Eric Alterman is an English professor at the City University of New York. He self describes as a "distinguished professor of English", but after reading the articles he writes in the liberal journal, The Nation, one has to wonder what distinguished him. In his latest column, "Next Stop on the GOP Crazytrain: Newtsville", the truth becomes all too clear.
First, let me describe the article. Alterman tells us that the GOP candidates are "bat-shit crazy". Bachmann makes "nutty suggestions"; Cain is "ignorant"; Gingrich should "be in a rubber room". Oh, I almost forgot, Gingrich has a "diseased brain". Then he gets to his main point: America is suffering from "intellectual insularity" in which “the teachings of dubiously credentialed leaders are favored over the word of secular experts in the arts and sciences.” Alterman wants the "masses" to listen to their betters, these "secular experts in the arts and sciences".
The truly funny thing about Alterman is that he actually believes this stuff. America should listen to him, the "distinguished" professor of English at CUNY, a "secular expert". For those of you who are not familiar with the City University of New York, let me explain what it means to be an English professor there. Alterman should be better described as a teacher of remedial English for students who graduated from high school in New York City but who remain unable to write a paragraph, spell or read above a seventh grade level. He is a tutor for those whom public education failed.
There are many universities other than CUNY where being an English professor carries with it a certain patina of knowledge. Even at those universities, however, knowledge of literature does not carry with it any indication of insight into politics or national policy. Secular expertise does not provide that insight.
It is not worth taking the time to discuss Alterman further. Readers of the Nation may want the wisdom he has gained teaching remedial english, but most Americans do not.
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