Kevin Barrett: Revenge of the Ozaukee County Board

On Wednesday, the Ozaukee County Board took aim at 9/11 conspiracy nut and UW-Madison instructor Kevin Barrett.

Port Washington -- In a move some members hope will spread across the state, the Ozaukee County Board voted Wednesday to cut funding to next year's University of Wisconsin Extension program by the exact amount being paid to a controversial part-time University of Wisconsin-Madison lecturer who contends that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Supervisors voted to take the action directed at lecturer Kevin Barrett.

Ozaukee County Supervisor Joseph Sopko said he plans to contact all 71 other county boards to urge them to adopt the same resolution.

I think it's a noble effort.

"I might have a chance in 70 of them. I don't know about Dane County," said Sopko, a Belgium resident and a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard's 231st Civil Engineer Flight, based out of St. Louis. He returned in September from a two-month stint in Afghanistan.

Because Sopko is a member of the U.S. military and served his country in Afghanistan, his views deserve special consideration, right?

To be consistent, the lib media, and anyone else for that matter, shouldn't criticize this veteran. They should hold him up as a hero and give him the same sort of respect that they shower on veterans like John Murtha and John Kerry.

Will they show that sort of even-handedness?

No way. In the George W. Bush era, the lib media and other libs only grant immunity and moral authority to anti-Bush veterans.

Sopko co-authored the resolution with Supervisor Joe Dean, of Port Washington, who was not present at Wednesday's board meeting. The resolution to cut next year's UW Extension program by $8,427 - the same amount Barrett will be paid this fall - passed 18-11.

..."We believe a message must be sent to the UW-System and UW-Madison that their actions represent a gross dereliction of their duty, a blatant disrespect for this nation, and a misguided and dangerous acquiescence to a fringe 'Blame America First' theory," the resolution reads.

I think that there's no question that the hiring of Kevin Barrett is a gross dereliction of duty on the part of the UW-System and Madison.

They have completely tossed out all reasonable academic standards in favor of letting a nut espouse his fantasies and attempt to indoctrinate students with his luncay. I don't believe that Barrett will keep his insanity reined in for all but one week of his class on Islam. I DON'T BUY IT.

Tax dollars should be used to establish quality educational institutions with competent instructors, not spent to promote a pack of lies.

But a spokesman for UW Extension said the resolution was aimed at the wrong target.

"The only people who will be harmed by this kind of cut in Ozaukee County or any other county will be our local 4-H kids, local farmers, local families, local businesses, local communities," said David Giroux, a spokesman for UW Extension in Madison.

With a $201 million budget, Giroux said, the effect on the UW Extension of an $8,427 cut would be minimal "at the institutional level."

"The larger issue, however, is the potential for a $600,000 cut (which) obviously rises to a different level" if all 72 counties were to pass the same resolution, he said

Giroux questioned the logic of penalizing UW Extension because of a hiring decision at UW-Madison.

"Kevin Barrett has absolutely no affiliation with University of Wisconsin Extension. I understand (Sopko's) reaction. It's easy to understand those feelings. It's harder for us to understand how this is being done to direct that frustration at those local extension programs when in fact the person you're frustrated with has no connection to those programs," Giroux said.

In a way, I can see why Giroux feels that it's unfair to penalize the UW-Extension program, but it is a legitimate way for the County Board to express its displeasure with the Barrett hiring.

Also, it's not as if the resolution comes totally out of left field.

It's not like the Ozaukee County Board is targeting Pizza Hut or The Gap because UW-Madison is supporting Kevin Barrett.

Reacting to inquiries from other counties regarding Barrett, UW Extension Dean Arlen Leholm on Tuesday sent a letter to all 72 county extension offices urging them to make clear to county officials that Barrett is not affiliated with UW Extension.

The Extension program IS in partnership with the state universities. Giroux is being misleading to suggest that there is no connection. There most definitely is a relationship there.

Read the University of Wisconsin-Extension Select Mission.

Note that this was "approved by the UW Board of Regents on September 10, 2004."

No affiliation?

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
--Bill Clinton

On Wednesday, Sopko called it a "scare tactic" to say that 4-H programs would be cut.

Sopko, who chairs the county Environment and Land Use Committee that oversees the county's UW Extension office, said, "There's absolutely no way we will touch 4-H or the farmers. That will be completely off the table."

Of course it's a scare tactic.

Where would the libs be without scare tactics?

"Mark Green is going to outlaw stem cell research." Where would they be?

OUT OF OFFICE AND OUT OF POWER.

...Several Ozaukee supervisors questioned whether the County Board should even entertain the resolution.

"It is not appropriate. This resolution does not pertain to our mission whatsoever," Supervisor Jean Stern of Mequon said.

"It is germane," Supervisor Dan Becker countered. "We're a voice to look out for our constituents. It's a way to send a message. I'll be damned if I'm going to let tax dollars be spent on spewing lies."

At one point, Sopko's voice rose to a shout as he described his flight home from Afghanistan aboard a plane carrying coffins of military personnel killed there, as well as some who were wounded.

"Talk is cheap. This is an opportunity to hit them where it hurts. You're either with Joe Dean and I or you're against us," he shouted.

Obviously, this is an emotional issue.

Barrett's belief that 9/11 was an "inside job" elicits strong reactions. His views are so extreme and so repulsive and so slanderous.

Is it a shock that some people are disturbed by the use of tax dollars to endorse a wacko subversive like Barrett?

Barrett said, and I quote: "I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."

Wisconsin Counties Association Executive Director Mark O'Connell said he has not heard of any other county boards taking up the issue.

"They may or may not agree with the resolution, but I don't think the counties will draw a connection between funding their extension office and a single hire on a college campus," O'Connell said.

O'Connell is attempting to diminish the weight of the Barrett matter.

This is a national story and a major embarrassment to the people of Wisconsin. I wouldn't shrug this off as just "a single hire."

Counties may very well desire to send a message to the Capitol that Wisconsinites expect the tax dollars allotted to education to be spent wisely.

Too bad Barrett's detractors aren't related to a Casino or bidding for some sort of state contract. If they had a big donation on the table, Jim Doyle would be listening.

How much do you think it would cost to get Doyle to pressure the UW-System to can Barrett?

It would probably take a hefty amount of cash, since such a move would tick off WEAC.

I support Sopko's effort because it gives each county the chance to weigh in on the controversy as well as allowing constituents to clarify what they expect from public education in the state.

It highlights the fact that state universities are ultimately accountable to the residents of the state.

While it's valid to raise the point that Kevin Barrett was hired by UW-Madison, and not the UW-Extension program, I don't think that has much impact on the point of the resolution.

We're talking about publicly funded education in Wisconsin. It's not apples and oranges. For example, the Extension Program is sheltered by WEAC's umbrella as surely as the UW-System is.

Bottom line: UW-anything is the same interest group.

Moreover, this move is symbolic for the most part; but that makes it no less significant.

It spells out that the citizens of Wisconsin are paying attention and it serves as a reminder to state educators that they work for the people.

In an interview with Sean Hannity on Tuesday, Barrett outlandishly claimed:

"Actually, the vast majority of people here in Wisconsin seem to be saying that I shouldn't be fired. ...All of the feedback is overwhelmingly in my favor."

The feedback from the Ozaukee County Board counters that assertion.

If more county boards take the same action or something similar to what the Ozaukee County Board did, at least a clear message will be sent to Jim Doyle and the other loons in Madison that taxpayers are not willing to subsidize crackpots posing as academicians.

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BARRETT UPDATE:

UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell isn't amused by Barrett's antics.

In a July 20 letter he sent to Barrett, Farrell accuses him of seeking publicity and asks him not to highlight his association with UW-Madison.

From the Associated Press:

University of Wisconsin's provost warned an instructor who believes the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks to stop seeking publicity for his views, days after he defended the teacher's right to free speech.

UW-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell also warned Kevin Barrett to stop associating himself with UW-Madison when he advocates his views. Otherwise, Farrell wrote in the July 20 letter, he would reconsider his decision to allow Barrett to teach a course on Islam this fall.

"In summary, if you continue to identify yourself with UW-Madison in your personal political messages or illustrate an inability to control your interest in publicity for your ideas, I would lose confidence ... ," he wrote in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press in an open records request.

The letter came 10 days after Farrell decided to retain Barrett as a part-time instructor for the fall semester course, "Islam: Religion and Culture," despite calls to fire him.

...[O]n July 10, Farrell declared, "We cannot allow political pressure from critics of unpopular ideas to inhibit the free exchange of ideas."

Mike Mikalsen, an aide to Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, said Farrell's letter "makes a mockery of his earlier statements" that he was committed to protecting Barrett's ideas and may signal the school is looking for a way to fire him.

"It stuns me they would put that kind of threat in writing because they have set a standard that Barrett's already broken," he said, noting Barrett gave an interview on Fox News on Thursday morning. "He has not backed off one iota."

Farrell said he wanted Barrett to know that he could reconsider his decision if he did not meet expectations. He said Barrett has "modestly made some efforts" to cut down on publicity.

"I was trying to be fairly careful to not inhibit his privilege of speaking freely," he said. "My point was that he should be aware as he exercises those rights there may be a time when I have to rethink the assurances he has given me about his ability to separate his opinions from what happens in the classroom."

Well, well, well.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to get in bed with a nutjob like Barrett, was it?

It appears that Farrell is learning the hard way that "academic freedom" has to be practiced responsibly. He was wrong to trust Barrett.

Obviously, Farrell took a risk and miscalculated.

With Barrett, a condom is not optional, metaphorically speaking of course.



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Read Farrell's letter to Barrett here.