Well, I suppose it had to happen. With all the pie-throwing at conservative speakers these days, I guess I was overdue for an episode of intensely cerebral and well-thought-out liberal protest during one of my campus speeches. That’s what you would expect from people with complicated and “nuanced” positions on all the important issues of the day. It finally happened last week at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois.
Unlike Kristol, Buchanan, Horowitz, and Coulter, I had no objects hurled in my direction. Maybe the liberals know I have a concealed weapons permit and a .357 magnum, which I may or may not be carrying at any given moment. I guess you could say I have two bodyguards whose names are Smith and Wesson. And maybe that’s why Professor Farhat Haq decided to shout me down from the back of the auditorium instead of hurling a key lime from the front row.
Fortunately for me, Professor Farhat Haq (sounds like Far-left Crock) was sitting near a digital tape recorder when she launched into her tirade. I had the tape transcribed by a seasoned professional (read: fellow member of the vast right-wing conspiracy). The transcript does not adequately capture the shouting and singing (yes, singing) of Dr. Haq as she tried to disrupt an otherwise calm event. Nor does it capture the image of her shaking like a blind transvestite at a weenie roast as she waved a prepared statement in front of a stunned audience.
Nonetheless, the transcript is good for a laugh-something sorely missing on college campuses today. Here’s what professor Haq (also pronounced “hack”) had to say:
Adams: (following applause) Thank you. Does anyone have any questions?
Haq: I would like to…say a couple of things. I am a new American which means I’ve been a citizen of this country since I was 19 years old and therefore I hold citizenship and the constitution very dear, and given that, I also like you think we need to protect the constitution… and having said that it seems to me that what you have done is really created a lot of demons out there and you have done it in a way that is….confusing. It’s not very clear… so you start by telling this story about being a lot of ….and finding that they’re only looking for…minorities or whatever, we ought to be a little more precise, in our discussions as citizens of this country….an exchange of ideas, in the marketplace of ideas I think that requires a little bit more sort of…minority faculties.
Audience member: (WHAT’S THE QUESTION?)
Haq: …we actually very much embrace whoever …if they happen to be Muslim, whatever, another example is that you said that there is 1 Republican and 10 Democrats…ooooh; does that mean we should have a quota system for Republicans?
Adams: Finally a question. No. Do I believe in a quota system? No. What is your purpose in asking that? I see you’re very angry tonight and by getting up and…
Haq: I’m just asking you that when you talk about a free exchange of ideas, you seem to then not demonstrate by your own attitude over here that you are not interested in a free exchange of ideas. …Why is it that free speech is also equated with agreeing with your values? What you seem to be doing is saying there is only one right way of thinking. There are 10 Democrats…(yelling and screaming) YOU SAID, YOU SAID…
Adams: Here’s your problem. You just invented a position. You just said, “do you believe in quotas?” What is the sense of inventing a position and attaching me to it? What would you think if I said…?
Haq: (begins screaming and then starts singing to drown out Dr.Adams)
Adams: I’m going to finish! Is this a shouting contest?
Haq: (more screaming)
Adams: You’re in a good mood tonight aren’t you? What if I asked, “do you believe in raping children?” What is the purpose of making up an absurd position and asking me if I support it? I’ve made no mention of the possibility of supporting a quota system. You’re having an argument with a different person who isn’t here. And the thing that you fail to recognize-because you’re blinded by hostility-is the fact that in each and every single one of these episodes I’ve been involved in (and discussed tonight), we’ve worked together and expanded the marketplace of ideas. We did not contract it when the other side was trying to shoot us down. Did you see me trying to shut down the liberal paper? Did you see me trying to shut down the gay pride week? No! In every case, I expanded the marketplace of ideas and if you have a problem with that, you don’t understand the First Amendment at all! I’ve expanded in every case, the marketplace of ideas, what’s the problem?
Audience: (applause)
Haq: The problem is you’re demagogue-ing and a demagogue…
Adams: Well you’re mean. Let’s just argue like six-year-olds. Next question.
To be continued…
Dr. Adams will speak at UNC-Greensboro on April 21st. Details and directions are on http://www.DrAdams.org
?2005 Mike S. Adams – Mike Adams, PhD, is a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and is a regular columnist for Townhall.com. His column appears here at ProudToBeCanadian.ca with Mike Adams’ express permission by special arrangement with him. Dr. Adams is available for speaking engagements.
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Mike S. Adams was born in Columbus, Mississippi on October 30, 1964. While a student at Clear Lake High School in Houston, TX, his team won the state 5A soccer championship. Mike Adams graduated from C.L.H.S. in 1983 with a 1.8 GPA. Mike Adams was ranked 734 among a class of 740, largely as a result of flunking English all four years of high school. After obtaining an Associate's degree in psychology from San Jacinto College, Mike Adams moved on to Mississippi State University where he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. While living in the fraternity house, his GPA rose to 3.4, allowing him to finish his B.A., and then to pursue a Master's in Psychology. In 1990, Mike Adams turned down a chance to pursue a PhD in psychology from the University of Georgia, opting instead to remain at Mississippi State to study Sociology/Criminology. This decision was made entirely on the basis of his reluctance to quit his night job as member of a musical duo. Playing music in bars and at fraternity parties and weddings financed his education. Mike Adams also played for free beer.
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Upon getting his doctorate in 1993, Adams, then an atheist and a Democrat, was hired by UNC-Wilmington to teach in the criminal justice program. A few years later, Adams abandoned his atheism and also became a Republican. He also nearly abandoned teaching when he took a one-year leave of absence to study law at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1998. After returning to teach at UNC-Wilmington, Adams won the Faculty Member of the Year award (issued by the Office of the Dean of Students) for the second time in 2000.
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After his involvement in a well publicized free speech controversy in the wake of the 911 terror attacks, Adams became a vocal critic of the diversity movement in academia. After making appearances on shows like Hannity and Colmes, the O'Reilly Factor, and Scarborough Country, Adams was asked to write a column for Townhall.com.
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Today Mike Adams enjoys the privilege of expressing himself both as a teacher and a writer. Mike Adams is also an avid hunter and reader of classic literature. Mike Adams published his first book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel, in 2004. His second book, Feminists Say the Darndest Things: A Politically Incorrect Professor Confronts "Womyn" On Campus, was published in 2008.
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