Monday, February 21, 2011

I wonder if it received any public money?

In the wake of the shooting in Tucson, the University of Arizona has opened the "National Institute For Shut Up And Take It Like A Taxpayer"... er, I mean, the "National Institute for Civil Discourse":
In a statement released by the University of Arizona, Bush said he was honored to join Clinton in "supporting this important effort at such a critical time in our nation's history."

In the same statement, Clinton said, "I believe that the National Institute for Civil Discourse can elevate the tone of dialogue in our country, and in so doing, help us to keep moving toward 'a more perfect union.'"
Bush and Clinton as honorary co-chairs... you just know that's gonna suck. Hey, George and Bill, you know what the worst thing about ex-presidents is? You can't fire them any more than you already have.

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tells you all you need to know about Bush.
Terry

Marja said...

Could you people help a little? There was a story in paper today about the Texas Universities giving students the right to carry, and the Finnish hoplophobes are in full swing. One opinion had something like this: 'Give even one example when an armed civilian has stopped a massacre?'

I'd love to put up a link or two, and I think I remember reading about at least one case, in a bar? Does anyone remember something well enough to give me a link?

Tam said...

Marja,

"One opinion had something like this: 'Give even one example when an armed civilian has stopped a massacre?'"

A more pertinent question would be "Give me one example where a 'No Guns Allowed' sign has prevented one?" ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh great, another place where lefties sit around saying the hate-filled, racist, murdering, right-wing, Nazi's need to speak with civility.

Living in Babylon said...

And once again I find myself quoting Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

"Wait'll they get a load of me."

And, to top it off...we'll go with GG.

I will not act civilized.

I reckon that gets my point across.

Joe said...

Marja, how about a teacher who stopped a shooting in Pearl Mississippi with his own gun?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearl_High_School_shooting

1911Man said...

Or the 2002 Appalachian Law School shooter who was foiled when two students retrieved guns from their cars.

And the UofA douches wonder why they don't get any of that alma mater money from me.

On a somewhat different note:

The one thing Americans appear to hate more than any other is a hypocrite. How is it possible that fully one half of us fail to see that all this callin' for civility is nothing but a shallow attempt at shielding Obama from valid criticism of his incompetence etc (and there's LOTS of etc), when only a couple years ago, Somewhere In Texas a Village Was Missing Its Idiot, and Dissent Was Patriotic, and it was a grand idea to Impeach Chimpy McHitlerburton?

Screw 'em. Their behavior over the prior eight years both taught and entitled us how to treat their guy.

Roberta X said...

IMO, the very best thing Messrs. Clinton and Bush could do for "civility" would be a man a pair of $5-for-three-throws dunking tanks -- and it would probably do both of them a world of good, too.

Our home-grown nobs could all stand to be taken down a notch or three.

Anonymous said...

So, Clinton v. Bush '12...

No, not that Clinton.

And not that Bush. Or that one.

Still.

AT

Son of Same Adams said...

"You can't fire ON them..."
FIFY

Unknown said...

What, they're gonna shut down Democratic Underground and HuffPo?

Force sanity pills down the throats of the Demo Party leadership?

Institute mandatory courses in Logic at high schools as well as colleges?

We're way short of mature adults in our political arenas...

Marja said...

Thanks.

Tam: the problem with that argument in Finland is that in the couple of school shootings we had the shooters had gotten their guns lawfully. So, for a local hoplophobe, the natural conclusion is that if they hadn't gotten a gun in the first place they wouldn't have killed anyone, and that overwhelms the fact that the shooters took their guns where they shouldn't have - in fact, taking a handgun pretty much anywhere but a shooting range (or hunting) is forbidden here.

And nobody talks about the kid who killed himself and a bunch of other people in a mall with a self made bomb anymore. Maybe because that sort of clashes with the 'no guns, no deaths' meme.

And even I, a nice middle aged woman with no criminal contacts whatsoever, could probably obtain an illegal gun if I wanted, and did a bit of research. For one thing they were supposedly easy to get over the border in Russia at least a few years ago even for normal tourists.

theirritablearchitect said...

Not sure I agree about that degree of firing stuff.

I'm pretty sure it can go a little further than it already has.

Just sayin'.

perlhaqr said...

Well, Marja, on that front, you need look no farther than yesterday's Tamarism. She linked to: http://borepatch.blogspot.com/2011/02/rifles-of-khyber-pass.html which tells of complete firearms made with basically nothing, out of basically nothing, in the middle of nowhere, by peasants, some of whom may well be illiterate.

I suspect college educated, first world Suomalaiset would have absolutely no difficulty googling up a set of blueprints and turning them into firearms, even if every last legal and illegal firearm in the country were to magically disappear overnight, and the borders were magically sealed against further influx of legal firearms.

But yes, to echo Tam, my typical response to banning guns in a given location is to demonstrate why they think a criminal, determined to show up and murder random people, is going to be deterred by the fact that there a sign making it more illegal for him to be carrying the murder weapon.

Alan J. said...

Regarding..."a non-partisan center for debate, research, education and policy generation regarding civility in public discourse. The idea came to Duval after he heard President Barack Obama's speech in Tucson..."

Yeah, that sounds like a grand waste of taxpayer dollars, and the students can take that degree and have a great career making fries with it.

I wonder what course this University Regent will be inspired to come up with after hearing the speech where Obama called the Wisconsin austerity measure an “assault” on unions? Perhaps a course on how protestors learn to "punch back twice as hard," taught by Professors Saul Alinski and Mike Tyson?

Anonymous said...

Or the 2002 Appalachian Law School shooter who was foiled when two students retrieved guns from their cars.

But, but, but...Tracy Bridges and Mikael Gross were Only Ones(tm)! (Yeah, I actually had someone bring that up as a counterpoint, as if it made any difference; they also pointed out that Joel Myrick was the school's vice principal, as if vice principal = LEO. Go figure.)

Clinton AND Bush, eh? Allll about the bipartisanship. I've said it elsewhere and I'll say it here: bipartisanship is nothing more and nothing less than the Constitution getting ass-raped by both sides.

cheifjaybob said...

Is Civil Discourse going to end up being very much like Reasoned Discourse(TM)?

Old NFO said...

Oh you KNOW it's going to get big-time federal funding... gotta keep the lefties funded so they can keep pounding away at our freedoms.

Jon said...

U of A is a state-run public school - it gets plenty of public money

Steve Skubinna said...

Clinton? The guy who blamed the OKC bombing on Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, and a largely nonexistent militia "movement?"

Clinton, who initially portrayed Monica Lewinsky as a deranged stalker, a troubled young woman in need of counseling?

Clinton, who had his advisers trash Paula Jones as the sort of woman you'd catch by trolling bills through a trailer park?

That guy is going to lecture us on civility? Screw him. Sideways.

ExurbanKevin said...

FIrst item on the agenda: "Why Arizona State University Sucks".

John B said...

You can't fire them more than you already have?

You can, but it has consequences beyond the immediate.

The older I get, the more I sympathize with that Oswald guy!

John B said...

And PS I'm moved to propose marriage to you yet again Ms. X!

We could clear the national debt with that!

Add Obama and Piranhas, and we could do it in a day!

C Sherman said...

Nothing new here, just more of the UA President Robert Shelton trying to curry enough political favor to avoid losing his job. The "memorial service" that seemed a lot like a campaign rally? That was his idea and had nothing to do with mourning or 'coming together'. The guy has pissed of pretty much everyone from across the political spectrum, and is in grave danger of being unemployed in fairly short order. So he's picked out that the liberal side of things is his best hope for survival, and he's set out to gather as much political patronage as he can stuff into his pockets and file drawers. Given that the Arizona university system is facing unprecedented budget cuts, I'm curious about how this was financed and where/who the money came from.

Chuck