Welcome to hell, Professor Adams

What's the ratio of true belief versus cold calculation in what rightwing pundits say and do? How much is real and how much is schtick? And do they know that the persona presented at their media launch is the persona they'll be taking with them to hell?

I got to thinking about this as I read an especially pitiful Townhall column by Mike S. Adams, a criminology professor at the University of North Carolina—Wilmington. Even by Adams's low standards, this column is abysmal: taunting, baiting, juvenile; all assertions, no evidence; and a whole lot of extremely convenient anecdotes (an Adams specialty).

And Adams seems genuinely proud that he's turned himself into some kind of academic prop comic for the rightwing:

Speaking of war, there was the time I dressed as an Iraqi woman in order to sneak into an anti-war protest. I had it all. The burqua. The sandals. And, oh yes, I had a sign saying “I want to be raped, gassed, and tortured by Saddam’s thugs! So please don’t help me, America!”

Everyone who saw me in that outfit thought it was hilarious. The only ones who were angry were a handful of feminist faculty members….

I wondered why someone who once managed to produce and defend a doctoral dissertation and who is currently teaching at the university level would want his name attached to such junk.

Well, it's the money of course, including a book deal.* And even more important in America, it's the celebrity, no matter how minor.

In a way, I feel sorry for the twisted bastard. Adams is a youngish guy, and the Rightwing Media Borg casts its actors very narrowly. He's facing years and years and years of writing about the dysfunctional university system that educated him, hired him, gave him tenure, and continues to pay him (ironic, isn't it); student fees used to underwrite satanic rituals, virgin auctions, and anything else he cares to make up; and, yes, the humor impairment of women colleagues who don't find him funny.

Welcome to hell, Professor Adams. Who would you like to dress up as today?


*Of course Adams got a book deal, but not with Regnery. His book, Welcome to the Ivory Tower of Babel, was published by a small regional publisher, Harbor House, which specializes in horror fiction and nonfiction works on the paranormal and unexplained occurrences. A perfect match between author and publisher.