University of Rochester Students Silently Protest Professor Who Defended Limbaugh, Ridiculed Fluke

[SunsetDreams]

Students silently protest in professor's classroom

Thirty University of Rochester students held a protest Wednesday afternoon in the classroom of an economics professor who had defended Rush Limbaugh’s verbal assault on Sandra Fluke and said the Georgetown student deserved to be mocked.

In a blog post, Professor Steven Landsburg said he essentially agreed with Limbaugh stance, writing, “Her position — which is what’s at issue here — deserves [no respect] whatsoever. It deserves to only be ridiculed, mocked and jeered. To treat it with respect would be a travesty.” He said he did not agree with Limbaugh’s use of the word of “slut” to describe Fluke, but said “prostitute” was mostly fair, while a “extortionist” was even better.

The post prompted a statement of condemnation from University President Joel Seligman, who said, “I am outraged that any professor would demean a student in this fashion. To openly ridicule, mock, or jeer a student in this way is about the most offensive thing a professor can do. We are here to educate, to nurture, to inspire, not to engage in character assassination.”

...

Ironically, Landsburg wrote a book called More Sex Is Safer Sex.

http://thinkprogress.org/media/2012/03/09/441449/students-silently-protest-professor-who-defended-limbaugh-ridiculed-fluke/

Bravo to the students and the University President

[ProSense]

1. Voted for Bush

Steven Landsburg, EconomicWriter:Bush

If George Bush had chosen the racist David Duke as a running mate, I'd have voted against him, almost without regard to any other issue. Instead, John Kerry chose the xenophobe John Edwards as a running mate. I will therefore vote against John Kerry.

Duke thinks it's imperative to protect white jobs from black competition. Edwards thinks it's imperative to protect American jobs from foreign competition. There's not a dime's worth of moral difference there. While Duke would discriminate on the arbitrary basis of skin color, Edwards would discriminate on the arbitrary basis of birthplace. Either way, bigotry is bigotry, and appeals to base instincts should always be repudiated.

Bush's reckless spending and disregard for the truth had me almost ready to vote for Kerry—until Kerry picked his running mate. When the real David Duke ran against a corrupt felon for governor of Lousiana, the bumper stickers read, "Vote for the crook. It's important." Well, I'm voting for the reckless spendthrift. It's important again.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2004/10/slate_votes.single.html

Nut!

[Ikonoklast]

3. They allow this person to teach?

I weep for the future.

[bbgrunt]

5. His PhD is from Chicago in mathematics

check out his wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Landsburg

[ProSense]

9. That's

"His PhD is from Chicago in mathematics"

...likely why he's comparing Edwards to David Duke, a racist, and now is supporting Rush Limbaugh, a vile racist and sexist pig.

Math is obviously his strong suit.

[SwissTony]

11. He thinks not outsourcing jobs is the same as racism??

"Duke thinks it's imperative to protect white jobs from black competition. Edwards thinks it's imperative to protect American jobs from foreign competition. There's not a dime's worth of moral difference there."

Perhaps when his job is outsourced...

[NJCher]

2. Koch-funded professor?

Wonder if. They've funded them all over the country. It's appalling how far their dollars reach.

As a university professor, I would be appalled if 30 students protested in my classroom and shut me off from my students with a line. This prof is in deep denial.

See the story and there is a pic of Landsburg through one of the story links.


Cher

[sarcasmo]

6. If zero studets sign up for his class won't the school dump him?

[mackattack]

14. They will drop the course

But he will remain on if he is full time/tenured. The threshold is pretty small though. It depends on the school but the cutoff is usually about 10 registered students to keep the course running.

[GopperStopper2680]

24. Trouble with that is-

Some admiring psychophantic Wrong-Wing nut job will always sign up eventually because he applauds the bastard's fanaticism and overweening sanctimony. There will always be slime monsters out there. They coagulate together. Buzzards of a feather swoop together.

[Starcruiser]

28. On a positive note

If only a couple of students sign up for his class, the college will end it...Even more important, we'll always be able to find out just who the Wingnuts are amoungst us..

[GopperStopper2680]

23. Not just deep denial

I'd say he's not only in deep denial. He's in deep shit. Or he certainly should be. Trouble is everybody knows that the rich and elite are socialists who bail each other out.

[appleannie1]

4. The people in Freeper land are calling those students Obama-Hitlers. They hold a dignified protest

that does not include name-calling, derogatory and slanderous remarks or degrading someone's character so Freepers think they are mini Hitlers that don't deserve to be in America.

[SemperEadem]

17. who cares--consider the source

they'd all be first to capitulate to an enemy--they already have.

[caseymoz]

34. That logic would make TeaPartiers just plain Hitlers

Without the "Obama" adjective. I mean they protest, too. They get in people's faces, and like the Nazis before, they come to rallies armed. Not because they expect a gunfight, but just to make a point. And then when they lose an election, they form rebel groups.

I suppose for conservatives, public defamation is laudable as long as you could find, not even a grain of truth, but a quark of fleeting truth in the ocean of sewage Rush spewed last week. If it's in there somewhere, no matter how abused and well-hidden, we must praise Rush for puking it out. Who is this guy kidding?

And again by focusing on those two words, he leaves out the worst thing Rush said, which was not even his smear to Fluke. Limbaugh said that if women want contraception, they should pay for it some way, like putting videos of their sex online so "we" can watch them.

Har! Har! How close was that to saying that if women want contraception they could suck his d*ck for it? Pretty damn close. I suppose he's not praising Rush for that, but it's a good thing Limbaugh got the truth in there somewhere.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

7. Rochester is quite a University town...lotta smart people here

glad to be one of them! I work at another Rochester institute, the Roch. Institute of Technology. Two world class schools in one town.

(Yeah, there are plenty of sheep-dips too, edumacated and un-edumacted.... )

[PCIntern]

8. My Alma Mater...

We protested Nixon...now they this.

good for them!!!

Go Yellowjackets!!!!!!

[progress2k12nbynd]

10. No professor should ever be fired regardless of politics...

Lifetime tenure for all...

[Gore1FL]

12. I feel sorry for the person who has to handle his calls and email.

Her contact information, by the way, may be found here:

http://www.rochester.edu/news/experts/index.php?id=285

Perhaps we should all write her and express sympathy to her for a> Having to be the point of contact for a misogynist. and 2> Having to deal with so many letters about this topic--even the ones expressing sympathy...

[AlbertCat]

13. Just another example of...

.... the LIBERAL brainwashing and indoctrination of students by those pinko, commie hippy professors in colleges across our na-.....


oh, wait a minute...


never mind....

[Liberal_in_LA]

15. silent protests are super creepy. I recall the silent protest of the UC davis chancellor

after the pepper spraying incident. creepy!

[SemperEadem]

16. He said it to sell books

"Ironically, Landsburg wrote a book called 'More Sex Is Safer Sex'."

He should be fired but won't. Time for Rochester to hire another economics professor so the students don't have to take landsburg's class in order to get credit to graduate.

[eyewall]

18. and once again

the media and all of the response to this (except perhaps the students themselves) perpetuates the myth that Sandra Fluke was talking about getting free pills so she could have sex.

[noiretextatique]

20. i can't how anyone who actually listened to Mr. Fluke speak

could reach the conclusion that these idiots did. and yes, it is maddening that the media continues to distort her actually testimony.

[GopperStopper2680]

22. GOPs see things the way they want to

Eyewall-the Wrong Wing party doesn't see things the way sensible, in touch people who are grounded and down to earth do. They live enshrouded in a cocoon of lies, deceit, misdirection, corruption, etc. They actually weave these chrysalids to keep people from being able to see in to what's inside but the opposite effect also occurs. They become unable to see reality for what it is and inside the cocoon continue to mutate into something more and more dangerous and fanatical.
The saying is something like 'don't bother me with the facts-my mind is made up'. The other tool in the debunker's arsenal that also is frequently borrowed by these mutants is 'if you can't disprove the argument then attack the person making the argument-it's easier and nobody will care anyway.' They see only what they want to see. They are not capable of anything else. Fortunately for us all they are a dying breed.

[griloco]

19. He rates well as a professor, though.

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=71418
Wonder how long it'll be, and sincerity of, 'til the apology.

[Starcruiser]

29. Up until now that is.....

From this moment forward, neither I, nor any of the friends for that matter, would dare sign up for anything that SOB might teach.

[griloco]

30. What'll move him on...

is not only the loss of revenue due to too few students but the embarrassment to the university.

[GopperStopper2680]

21. “I am outraged that any professor would demean a student in this fashion"

That remark is a good starting place, but it then begs the question "What are you going to do about it?" I say it's time to write this man a pink slip. If this were a middle or high school the man would be lucky to find a job as a substitute in a week's time. But since it's a college, the opionions will likely be something like 'well college students are adults-they should know how to take things like that or 'well, they already paid their tuition so it doesn't matter.'
It is bad enough that a so called professional would make a slanderous and scandalizing statement about any individual student in the halls of higher education. But of course there's a bigger and more sweeping threat here-the threat that this is going to set a precident that it's ok for people in places of authority to slander, lible, or defame others at will. If something isn't done we could see a rash of this kind of behavior all across America. There was a time when this kind of thing from entities like Rush Limberger or this other 'teacher' personage would secure an instant pink slip and the message 'you'll never work in the () business in this town again!' Now it just seems to make for good ratings.
Let's all hope that this prick at least taught somebody what is not acceptable in a place of education.

[awoke_in_2003]

27. "Now it just seems to make for good ratings"...

AM radio has allowed Rush and his ilk to do these things for years, solely because that talk brought ratings. This time it is backfiring, and maybe the trend will start to reverse.

[marias23]

25. As a 60's participant

I am proud of these students.

[JDPriestly]

26. Someone needs to ask the professor whether he read the transcripts

of Sandra Fluke's testimony and then Limbaugh's shows on it.

The professors will probably apologize for his support of Limbaugh if he does.

The problem is that if Limbaugh's representation of Ms. Fluke's testimony were true, Limbaugh might not be so unpopular right now.

Limbaugh lied about the content of Ms. Fluke's testimony and then made jokes based on his lies. It isn't a matter of being offended by insults and free speech. It is a matter of broadcasting falsehoods about a person, falsehoods that could cause serious economic injury to her. I'm sure the professor understands what injury to a person's reputation can mean in economic terms.

[caseymoz]

36. Or he should watch the digest version.

Video: 53 of Rush Limbaugh's most vile smears against law student Sandra Fluke

This shows succinctly just how much Rush was interested in the truth, and also that the words "slut" and "prostitute" were not even close to the most offensive things he said, and not just to Fluke.

This guy is either extraordinarily ignorant for a professor, or he has low standards of truth and integrity.

[saras]

31. Silly students don't understand university administration - there are MUCH more effective protests

Especially if your goal is to remove him from teaching more so than to make a grand public statement.

[brentspeak]

32. Landsburg is a noted advocate of outsourcing and cheap labor

RW hack.

[1StrongBlackMan]

33. See ...

Yet another example of a conservative professor being bullied by his students for his conservative views.

Do I really need the S/O thingy?

[caseymoz]

37. Considering that Rush also said . . .

Women wanting contraception should post porn videos online to pay for it, what do you expect? What woman, conservative or liberal, isn't offended by that? Yet, this professor praises Limbaugh for being truthful, except about one word?

Why would any female student sit in a classroom with this creep?

[caseymoz]

35. The prof agrees women should earn contraception by making porn?

That's what Rush said, they should pay for them by posting videos of their sex online so "we" (he and his buddies, I suppose) can watch them. Conservative or liberal, there's not a woman around who isn't insulted by that "quip." Even female prostitutes and pornstars are insulted it, and you can tell by the vastly widening gender gap for Republicans. How close was it to saying that women who want birth control can suck his d*ck? Yeah, a joke any woman should be able to laugh at.



By focusing on just two words of Rush's sustained smears, conservatives are trying to camouflage the worst things he said. Don't let them get away with it, and don't let them praise Rush for putting a drop of truth into an ocean of sewage and serving it up as truth.

[sdfwefwe]

38. Spam deleted by ornotna (MIR Team)

[StarsInHerHair]

39. I noticed all the GOP ignore the ovarian cyst that was another woman's problem &

the central reason & focus of her speech. They really are all dumbasses

[patrice]

40. You know, there must be many who are resentful of the sexual liberation of

young women. Bitter about what they think they have missed out on.

[Quantess]

41. Mr. Landsburg sounds like a real slut to me!

Writing a book about sex? Hey slutbag, put your pants on. Class is starting.

[Mrs. Ted Nancy]

42. Here is part of Prof. Landsburg's blog post

And if you have the stomach for it, read the comments.

Rush Limbaugh is under fire for responding in trademark fashion to the congressional testimony of Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke, who wants you to pay for her contraception. If the rest of us are to share in the costs of Ms. Fluke’s sex life, says Rush, we should also share in the benefits, via the magic of online video. For this, Rush is accused of denying Ms. Fluke her due respect.

But while Ms. Fluke herself deserves the same basic respect we owe to any human being, her position — which is what’s at issue here — deserves none whatseover. It deserves only to be ridiculed, mocked and jeered. To treat it with respect would be a travesty. I expect there are respectable arguments for subsidizing contraception (though I am skeptical that there are arguments sufficiently respectable to win me over), but Ms. Fluke made no such argument. All she said, in effect, was that she and others want contraception and they don’t want to pay for it.

To his credit, Rush stepped in to provide the requisite mockery. To his far greater credit, he did so with a spot-on analogy: If I can reasonably be required to pay for someone else’s sex life (absent any argument about externalities or other market failures), then I can reasonably demand to share in the benefits. His dense and humorless critics notwithstanding, I am 99% sure that Rush doesn’t actually advocate mandatory on-line sex videos. What he advocates is logical consistency and an appreciation for ethical symmetry. So do I. Color me jealous for not having thought of this analogy myself.


There’s one place where I part company with Rush, though: He wants to brand Ms. Fluke a “slut” because, he says, she’s demanding to be paid for sex. There are two things wrong here. First, the word “slut” connotes (to me at least) precisely the sort of joyous enthusiasm that would render payment superfluous. A far better word might have been “prostitute” (or a five-letter synonym therefor), but that’s still wrong because Ms. Fluke is not in fact demanding to be paid for sex. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) She will, as I understand it, be having sex whether she gets paid or not. Her demand is to be paid. The right word for that is something much closer to “extortionist”. Or better yet, “extortionist with an overweening sense of entitlement”. Is there a single word for that?

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