*************************************************

So Then,
The Picture That You're Painting
Is That Of A Lovable And Determined Snoopy,
Soft, Warm, And Cuddly,
Sitting Upon His Metaphorical Doghouse,
Far Above The Madding Crowd,
Tapping Away Thoughtfully On His Typewriter,
That Of A Profound Sartre
Penning His Pensees Beside The Seine,
Of A Brilliant And Insightful Voltaire,
Whose Every Keystroke
Was An Inspired, Brilliant, Blistering
Accusation Against
The Insipid And Treacherous Forces Of The
Shallow, FAKE, Liberal Campus Fascists !
J'Accuse ! J'Accuse ! J'Accuse !
Um...Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, that's it.
Yes, There certainly WAS
something of an Emile Zola
about our young graduate student
as he tore into the education bureaucrats
one by one
and ripped them to shreds.
And there certainly IS
much of the Captain Dreyfus story
in Our Graduate Student.
Just as Captain Dreyfus loved the army
that betrayed him,
so too our graduate student loved the university
that betrayed HIM.
That bewildering sense of betrayal,
the hurt and shame so unfairly inflicted,
the confusion and self-doubt,
the years in lonely exile
sitting in the darkened quarters
of the cramped prison cell,
the cluttered camper,
the cold basement,
alone,
with but ink on paper for companionship.
Captain Dreyfus,
Martin Luther King,
Our Graduate Student
found solace, comfort,
friendship and inspiration
in the written word.
"What literature offers
is a common denominator
for understanding human experience;
it allows human beings
to recognize one another
across time and space."
("The Language Police" by Diane Ravitch, p. 163)

*****************************************************************************

The Sublime
and then the ridiculous

"As anyone who has worked on a newspaper knows,
the dominant consideration
is to get the paper out on time."
("Megatrends" by John Naisbitt, p. 5)

Snoopy had to deliver the newspapers
that he wrote,
but first he had to publish them.

And, when they're out to get ya,
they'll trip you up
when you ain't even lookin'.
Such was the experience
our graduate student had.

He was a one man band.
He established The Newsletter.
He was the writer, the editor,
the publisher, and the distributor.
Whew !
It was a lot of work every week.
Especially when you add to that
goin' to the president's office
for a browbeatin'
and dealin' with
the attorney dean of students and bearded professors
tryin' to stir up the black students against ya !
All in a weeks work.

So Our Graduate Student put in
a long and busy and stressful week
puttin' together His Newsletter
and hurries over
to the copy shop near the campus
and puts in his bulk order
for 100 copied,
collated.

He comes back tne next day,
has to listen to the rude girl employed there
give him a bunch of shit
about how she was gonna throw it in the garbage.
He goes to all these different departments
all around the campus
and delivers.
Next day he reviews The Newsletter.
The little bitch stapled
one of the pages backwards,
so it didn't make any sense
when you read it.

Did she do it on purpose ?
Who knows ?
Our Graduate Student thinks she did
do it on purpose.
She couldn't get away with
tossing it in the garbage.
She didn't like what The Newsletter said,
but she couldn't censor it that way.
But she could censor it
by making it unreadable,
so she did.

Of course Our Graduate Student,
unemployed and on a budget,
made double-sided copies.
It was less expensive
than single-sided
which would use twice as much paper.
So, he reads to the bottom of a page
and looks to the top of the next page
to continue.
It doesn't make any sense.

?????????????
just to finish reading that article
and he can't figure out where

Do you think the average faculty member

It was hard enough for him
to read His Own Newsletter !

What the hell is going on ?
He has to go through gymnastics
with the stapled Newsletter

or student leader would bother

the next article begins.

so they could read it ?
rearranging The Newsletter
?????????????

So, in The Next Newsletter,
Our Graduate Student
explained what happened,
how bratty girl in copy shop
read His Newsletter
and didn't like what it said,
and censored it
by putting it together wrong
so it would be hard to read.

So, Our Graduate Student writes,
"go out and get bella abzug
and have her
pin a medal on that bitch !"

And Then What Happened ?
They went out
and got bella abzug
to pin a medal on that bitch.

Ha Ha.
Very Funny.
What Really Happened ?
They went out
and got bella abzug
to pin a medal on that bitch.

No, I Mean
What REALLY Happened ?
They went out
and got bella abzug
to pin a medal on that bitch.

That's What REALLY Happened ?
Yes.
They went out
and got bella abzug
to pin a medal on that bitch.

You're Kidding.
No.

You're Joking.
No.

They Went Out
And Got Bella Abzug
To Pin A Medal On That Bitch ?
They went out
and got bella abzug
to pin a medal on that bitch.

Oh, my.
Isn't that something ?

Indeed, It Is
Tell Me About It.
Well, as I was saying,
brat in the copy shop
staples Newsletter wrong
after threatening to toss it in garbage.
She settles for making it unreadable.
She had motive.
She had opportunity.
And, apparently,
she also had reward.
So Our Graduate Student
exposes the dastardly deed.
Sunshine.
It became a pattern of his
throughout his life.
Sunshine.
He's doing it right now
as a matter of fact,
in case you hadn't noticed.
So he puts Sunshine on it,
exposes it,
to inform everyone of what's happening
and to make it
harder for them to obstruct like that again.

So, he satirically
calls for them to get bella abzug
to pin a medal on her and,
the next thing you know,
Our Graduate Student reads
in some ubiquitous campus publication
a notice that reads something like this,
"bella abzug coming to campus"
"bella abzug is known as
one of the most popular people in the world..."

Did He Hate bella abzug ?
No. He's not a hater,
But he was puttin' out A Newsletter.
He had a job to do.
He was on a mission.
She was a colorful figure,
a symbol that people recognized
He just didn't like her image.
She appeared to represent the feminist
who was trying to imitate a man
but didn't really understand
what the best of Manhood is about.
Apparently, she thought it meant
being a bully.
She dressed and looked like
a Soviet Union Totalitarian,
like a bully,
like Norman Mailer - 
you know,
black bowler cap kinda hat,
black trench coat kinda coat,
short, stock build
like she's gonna push you around
if she don't like what you do or say,
a bully.

He didn't really know much about her.
But, here's what Ed Koch,
the Mayor of New York (1978 - 1989),
says about her in "Citizen Koch" (1992),
"Bella Abzug was
one of the most bullying members
of Congress that I recall.
She...brooked no dissent...
Members of Congress took her on
very carefully,
if they took her on at all...
I took her on, many times.

"My favorite bella abzug story, though,
happened when someone else tangled with her.
Ron Dellums, the black Congressman from California,
was the only other colleague
I can remember standing up to her.
She approached him one day
on the floor of the House,
after he voted against what she thought
to be the politically correct position
on some issue that I no longer recall;
she began to berate him.
Dellums just looked at her,
waiting for her to finish.
When she did, he said,
'Don't you ever talk to me that way again,
you white motherfucker.'

"Nobody talked that way to bella abzug,
but Ron Dellums did,
and she behaved herself
around him from that day on."

And apparently Mayor Koch,
just as Our Graduate Student did,
upset bella abzug with 100 Newsletters (pp. 149 - 150).

"abzug...opposed my candidacy.
Over the years, I began to take
a sporting interest in our run-ins...
I received a letter from a woman's group opposed...
bella's name was on the letterhead
as one of the group's directors...
I was, of course, in favor...
so I placed a copy of the letter,
and my response to it,
into the 'Congressional Record'.
I also sent copies of the correspondence
to every...group I could find.
I didn't say a word about bella abzug.
I didn't have to.
Her name was right there on the group's letterhead,
and it said enough.

"A couple of days later, Bella...said,
'What are you trying to do, destroy me?'...

"She told me she was receiving
middle-of-the-night phone calls from...leaders,
denouncing her for her position...
These people were waking her up
and screaming at her,
and bella seemed a little frayed around the edges...

"bella demanded the list of people and organizations
to whom I had sent copies...
I refused to turn over my mailing list...

"Understand, I had sent out only a hundred or so copies...
I said, 'Ooh, hundreds of thousands.'

"That was the last I heard from her on this matter."

That's Quite Significant
That bella abzug
flew from New York to Sacramento
in response
to an offhand comment
by Our Graduate Student
in His Newsletter
Yes, it is.

It Shows That People
At The Highest Levels
In Education And Government
Were Reading What He Said,
Were Communicating And Conspiring To Take Action,
And Were Taking Action
In Response To His Written Thoughts And Words
That He Properly And Appropriately Expressed
In His Newsletters.
That's right.

So, It's Believable, Then,
When Our Graduate Student Declares
That He Has Discovered
A Conspiracy Against Him
Committed By High Level Politicians
Such As U.S. Senator barbara boxer,
sacramento mayor anne rudin,
high ranking officials
in the ca dept of education,
And A Host Of Other
Politicians and Education Officials.
That's correct.

After All,
He's Lived Through It.
He Knows All The Details.
No One Else Does,
Except The Perpetrators.
So Now He's Searching Through His Memory
And Evaluating His Life's Experiences
Over The Past 28 Years.
He's Putting The Whole Story Together
And Trying To Present It
Plainly And Logically.
That's Right.

All Right.
I'm On Board.
I Want To Know About This.
If An Offhand Comment
By Our Graduate Student
In His Newsletter
Resulted In
the high profile bella abzug
Flying Across The Country
To Make An Appearance,
Then THERE IS NO DOUBT
That Our Graduate Student
And His Newsletters
Were Having An Impact
At The Highest Levels
In Politics And Education.
That's right.

Did Anybody Else
With A High Profile
Get Involved ?
Not at that time,
as far as Our Graduate Student knows.
He did send a couple of
letters to Norman Mailer, inviting debate,
but Mailer responded with a note
saying that it would just be a media circus
and that he didn't want to, anyway.

Our Graduate Student
had had an interaction with Mailer
about 10 years earlier
at Seton Hall University in South Orange, NJ,
where Our Graduate Student lived,
and thought Mailer might have remembered it.

Tell Me About That.
Oh, it wasn't much.
Our Graduate Student had read
some of Mailer's writings -
"The Naked And The Dead"
and his writings about
the 1968 Democratic and Republican Conventions,
and some other stuff he can't remember now.
Mailer was at the peak of his prominence then.
Our Graduate Student looked to Mailer,
among others,
for answers in those troubled times,
when he was a young man.
He was only about 21 then.

So, Mailer shows up at Seton Hall,
which is practically
in Our Graduate Student's backyard.
Our Graduate Student had several drinks
and interacted with Mailer
before, during, and after Mailer's talk.

What Kind Of Interaction ?
Oh, it was sort of funny, really.
Before Mailer's speech,
Our Graduate Student walked up to Mailer's entourage
and, when the staff turned towards him,
Mailer told him that he'd
have an question and answer session afterward.
Our slightly inebriated Graduate Student
gave a bow that was at once
respectful but humorous.
It was sort of an Oriental bow
like to one's master or guru or sensei.
As he respectfully bowed while shuffling backwards,
Our Graduate Student replied
that he didn't know that he had any questions to ask.

So Our Graduate Student
gets a seat in the first row
next to some classy lookin' hottie
who he thought looked like a reporter.
He's pretty high from the booze.
Mailer starts out his talk with a joke.
Nobody gets it.
Our Graduate Student gets the joke
(but can't remember it now).
Our Graduate Student says,
"Ha, Ha, Ha. Very funny" kinda loud.
"That was a joke ! He wants you to laugh,"
Our Graduate Student scolds the audience.
Mailer turns to Our Graduate Student.
They have a quick repartee.
"What's your name ?"
"David"
"Your Last Name !"
"Scully !"
"Scully, I'll give you the gun in my left pocket if..."
(the pocket Our Graduate Student couldn't see)
"I have one."
"Look, Scully, I know you don't like me..."
"No. I like you. I'm just kinda drunk."
"Oh...well...I uh..."
The audience laughs
(Mailer was notorious for his drinking).
"See ? I got 'em laughin' for ya !"

After a few minutes,
the young lady who looked like a reporter
(but protested that she wasn't)
accepted Our Graduate Student's suggestion
for a walk outside.
Mailer wishes Our Graduate Student well
as they walk down the aisle,
"See ya later, Scully!"
Our Graduate Student waves goodbye with his middle finger.

Well, That WAS An Amusing Aside.
Yes, from a drunken repartee with Mailer
to a tongue-tied (but sober) hello to Albert Shanker
to cordial emailings
to Tom Sowell and Diane Ravitch,
Our Graduate Student's
come a long way baby !

Ha Ha, Yourself !
Very funny.
Listen, I'm begining to feel
the way you did that night.
I think I've had enough for tonight.
Is there anything else you want to say
before we wrap it up for the day ?
Well, getting back to that
obtructionism and unique form of censorship
by that brat in the copy shop,
I want to mention another incident
along those lines.

Our Graduate had put a lot of work
into His Newsletters.
He had been mocked and scorned,
so he felt he had to rise to the challenge
by putting out an excellent intellectual product,
by RAISING THE LEVEL OF DISCOURSE
from the ridiculous to the sublime,
from the ridiculous rantings
of the shallow, FAKE, fascist women's libbers,
to a sublime conversation
with MLK, Mailer, Vidal, and others.

He decided to copyright His Newsletters.
It's standard practice, you know.
So, he posted a copyright notice
on the front page of each Newsletter.
And, also, he collected His Newsletters
into book form and sent the book
to the Copyright Office in D.C.,
with the appropriate form and fee,
to be copyrighted officially that way, too.

It was returned to him
by a female employee of the copyright office in D.C.
with a note stating that
it was not a book, but a collection of Newsletters,
and so couldn't be copyrighted.
Now, I'm pretty darn sure
(like, say, 100% sure)
that an American citizen has the right
to publish a collection of writings
in book form.
I'm thinkin' what we got there
is just another example of CENSORSHIP
by another BRAT in another office.

What do you think ?

I'm Thinkin' You're 100% Right.
Yeah.
But it wasn't just the white females, you know.
Our Graduate Student
went down to some editor at The Sacramento Union
and he just chuckled
when he saw that he had copyrighted His Newsletters.
In general, males are just stupid conservatives,
and females are just clever bitches.

Tomorrow, we'll start out with
dem dere intellectuals an' stuff,
like Gore Vidal.

OK

*****************************************************************************



OK
Very Easily.