Churchill chums committee con

The University of Colorado won't fire Ward Churchill for making outrageous comments because his freedom to speak must be protected. He is to be investigated further, however, on charges that he passed off the work of others as his own and misrepresented himself as a Native American when he isn't. Not everyone is happy about the makeup of the committee that will do the investigating:

But state Rep. Ted Harvey, a Highlands Ranch Republican who has been critical of CU's handling of the Churchill case, said the professors' previous statements or support show a major flaw in the process.

"The patients are in charge of the asylum," Harvey said. "The people who hired him with tenure and gave him his chairmanship will decide if he should be fired for a lack of performance."

On Thursday, university administrators released a report saying there was enough evidence to merit investigation ... The case was turned over to the Standing Committee on Research Misconduct to determine whether Churchill should be disciplined or fired.

Records and news stories show at least three of the 12 members of the committee have come out publicly supporting Churchill's rights or questioning the university's ability to discipline him after he made statements likening 9/11 victims to a top Nazi and calling for other attacks on the United States.

The liberal plan seems to be to tie up this investigation in committe until the public forgets about it, then give Churchill a slap on the wrist but let him keep his job. Good, Churchill's too stupid to shut-up – his stupid statements are his only claim to fame – so this problem isn't going away.