‘Columbia Abuzz Over Underground Film’

Some of The New York Sun’s readers may be undecided about the presidential election but disturbed by the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic bias at Columbia University alleged in the David Project’s documentary [“Columbia Abuzz over Underground Film,” Jascob Gershman, Page 1, October 20, 2004].

If so, these readers might consider the implications that the presidential election has for higher education in general and campus anti-Israel bias in particular. Political correctness on academic campuses is a serious problem that manifests itself in a variety ways.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, or FIRE (www.thefire.org), has pursued more than 600 cases involving campus suppression of free speech and intolerance since 1999. Many of the cases involve political indoctrination and religious intolerance as well. The Republicans are less likely to support political correctness and anti-Israel bias on campus than are the Democrats.

In a variety of ways, ranging from appointments to the National Science Foundation and National Institute for the Humanities, selection of universities and faculty to receive federal grants, reverse discrimination, and even whether the Army Corps of Engineers ought to destroy anthropological evidence that suggests politically incorrect conclusions about migration, the election of a Republican would make a difference with respect to the tenor of academic life.

The election of a Democrat would help support the kind of behavior the David Project’s film depicts in the name of free speech, while encouraging continued systematic suppression of campus speech that does not fit the liberal/left ideology.

MITCHELL LANGBERT
West Shokan, N.Y.

Kerry Hunts Conservatives

Senator Kerry is clever to discuss God, guns, stem cell research, windsurfing, new camo digs, or any other tertiary subjects [“Kerry Hunting Conservative Votes,” Jamie Dettmer, Page 1, October 22, 2004].

When he mentions national security or the war on terror, most Americans get the creeps imagining him as our commander in chief as we fight this unrelenting evil.

Those who feel that we should not have abandoned our innocent South Vietnamese allies to the horrors of communism, tremble at the thought of President Kerry abandoning our new Iraqi allies to the forces of anarchic terrorism.

He cannot speak on economic issues, because few Americans think that we need across-the-board tax hikes.

His campaign is wiser to promise that he’ll make the lame walk and the blind see or convey the innermost beliefs of Mary Cheney.

After all, believing those preposterous assertions is not as farfetched thinking that he would be a good president on standard domestic or foreign policies.

STEVEN FANTINA
Phillipsburg, N.J.

‘Schumer vs. Kerry’

The New York Sun is missing the most telling piece of Senator Kerry’s October 2003 speech to the Arab American Institute. Not only did he suggest that President Bush was a barrier to peace, he called the security fence that saves countless lives a “barrier to peace” [“Schumer v. Kerry,” Editorial, October 18, 2004].

I suppose he came to this conclusion using the same inane logic that says President Bush, by marginalizing lifelong terrorist Yasser Arafat, is a threat to peace.

Either Mr. Kerry does not appreciate the need for Israel’s security fence or he was merely telling his audience what they wanted to hear, perhaps both.

His statement reveals his irresponsible view of the post-September 11 world, as well as his lack of conviction.

JOSEPH HELLER
Pomona, N.Y.

Bush Gear in Gotham

I am not surprised by anything in the article “Wear Bush Gear in Manhattan, Get Spit At,” [Roderick Boyd, Page 1, October 29, 2004].

My own experience, for several months, has been to be cursed at, ridiculed and threatened – in full view of dozens of people, some of whom actually give me the “thumbs up sign” when we are out of harm’s way.

What this uncivil treatment of Republicans in New York City proves is that the “liberal” left is much like the Storm troopers of the 1930s: filled with irrational hatred, anger, and rage.

I fear what would happen if Senator Kerry becomes president: Would Michael Moore become the official White House artist in residence?

ALICE LEMOS
Woodside, N.Y.

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