Marquette University: Anti-Dave Barry

A Dave Barry quote:

"As Americans we must always remember that we all have a common enemy, an enemy that is dangerous, powerful, and relentless. I refer, of course, to the federal government."

This quote was seen on Ph.D. student Stuart Ditsler's office in Marquette University. On Sept 5, Philosophy Dept Chair James South sent Ditsler an e-mail stating that he had received several complaints and therefore the quote was taken off his door. South wrote, "While I am a strong supporter of academic freedom, I'm afraid that hallways and office doors are not `free-speech zones.' If material is patently offensive and has no obvious academic import or university sanction, I have little choice but to take note."

FIRE has an article on this.

Come on here, the quote can be true if our government chooses to intrude on the rights and privacy of the people that are being governed by it. I have to imagine if Distler had Homer Simpson's quote on alcohol, would that get removed?

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Posted on: October 23, 2006 03:44 PM

Yes, if Dr. South applies his own criteria fairly. I don't see how any sane person (well, maybe a raving socialist, but I repeat myself) could find the remark offensive. Surely there must be something on Dr. South's door that somebody could find offensive.

My own practice is to reserve the door for musical and library-oriented humor. I save the politics for my blog.

Speaking of offensive comments, did you know that some spam blockers stop the word "socialist" because it contains the name of an ED drug?

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