Tis the season

Oh boy, another open letter defending dissent, critical thinking, and a dishonest, crude and bigoted professor--in this case, of course, DePaul University's Normie Finkelstink. It's the usual belching, beginning with this epitaph from DePaul philosophy prof Bill Martin:

For now, a great victory has been handed to people who are essentially fascists. Why is it a great victory? Because, as with Germany in 1933, a decisive role was played by people who are liberals and even progressives. Even more, because a university that should have been one of the last places where something like this could happen is instead one of the first.

An accusation of fascistry in the first sentence. That's got to be a record. Heil, Bill.

The letter itself is, as such letters tend to be, outraged:

The situation at DePaul has moved beyond egregious violations of academic freedom to vindictive and arbitrary punishment of kafkaesque dimensions. The administration has refused to let Dr. Finkelstein teach his terminal year (once again violating AAUP guidelines), and cancelled his classes (ironically, on "Equality and Social Justice," and "Freedom and Empowerment"). It has effectively suspended him against his will and in violation of DePaul's faculty handbook, locked him out of his office and is evidently even threatening to arrest him if he comes on campus.

Oh, I hope so. "Kafkaesque," incidentally, should be capitalized.

No surprises among the letter's signatories, either: Ward Churchill, Churchill frau Natsu "Truthforce" Saito, Bill "Guilty As Hell" Ayers, Eric Cheyfitz, Derrick Bell. . . and tiny Trot Tommy Mayer, who hadn't signed a petition since the one to Free, er, Reinstate Ward Churchill weeks ago, and who must have been absolutely frothing to use one of his special petition-signing pens. (If you're keeping score at home, by the way, the number of signatures on that petition has continued to skyrocket, up 30 or so in the last couple of weeks to 563. Pa. the. tic.)