Yale Dems drop support for viewing of Tillman film...McChrystal hired to teach there.

[madfloridian]

That's odd to me. I would think Yale Democrats would not be afraid of truth-telling, even though the general is hired to teach a course there.

I would think Yale Democrats would be more open-minded than to stop supporting the previewing of the film.

From Greg Mitchell at The Nation:

Yale Democrats Drop Support for Screening of Pat Tillman FIlm -- After Gen. McChrystal Hired to Teach There

This evening I'd just returned from watching the excellent and important new documentary The Tillman Story when I came across some startling news: A group of young Democrats at Yale University had canceled its support for a screening of the film at the campus tomorrow after former U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has just agreed to teach a course at the school this fall.

You see, McChrystal is identified in The Tillman Story (and earlier in various news probes) as a willing participant in the cover-up of how the soldier died. Mary Tillman, mother of Pat, has called Yale's hiring of the general "insulting."

Here's how they explained the change of mind and heart:

The Yale Democrats have explained their move by blaming it on the framing of a post-screening discussion that aimed to discuss McChrystal's role in the cover-up, given his upcoming arrival on campus. But one would expect such a discussion given the recent reports of his hiring. Event organizers usually pray for such a local angle. But Ben Stango, president of the offended organization, told the campus paper, “The Yale College Democrats do not attack war heroes. We do not attack members of the Yale faculty.”

That is an unbelievable statement to me from someone in a university setting. It is phony talk coming from the mouth of someone intelligent to enter Yale. It is ridiculous rhetoric.

More from Greg Mitchell:

In a phone conversation with me, Stango said that statement had been taken out of context. "The real issue," he said, "was the event not turning into an attack that was aimed at raising press for the film." He pointed out that his group did not have control over the post-film discussion. However, the panel, he said, was to be comprised of the film's director, a film studies professor (who has endorsed the Yale Democrats dropping their sponsorship) and Stango himself, so it's hard to imagine how it could have turned into a "Bash McChrystal" forum.

Fearful of turning the event into an attack aimed at raising press for the film? In other words were they going to show the film and hoped no one noticed.

I swear I hate to say this, but these guys don't sound like they are willing to stand up for issues that are important. They sound fearful.

[Fumesucker]

1. Pat Tillman goes down the memory hole..

So long Pat, we hardly knew ye..

[w8liftinglady]

27. hate to tell you,but for most Americans,that happened a long time ago

I wore my IAVA T featuring Pat's Run on it(with "Tillman #42" on the back)-I received more comments/questions..."was that a local kid?" "what team does your son play football on?"
People don't give a shit...or quit giving a shit.

I come from New Haven...My mom and Dad met at Yale.It used to be a Bastion of true liberalism.My mom worked for Eugene O'Neill at Yale,and my dad was a young Air Force guy learning Chinese.Talk about opposites.

[madfloridian]

33. That's sad, but I guess not surprising.

They forgot him already in spite of all the coverage. The people around us where we live don't even pretend to be anything but hard right. It's hard to find even a handyman who doesn't spout teabagger nonsense. They are everywhere.

[BrklynLiberal]

2. Democrats have become synonymous with spinelessness, it would seem.

[Frank Booth]

3. Yale students learn more quickly than the average college student.

They already know if they stick too hard to their ideals they'll never get the fancy house and the fancy car.

[KamaAina]

5. Now you tell me.

K-A, Y'85, cum laude

[Divernan]

9. If you were Pierson College, you knew my son, Y'86.

The link shows a photo of the Anti-Apartheid Shanties put up on the campus in the Spring of 1986 by student protesters, including my son, demanding the University divest itself of holdings in South Africa. At his graduation weekend, he and many other students wore red armbands to all of their ceremonies, signifying the protest. Bart Giamatti was University President then.

http://www.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/01_03/popup/landmarks/24.html

Yale Alumni Magazine
Special Tercentennial Issue
Lost Landmarks

Shanties

"Anti-Apartheid Shanties, 1986-1988
Hewitt Quadrangle was paved in 1964, when the Beinecke Library was built, just in time to become a convenient platform for campus dissent. In 1986, when the major campus issue was divestment of University holdings in South Africa, the protesters built a shanty town they dubbed "Winnie Mandela City." The administration tolerated their presence for two years, but, in 1988, reunion-going alumnus Elwood Bracey '58 set fire to them and was charged with arson."

*****************************************

In the fall of 1986, the school divested over $19 million worth of stock in South African companies.
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/31/nyregion/metro-dateline-yale-to-divest-some-holdings.html

"METRO DATELINE; Yale to Divest Some Holdings
Published: October 31, 1986

NEW HAVEN— The Yale University Corporation, the school's governing body, has voted to divest itself of stock in companies operating in South Africa that do not subscribe to the Sullivan Principles, the president of Yale, Benno C. Schmidt, said yesterday.

The Sullivan Principles, named for the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, a Philadelphia-based minister, encourage companies to extend their activities toward ''improving conditions for all blacks'' in South Africa.

Currently Yale holds shares in six American companies that have not signed the Sullivan Principles: Allied-Signal Inc., the Clark Equipment Company, the Diamond Shamrock Corporation, the Emerson Electric Company, Tri-Nova (formerly Libbey-Owens-Ford Company) and the McDonnell-Douglas Corporation. According to a pamphlet distributed by Yale's office of the vice president for finance and treasurer, as of June 30, 1986, the market value of Yale-held non-signatories was $19,424,000."
(end of article)

This current gutlessness of students and their faculty adviser in canceling the showing of the film, let alone the debate/discussion about it, is very disappointing to me and puts the lie to the concept of academic freedom. Combining that action with the fact that Yale even hired McChrystal to begin with tells me a once excellent university has come upon hard times, ethics wise.

[KamaAina]

13. Saybrook, not Pierson, and I left in '85

but I did participate in some actions, notably a sleepout in Beinecke Plaza. Bonus: Someone forgot a decent-size bag of :smoke: , which I quickly brought back with me, lest the movement be tainted as a bunch of druggies. :-)

[EFerrari]

15. Negroponte "teaches" there. He should be in the pen. n/t

[madfloridian]

19. I did not know he taught there also.

Very surprised.

[EFerrari]

26. He probably helped get McChrystal the job.

McChrystal is a pnac mentee. I forget how I know that. Have to ask Judi Lynn after I get some coffee in me.

[Solly Mack]

4. That's just stupid.

[madfloridian]

18. They seem to be too afraid of any conflict to stand up for what is right.

And that is a shame.

[Solly Mack]

23. I agree. Instead of being free to think and question....it's being told what to think.

This is the narrative - don't deviate! What are you, some troublemaker?

[madfloridian]

25. Heh heh

Apparently that is what I am...I keep being told that all the time. :)

[Solly Mack]

28. I've been considered a troublemaker most of my life

I've been called that those who wanted me to be a doormat & feel good about it(so they could walk over me) and by doormats themselves, intent on everyone being like them. (they feel better about being a doormat if everyone is one....makes them feel better about their beliefs, their choices, etc.)

[KamaAina]

6. Alternative: Yale has several student-run film societies.

Maybe one of them could step in. Alas, the art house cinema just off campus bit the dust a few years ago. :(

K-A, Y'85, cum laude

[madfloridian]

30. I gather the movie will the shown. Yale Dems just did not want their name

associated with it...at least that is my understanding. They apparently consider McChrystal a war hero and don't want him insulted.

[tblue37]

7. They sound like a lot of the Dems in public office these days.

". . . these guys don't sound like they are willing to stand up for issues that are important. They sound fearful."

[madfloridian]

8. I was going to say that. Glad you did.

It's true.

[madfloridian]

10. Mother Jones covered this earlier.

I find this almost a cowardly thing to do.

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/09/yale-dems-tillman-documentary-protect-stanley-mcchrystal

"Amir Bar-Lev, the director of The Tillman Story, a documentary about the late NFL star-turned Army Ranger, is hosting a screening of the film on Yale's campus on September 11. (Elizabeth Gettelman recently reviewed the film for Mother Jones.) The Yale Democrats, who were originally supposed to sponsor the screening, have backed out of the event after learning that it aims to be a "teachable moment" focusing on McChrystal's presence at Yale. Here's the Yale Daily News' Esther Zuckerman:

(Dems President Ben Stango) said his organization supports the film and its message, but that the Dems, who he said consulted Yale faculty and other advisors about the decision, did not want to us the event as a means to protest McChrystal.

"The Yale College Democrats do not attack war heroes," Stango said. "We do not attack members of the Yale faculty."

This is really weak tea. I'm not aware that anyone questions the basic facts of McChrystal's involvement in the Tillman matter. Here's what happened: even though McChrystal knew that Tillman had been killed by friendly fire, he nonetheless recommended him for a Silver Star for valor "in the line of devastating enemy fire." Later, McChrystal was nearly demoted for misleading investigators. (Jon Krakauer wrote perhaps the best summary of the McChrystal-Tillman incident.)

[madfloridian]

11. And a MJ update from the 7th

http://motherjones.com/mojo/2010/09/pat-tillman-stanley-mcchrystal-yale

"Stango says that he's frustrated with how his organization's decision has been covered in the media. "The basic reaction has been: Oh, these cowards are protecting a war criminal," he says. (I definitely didn't go that far.) Stango maintains that the decision to drop sponsorship of the screening was to "protect the integrity" of the Yale Dems. Although he was initially enthusiastic about the event, Stango said he realized soon after he saw a draft press release that "the whole tone of the event was 'Lets bash McChrystal to drum up some press for the film.'" Stango didn't think that the organizers would be willing to make adjustments to the event, so the Dems backed out. "There's nothing productive that's going to come from where the event is coming from now," he says. But it seems that his organization is still open to compromise—while the Yale Dems are not putting their name on the event, they're nonetheless encouraging members to attend."

..."The final event may be more lively because of the controversy the Dems' withdrawal has created. Stango and the his group certainly have the right to make these sorts of decisions for their organization. But staying on board would not have harmed the group's reputation. The draft press releases make clear that the original event would have given the Dems time to speak, and suggest that organizers were willing to tone down their rhetoric in response to concerns. If the Dems felt that McChrystal was being unfairly attacked, they could have said so at the event itself. Sponsoring such an event would emphasize that the Dems stood for lively, vigorous debate—even when they may disagree with some of the participants, and even if the subject is a member of the Yale community. I doubt that anyone—even Prof. McChrystal himself—would have held that against them."

Afraid of controversy....that is what I fear many Democrats are doing.

[madfloridian]

12. Mary Tillman's views about the Yale hiring of McChrystal

"However, McChrystal’s legacy also brings controversy to Yale. Mary Tillman, the mother of deceased Army Ranger Pat Tillman, has called the Ivy League’s hiring of the former general “insulting.” The Tillman family, as well as a new documentary, The Tillman Story, by Amir Bar-Lev, allege that McChrystal used his position as a Lt. General to try and cover up the 2004 friendly fire incident that resulted in Tillman’s death with falsified reports of enemy fire. Bar-Lev is scheduled to screen a showing of The Tillman Story on Sept. 11 at Yale, originally sponsored by the Yale Democrats. However, since McChrystal’s hiring, the Yale Democrats have backed out of the event, with Ben Stango, Yale College Democrats President stating, “The Yale College Democrats do not attack war heroes. We do not attack members of the Yale faculty.”

http://www.bcheights.com/marketplace/mcchrystal-out-to-teach-at-yale-1.1574230

[EFerrari]

14. War heroes, my @ss. n/t

[Ramulux]

16. They arent democrats

They should call themselves the young corporatists club.

[Fumesucker]

24. Sure they're Democrats, we have plenty of them right here on DU..

There were a bunch of them hollering about trolls the other day, it was quite nauseating.

[Jennicut]

17. Here is hoping he stops in at Toad's Place and and gets the roach treatment.

Of course, would a fiftysomething retired general go to Toad's to catch some local cover bands? I guess not. I did see many a roach scatter past me on the bar at Toad's. It is right near Yale. Lovely memories. McChrystal would deserve to be infested. Too bad Yale had to suck eggs and hire this idiot.

[smalll]

20. Well, I know the Yalies don't recycle as well as SOME neighborhoods in New Haven --

where they're at their wits end with those new neighbors who just don't get it: and even now, when it's single-stream! Let some declasse de-gentrifiers like that move in, and after a while, those elitist Elis will take the recycling gold! Such a defeat is unthinkable!

[Kalun D]

21. Oh Come On

Yale is the home of "Skull and Bones"

Nuff said

[madfloridian]

32. And several other "secret" societies.

At least were I was in college sororities and frats were public, not secret.

[Odin2005]

22. Most "Dems" there are rich latte-liberal twits.

Fuck them.

[madfloridian]

29. And another article which convinces me the Yale Dems fear controversy.

http://yaleherald.com/news/runaway-general-finds-home-at-yale/

"Although McChrystal must have thought the worst was over now that he is at Yale, scandal seems to have followed him here. A planned Sept. 11 screening of the upcoming movie The Tillman Story at Yale has drummed up its fair share of controversy. The screening, organized by the Yale Film Studies program in collaboration with the film’s producers, will feature a panel discussion, as well as a Q&A session with the film’s director, Amir Bar-Lev. The screening was supposed to be presented in association with the Yale Democrats, however, on Sept. 2, the Dems pulled their support of the screening, calling the event a “one sided attack against a respected General, current military adviser, and faculty member.”

Ben Stango, PC ’11, president of the Yale Dems, maintains that the event would have reflected poorly on his organization, but is quick to acknowledge that the movie “still is fantastic.” According to Stango, the film’s producers from the Weinstein group, who organized the screening, essentially wanted the Dems to do nothing more than lend their name to the event. At first glance, says Stango, the movie seemed great, but after consulting with various students, publicity people and professors associated with global policy, it “quickly became clear that the true purpose of the event was to single out and attack McChrystal.”


They should have been clear that they supported the showing, then handled controversy as it came up. Just backing off from it sends a message that the Democrats send too often..avoid controversy at all costs.

And that is wrong.

[L0oniX]

31. Well after all George W. Bush went there so how great can Yale be anyway?

Old name still running off of an old reputation.

[placton]

34. Hey! These are the New Dems!

The future of the dying party founded by Jefferson

[dotymed]

35. I don't think they are "fearful."

I think they are elitist snobs, planning to be the next "ruling elite", by virtue of their families (ill gotten) obscene wealth. Their "daddies" have advised them to not "rock the boat", because they do not want scrutinized in any way. Their (obscene just for existing) futures may depend on it.
I am pretty sure that most "Yale Democrats" could care less about the manipulation or death of someone not in their class (I don't mean school class).
IMO, a YALE DEMOCRAT is an oxymoron. At least it was before Democrats joined with Repubs and currently comprise the "fuck the peons who aren't wealthy", "I got mine because of my Daddies Daddy", Fraternity that doesn't care whether you have a D or an R next to your name, as long as your offshore accounts are worth the GDP.

[bertman]

36. The Future Leaders of America are showing themselves to be spineless twits

who only care about themselves. If the represent the Democratic party of the future, we are truly fucked.

These young people apparently identify more with the Republican Presidents who graduated from Yale--Bush I and Bush II and Gerald Ford--than they do with the one Democrat, Bill Clinton, who is an alum.

Worship of the military is being inculcated in the youth of America. Very sad and very scary.

Rec.

By the way, it seems this film is only getting shown in large cities. When will it reach the hinterlands? I want to see it and take every member of my family with me.

[Better Believe It]

37. So McChrystal is a "war hero"???!!!! More of an "a-hole" if you ask me.

[provis99]

38. Yale Democrats aren't Democrats. You don't have to be a Democrat to join.

Yale is an overwhelmingly conservative school, by far the most conservative in the Ivy League. I didn't meet a single Yale prof at conferences who wasn't a right wing jerk, though one did inform me the Yale Democrats largely are Republicans.