Dumb and dumber

CSU editorial makes more sense than its later rationale

Published September 25, 2007 at midnight

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So this is what passes for insightful commentary nowadays on the campus of Colorado State University - a petulant cry from the crib.

On Friday, the editorial board of the Fort Collins school's student-run newspaper, the Rocky Mountain Collegian, published a four-word editorial - "Taser this . . . F--- BUSH" (with the expletive spelled out) - that gives a whole new meaning to E.B. White and William Strunk's admonition that "concision is power."

Because of this "bold statement" (as the Collegian's editorial board put it in its defense of the piece Monday), the paper has reportedly lost $30,000 in ad revenue and Collegian editor in chief J. David McSwane might lose his job after a meeting scheduled tonight of CSU's Board of Student Communications, the entity that publishes and oversees the school's various media.

As reprehensible, as childish and as cryptic as the editorial was, we really hope McSwane stays on at the helm of the Collegian - for comic value, if nothing else. Take, for instance, these statements from his paper's "Our View" editorial Monday:

• "The bold statement we printed was more a declaration of free speech than it was a political statement about President Bush." This simply doesn't pass the straight-face test. If it were merely a declaration of free speech, why not invoke John Kerry's name (who was the speaker at the event in which the Tasering referenced in the editorial occurred) or even Jon Stewart's, for that matter?

Well, because . . .

• "We've written several opinion pieces bashing the president, and all of those fell on deaf, apathetic ears - a disappointing truth on the CSU campus." We're shocked - shocked! - that a demographic so solidly not in the president's corner would shrug its shoulders over yet another anti-Bush diatribe.

And the final rip-snorter:

• "It's interesting and scary that the use of the F-word garners more attention than an intelligent, well-researched editorial." Well, at least they're honest about this much.

CSU President Larry Penley is right when he says, "Members of a university community ought to be expected to communicate civilly and rationally and to make thoughtful arguments in support of even unpopular viewpoints." Friday's editorial - a violation of clearly stated policy ("Profane and vulgar words are not acceptable for opinion writing") - falls short of that expectation. But the fact remains that it is protected speech, however serious the lapse in judgment and what it says about the sophistication of CSU's leading student journalists.

McSwane shouldn't be made a martyr to the First Amendment - he should just be given a binkie to go along with his rattle.

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