Lettors to the editor

Liberal professors, media abound

There is very little supporting evidence for Darien Hager's claim that most university professors are not liberal ("Liberals find their place in a conservative country," Nov. 29). However, conservatives faulting liberal professors is much the same as faulting liberal-biased media. As William Kristol -- a noted "arch-conservative" -- said on Sunday, too many on the right do it to cover up conservative failures. A conservative myself, I notice that most of my professors are liberal, but that is a benefit for I must defend my thinking. Many of those who complain about being shot down in class by liberal professors are trying to excuse themselves for being inarticulate and incapable of supporting their opinion.

To say that much of the mainstream media is not liberal is roughly the same as saying that Fox News and the Washington Post are not conservative. Fox News would not exist if television media provided honest, incisive reporting. But alas, we now have partisan media, and that is the problem. As for hard facts, Hager misconstrues the 9/11 Commission's finding that Iraq and Al-Qaida had ties, but that there was an absence of evidence for collaboration. On WMD, where are the reports on the missing WMD (not the stuff President Bush said existed), like 20 tons of VX gas? This is mentioned specifically in United Nations resolutions, but Iraq only produced one document on the eve of this war to the effect that it had been lost. What happened? It might be a question worth pursuing, but both sides of the media are too busy supporting their own.

-- Peter Mattis

Senior, political science and Asian studies