Bulletin Board Defacement -- Leftist 'Tolerance' at LBCC!

One of my awesome colleagues in the Department of Political Science was extremely thoughtful and kind in fetching the bulletin boards from the old department across Carson Street and then mounting them for faculty members in our new building. This was March 25 and 26, a Thursday and Friday. I set mine up that Friday. I attached red poster paper over the bulletin board, and stapled a "Political Science" badge at top, plus two items: A "Bounce Boxer" Chuck DeVore bumper sticker (given to me at the Chuck DeVore Tea Party Rally in February) and print-out of the "Are You Losing the Debate? Shout Racist! and You Silence the Oppostion." Pleased with that, I was briefly enjoying my new board during the week before Easter break.

Then it turns out I get an e-mail from my division dean informing me of a complaint by a faculty member against my "Bounce Boxer, Devore for U.S. Senate" sticker at the bulletin board. The e-mail came March 31. I'd had the board up for no more than 4 business days and a leftist colleague files a formal complaint! The allegation? It wasn't "scientific" and wasn't "balanced" by opposing views, and was therefore inappropriate. And I'm a professor of politics who's supposed to be encouraging political participation!

But that's not all. I didn't check my e-mail until last weekend, and finding out about the complaint I was anxious to see if my "Bounce Boxer" sticker was still posted. And lo and behold, I return this morning to see the board defaced. I had my camera and took some pictures (and I'll take additional pics tomorrow and replace, since this one's blurry):

I had the DeVore sticker stapled at top left. It's long gone by this time however. So, I visited my dean's office. She came over to take a look and I asked her if she could find out who defaced the board.

And I explained to her: The complaint and defacement violate my First Amendment guarantees. And simply put, no one has any right whatsoever to remove a political bumper sticker with which they disagree. And this is not the first time: Repeatedly, in the old building, newspaper articles on the Bush presidency would be taken down, and articles on Proposition 8 would be defaced (usually with extremely sophisticated comments indicative of one trained in LGBT discources, i.e., faculty). I told, my dean most of all, if someone had issues with my political view, they should take it up with me. To do otherwise is harassment and a violation of my freedom of speech and equal protection.

And after my dean left, I went down the hall to check the bulletin board of my Marxist historian colleague. Posted there is information for the History Department's "Community Studies Project":

Notice there at bottom/left, the trademark ANSWER L.A. coffins and "Stop the War" slogan. This is a print-out of ANSWER's flyer for the March 20 protest:

Seen here:

And here at 30 seconds:

Such communist literature, posters, and propaganda has been plastered all over the History and Political Science hallways for years -- and no one's every complained. And faculty routinely recruit student to attend the protests, even organizing bus transportation. Democratic candidates are constantly promoted, and literature for Al Gore 2000 and John Kerry 2004 festooned the walls in past years. Go into any sociology classroom and student poster-board projects on "racism," "sexism," "genocide," blah, blah, cover the walls.

But one "Bounce Boxer" bumper sticker? Nope. Verboten. You just can't deviate from the leftist narrative.

So, this time I'm not backing down. The complainant invoked "anonymity," so this is not only an attack on my rights, but a cowardly one. I will follow up with my vice president of human resources. This is supposed to be a college of academic professionals and an institution of higher learning. We're commissioned with opening minds to critical inquiry and training youth for the competition of ideas. And what do you have? Democratic and radical antiwar professors who censor and suppress conservative views, rather than defend their ideas. And remember, we're talking about a darned bumper sticker!

Expect updates. (And I'll proofread this post in the morning. I'm going to bed. Done.)

RELATED: At CQ Politics, "Boxer’s Fight in California."