Long, Slow Burn

Yes, gang. These group of looney thugs go around protesting funerals of dead soldiers.

“Father: Funeral protest made him sick” at the EveningSun.com

“They turned this funeral into a media circus and they wanted to hurt my family,” Snyder testified. “They wanted their message heard and they didn’t care who they stepped over. My son should have been buried with dignity, not with a bunch of clowns outside.”

I feel so sorry for this father. His son gave the ultimate sacrifice and this country should not forget that. This is why I ride with the Patriot Guard, to help keep these things from happening to the families, grieving at the loss of their sons and daughters.

That being said, however, I am a major proponent of free speech. I believe that these hate filled, crazy, spitefull, pitiful excuses of human beings … deserve the right to say what they think and feel. Yes, especially when I disagree with them. And boy, do I disagree with their message. On so many levels.  That’s why I’ll put my body, or my motorcycle in between this filth and the family and friends of this marine.

Free speech is not only for the people that we agree with. I’m sorry for the loss of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder. Free speech shouldn’t also be a casualty of war.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/24/saving.antioch.ap/index.html

CNN has the above article. Antioch has a long history.  It was a small college and now it’s even smaller at about 230 students and 37 teachers.  I went to a small college of about 2,300 students so I identify with the challenges of a small college.

Let’s look deeper into the article however.  230 students with 37 teachers equals about 6 students for each teacher.  Once you throw in administrators, staff, and grounds crew I would imagine that there would be about 100 staff overall on payroll.  That means about 2 students for each employee.  $18K enrollment means that once you subtract the amount needed to operate, heat and light the buildings, and then pay the employees, you’re in deep doo-doo.
I feel sorry for Antioch College.  They should have been paying attention to their product.  You need a product for people to purchase that is a “good deal”, otherwise they’ll take their business elsewhere.  Being liberal and yelling at the wind isn’t enough to keep the kids coming.

All the school is left with is an appeal to emotion.  The photo says it all “Be Ashamed”.  They should have been leasing out buildings and cutting staff until they got their house in order.  They were trying to hold on to what they had, appealing to emotion, … all the while the burden was dragging them down.

Good luck Antioch.

Already government is taking unprecedented powers over our lives via the Patriot Act and other government directives.  Now they are going to allow the best government watchdog there is, the media, to be owned by a smaller number of larger companies.  Is it hard to suspect that government might have a hand in these media companies?  Is it hard to suspect that these huge companies might have a larger hand in government?  Who loses?  The individual.  We need the media to spot and report as accurately as possible, the goings-on in government.  We’re losing that check-and-balance.

NY Times: Plan Would Ease Limits on Media Ownership