Iraq war plan (comedy thread)

Here's an example. A report comes out explaining that around 25,000-30,000 Iraqis have been confirmed killed by the invasion of Iraq. This number is then confirmed by non-partisan groups and that is the main point of the report and nothing else is said. There is no commentary whatsoever. It's okay to think what you want after hearing or seeing the report, but it's ridiculous to assume that the person relaying the information is completely nuts and only pointing it out to make a point. You can't argue with facts, but you can look at the report and think critically. What is the report about and why is it relevant? What does this mean to me and does it matter to me? How do I feel about this?

More times than not you hear a similar answer to the likes of "Well what is 30,000 lives when it'lli...they need stop right there. You can't rationalize a report about confirmed deaths in Iraq like that. It's a bit sick if you think about it. Not everything in the media is and definitely shouldn't be about political posturing or pushing a political party's agenda. I agree with you Swank. As a whole we just don't have many critical thinkers anymore.

Lambda, what's wrong with being liberal in the first place? I don't even know what your political affiliation is nor have I thought much about it. If you consider yourself to be conservative then why? Do you know why? Whatever you'd consider yourself to be it doesn't matter as far as I'm concerned though. I definitely don't know enough about the things I'm interested in when it comes to politics (yet), but I'm only arguing against the things I see as wrong. Any argument I make is predicated on what I've read and checked for myself. I'm not right all the time like anyone else, but I'd never assume someone to be wrong for an occupation because of their politics. Most PS Professors are liberal you say, yet most of the teachers I've met in the department at my college are fairly conservative when it comes to the national budget and both liberal/conservative when it comes to things like civil liberties. There are times when the ACLU go overboard and I disagree with them and there are times when organizations like the American Conservative Union do something I disagree with. PS Profs when it comes to their job are balanced and the one I had happens to be an investigative journalist and activist, yet when he'd something "liberal" it made sense and was backed by facts that he showed us and other places we could look to on our own for our own verification. When he said something that sounded "conservative" we looked it up and sure enough damn he'd done it again. I suppose having to get nitty-gritty to dig up shit on the CIA and other pretty fun stuff he'd have to be fair minded and open only to the verifiable facts. If he sees the facts and says something like the invasion should not take place back in early 2002 then he obviously knows something many others weren't concerned with to know or at least inquire. Liberal, Conservative? I don't give a shit. If you're pushing facts and they're presented objectively then I'll make up my mind regardless of party affiliation or political ideology.
 
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Swank said:
Higher education is about teaching you how to think and developing your mind . . .
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This is correct but it's done from a liberal (as in liberal Democrat) perspective. I've attended several large private universities here in California and have friends that attended other large universities across the country, from mine and my friends' experience college professors are predominantly liberal Democrat in their thinking. I recall getting poor grade in some courses because i would continually challenge my professor's position on any number of political/social topic.
 
Hmm, well as I said it's well known and reported on that most college faculties have a majority of democrats amongst them. Just as the overwhelming percentage of business executives identify as conservative, ect. Not really a secret at all.

Your belief that you recieved poor grades based on your political stances is more troubling, however. Your grades in your courses should have reflected your performances on tests, papers, and other assignments, not your politics. I have only encountered one professor in all my years of schooling that I felt graded with any particular bias, and that was tendency of chauvanism in which he was much rougher on the female students (and was known for it). Are you positive that the professors actively discriminated and downgraded you because of their dislike of you politics? And this happened multiple times? I'm not questioning your authenticity, but that is a fairly serious charge and would be demonstrative of seriously unethical and low-quality instructors.

In my experience professors often reward and encourage students who are unafraid to contrast their own statements or offer a different take, not actively sabotage them for having their own ideas. My next door neighbors are a married couple that both instruct at a university, and often share stories with me about their more interesting students. It seems the kids that are somehow different or contrast the generally applied sentiments of the class are rather often their favorites. At any rate, if you had your grades unfairly lowered because you didn't agree with the professor's politics, that is a sign of a seriously unethical and incompitent professor, not so much their politics.
 
Most professors are generally open to differing opinion, but i have had a few that weren't. It was clear that my grade was a reflection of my differing opinion when i read the professor's comments on my papers... the comments didn't discuss the content or quality of work but how they were aghast that i could actually believe what i wrote. Don't get me wrong, i was very outspoken about what i believed and often goaded them into a long discussion/argument every change i had. I've toned down quite a bit since then and have changed my position from a right-wing conservative to a moderate republican. Age has a way of tempering attitudes...
 
That's too bad, I would be pretty irate if I thought a professor was hanging me out to dry because I didn't automatically agree with their philosophies. I can see a tenured prof that's real wrapped up in themselves behaving like that though. I went to a really conservative college and was more or less different than most with my politics, but I've tempered out a lot as well.
 
You wouldn't believe how self-centered tenured professors can be... i think he larger the institution, the bigger their heads get. I have to admit that they are far and few between but they do exist. I was just lucky enought to find a couple... and they were responsible for dropping my GPA to just under 3.5 so i couldn't graduate with honors. Oh well, no real ill will on my part... as i played a part it in. I could have just played their game but... that's youth.
 
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