San Diego State University (SDSU) professor Jonathan Graubart isn’t happy at all over the outpouring of public goodwill and sympathy for Arizona Republican Senator John McCain. As The College Fix Reports, Graubart is “troubled” by seeing so many Americans wishing the former Republican presidential nominee well after McCain publicly spoke about his having a malignant brain tumor.
“I find myself annoyed at the groundswell of good wishes for John McCain after his diagnosis of glioblastoma and have been thinking through why,” the political science professor posted on his Facebook page.
For Graubart, the condolences and best wishes are all about Americans caring more for elites than average people.
Besides, “McCain is a war criminal and, more to the point, someone who as a politician has championed horrifying actions and been lousy on state commitment to public health. So dying or not, he’s a risible public figure (I have no idea what he is like on the personal level and don’t care),” Graubart posted on July 21.
“But ultimately what troubles me is the urge to send such well wishes to an utter stranger as it reinforces the notion that some lives are more important than others. There are lots of people with glioblastoma and who have died from it (including my mother twenty years ago),” he added.
Not surprisingly, the post did not escape the notice of many students who were shocked by the professor’s icy candor.
According to ABC News’s San Diego affiliate, student Ben Dilbeck said, “I would never wish cancer upon my worst enemy and then to be annoyed by people just wishing you the best for having cancer, I just thought it was totally inappropriate.”
Graubart has hit a global nerve with his sentiments. SDSU alumnus Colby Tunick saw the professor’s words in the Czech Republic city of Prague, prompting him to say, “I think I was a little disturbed to be quite honest. You may disagree with someone politically, morally, philosophically, but you don’t wish someone harm.”
The SDSU College Republicans issued a stinging rebuke of Graubart’s unfeeling condemnation of a man many consider to be a war hero.
“As an academic authority at SDSU, Dr. Graubart’s sickening lack of respect towards Senator McCain will not be tolerated by our organization and should not be tolerated by university administration.”
The student Republicans noted that malicious comments about the GOP and its membership from SDSU faculty seems to be a recurring phenomenonan. Just last month, an associate dean offered his opinion that the Republican Party constituted an “extremist terrorist organization.” The College Republicans suggested this sort of inflammatory rhetoric might indicate a “discriminatory atmosphere towards conservatives on campus.”
