Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@roddreher This is the trade con equivalent of leftists pointing at a bad thing one racist cop did and concluding all of society is irredeemable. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@smaceachern2 @ijbailey @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis I know of no n-word controversy in academia where the word is used by a faculty member as opposed to mentioned. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@smaceachern2 @ijbailey @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis What evidence is there that it is "embraced with fervor"? I would say the racialized gender slur "Karen" is rather popular these days, not just mentioned when quoting historical material, but actively *used* as disparagement by the speaker. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

"I have shown up for free expression when it was a major cause of the left, and I show up for it now that it has become a cause of right. Freedom doesn’t belong to a political party, and it’s not the tool of the powerful; it’s the tool of the powerless." Exactly. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@smaceachern2 @ijbailey @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis What is your basis for that claim? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@ijbailey @smaceachern2 @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis (Or to go farther, I suspect that they don't pass a rule because they cannot defend it in a way that doesn't undermine principles they profess to believe in... but they want to violate those principles in this case without having to admit they are doing so.) — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@ijbailey @smaceachern2 @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis This is surely correct, and IMHO, reasonable people will agree and disagree with Kennedy, but I don't see why institutions that actually just want it to be verboten all the time don't just push openly for that rule instead of pretending that they tolerate different opinions — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@smaceachern2 @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey It's never "inevitable," I agree, but a professor who thinks it's pedagogically necessary to quote historical material as written, and to answer questions about why something is banned with the relevant word, seem like the kinds of rare cases when it is arguably justified, no? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@TTtheNegligible @MarcusWhaley1 Yeah, people can disagree about the merits of such a rule but I don't see the case for thinking this case should be verboten and also opposing a rule. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@MarcusWhaley1 From the article it seems like all we know is that one student complained to a dean. Is one student complaint really enough to conclude definitively that he's a failed professor who needs coaching? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@dmm12345 Yeah you'd have big parking garages where it was easy to transition — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@scastro87 So if you had a car parked in a garage in Brooklyn or the Bronx or NJ very close to a Subway stop you'd find that far worse than the status quo even with the upside gains of no cars in daily life? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@smaceachern2 @rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey I think you're assuming too much and that the controversies we hear about are shaped more by what is punished than what people are invested in mentioning. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@Jd196560Davis @rasmansa @ijbailey I agree insofar as I think that a malevolent actor can get around any formal rules if he or she just desires to be a provocative asshole, but I don't see how the rules themselves can treat motivation as the x factor since it is often (though not always) unknowable. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey I mean, the author is the subject, so of course his perspective is presented, not a critic, but I wonder what you mean by not "a totally innocent" use of the word? What distinguishes innocent from not innocent uses? I'm trying to understand your position and what it would mean — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey So faculty wouldn't know what was or wasn't allowed under your leadership until after they mentioned various words that might or might not be allowed depending on your discretionary judgment? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey Okay. So a professor who uses that word out of a belief in adherence to original text loses required classes. Are there other words to which that standard applies or is that word unique in your view? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

New York City would be better off if—aside from the perimeter highways, and excepting fire trucks and ambulances—golf carts were the only cars allowed on Manhattan streets. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey I wrote "If colleges want to make a rule that certain words are unspeakable even when mentioned in pedagogical discussions of canonical texts, they should make a list of those words and pass a rule..." I wondered how many banned words you'd have? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@rasmansa @Jd196560Davis @ijbailey What would your policy be if you ran a college? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@NormanGYoung @JordanAckerMI The video was not at Coachella, it was in someone's apartment — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@NormanGYoung @JordanAckerMI Norman, do adults not dance? I have attended many weddings and seen what appeared to be adults dancing with their friends. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

If colleges want to make a rule that certain words are unspeakable even when mentioned in pedagogical discussions of canonical texts, they should make a list of those words and pass a rule instead of having a duplicitous process of shadow punishments. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

RT @JordanAckerMI: Can we just not do this? It's cool to be normal, and have friends, and like to dance and sing and do other stuff...and a… — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

RT @jburnmurdoch: NEW: the collapse of emergency healthcare in England may be costing 500 lives every week, a close match for non-Covid exc… — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Blame for this unfortunate fact lies squarely with the Berkeley NIMBYs. Simply allowing more construction within walking distance of campus would solve the whole problem, and there is ample room to build up. The locals just care more about stopping density than housing students. — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

@MonicaBaumann Have you met any literal Klansmen? — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

RT @JamesNonchalant: *Whining about cyclists "in the middle of the road"* The reality: https://t.co/uJCigsrKMz — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

Unclear if the Barbers of Sweden crest is meant to portray "before" or "after" https://t.co/f1FdTuKUgq — PolitiTweet.org

Conor Friedersdorf @conor64

RT @NateSilver538: It's *also* the case that academics and journalists often mispredict how their arguments will be weaponized over the lo… — PolitiTweet.org