On the eve of the New Hampshire primary, Ron Paul received a sympathetic ear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Leno told Paul on Monday night’s show: “I’m trying to figure out why Fox News chose not to put you on.”

“You know, we tried to find that out,” Paul replied. “But they didn’t return our call."

And you know, we at Liberty Letters can't help but notice that Ron Paul received ten percent of the vote in Iowa, broke all records for fund raising in one quarter ($20 million this past quarter) - which shows a huge swell of support; and by contrast establishment guy, Rudy Giuliani, gets 4 percent in Iowa, and is included.

And so we really want to know, does Fox News really believe in the democratic process? Should any conservative still tune in to a network that pretends to appeal to their values? Is Fox going to re-think its position, and perhaps follow Mitt Romney's example of humility and say, flat out, "I was wrong," before it's too late?

We're all waiting to see. It's only their continued legitimacy and financial well being that is on the line … oh yeah, and our rights and freedoms to elect the candidates of our choice after hearing all of their positions and arguments.

Will Fox News return America's call?
The Liberty Letters are written by NewsMax.com pundit Steve Farrell, and are a project of the Latter-day Center for Moral Liberalism.

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A registrar in England is refusing to perform gay weddings because they violate her conscience and deeply held religious convictions. She is taking her local council to court over the matter. The secular approach is a very invasive one which insists that simply being “offended” is grounds for all kinds of lawsuits. And while we at Liberty Letters find the secular legal outlook that protects the favored minority of the moment from being "offended" by another man's views, a dangerous assault on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. Yet, we wonder why it is that these freedom loving individuals won't extend the same protections against "being offended" to Christians around the world? Can't they see that this movement they've attached themselves to is not about freedom, but statist control? Not about protecting private moral decisions, but vigorously assaulting that moral order, the Judeo-Christian ethic, that stands in the way of political revolution?

Read the story in the UK's Daily Mail.

The Liberty Letters are written by NewsMax pundit Steve Farrell and friends; and are a project of The Latter-day Center for Moral Liberalism.

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The forces of rabid, fundamentalist secular liberalism reach even into tiny communities that you might be inclined to think are still safe harbors from political correctness.

Monument, Colorado is such a place. Class valedictorian Erica Corder had the effrontery to mention Jesus Christ in her graduation speech, following the example set by presidents from George Washington to George Bush, all of whom have mentioned Christ and Christianity in public speeches.

However, she was ordered to issue an apology for her "immature" comments and told that if she did not, she would not receive her graduation diploma.

Afraid that her college career could be placed in jeopardy, Miss Corder was blackmailed into issuing an apology for her remarks.

And so the thought police have now extended their reach into the high school level, and the new McCarthyites are now more than willing to punish those who deviate from secular orthodoxy by terminating their academic careers. You may be excused for thinking this has the ring of fascism.

Liberty Counsel is now representing her in a freedom of speech lawsuit against the school, and Miss Corder is pursuing the suit not just for herself but for "students in the future. I want to make sure they aren't afraid of saying what they believe, and I want the school district to know what they did was wrong."

The school is digging in its heels, and will "vigorously defend" its Inquisition-like punishment of Miss Corder and her exercise of freedom of speech and religion.

The lawsuit was filed after the family spent a year trying to persuade the district to clarify its policy with regard to graduation speeches.

Liberty Letters' Source: Idaho Values Alliance. Used with permission.

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Senate Democrats seem determined to find a way to re-impose the so-called Fairness Doctrine. Last night they beat back an attempt by Republicans to preserve constitutionally protected freedom of speech and the press as they rejected a proposed anti-Fairness Doctrine amendment to education legislation. A former chairman of the FCC said revival of the Fairness Doctrine is "unacceptable." He went on, "The electronic press that uses electrons and airwaves should be as free as the press that uses ink and paper, period."

(Senate Democrats foil attempt to bar 'Fairness Doctrine' - The Washington Times)

Liberty Letters Comment: Contact your congressmen and turn up the heat against the Fairness Doctrine, or anything like unto it.

Thanks to our friends at the Idaho Values Alliance for this tidbit. Used with permission. 

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ASHLAND UNIVERSITY: NO OBJECTIVISTS NEED APPLY After denying tenure to a history professor because he engaged in Objectivist scholarship, Ohio’s Ashland University has struck a deal with John Lewis, granting him tenure but only if he resigns from the university. FIRE wrote to Ashland in March advocating for Lewis’ tenure bid, citing the fact that the university had accepted $100,000 from a private foundation to fund Lewis’ Objectivist research. FIRE also argued that Ashland was contractually obligated to uphold professors’ full academic freedom and free speech rights. Lewis will be on leave until May 2008, when he will resign from Ashland.

CAMPUS ALERT: WHEN HEZBOLLAH TRUMPS OLD GLORY   FIRE’s Campus Alert column in yesterday’s New York Post discussed the federal lawsuit the San Francisco State University (SFSU) College Republicans filed against their university, alleging that SFSU violated the group’s First Amendment rights by investigating them for stepping on Hamas and Hezbollah flags at an anti-terrorism rally. Even though well-established United States Supreme Court case law allows flag desecration as a form of political expression, SFSU subjected the College Republicans to a five-month investigation for their “offense,” instead of dismissing the charges. The lawsuit also challenges SFSU’s speech code, which requires students “to be civil” to one another—an arbitrary policy that can be subjectively enforced against dissenting opinions on campus. As yesterday’s Campus Alert made clear, SFSU’s investigation and its maintenance of unconstitutional speech codes is not a close call, constitutionally speaking, and now SFSU must answer for its actions in court.

SPEECH CODE OF THE MONTH: MCNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY   FIRE announces its Speech Code of the Month for July 2007: McNeese State University. This public university in Louisiana maintains a set of “Public Forum Regulations” that quarantine free speech to just two areas of campus and place onerous restrictions on the use of those areas. In addition, the regulations restrict where students can speak; how frequently they can speak; how long they can speak; and at what times of the day and week they can speak. Finally, they require students to give at least 3 days advance notice in order to speak. There is simply no justification for a public university to place such burdensome restrictions on its students’ constitutionally guaranteed rights to free speech and assembly. Not only would this policy not hold up in a court of law, but it is also a moral outrage.

Liberty Letters Comment: A Liberty Letters reader recently objected in reference to speech codes, that this was "old news," that they've been outlawed. Truth is, federal code change or not, it is a BIG problem, both in formal and informal policies enacted and enforced by the liberal commies of America that infest our campuses, our courts, and our media. Get out of denial and do something, like support our friends at FIRE.

Source:  Liberty Letters' friend FIRE.org. Used with permission.

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A reader complained that he "couldn't imagine" what I meant when I stated that gays want "special rights."

A little tidbit from today's Idaho Values Alliance provides a hint:

"The Senate has postponed its vote on a "hate crimes" amendment as they tussle over the Iraq war. This amendment, which is nothing more than a "thought crimes" bill, represents a grave threat to religious freedom in America. Columnist Janet Folger points out what "hate crimes" legislation has already produced in America: a former homosexual was arrested for sharing his testimony with a homosexual at a gas station; five Christians in Florida were arrested at a homosexual rally for stepping onto the public sidewalk; seven Christians were arrested in Elmira, New York, for doing nothing more than praying in a public park where a homosexual festival was getting started; two sixteen year old girls in Illinois faced felony "hate crimes" charges for distributing flyers opposing homosexual behavior; and two grandmothers were arrested in Philadelphia for sharing their faith on a public sidewalk during a gay pride parade. As Folger says, "Just how many cases do we need to cite before America stands up and stops the bill that will criminalize Christianity?"

See also: (

WorldNetDaily: God and freedom assaulted in the Senate; WorldNetDaily: Kennedy cramming hate crimes into defense bill)

Can anyone say spell Amerika?

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Communism's Cult of the Personality (and all the trappings of Marxism-Leninism-Stalinism-Maoism, etc.) is alive and well in North Korea. Or didn't you know that Kim Jong Il is the very incarnation of God? Most of these videos would be hilarious were the subject not so serious:

North Korea and the Cult of the Personality

I am reminded of the words of one religionist, Elder Marion G. Romney, who once stated, "Communism is Satan's counterfeit for the gospel plan, and . . . it is an avowed enemy of the God of the land. Communism is the greatest Anti-Christ power in the world today and therefore the greatest menace not only to our peace but to our preservation as a free people."

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SAN FRANCISCO. —San Francisco State University (SFSU) is the latest target of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education’s (FIRE’s) highly successful Speech Codes Litigation Project. In cooperation with FIRE, attorneys filed a federal lawsuit against SFSU for violating the First Amendment rights of its students. The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization devoted to protecting religious liberty, filed the suit.

“Through its policies and practices, SFSU has violated and continues to violate the First Amendment rights of every student on its campus,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “Beginning today, SFSU will have to answer for its actions in court.”

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are the SFSU College Republicans and two of the group’s members, undergraduates Leigh Wolf and Trent Downes. SFSU’s College Republicans were put on trial by a campus tribunal this past spring for stepping on makeshift Hamas and Hezbollah flags as part of an anti-terrorism rally they held in October, 2006. FIRE wrote twice to SFSU President Robert A. Corrigan to stress that no American public university can lawfully prosecute students for engaging in peaceful protest or for “desecrating” flags of any kind. The university ignored this warning, with a university spokesperson telling the San Francisco Chronicle that the issue was not flag desecration but rather “the desecration of Allah.” Despite having the power to dismiss the charges at any time, SFSU dragged the plaintiffs through a five-month investigation and hearing before ultimately clearing the group of “harassment” charges.

“The Supreme Court ruled long ago that the First Amendment protects the right to burn even an American flag in political protest. There are no special protections for Hamas and Hezbollah flags. SFSU knew this, and there is no excuse for putting these students through a five-month ordeal. We hope the lawsuit will stop the university from committing future abuses,” Lukianoff said.

In addition to holding SFSU accountable for unlawfully mistreating the plaintiffs on the basis of their constitutionally protected expression, the lawsuit asks the court to strike down several unconstitutional speech codes at SFSU.

The speech codes at issue in the suit include SFSU’s Student Group Misconduct policy, which permits student organizations to be held collectively accountable “when the behavior is inconsistent with SF State goals, principles and policies;” its Sexual Harassment Policy, which allows the university to punish any behavior that “emphasizes another person’s sexuality;” and a portion of its Student Code that prohibits “intimidation” and “harassment” without defining either of those terms.

FIRE’s Speech Codes Litigation Project—an initiative working to dismantle  unconstitutional speech codes on public university campuses—has attained crucial victories at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, Texas Tech University, the State University of New York at Brockport, and California’s Citrus College.

“Public universities must be made to understand that disregarding the First Amendment rights of their students will have consequences,” Lukianoff said. “FIRE will continue its litigation project for as long as it takes to get universities to understand this crucial point.”

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals from across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process, freedom of expression, academic freedom, and rights of conscience at our nation’s colleges and universities. FIRE’s efforts to preserve liberty on campuses across America can be viewed at www.thefire.org.

CONTACT:

Greg Lukianoff, President, FIRE: 215-717-3473; greg_lukianoff@thefire.org

David French, Director, Center for Academic Freedom, ADF: 931-490-0591; dfrench@telladf.org

Robert A. Corrigan, President, SFSU: 415-338-1381; president@sfsu.edu

FIRE's work is made possible by the generosity of our individual supporters. Liberty Letters invites you to please click here to make your tax-deductible contribution.

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Still not convinced that there exists, in the words of Ike's former Secretary of Agriculture, Ezra Taft Benson, a conspiracy which seeks to "overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations and countries [and] is increasing its evil influence and control over America and the entire world?"

European Union: Dictatorship Rising?

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2007 Contact: Carol Soelberg, UFI President; or Laura Knaperek, UFI Executive Director — (480) 632-5450 UFI ENDORSES PETITION TO CANADA’S GOVERNMENT TO RESTORE TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE

MESA, Arizona – United Families International (UFI) has endorsed and is encouraging citizens around the world to sign a petition encouraging the Canadian government to restore marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Canada’s Parliament legalized same-sex “marriage” in 2005 and defeated a motion in 2006 to re-visit the issue. UFI is advocating for international pressure on the Canadian government because the North American nation’s marriage law revision ignored public opinion and social science research, while undermining the marriage laws of other nations. Specifically, the petition asks Canada to revisit the Civil Marriage Act to re-establish man-woman marriage and to consider imposing Canadian residency requirements for marriage. Persons wishing to sign the international petition can do so online: http://www.unitedfamilies.org/restoremarriagecanada/apologypetition.cfm

Carol Soelberg, UFI president, is adamant that Canada’s same-sex “marriage” law is negatively impacting the institution of marriage around the world. Canada does not require that two individuals be Canadian citizens in order to marry. This prompts foreign same-sex couples to “marry” in Canada and return to their home country to challenge local marriage law.

“As individuals, we have been frustrated by the legalization of same-sex ‘marriage’ and we wonder what we can do,” Soelberg said. “The petition presents a positive action step people can take to convince the Canadian government to repeal its over-reaching same-gender ‘marriage’ law. We are urging people to sign the petition and pass it on.”

United Families International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the defense of marriage and family.

Dennis Durband

Director of Publications

United Families International

Mesa, Arizona

(480) 632-5450

ddurband@unitedfamilies.org

Used with permission of Liberty Letter's friend, UFI

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If pastors and other Christians don’t aggressively oppose a bill now in Congress, in the near future they will be subject to huge fines and prison terms if they say anything negative about homosexuality.

The proposed law would make it a crime to preach on Romans Chapter 1 or I Corinthians Chapter 6. Or even to discuss them in a Sunday School class. If churches and individuals want to keep the government from telling them what they can and cannot preach and teach about homosexuality, they better get involved now!

House bill H.R. 1592 and Senate bill S. 1105 would make negative statements concerning homosexuality, such as calling the practice of homosexuality a sin from the pulpit, a “hate crime” punishable by law. This dangerous legislation would take away your freedom of speech and your freedom of religion. Consider what has already happened:

• A California lawsuit which is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court would make the use of the words “natural family,” “marriage” and “union of a man and a woman” a “hate speech” crime in government workplaces. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled in favor of the plaintiffs!
• CNN and The Washington Post both reported that General Peter Pace, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was fired because he publicly expressed moral opposition to homosexual behavior.

For the Alliance Defense Fund’s summary of this bill, click here.

If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved.

Please help us get this information into the hands of as many people as possible by forwarding it to your family and friends.

Sincerely,

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

Used with permission.

Liberty Letters Comment: Again, the homosexual lobby displays itself not as a true liberty movement but an arm of the larger Communist revolution, which still infects every nation on earth, is still gaining momentum and power, is not flagging and fizzling as the disarming propagandists claim, but is intent on exploiting homosexuals as they have nearly every other minority to crush Christianity, outlaw God, take down freedom of religion, speech, press, and assembly, and otherwise exalt the state and enslave mankind: all mankind: black, white, male, female, rich, poor, Christian, atheist, straight, and gay - all in the name of freeing him. Either we wake up and have the courage to call a spade a spade, and the patriotism to fight back with our time, talents, and resources, or prepare are wrists and ankles for the shackles we fully deserve. I hope you will choose the former.

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A suit has been filed against the Chicago Board of Education and others in behalf of Jessica Turner, a 12-year-old girl, whose school class was shown the explicit, gay-themed movie Brokeback Mountain. Jessica's grandparents, Kenneth and LaVerne Richardson are seeking more than $400,000 worth of damages.The Chicago Sun-Times reported that a substitute teacher introduced herself to the class at Ashburn Community Elementary School and said, "What happens in Ms. Buford's class stays in Ms. Buford's class." Buford then had a student close the door and began showing the controversial film.

According to screenit.com, this movie is extreme in its sexual content, with vivid, explicit sexual scenes between the two cowboys and at least 22 uses of the f-word.

According to the Sun Times, "the suit alleges Ashburn's principal, Jewel A. Diaz, was aware that the tale of the love between two cowboys set in the West of the 1960s was being shown to the minors.

"Turner later told her grandfather that she was confined to her seat and felt she could not leave the room, according to the suit filed in Cook County Circuit Court."

It should come as no surprise, of course, that liberal Hollywood, who never ceases its attack upon morality, lauded this movie with three Academy Awards.

Just an Isolated Incident? This extreme incident in Chicago is only the tip of the iceberg. Homosexual activists seek unfettered access to our children's minds, as they are aggressively pushing their agenda and promoting the indoctrination of homosexuality in curricula across the United States, starting as young as kindergarten. This is not just in the so-called "comprehensive sex-education classes" that are always gay-friendly, but in literature, art and history classes as well. The idea is to teach the acceptance-indeed the celebration-of homosexuality across the curriculum as they break down the traditional values of students. Unable to fully get their agenda embraced to this point in the United States and with a mountain of political will that far outstrips the family folks, they are looking to indoctrinate the young to bring a new wave of support and re-engineer the values of our American society. Homosexual activists are tampering with children's minds when they are vulnerable, and their own sense of sexual identity is often fragile. Their attack on the schools is incremental and steady, relentless like a dripping faucet. Here are just a few steps of the plan: ● They promote their agenda under the guise of creating "safe schools." Overstating the harassment that "gay" teens receive at school has been the irresistible front to promote their policies. ● They promote policies that forbid "discrimination" against students or teachers on the basis of "sexual orientation." They urge teachers and students to "come out" about their homosexuality so that "teachers can provide positive images of gay people in the classroom." ● They demand posters at school, books like King and the King, days celebrating their lifestyle, discussion of homosexuality across the curriculum, such as famous gay people in history. GLSEN writes, "Educators need to integrate LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) issues throughout the curriculum-not just in classes such as health education, but in disciplines such as English, History, Art and Science. ● In their lexicon "discrimination" includes giving any favorable treatment to marriage, the words "mother" and "father" or the heterosexual relationship in curriculum at school. To suggest that a child deserves a mother and father is considered "hate speech." ● They lobby for pro-homosexual propaganda to teachers and administrators through mandatory training sessions. ● They stigmatize anyone with traditional values as "homophobes" as an active part of classroom discussion, thus either marginalizing children for their biblical values, or pitting children against their parents' moral values. They imply that those with traditional values are mentally ill. ● They muzzle free speech. To voice opposition to this onslaught or to suggest another viewpoint in class is not only politically incorrect, it is forbidden, a sure sign that you are a dreaded homophobe. ● They sponsor student indoctrination sessions to teach their pro-homosexual dogma. These are often school assemblies or one-day events. Some of these include the description of sex acts in the crudest detail. ● They sponsor gay-straight alliance clubs at school as a forum to "discuss sexual orientation and gender identity issues." ● They ride the coattails of "multiculturalism" by including LGBT History Month among other "celebrations of culture and heritage."

Take Action:
How Can I Help?

As you read their plan, you are probably wondering, what can I do? How can I help?

You can help in two very important ways.

First, donate to the Family Leader Foundation by clicking here. To fight this battle effectively requires our hiring additional staff. We cannot fight this battle with volunteers only. Believe me, the Human Rights Campaign with its 91 affiliates in all 50 states and GLSEN have all the staff they need to swamp our efforts and push their agenda on our children's schools.

We cannot create materials, talking points and strategy-and certainly we cannot fight legal battles on these issues without a fulltime staff, dedicated to this cause. It is David against Goliath, and we need to add some stones in our sling.

Can you donate $50 or $30? Could you at least donate $10, which is about the price of a movie ticket to help us stop this charge against our children at school? If you can donate more, please do it.. Click here to donate.

Sometimes donating to the cause is the last thing we consider. Let it be the first. We don't know of any other national family organization who has taken on the cause of protecting our children against this onslaught at school. We are pledged to do it-with your help.

Second, volunteer to be a school board monitor in your area. We are creating a nationwide network of school board monitors. If you can do this, send your name and contact information to Martha Schaerr at mschaerr@yahoo.com We will get back in touch with you with training and instructions.

Liberty Letters Comment: Visit and then lend a hand to FamilyLeader.net.

Used with permission of Liberty Letters contributor, Maurine Proctor and FamilyLeader.net 

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Just a little 'fun' with the Hamas Kiddie Network Educational series promoting holocaustic genocide…

Click here to first read the IsraelInsider.com article: "Despite PA promises, Hamas screens new episode of "Mickey Mouse" hate show"

Mickey's Lookin' More Like Molech

Mickey's Ma-jihad-ic Kingdom
Is where children's dreams come true!
It's where Minnie sports a burka,
And where you won't find a Jew!

Yasser!….Little Furry Farfur's
Got a lesson for the kids:
"You'll be headin' for some Virgins…
…After you've beheaded Yids!"

Come on in!…The Kingdom's waiting!
Come on in…Enjoy your stay!
Share in Tinkerbell's excitement
Blowing Zionists away!

Just line up and take a number…
Have it tatooed on your arm!
Haunted House of Hebrew Horror
Such a gas!
And, Oh what charm!

You'll find family attractions…
Fatwah thrills not for the meek!
Keep your scimitars well-sharpened…
Goofy's handing out plastique.

We've got macho rides for 'martyrs',
Plus we keep our women veiled!
If they protest….
We just stone 'em
Or we toss 'em all in jail.

Watch al-Pooh-Bear rig explosives!
Watch al-Piglet strap 'em on….
You'll see Ruthless Roo applauding
And Jews going, going….
Gone!

Look!…There's Huey, Dewey, Louie!
Check that bloodlust in their eyes.
Unca Donald promised virgins
Once they've entered Paradise.

Chip 'n' Dale?…
They're armed 'n' ready
Home now from Afghanistan.
Seven dwarfs?…
Just mining roadsides
With their friends The Taliban.

Fluffy Farfur's primed and loaded,
And Pinnocchio as well…
Both are psyched!…
They're just exploding!
Right on through the Gates of Hell.

Peter Pan's gone undercover…
Trigger-happy Tigger, too!
Even Bambi's teaching Thumper
To 'annihilate the Jew'.

Dumbo's flying into buildings…
Pluto keeps his saber keen!
"Headless" isn't just for "Horsemen"…
(If you know, friend, what I mean!)

******

Mickey's lookin' more like Molech
Here in Theme Park Middle East.
Armageddon's loomin' larger
Now that Beauty kissed The Beast.

Liberty Letters comment: Read more of Liberty Letters resident poet, Tom Graffagnino's essays and poems at WithoutExcuseCreations.com

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FIRE Press Release

GLENDALE, Ariz., May 7, 2007—The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) has placed a professor on forced administrative leave and has recommended that he be terminated for e-mailing a Thanksgiving message to his colleagues last November. On the day before Thanksgiving, Professor Walter Kehowski sent out the text of George Washington’s “Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1789” and a link to the webpage where he’d found it—on Pat Buchanan’s web log. After several recipients complained of being offended by the e-mail, MCCCD found Kehowski guilty of violating the district’s Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policy and technology usage standards. Kehowski then contacted the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) for help.

“It simply boggles the mind that a professor could find himself facing termination simply for e-mailing the Thanksgiving address of our first president,” FIRE President Greg Lukianoff said. “This situation is an embarrassment to MCCCD and would be laughable if a professor’s most basic rights and very livelihood weren’t on the line.”

On November 22, 2006, tenured mathematics professor Walter Kehowski at Glendale Community College—part of the MCCCD system—sent an e-mail containing Washington’s “Thanksgiving Day Proclamation of 1789” to all MCCCD employees using a district-wide listserv designated for “announcements.” Within weeks, five MCCCD employees filed harassment charges against Kehowski, claiming his message was “hostile” and “derogatory” because it contained a link to Buchanan’s website, where the conservative Buchanan had also posted his criticisms of immigration policies.

MCCCD’s Initial Assessment found on January 3, 2007 that Kehowski was guilty of violating MCCCD’s EEO policy and policies limiting e-mail usage to messages that “support education, research, scholarly communication, administration, and other MCCCD business.” These policies also prohibit “[m]ailings to large numbers of people that contain unwanted solicitations or information.” However, MCCCD employees commonly use the “announcements” listserv to send out unsolicited information. Recent e-mails sent over this very listserv include an advertisement for purchasing goats for orphans in Uganda, quotes about Women’s History Month, and a reminder about the health benefits of eating bananas. To FIRE’s knowledge, not one of the senders of these e-mails has been forced to cease teaching or threatened with dismissal.

On March 9, MCCCD Chancellor Rufus Glasper placed Kehowski on administrative leave and recommended to the MCCCD Governing Board that he be dismissed. Kehowski has since appealed that decision and will defend himself at a hearing before a panel of three faculty members on June 5. That panel will then make recommendations for Chancellor Glasper to present before the Governing Board.

FIRE wrote to Chancellor Glasper on April 25 to protest the actions against Kehowski, stressing that e-mailing a proclamation from George Washington or including a link to Pat Buchanan’s website does not constitute punishable harassment. FIRE reminded Glasper that the U.S. Supreme Court has held that for workplace expression to be considered “harassment,” it must be “severe or pervasive enough to create an objectively hostile or abusive work environment.” Sending a link to a website, which readers can either visit or simply ignore, does not fit this exacting standard. FIRE further wrote that even if the Thanksgiving e-mail was unsolicited, numerous other employees had sent unsolicited, non-work-related announcements over the same listserv. Chancellor Glasper responded with a letter on April 30, but failed to address any of FIRE’s concerns.

“It is dark day for free speech and common sense in Arizona. If the MCCCD believes at all in the importance of the right to free expression, or even just in basic fairness, it will undo its illiberal actions and exonerate Professor Kehowski immediately,” Lukianoff said.

FIRE is a nonprofit educational foundation that unites civil rights and civil liberties leaders, scholars, journalists, and public intellectuals across the political and ideological spectrum on behalf of individual rights, due process rights, freedom of expression, and rights of conscience on our campuses. FIRE’s efforts to preserve liberty at Glendale Community College and elsewhere can be seen by visiting www.thefire.org.

CONTACT:

Greg Lukianoff, President, FIRE: 215-717-3473; greg_lukianoff@thefire.org

Rufus Glasper, Chancellor, Maricopa County Community College District: 480-731-8100; r.glasper@domail.maricopa.edu

Velvie Green, President, Glendale Community College: 623-845-3012; velvie.green@gcmail.maricopa.edu

Used with permission.

Liberty Letters Comment: Another reminder as to that failure called public education, and why plank ten in the Communist Manifesto calls for "free public education." There's nothing free about it. Firstly, because WE THE PEOPLE pay for it. Secondly, as part of the broader plan of Communism as per education, to get to the point that the folks back home think they are getting something free, the funding source must be as far removed from local level as possible, which takes place by redirecting that money to the state and federal level (and soon to come international level). Thirdly, once enough folks are foolish enough to not see the scam, not comprehend that they paid for it, they, and the teachers who are being paid a distant up-line source, begin to believe that it is the up-line who is the sovereign. And so it becomes. And once things are centralized, why then it is easy to socialize, to crush religion and free speech, to rewrite history along communistic and humanistic lines, and so we have. And finally, to get it into our minds that the Supreme Court ought to have jurisdiction here. Great plan.

If public education ever was a good idea, it was when it was local, and thus controlled by the parents, who generally lacked a huge, revolutionary, agenda, nor could they get away with it if they did among their neighbors.

Private education, home school education, and locally controlled public schools are the only legitimate permanent solutions to our educational crisis. In the meantime, supporting groups like FIRE.org. which Liberty Letters highly recommends, is a great investment for your family and your country. FIRE gets results. For regardless of centralized control mechanisms in place, we can, and ought to fight back for our rights on all fronts.