an American should act: free to speak our minds without fear of our own government.

I’m not willing to overlook this seemingly trivial incident. Political correctness sucks. Upcoming elections should change the atmosphere of suspicion, wiretapping, renditions, torture and other niceties of the Bush administration. Let us hope they will soon be only an unpleasant memory.