Taxpayers Fund Radical Anti American Prof

A public university has taken the liberal academia curriculum further left than most by hiring an Islamic Studies professor that says the 2001 terrorist attacks were committed by U.S. government operatives to spark war in the Middle East and hosting a conference that promotes anti capitalist movements and immigration rights.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is using taxpayer money to pay the radical instructor and to maintain the on-campus center that hosted the annual conference called the Midwest Social Forum, described by organizers as a gathering of grassroots organizations, activists and educators committed to making the world more just. Forum headliners include unpacking the invisible knapsack called white privilege, building a grassroots immigration rights movement and creating social justice journalism.

The controversial professor, Kevin Barrett, believes that the twin towers were blown up by U.S. government officials and even Wisconsin’s Democrat Governor, Jim Doyle, has questioned the nutty professor’s capacity to teach students in the state.

Not surprisingly, the American Civil Liberties Union praised university administrators for protecting Barrett’s academic freedom amid calls from various legislators for the school to get rid of him. One Wisconsin congressman said that Barrett can dwell all he wants on the fringe left of society but he should not be doing it under the banner of the University of Wisconsin since teaching students lies is not a Wisconsin value.

At the recent Midwest Social Forum held on campus, Barrett and others were on a roll preaching their anti-American rhetoric. An equally radical academic named James Fetzer, a retired philosophy professor from the University of Minnesota-Duluth, actually said that the American government has been practicing terrorism on the American people and that the September 11 conspiracy theories can be the "magic bullet" for the political left. The Marquette Warrior has great details on Barrett and Fetzer’s speeches.