I've been trying to get an AAUP chapter started at the community college where I work. I was getting a lot of resistance (passive aggressively) from the two chairs of the committee at which I was advocating such a thing (the faculty committee that is not controlled by faculty). So one of them tells me that he was opposing the idea because he wasn't so clear on where he and I stood. So this guy, an officer of this committee, took it upon himself to possible screw over something that might benefit the people he's supposed to represent, because he doesn't like me? He claimed to represent the good of the whole all the while not letting the whole express what they want, because he's got a personal tiff? Oh, now that shows responsibility. Very ethical, indeed.

You know, this conversation about the AAUP has been going on for months. They put it on the agenda, so not to look as though they are actively trying to repress it, but it is placed last after six things (which it should not have been considering how long it's been carried), and they so obviously tried to stall it for sooooooooo long. I mean there were painful silences during that meeting while they hoped someone would just talk about anything (and at times people were talking about things that weren’t even on the agenda, and it was allowed). They even took a report from a subcommittee and turned it into a subcommittee meeting. It took half of the meeting time - over 45 minutes, arguing over minutia and bringing up things that should have been brought up months ago to the subcommittee alone. Hmmm, I wonder why all this stalling was happening?

I've actually have tried very hard to be nice to this guy, but I just get passive-aggressive responses. The whole rural mid-west operates on what one friend called "Minnesota niceness" often combined with passive-aggressive behavior. Sprinkle in some power-hunger and you’ve got quite a scene.

Great thing at this meeting, though, was that people started to catch on to what was happening – the chairs trying to kill the establishment of an AAUP chapter. It is always a great thing when people see this for themselves. Most of the time, so-called benevolent power rears its ugly malevolent self when something enters that seems threatening. Every one saw for themselves experientially that day why the need for an AAUP chapter is so essential. And I did nothing except let it happen, which is even more beautiful.

On another note, one colleague brought to my attention that there was some lack of clarity on a survey question that we were composing. I brought it to the subcommittee, and it was ignored by the Cte. for personal reasons (personal against me, even though the concerns were not mine). So then I go to tell my colleague that his recommendations didn't get addressed (although I wasn't going to say why), and when I mentioned to him that I brought his concern to the committee he cut me off and said "I'm not concerned! I'm not concerned about anything. I just tell people things and if they don't want to listen that's their problem." Yeah, that's nice until the fascists roll in. What kind of thinking is that? This is why the working conditions where I work are so bad. People just take abuse, refuse to acknowledge the fact that they might actually have concern about something (even the wording of a question - god forbid), and they fight any attempt to point out the fact.

Unfortunately, this attitude doesn't just exist in rural Middle America. No wonder this world is so fucked up. You know, Bush could probably just publically declare that he's trying to establish a fascist police state, furthermore declare martial rule, and no one would give a shit. No, let me take that back. They'll say something, but if no one listens, that's their problem.

I really don't know why Bush is trying to be all covert about it. Really.