Imagine my surprise when I required my Honors Mark Twain Seminar class to
subscribe to the Mark Twain Forum to experience informational, genial, and
collegial exchanges among scholars, only to have them experience the vitriol of
David Fears, especially, and others.  I have told them to forge on, however, as
the latest exchange does not represent the usual exchanges that occur on the
Forum. But, as one of my students remarked in a separate email to me, "I didn't
realize that scholarship was such a body sport.  I guess I will need to return
to the Fox News Channel for civil discourse." Goodbye Mr. Crimmins.

Joe McCullough

Quoting David H  Fears <[log in to unmask]>:

> Thank you for your insight, Mr. Crimmins, but I do not see myself as  either
> a martyr or a victim. Some disagree with some opinions, and some have a
> heebee-jeebee fit with paroxysms of liberalism-gone-wild over my use of some
> terms, none of which have been offered or used with bad intent, as personal
> invective, or the like.
>
> It reminds me of the flap seen over the once-acceptable use of "Oriental,"
> now deemed only proper with reference to certain types of rugs, by a
> colleague
> about a year ago. The poor woman was in tears after the mob rushed her in
> headlong desire to out-pc the others.
>
> And everyone has a chance to post here, whether whimsical or substantive or
> both. My posts do not preclude those of others. Today may be my record number
> in  one day, but this is only my conviction that the issue of free speech is
> important to stand up for. Like I responded to two obscene emails, if my
> posts
>  bother you, then simply skip on by.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> David H Fears
>
>
>
> **************Create a Home Theater Like the Pros. Watch the video on AOL
> Home.
>
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>