As I've often said, ain't no party like a Fox News right wing pity party. The most common whines, consumed during a Fox pity party, are those relating to how Christians are being persecuted by the evil librul and gay agendas. But right up there with aggrieved Christians are morally pure conservative students who are upset about evil librul college professors who say nasty things about Republicans because, you know, that's the kind hate speech that would be condemned if it were directed towards minorities and gays. Fox loves these students as their message reinforces the popular Fox meme about how "liberal indoctrination" is the cause for "the trouble with schools" - another popular Fox meme. Recently, a stalwart, young Republican Michigan State U sophomore did a sting video which purported to show a professor making offensive comments about the GOP and, OMG, the Romney's. The video went viral throughout right wing media, the prof was suspended, and - drum roll please - the heroic student, Evan Schrage, got more than his 15 minutes of fame on Fox News.
Evan Schrage is a true, right wing hero. As he writes, on Twitter, he is a Republican who believes that "America allows every person the chance to live their dream" which is a lot easier if you're a white kid like Evan who spent part of his summer in England. His party affiliation is also based on the popular Fox News sentiment that "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune cannot be met by simply throwing money at the problem." He is also "not afraid to stand up for my beliefs" and who "wants to end indoctrination across the board." And, he is "awesome."
Wednesday night, Bill O'Reilly introduced America to Schrage's video which Juliet Huddy, one of America's great savants, described as being "like bizarro land." Keep in mind that the tape appears to have been spliced to highlight what Fox considers the most inflammatory parts. Bill, of course, showed the part where Professor William Penn said that the "cheap" GOP doesn't want to pay taxes "because they've already raped the country" and described the GOP as a "bunch of dead white people." What wasn't played (and is in the full video which Schrage initially gave to the right wing "Campus Progress") is Penn saying what Bill O'Reilly never says when he is offending people: ""I can't do politically correct very easily. ... I will say what I think, I in no way mean to offend you.
Thursday morning, Schrage popped up on Fox & Friends as part of their - wait for it - "Trouble With Schools" series. Gretchen Carlson was very concerned about what happened in Evan's classroom because "it's not the behavior that you'd expect from a professor paid to teach your kids..." The chyron defined, as Fox fact, the Fox message: "Professor's Outrageous Comments, Attacks GOP For Being Cheap And Racist." After informing us that "these kids got an earful of GOP hatred," (awww) she played the part of the video that O'Reilly played and another section in which Penn spoke about the racist roots of voter suppression. To make sure that everybody understood the Fox message, a translation was provided over which was the title "Anti-Republican Rage, Professor's Rant Caught on Tape."
Gretch stressed that this "rant" occurred during a literature class. (It was actually creative writing) Schrage explained that he "couldn't allow this hate speech to go on." Gretch opined that it "went further than a political rant" because OMG he "attacked" the Romney's and the GOP. The chyron stated, as Fox fact, that the professor's "Rant" was "A Vile Tirade." She asked if the prof attacked "Christians and athletes." (WTF?) Gretch alluded to an unsourced accusation that the professor verbally attacked a girl who was frowning; but Schrage said he hadn't heard about that. Schrage affirmed that he faked some term papers to get a better grade which he said was "a sign of the times." She referenced how the teacher has been suspended and asked if it's "appropriate" that he's still being paid. Schrage didn't think that the punishment went far enough. Gretch chuckled that "you gotta wonder how much else this is going on at universities, if this is just one slice of the pie."
Thursday evening, Schrage appeared on "The Factor" during which the video was shown. Schrage talked about liberal indoctrination and how he "had" to fake liberal opinions in order to get a good grade on papers.
So here's the thing. If you're a squeaky clean conservative kid, in a class taught be a liberal professor, just grab your recording equipment and tape away. Make sure you edit it so that the prof looks real bad and then send the video to a right wing news site. And after your video goes viral, you go on Fox News and then, you'll be famous!!! Meanwhile, those students who support the professor, such as the Editorial Board of the Michigan State University newspaper, who feel that Penn's suspension "tramples free speech." But seriously, Fox News is always ranting about freedom of speech for Christians but for liberal professors, not so much.
If I thought like a right winger I might say, “This professor was giving his opinion, and they want to shut him down. FREE SPEECH, FREE SPEECH.” Life in the USA must be really tough if you simply can’t tolerate hearing speech you disagree with.