It’s not too uncommon these days to hear the overused canard, “I support the troops, not the mission”. When uttered out of the mouth of a Leftist, this is almost certainly always a lie, but they say it to avoid the scorn & ridicule they richly deserve. But in Boston, one radical left-wing law professor named Michael Avery, has removed the false veneer and is saying what so many on the Left actually believe. Here’s a screen capture of Avery:
In a recent e-mail to colleagues, regarding care packages for U.S. troops, he said:
“I think it is shameful that it is perceived as legitimate to solicit in an academic institution for support for men and women who have gone overseas to kill other human beings.”
Of course, the law school is scared to say or do anything against him, likely because most of his colleagues are probably already patting him on his back.
But some are finally standing up against Comrade Avery. One of them, Robert Roughsedge, an adjunct member of the Suffolk University School of Law, has just resigned, as he feels his own reputation is being besmirched if he stays connected to Suffolk. Here’s a snippet of his resignation letter:
Professor Avery has engaged in hate speech against a class of citizens who ironically do not enjoy the same First Amendment rights. Members serving in the U.S. military cannot speak out on matters of politics or personal opinion if doing so would tarnish the reputation of the military. Suffolk apparently does not live up to these same ideals and standards. A senior member of the faculty has brought shame upon the institution and all who support it, yet he will no doubt be celebrated for his courage at the next faculty dinner or next visit to Cuba.
You can hear Michael Graham interview Roughsedge here.
Obviously Suffolk has no standards.
One therefore cannot be expected to uphold any .
DAMN I hate it when HOLLYWEED comes up with a few good lines:
Col. JESSEP: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.
On second thought Avery is a sphincter.The type known to haunt academia, and mensrooms.
And this piece of crap is lecturing students. He should be forced to survive in N Korea for a year. Catapult him across the border and see how his survival skills are. If he comes back he will be a wiser man. If not….who cares.
Agreed. Screw the constitution and the bill of rights. Anyone deemed to be unpatriotic should be subject to whatever punishment the mob finds suitable.
Major Roughsedge should become our new hero. A man willing to stand up and say crap is crap. Unfortunately the one who will be out of a job is him and not the one who carries the guilt. I hope that his suggestion that students transfer to other schools will happen.
Mr. Avery is now famous. As time passes and he mouths off more and more, he will become more famous.
This will be its own best punishment.
Just remember my friends, Michael Avery and Suffolk University Law School in Mass(hole)achussets. The universe will do the rest.
Because it is truly said that while free speech means you may speak your mind, this may not be a smart idea.
“Prof Avery has engaged in hate speech against a class of citizens who ironically do not enjoy the same First Amendment rights. Members serving in the U.S. military cannot speak out on matters of politics or personal opinion if doing so would tarnish the reputation of the military.”
Hah hah …. well we should send Prof Avery to S 13 hate speech trial via Obersturmbahnfurhrer Jennifer Lynch!
Ironic that the faculty once had a prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials…congratulations on honouring that legacy.
Well they sure know how to cook up black farce.
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Well at least Avery has raised his school’s profile.
I won’t call it a university, it needs to prove itself worthy, unlike the bodies of brave soldiers coming home.
trollex said: “Anyone deemed to be unpatriotic should be subject to whatever punishment the mob finds suitable.”
You are projecting again, trollex. Mob violence is a lefty tactic. Us mean righties just send our kids to -not- Suffolk U, where they don’t attend class with Michael “The Mouth” Avery.
Eventually he’ll end up starving in the gutter, unless he changes his cells and recants his abominable position.
That’s a much more daunting prospect than hand to hand combat with a mob of punks, you ask me. Proving once again that lefties are -stupid-.
Quick,
We need a sexy,
female writer to send a lusty email to Prof. Avery with a promise of cohabitation/marriage,
get him to run off to Libya/Syria/Iran.
Socialist slime living off the streets,
problem solved.
Perhaps the “progressive” classes could inform the plebes as to what counts as a “just” war, one which is deserving of support. Would it be the war that gave Americans their independence, the black people their freedom, the one that destroyed the Nazi war machine or the one that freed one half of the Korean peninsula?
Nice to see an Individual from Academia with some guts & a moral compass. This guy is a real honorable person.
You can bet Michael Avery would have no problem killing civilians, or Christians for Marxism.
We seen that in Stalins, & latter Soviet Union.
Not so much for the really oppressed.
No doubt he is now enjoying the glow of his peers. While MR. Robert Roughsedge is ridiculed by the same.
our Universities have become nests for leftist vipers.
Perhaps the “progressive” classes could inform the plebes as to what counts as a “just” war, one which is deserving of support.
I supect you agree, it really doesn’t matter. Somebody’s kid from Walla Walla, Washington or Fargo, North Dakota who is fighting for his country deserves everyone’s respect. If you’ve got a beef with the politicians, don’t pick on the kids going to war.
Oh that smug little moonbat smirk on Avery’s face.
Prof. Avery sounds like a pacifist, which is a legitimate philosophical position for a cloistered minority.
It’s a safe one, made so by the vast majority who are not pacifists, and whose freedoms have been won and ben maintained, by citizen soldiers.
Such is the history of Western Civilization and the Western Way of War. Westerners, traditionally are reluctant to go to war, not doing so unless feeling compelled to do so for survival. However, once that decision is made they are able to concentrate levels of force and and levels of creativity that dictatorships can’t match.
This Western Way of War is the hypothesis of noted Classics scholar and grape farmer, Victor Davis Hanson
“I’ve always been in the unfortunate position of being against the troops but for the war”
– Bill Hicks
I don’t get it. I completely disagree with what Avery said, but as the best defense of free speech put it, “… I will defend to the death his right to say it”.
He should be ridiculed, lampooned, and insulted with vigor, but anything amounting to punishment or censure cuts at the very foundation of freedom of speech.
That man just disturbs me. Seriously.
Kudos for being one of the few sane and reasonable SDA readers, Chris.
Chris, I think that what it comes down to is that the “good” professor doesn’t realize that freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of consequences for speaking very, very stupidly. I suspect that that’s what he’s expecting, that because of his position he can say whatever he wants without censure. As he is dissing his employer (how much federal money goes to that school?) they would be within their rights to ask for his dismissal. That would be the response I’d like to see. It’s what I’d expect would happen to me if I publicly decried the company I worked for after identifying myself as working for them.
So Alex I gather you support the CPC removal of the S.13 of the CHRA and thus more free speech for everyone?
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Personally, I have a deep moral objection to Pacifism. It only works in the context of protest in a Western society, where there are limits to what is allowed to state force. Gandhi against the British colonial authority had as an ally, the British civilization’s own limitations that it imposed on itself and it’s organs of enforcement, civil and military. Martin Luther King against Southern Jim Crow racism likewise had as an ally, American civilization’s own limitations that it imposed on itself and it’s organs of enforcement, in this case the southern police, courts and Natl Guard.
King or Gandhi acting as a domestic opposition leader to, say, Nazi Germany, or the Soviet Union, or the Khmer Rouge, or the Castro Regime would quickly either be dead or in a concentration camp. As would also be their followers.
When Pacifists refuse to serve, in for example, WW2 against the Nazis & Japanese, they leave the rest of us with that much more of a fight, each having to do his share of the fighting, plus the share of some pacifist safely at home, myopically, falsely congratulating himself on his moral superiority.
There is evil in the world which must be confronted. Sometimes, it cannot be defeated by peaceful means, leaving civilized people no choice but to make war upon it. In those cases, pacifists are getting their freedoms for free, preserved by others who take a more honest and courageous, principled stand in the world.
“So Alex I gather you support the CPC removal of the S.13 of the CHRA and thus more free speech for everyone?”
Absolutely. If you had any doubts on that matter, you must have been unduly swayed by the blathering of the trolls.
“Agreed. Screw the constitution and the bill of rights. Anyone deemed to be unpatriotic should be subject to whatever punishment the mob finds suitable.”
On reading this snippet, I thought, “What an a**hole!”
Then I read who’d written it and my opinion was altogether confirmed.
Because Avery is opposed to military force then one should expect that he would be willing to forgo any protection that force might provide in times of national emergency.
This should be kept in mind if the OWS crowd suddenly decide that the academic institutions are part of the 1%.
Chris writes, “I don’t get it. I completely disagree with what Avery said, but as the best defense of free speech put it, ‘… I will defend to the death his right to say it’. He should be ridiculed, lampooned, and insulted with vigor, but anything amounting to punishment or censure cuts at the very foundation of freedom of speech.”
Well, everyone here seems to agree. Where, Chris, do you get the idea that anyone here seriously intends treatment other than Avery being “ridiculed, lampooned, and insulted”? It’s only lefties who support draconian measures like those of our very own Human Rights (sic) Commissions.
[quote]I don’t get it. I completely disagree with what Avery said, but as the best defense of free speech put it, “… I will defend to the death his right to say it”. He should be ridiculed, lampooned, and insulted with vigor, but anything amounting to punishment or censure cuts at the very foundation of freedom of speech.[/quote] Chris
Chris that IMHO is the stupidest comment by far.. Freedom of speech should not be confused with some type of “protected speech”
There is no LAW that prevents anyone from speaking thier mind, but a diseased mind must/may be censured by a multitude of individuals.
Freedom of speech does not mean a free pass…
JMHO
Keep on drawing attention to those who would speak to undermine our society and those who defend it. How would we speak against them and their views if we didn’t know of them. How would the recipients of their propeganda know any other way if no one speaks up?
Run along Alex, adults are conversing.
Did you know, Alex, the faster you run, the faster that propellor on your hat will spin!
Col. JESSEP: You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth!
Very simple, Lookout. Just look at Slap Shot’s comment right under yours. Or are we going to pretend that censorship is not what the HRCs are engaged in?
Want another example? Peterj’s stupidity at 7:15. You either accept freedom of speech or you don’t. I heard a lot about this during the HRC debacle last few years, and I agreed with all of you about the need to smack down CHRC and S.13. But as soon as some idiot leftie like this silly twit Avery pops up with something moronic, a bunch of you want to shut him up.
So it’s time for you lot to put up or shut up. Do you defend free speech or don’t you?
Chris is right; idiots are allowed to speak their piece. Otherwise, all you’re doing is shutting up your opposition, and that’s fascism.
What’s directly relevant here is you should be glad Avery is free to speak his mind. It’s just more truth in advertising about how idiotic the Left can truly be.
cgh – did you see all of the comments after Chris’ saying that freedom to say something is not the same as freedom from responsibility for what you say?
Punk.
Proving once again that freedom is not a left-vs-right issue. Both sides of the political spectrum are filled with self-important little tyrants.
Freedom of speech is needed. What I don’t like is having teachers attack those that fought for and died for that right. These are the ones who openly attack our freedom of life and are teaching our leaders of the future. What I see in this man is a man with no balls.
What else would you expect from communist scum?
when you are PAID to teach others, you should censure your own speech
your right to freedom of speech is outside the class room were you are paid to teach
Revnant Dream @7:58, exactly.
As much as I have to choke on the words, I have to agree with Chris @ 8:20.
The sad thing about it is that there are so many filthy people like him teaching our kids and undermining our society.
Prof Avery might find the following interesting:
IT IS THE SOLDIER
It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.
It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.
It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.
It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.
©Copyright 1970, 2005 by Charles M. Province
Cheers
Hans Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
[quote]What’s directly relevant here is you should be glad Avery is free to speak his mind.[/quote]Cgh
You are confusing the simple rights of an individual and how those rights are adjudicated by the Government & Courts. The CHRC are a Court/Government action that suppresses freedom of speech.
Avery has enjoyed his freedom of speech, and the Courts are not involved.. It is Tenure that prevents him from losing his financial contract, but he can be reassigned. If he does not have tenure he can be fired.
I find his opinion obscene and it’s my right of free speech to advocate he be separated from teaching children on my Tax dollars…You may disagree with my opinion, that’s your right
Only a coward wants a pass for everything they say. In real life that is a fairy tale
I hate to nit-pick, but the title line “Supporting Neither the Mission or the Troops” is grammatically incorrect. It should, of course, be “neither the Mission NOR the Troops.”
That being said, Avery is living up to the usual level of political correctness expected of a Law School professor who spent time at the University of Moscow, USSR, 1968-1969. You can’t make this stuff up.
“We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.” — Churchill.
Avery is the most contemptible of moral cowards — a typical leftist. He wants to assume airs of moral superiority by pretending that the benefit of freedom he and others enjoy can come at no cost in blood or treasure and that therefore he owes no debt to those who, unlike himself, are willing to pay it. For once, I would like him and his ilk to demonstrate by example how to live the good life under the regimes and/or forces against which he seems to imply we need no defense. If those forces are as benign as he implies, then he should be able to live well under their power. Yet almost never do they walk the talk, and in the rare instances when they do (Eldridge Cleaver, Kim Philby) the result is at best, profound disappointment, at worst slavery or death.
Thank you Hans
Clarification was needed
Here, Here … Perfectly put .. Dr.D
Slap Shot, who’s giving him a pass? Everyone here rightly states that the guy is an idiot and his opinion is pure drivel. What I’m talking about are those who would suppress this moron from stating his inane views.
“I find his opinion obscene and it’s my right of free speech to advocate he be separated from teaching children on my Tax dollars”
Amen. Indeed, I agree with you, by all means advocate that the fool be fired. But there’s a big difference between what you are saying and “catapulting him into Korea”. Even the miserable North Koreans deserve better than this piece of human waste.
C-Miner, of course he’s resposnible for what he says. We all are. And all of us are fully entitled to call the man the dolt that he is. But if we believe in free speech, we’re not allowed to prevent him from saying it.
Looks like Alex found a ghost writer – one that isn’t sucking the bong 24/7. Congrats, Alex-ghost-writing-guy; at least you’re completing entire sentences now.
Still STUPID sentences, though…
@Chris: you’re a wimp. You eschew “punishment” for people who are promoting mass cultural suicide to vulnerable young people? We’ll have to agree to disagree. Fear of what you term censorship = apathy IMO, is the most glaring weakness of the average conservative, and might just be the well-greased path to that very suicide.
I Didn’t anyone on here denying Comrade Avery what he can say or not. In fact I said myself he will no doubt be feted for his opinions.
Noe should he be. I like to know where the rats are myself.
It was as usual the resident troll who bent the whole discussion towards him not being allowed free speech.
Just so people wouldn’t really comment on what he said.
This thread was never about free speech. It was about this guys opinion on soldiers.
Thats why trolls are trolls. Their hear to misdirect.
Who the Hell does his make-up?
At least he’s not pussy footing around about it. About time these people stop with the nonsense. Who are they fooling with this garbage?
Like Revnant Dream, I’ve also noticed a new tactic by Rabid Leftists like Trollex: If one dare criticizes someone who espouses a Far Left position – no matter how hateful or repugnant it might be – then you are denying him his free speech. Nonsense!
People should be free to say whatever they wish but they should also be responsible for their words; not through the penalty of law but the effects of shunning to begin with.
Fact is, if an academic were to *dare* espouse support for heterosexual-only marriage or The Right to Life of unborn babies then they’d lose their job within days.