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McCarthyism Rebounds

19 January, 2006 - 08:11 — eric

So McCarthyism only had to endure half a century of ignominity before experiencing a big comeback. Not bad. Any ideas how we can escort it back to its place in the graveyard of bad ideas?

UCLA alumni group targets 'radical' professors

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- An alumni group is offering students up to $100 per class to supply tapes and notes exposing professors who allegedly express extreme left-wing political views at the University of California, Los Angeles.

One of the professors calls it McCarthyism.

The year-old Bruin Alumni Association says it is concerned about professors who use lecture time to press positions against President Bush, the military and multinational corporations, among other things. Its Web site has a list of what it calls the college's 30 "most radical professors."

"We're just trying to get people back on a professional level of things," said the group's president and founder, Andrew Jones, a 2003 UCLA graduate and former chairman of the student Bruin Republicans.

Some of those targeted say it's a witch-hunt reminiscent of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-communism crusade in the 1950s.

"Any sober, concerned citizen would look at this and see right through it as a reactionary form of McCarthyism," said education professor Peter McLaren, one of those cited by the association. "Any decent American is going to see through this kind of right-wing propaganda. I just find it has no credibility."

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26 January, 2006 - 08:12 — eric

UPDATE: McCarthyism retreats a wee bit

This shows that it's not futile to loudly resist. Even rich guys sometimes bow (at least temporarily) to public pressure. Of course, he didn't back down much. The witch-hunt is still on. He's just using volunteer minions instead of paid minions. Still, resistance is not futile...

Activist drops reward for info on 'radical' professors

Wednesday, January 25, 2006; Posted: 10:11 a.m. EST (15:11 GMT)

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A conservative activist dropped his offer to pay students up to $100 per class for providing information on what he called "radical" professors at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The activist, Andrew Jones, said Monday he would continue his effort with unpaid volunteers.

Jones' Bruin Alumni Association had offered UCLA students up to $100 to supply tapes and notes from classes to expose professors he considered to be pushing liberal political views on their students.

After news reports about the plan, Jones was criticized by faculty members who complained of a "witch hunt." Several prominent members of his organization's advisory board, including a former congressman, resigned from the group after details of the payment plan became public.

Jones, 24, a 2003 graduate and former head of the campus Republicans, said he was concerned about the level of professionalism among teachers at the university. He said the payment offer had become "a distraction from the real problem, which has been all along the issue of classroom indoctrination by UCLA professors."