It was almost midnight when I decided to make two difficult phone calls the next morning. The first would be to Patti. I would apologize for sending an email to her daughter that said the constitution protected her speech just as it had protected “bigoted, unintelligent, and immature speech for many years.”
Patti (a professor) and her husband (a former professor) both thought I had libeled their daughter (a student) by expressing that opinion in a private email. They were wrong about that. They also thought their daughter’s email (the one that prompted my response) blaming the attacks of 9/11 on the United States was fully protected by the U.S. Constitution. They were right about that.
The second phone call would be to the university attorney. After resisting for weeks, I decided to capitulate to Patti’s demand that I allow the university to examine all of the emails I sent that week in order to search for additional evidence of “libel” against her daughter. This would involve going into my email account as well as examining the university’s back-up tapes. It would also require reading some of my private email correspondence.
All of this came about because a leftist family thought that anti-American rhetoric was free speech while criticism of anti-American rhetoric was “libel.” And they were threatening to sue.
But before I got to the phone the next day, it rang and I answered. It was a friend of mine who was active in the local Republican Party. I told him about throwing in the towel despite my previous attempts to stop the forced examination of my email account. Even though the State Attorney General was involved and was resisting the efforts to forcibly read my emails (there were serious concerns over the precedent it would set), I was still worried about the impact a lawsuit might have upon my career. That was why I was ready to capitulate.
But my friend told me I was making a big mistake. He predicted that the case would soon break out in the nation media. He also predicted that the case would blow up in the faces of Patti and her family. And he predicted a black eye for the university if they actually went into the account without my consent.
But that would require standing firm. So I changed my mind again and decided to stand firm.
Eventually, my vocal objections to reading my personal emails were, indeed, vetoed by the university. They decided to go into the account. Then they turned over detailed records of who I had been communicating with — including the personal email addresses of everyone I talked to via email for an entire week. Those records were given to Patti and her family. And, naturally, no evidence of “libel” emerged.
Shortly thereafter, a firestorm of controversy broke out. It was all made worse by the fact that administrators at my school lied about what had really happened. They lied (to columnist John Leo, no less) saying that my emails were never examined and then they lied (to scores of people who emailed the school on my behalf) saying that they never turned over any records to my accusers. Then, they paid a dear price for it.
After the story got mention in U.S. News & World Report, the Washington Times (and on NPR, Rush, and Neal Boortz), I felt a sense of vindication. It was also fun to appear live on Hannity & Colmes to discuss the case. It was even more fun when Alan Colmes took my side and tried to get the ACLU involved.
Isn’t it funny how that all worked out? The little communist family tried to sue me, to destroy my reputation, and to end my career. But I ended up getting a book deal, a column, and speaking contracts instead. Rather than losing my house and my guns, I now have a bigger house and more guns than ever before.
I usually don’t like to gloat, unless I’m dealing with communists. Then, I really don’t mind gloating at all.
And, today, what has happened to the poor young America-hater who was “libeled?” Where are her totalitarian parents? Does anyone ever call them to get their perspectives on free speech issues? Is her daddy still an unemployed communist trying to rebuild the Berlin Wall in his infinite spare time?
I don’t know the answer to all these questions but I suspect that the family is still hiding under a rock somewhere, not unlike Osama Bin Laden. But the more important question is this: What would have happened to me, had I made those two cowardly phone calls?
If you do not do that which you know is right, you will never know what kind of happiness and peace of mind you might have attained in this life. So, please, take the time to re-read “Life and how to live it, Part I.” I’ll be writing Part III by the time you finish reading this sentence.
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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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