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STAFF EDITORIAL: Speaker Santorum provides equal representation

Staff Editorial

Published: Sunday, February 15, 2009

Updated: Monday, February 16, 2009 22:02

Tonight, former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania will be speaking at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His address, "The Gathering Storm in the Age of Obama," will be given at 8 p.m. in the Student Union auditorium.
Some of us will be there. We hope many of you will be too.

Sen. Santorum's voice is an important part of the public square, and if we're serious about creating a civil public square at UNL, we need to hear voices like Santorum's – especially at UNL, where conservative voices are in the minority.

It was only last year that a Redwire report found that amongst UNL faculty Democrats outnumbered Republicans three to one. The discrepancy was even more alarming in the political science, sociology and history departments, where it was as high as 31 to one.

For that reason, voices like Santorum's are vitally important if UNL is serious about the equal representation of ideas on our campus.

With that said, it's unfortunate the same commitment to a civil public square wasn't seen recently when the invitation to controversial professor William Ayers was rescinded.

Ayers represents the far-left of the American political scene, just as Santorum represents the far-right. At an academic institution like UNL, both deserve to be heard.

Whether Ayers' speech was cancelled for security concerns or for fear of alienating donors, it represented a profound disrespect for the academic freedom that should be celebrated at an institution like UNL.

We'll celebrate that freedom tonight with the visit of Sen. Santorum. It's too bad we couldn't do the same with William Ayers.

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8 comments

rca
Fri Feb 20 2009 20:52
santorum is a terrorist!
ann
Wed Feb 18 2009 18:15
Where have I been? UNL is a conservative campus.
Tom
Tue Feb 17 2009 16:36
Bill Ayers is a terrorist. If liberals want to hang their hats with him, by all means do so. Its better to be clear on where you stand.
Justin
Tue Feb 17 2009 13:51
Kevin - get real. "Bush wasn't a conservative"? Boy, you'd never know that the guy who ran on a platform of being a "compassionate conservative", who enjoyed nearly universal acclaim from the nation's public conservatives - to the extent that anyone opposed to Bush's policies was "diagnosed" with "Bush Derangement Syndrome" - was actually a liberal Democrat all this time.

And, why, it seems so obvious! When Bush was pushing to privatize Social Security, that was just socialism in disguise! When he pushed forward on his "ownership society", that was just a pretext for communism! The man who cut back on social programs, de-funded Head Start, fiddled as a city drowned, and vetoed healthcare for children - all this time was actually increasing the size of government! Truly amazing.

Sorry, Kevin, but that dog won't hunt. If the word "conservative" means anything, Bush was one of them. It's the only thing he's identified as for the past 8 years as he's followed the policy prescriptions of Grover Norquist and Bill Kristol to the letter. Bush failed, and he failed as a conservative doing conservative things. If conservatives still believe in personal responsibility - for themselves, and not just for single black mothers - then they need to take responsibility now, and own up to their failed ideology.

The real solution to all of this is to get government out of the equation, and let the real thinkers and entrepreneurs of this country turn things around by creating productivity that will generate wealth, jobs, and opportunities.

Stupid. Keynes settled the debate on this 80 years ago - in a time of a deficit in demand, nobody with any sense opens a new factory and starts a new business, because the factories and businesses we already have are producing more than people want to buy. Warehouses are filling up with widgets that can't be sold - and your idea is to build more factories? I hope you're not a business major.

No. Only government, right now, has the ability to stimulate demand, because only government is "stupid" enough to invest in the private sector during a downturn in demand. (Of course, it's not stupid at all, it's precisely what is needed, as every economist agrees.)

Mary
Tue Feb 17 2009 11:29
There truly is no comparison between Ayers and Santorum. The reason Ayers should not have ever been invited to UNL is because by his words and actions, he does not adhere to the most basic requirements of civilization- he sought to "make his point" by destruction of public property and without regard injury to others. He has failed to take responsibility now that he is a purported respectful citizen (despite his refusal to condemn his own actions). He should make restitution and repay the taxpayers for the cost of the damage from his bombings. Is that too radical a thought?
Kevin
Tue Feb 17 2009 10:53
Justin: To say that the current GOP represents conservatives is a gross misconception. I, as a conservative, believe in limited government, and minimal intrusion into our everyday lives. I believe the government has no business taking money from it's citizens for anything other than the bare essentials (military, police, roads, etc..) I also believe that the government has no business telling me what I can do in the privacy of my own home, or my bedroom. The Republican party USED to stand for these things. But has, over the past couple of decades, transformed into a party that only caters to the so-called "social conservatives" (aka the Religious Right).

So all I'm really asking here, is when you hear someone say they are a conservative, don't assume that they fall under the same category as Bush. His history of huge government spending and increasing the size and power of the government were anything but conservative.

The current mess we're in is not the result of fiscally conservative policies, in fact, it's quite the opposite. And I'm sure after our current President is done spending us into oblivion with his so-called "stimulus package", there will be a mass American rejection of Socialism, which is where our country was slowly headed under Bush, and now very quickly racing towards under Obama. The real solution to all of this is to get government out of the equation, and let the real thinkers and entrepreneurs of this country turn things around by creating productivity that will generate wealth, jobs, and opportunities. Contrary to popular belief, our Senators and Congressmen (regardless of political affiliation) are NOT the brains of our society. They are the people who know how to play the political game of back-scratching, bribery and pay-offs.

Your name
Tue Feb 17 2009 09:12
I suppose comparing a two-term senator from a less conservative state than Nebraska to a terrorist, might be considered insulting, but I prefer to see it this way. Rick Santorum, representing the right, was elected by Pennsylvania, first to the House, then to the Senate, and has a distinguished and lengthy career of peacefully serving his constituents. Bill Ayers, representing the left, spend his youth blowing up buildings, and advocating and helping carry out the murder of police officers. He's spent the last twenty years turning pedagogy into an extension of his radical politics. If these are your examples of the two ends of our political spectrum, I must say I'm happy I'm a conservative.
Justin
Tue Feb 17 2009 01:14
Given the massive American rejection of Republican conservativism, and the massive failures of conservative ideology over the past 8 years, I think it's time to revisit the necessity of giving conservativism "equal representation" on campus. Perhaps so many of our best and brightest professors are liberals simply because liberalism is empirically better. As conservativism deservedly fades into American history maybe it's time to ask why the delusions of people like Rick Santorum need to be aired at all. What's next, UNL? Holocaust deniers? Flat-Earthers? How many times do conservatives have to be proven wrong before we can stop paying attention to their wrong-headed ideas?






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