C-SPAN taped my lecture at Colby College on Wednesday. C-SPAN2's Book TV will be airing it several times within the coming days, including October 31 at 6:30 a.m., and November 1 at 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Young America's Foundation sponsored the event, which ran about an hour and fifteen minutes. The eighty to one-hundred students who attended were generally civil, but they made some really out-there statements in response to the lecture. You'll understand when you watch the broadcast. Claims that Communism has never failed because it has never been tried and audible gasps at my labeling the 9/11 terrorists "barbarians" were among the foolish responses audience members had during the question and answer session. The lecture itself focused the main themes within Intellectual Morons. I had a lot of fun at the event, and hopefully you'll have a lot of fun watching the event.

Ahh, the typically odious spawn of modern american political discussion. I am always right...

Why don't you abandon that assumption and add a little credibility and intelligence to your thoughts?

Sid: what was it that Flynn said in this little post that implied that he thinks he is always right? He didn't say that he has never been wrong. And, after all, you implied in your message that you think _you_ are right about Dan thinking he's always right . . . . How arrogant of you for thinking you are always right! This is very silly.

Why don't you abandon your assumptions about others being arrogant and apply your standard to yourself? I think it might lend a little credibility to your thought.

I guess the Kerry supporters who gasped when Dan called the terrorists 'barbarians' on Wednesday felt foolish when Kerry did the same on Friday.

And about communism not being disproved historically because its never been tried, this is an easy cop-out for utopians. Utopians have such high standards for what counts as testing their plans, that no attempt putting their plans into action could possibly disprove them. But what can we say to such people, since they obviously are not reasonable?!

Perhaps we could say that capitalism has never 'really' been tried either, so that they can't argue that because capitalism has failed we should try socialism.

(BTW There is a great scene in _Metropolitan_ where they discuss this never-been-tried silliness.)

"the typically odious spawn of modern american political discussion." What does this sentence mean? What spawn? Are you trying to sound intelligent? Next you are going to use the word "antidisestablishmentarianism."

We started listening with admiration for your balance, but when you ignored the Bush Administration ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM--you were
exposed as the ultimate intellectual moron. I am
so happy that the young people of our future
pulverized and laughed at you.

We started listening with admiration for your balance, but when you ignored the Bush Administration ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM--you were
exposed as the ultimate intellectual moron. I am
so happy that the young people of our future
pulverized and laughed at you.

Good job. it's amazing how insecure people feel when you simply defend the CONCEPT of integrity.

it's sad that your point was lost on politics,,

watching- was amazing.. like an object lesson in irony.

I must say you did a wonderful job of not just blurting out "Thanks for making my point so well!" to those students who "pulverized and laughed at you". I also found it wonderfully ironic the way you used the old liberal saying "question authority" so perfectly to point out that it is those who used to question, that now teach need to be questioned.

...my favorite was the female screaming how 'wrong' you were to choose to keep your own money! I hear the phrase all the time, "spread the wealth", but only from idealist liberals talking about spreading the wealth of a successful conservative [never of a successful entertainer, sports figure, etc]...but then, I'm just a chubby old redneck grandmother...what do I know. I'll share my motto: "Feed your brain...and don't leave home without it" :)

Thanks for your courage at even accepting engagements at American colleges...etc. where free thinking is certainly on the downward path. I am especially saddened by the lack of respect by the students at our universities when people with another point of view present it.

With respect to faith in the political setting of today. Faith does shape our worldview, (who is shaping your audiences worldview??, an idea or person/persons (professors??) but also teaches us to value every human being. I absolutely love my young adult children (Marx admirers, where did I go wrong!! (smile)), and we have healthy debates and hope they never denigrate, mock anyone who doesn't agree with them like your audiences demonstrate. They do agree that their side is intolerant.

I've noticed people like you or David Horowitz and others never talk down or disrespectfully to our young college students.

May true "diversity" return to our campuses!!

Keep up the good fight!

I was lucky to catch most of your appearance this morning. I agree with Christine and Carrie particularly. May I also add that not only are you intelligent, you have great patience.

Thank you.

Dan says he's not anti-intellectual, but anti-pseudo-intellectual, so he might begin by changing the title. He hoists himself on his own petard by first claiming that ideology traps intellectuals and then proclaiming and demonstrating his own conservative ideology! The whole centerpiece of American politics is a left brain/right brain dichotomy which has lobotomized the intellectual process. A pox on both your houses!!!

civiL diS: (is that just a coincidence?]
Judging books by their covers, eh? :)
I believe we're constantly in process of changing our opinions as we learn. Learning is the key word. Absolute idealists, I would think, are at a place where they believe there is nothing else to learn, thus no reason to hear another opinion.
I imagine Mr. Flynn's opinions in his books are the result of his listening to many others', observing many behaviors, and comparing them to the reality of the world we live in.
But again..I'm an old redneck. What do I know.
:)

Sid, you are factually inaccurate because you haven't bothered to read Flynn's book. You accuse Flynn of thinking this way: "Because I am always right, those who disagree with me are always wrong. Because they are always wrong, yet continue to say that they are right, they are either lying, or stupid." On the contrary, Flynn emphasises that ideology, and not stupidity, is the source of an "intellectual moron's" errors. Lying sometimes results from ideology, but Flynn blames the ideology for making people -- who he freely admits are smarter than him in many ways -- think asinine things and occasionally lie for the sake of their asinine causes.

Sid, you are just wrong on your facts, and it isn't because you are stupid or dishonest, but because you have an ideological prejudice against conservatives. Thus, you fit the bill perfectly for what Flynn is describing.

Rather than just assume everybody you run accross matches your prejudices, you should attempt to be intellectually responsible. That is, why don't you read what Flynn has to say with an open mind and _then_ complain about it if you don't like it, rather than just assume that Flynn fits the cookie-cutter mold that you assume fits all conservatives? If your prejudices keep you from doing even this little bit of research before you attack someone, maybe _your_ mind is the one 'beyond reason'.

Congratz on the CSPAN gig. Caught it last night, you were good.

I just finished listening to your lecture on c-span. Fabulous! I am a college graduate. Occasionally I take a course or two so still have exposure to the sentiments on campus. I absolutely agree that the view has narrowed. Unfortunately, my experience has been that, as a student, one cannot disagree. As a student, grades are at stake, possibly having a future economic cost. I recall a final paper I wrote which had a stance opposing the prof’s ideology. I was downgraded because I was “too critical.”

Dan, I caught the last half of your lecture at Colby this morning purely by accident. CSPAN isn't high on my list of channels and I applaud your frank and pointed comments to the audience, as well as recognizing there are two sides (at minimum) to most issues. You noted that being liberal or conservative isn't important in ones educational process, (even with recognition that the majority of educators are liberal democrats); but failing to retain an open mind is the real culprit. If only one or two in the audience were attentive and will act to exercise free thought, good for you. I'll buy your book this afternoon.

Short,

"who he freely admits are smarter than him in many ways -- think asinine things and occasionally lie for the sake of their asinine causes."

The idea that those causes and thoughts are 'asinine' is a gross oversimplification of both the ideas and the people who support them. Mr. Flynn is applying his own simplistic, ignorant determination of what is stupid and what is not. "Intellectual morons." Takes the following format. These ideas are stupid, here's how 'the left' gets smart people to believe them.

Try eliminating that first, misguided assumption. How well does the argument stand?

If Mr. Flynn's books are as full of insightful, non-reactionary reasoning as you say they are, they why market them as flaming attack-rhetoric? To sell better? It does not speak well for america if every time an author publishes reasoned discussion, he has to hide it in a 'cross-fire' wrapping?

Of course, Mr. Flynn is nothing more than flaming attack rhetoric, a perpetuation of the sensationalist, substanceless discource America is drowning in. His opinions are completley invalid, because they cannot be changed.

Relativism still on the throne??

Man, I give up. I recorded cspan tonight while I was in class but of course they changed the scheduling on me so I have yet to see Dan in action. Sheesh.

I mean I can't get enough "flaming attack rhetoric" you know?