Why not Ward Churchill?

I can’t believe it’s true, but John Fund – who has turned into Yale’s worst nightmare on the pages of the Wall Street journal, no less – is reporting the startling news the university is considering Juan Cole “to fill a new spot as a professor of contemporary Middle East studies.”

Wow. Why not go the Full Monty and choose Ward Churchill? I know – Churchill’s in Native American studies, not the Middle East, but given the reliability of either of these gentlemen, I can’t see what difference that makes.

But I’m no one to talk. Evidently one of the raps on Cole is that he is a blogger. From Fund’s article today: “He [Cole] has since abandoned scholarship in favor of blog commentary,” says Michael Rubin, a Yale graduate and editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Mr. Cole’s postings at his blog, Informed Comment, appear to be a far cry from scholarship. They feature highly polemical writing and dubious conspiracy theories.”

Indeed, as Glenn Reynolds would say. But speaking of Instapundit, he and Eugene Volokh had better watch out. Their law professorships could be in jeopardy from blogging. Maybe we should reconsider our opposition to Cole in order to protect our friends…. except that …. to put it bluntly… Cole is a propagandistic nutcase and the thought of him teaching at Yale is absurd! [Why should they listen to you? You never give money to the alumni fund anyway.-ed. Don’t worry. They won’t.]