In the latest from the Annals of Not Getting the Joke, the New York Times reports:
A Delaware man has been charged with faking his way into Harvard and duping the university out of $45,000 in financial aid, grants and scholarships. Adam Wheeler, 23, of Milton, Del., was admitted to Harvard and became a student in 2007 after he falsely claimed he had earned a perfect academic record at Phillips Academy in Andover and had studied for a year at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, prosecutors said Monday. Harvard started to look into Mr. Wheeler’s background after he sought the university’s endorsement for Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships. He was indicted on 20 offenses, including larceny, identity fraud and pretending to hold a degree. He was arrested Monday by Massachusetts authorities and scheduled for arraignment Tuesday in Middlesex Superior Court. He was trying to transfer to Yale and Brown when he got caught, District Attorney Gerry Leone of Middlesex County said. Before attending Harvard, Mr. Wheeler was a student at Bowdoin College in Maine from 2005-7, but was suspended for academic dishonesty, the authorities said.
This case is just more evidence that Congress must pass Comprehensive Admission Reform granting a Path to Scholarship for the likes of poor Mr. Wheeler.
Harvard must grant Mr. Wheeler amnesty and allow family reunification, admitting all the other budding con-men in his extended family. Think of the children!
Speaking of children, any children he has fathered while at Harvard should be given, by interpretation of the 14th Amendment, birthright admission to Harvard.
The obvious solution to the problem of undocumented studiers is to legalize all of them. If the demand for Harvard educations exceeds the supply, then Harvard should simply increase its class size until every person in the world who wants to be Harvard student is one. Problem solved!
Mr. Wheeler didn't cross Harvard Yard. Harvard Yard crossed him.
If Harvard gets 14 applications for every one it accepts, then it's Harvard's fault for not letting in 14 times as many students.
I'm sure the President's Aunt Zeituni, a long-time resident of Boston, could offer the victim some winning legal advice.
As for not letting him have scholarships, wasn't that declared unconstitutional when Prop. 187 was stricken down by the courts?
Harvard should give Mr. Wheeler the Prof. Andrei Shleifer Award for Seeing His Opportunities and Taking Them. Larry Summers could come up from D.C. to hand it out to him.
I don't see what Harvard is all upset over. It's not like Mr. Wheeler did something really bad, like send a private email to a few friends expressing an open mind on a scientific controversy.
Harvard must grant Mr. Wheeler amnesty and allow family reunification, admitting all the other budding con-men in his extended family. Think of the children!
Speaking of children, any children he has fathered while at Harvard should be given, by interpretation of the 14th Amendment, birthright admission to Harvard.
The obvious solution to the problem of undocumented studiers is to legalize all of them. If the demand for Harvard educations exceeds the supply, then Harvard should simply increase its class size until every person in the world who wants to be Harvard student is one. Problem solved!
Mr. Wheeler didn't cross Harvard Yard. Harvard Yard crossed him.
If Harvard gets 14 applications for every one it accepts, then it's Harvard's fault for not letting in 14 times as many students.
I'm sure the President's Aunt Zeituni, a long-time resident of Boston, could offer the victim some winning legal advice.
As for not letting him have scholarships, wasn't that declared unconstitutional when Prop. 187 was stricken down by the courts?
Harvard should give Mr. Wheeler the Prof. Andrei Shleifer Award for Seeing His Opportunities and Taking Them. Larry Summers could come up from D.C. to hand it out to him.
I don't see what Harvard is all upset over. It's not like Mr. Wheeler did something really bad, like send a private email to a few friends expressing an open mind on a scientific controversy.
Harvard attracts these sorts: check out my old friend Viktor Kozeny, who did a lot of pretending to be a student there before defrauding Czechoslovakia wholesale.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Kožený
If Harvard didn't exist, the fraudsters wouldn't even have to invent it. Instead, they would just gravitate toward the most Harvard-like substance they could find.
Comprehensive Admissions Reform now!
ReplyDeleteSi se puede!
On Arizona, you recently suggested that patriots should stand their ground. Evidently Arizona has threatened to withhold electrical power from LA over their boycott. That seems like the right response, and hopefully states who are watching and waiting before enacting their own version of the Arizona law will see that it pays to have a pair.
ReplyDeleteI'd say about half of the people in my class are masquerading as students.
ReplyDeleteFrom some of the articles I Googled, it appears that Harvard wants reimbursement of all the scholarship money (AKA discounts off the MSRP) they gave Adam Wheeler. Wouldn't that be like asking an illegal alien to repay all the government handouts he's taken advantage of?
ReplyDeleteBack in 1965 there was a sitcom with this theme called "Hank." The main character, Hank Dearborn, was illegally auditing classes at "Western State University."As Wikipedia descrbes it, "Typical episodes show Hank narrowly avoiding detection as an impersonator. In the final episode, his true identity is compromised. However, because of his excellent performance on a recent exam, the university rewards him with a full academic scholarship and formal admittance to the university."
Ah yes, but in 1965 Hank Dearborn was not depriving an equally unqualified affirmative action student of his rightful slot.
This is just too funny to be true.
ReplyDeleteDamn, the sumfabitch beat us to it!!!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, he's led the way and we must follow.
This september, 1000s--if not 10,000s--of thousands of people(preferably Southern white working class or poor hayseeds) should go to Harvard yard and demand recognition, admission, and tuition as illegal or undocumented students. SOCIAL JUSTICE!! EQUALITY!! INCLUSIVENESS!! PROGRESS!!
I hope this Wheeler-dealer guy stands his ground and plays the victim card.
And WE should start a nation-wide campaign to support his cause, and use the publicity to generate the biggest flash mob to ever have flooded the hallowed hall of Old Harvard. Hehe.
I'm surprised they even accepted him as a transfer.
ReplyDeleteI was almost certain Harvard, Princeton, and Yale almost never accept transfer students (some years I'm sure they don't even accept applicants because their yield is way too high).
Note the guy isn't stupid. Bowdoin is a top liberal arts school.
Looks like Harvard is Hard-Walled.
ReplyDeleteBtw, how is this guy any worse than those who got in through AFFIRMATIVE ACTION? Most blacks at Harvard were admitted though their qualifications were well below those of other races. Funny how Harvard institutionalizes cheating for blacks(and some Hispanics) but then goes after some student because he cheated his way in.
ReplyDeleteHe should do like Obama's auntie. SEEK (ACADEMIC)ASYLUM. He should tell the judge--preferably the honorable Shapiro--that he must remain at Harvard because his parents will be very very very upset with him and refuse to support him unless he attends an Ivy League college.
ReplyDeletebarack obama checks citizenship status for his security, but not for ours:
ReplyDelete"The White House appears to be laying the groundwork for President Barack Obama to shake the hand of each senior at Kalamazoo Central High School’s commencement ceremony next month.
Seniors are being asked to provide their birthdates, Social Security numbers and citizen status to the Secret Service so background checks could be performed. Such a check is required for anyone who gets within an arm’s length of the president, students were told at their senior breakfast Friday."
http://tinyurl.com/27jaghy
so it's OK for barack obama to say "Show me zee papers!", but it's not OK to request zee papers if you are merely attempting to intercede a literal immivasion.
even barack obama himself won't "show zee papers" when asked. i see that private investigators have found discrepancies with obama's claimed social security number. or is it numbers? turns out, it's possible barack obama has used multiple different SSNs. at minimum, making him guilty of fraud.
Maybe they should check Obama’s school records prior to entering Harvard too?
ReplyDeleteI think they should grant him amnesty. While they are at it they could go ahead and admit everyone in his extended family without checking their academic background.
ReplyDeleteHe "was admitted to Harvard and became a student in 2007" and was found out when he was applying for Rhodes and Fulbrights. So I deduce that his grades at Harvard were Rhodes- and Fulbright- worthy--he wouldn't be applying through Harvard if he had failed Geniusness 101 at Harvard.
ReplyDeleteThe real crime here is exposing the hollowness of a Harvard "education" vs a Harvard Elite-IQ stamp.
Congratulations on a brilliant headline, Mr iSteve.
ReplyDelete¡ningún estudiante es ilegal!
ReplyDeleteMr. Wheeler should protest outside President Faust's office with signs saying "I am human too".
ReplyDeleteOne can only image what terrible risks and efforts it took for Mr Wheeler to sneak into Harvard simply seeking a better life. Heck, I say let him bring a dozen or so friends and family along with him for his efforts.
Mr. Wheeler is even doing the job documented Harvard students won't: work hard and excel. He apparently is harder working and more talented since he's a plausible Harvard Rhodes and Fulbright candidate.
Steve: there is another angle to this story: anybody can graduate from Harvard.
ReplyDelete"Competitive admissions" colleges would have you believe that their stringent admissions standards are necessary to find those students best able to successfully complete a degree. Yet here is a man whose academic portfolio is entirely bogus, and his grades at Harvard University are sufficiently high to be competitive for a Rhodes scholarship!
It may be that young Adam Wheeler is a one-off: a really smart guy from nowhere who could have earned a perfect record at Phillips if he could have afforded it. But it might also be that intelligence is orthogonal to Harvard's academic program.
Harvard probably thinks irony is like goldie or bronzie, except it's made out of iron.
ReplyDeleteOne does wonder how Harvard would have treated this student were he a Guatemalan or Mexican illegal alien instead of some white guy from Delaware. Very likely they would have expressed admiration for the students pluck and determination and found some way to legitimate him. Or at least let him attend Harvard extension school.
Maybe the university should have covered up this incident and let this guy graduate. What's the big deal? - they cover up rapes in the dormitories all the time. As it is, now the admissions department looks ridiculous. And as Jack Woltz said in the Godfather,"... a man in my position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous."
This student, Adam Wheeler, 23.
ReplyDeleteIs it known, what has he declared as his major (i.e. specialization) ?
I get the intended joke, but, sorry, I don't see the "irony." here.
ReplyDeleteNo.
No.
No.
Hey Steve,
ReplyDeleteWhat's a summary of the state you think the USA will be in in 2040 ?
Obviously your blog chronicles the disagreeable developments but overall do you think the place is going to hell in a hand basket ?
Thanks
Sam
Too bad he's not Mexican - http://www.dreamactivist.org/undocumented-student-at-harvard-on-a-50-k-scholarship/
ReplyDeleteI don't quite understand why this guy bothered to actually go to class.
ReplyDeleteAbout the time when I got my Master's degree a lot of friends asked me if they too should invest in getting some kind of advanced degree. These were almost always from persons who had been frustrated by the lack of response the world had had to their resumes. They wondered if they would get more interviews and job offers if they had an advanced degree prominently displayed near the top of their resume.
I suggested simply creating a new resume with the degree in question added. Then they could mail these resumes out and see if they got more "hits". I made this suggestion to quite a few people but no one ever bothered to actually try it. It became a thought experiment because even a moment's thought quickly revealed that graduate education wasn't a very good investment. If your present hit rate with a truthful resume was say 5% it would probably only be 6% or so with an educationally "enhanced" resume. Many people without much relevant experience in whatever field want an initial boost into the job market through their educational record. But the marginal benefit of more education, for such people, isn't all that great.
Getting a real master's degree would require you to spend two years and tens of thousands of dollars. In some fields you have little choice, you must have a certain degree, but for less specialized jobs the expected value of the return on investment is pretty poor.
The winning strategy is to fake experience not education. That was always my policy.
Colleges keep records. That was what eventually tripped up this guy. If you are suspected of educational enhancement you will be discovered. But if you claim you had held a managerial position
with a now defunct Internet start up, you are safe from almost any investigation.
Later on when I came to interview candidates who wanted to work for me I was deeply suspicious of work experience at companies no longer in business.
"I get the intended joke, but, sorry, I don't see the "irony." here."
ReplyDeletedramatic irony
–noun
irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.
n. The dramatic effect achieved by leading an audience to understand an incongruity between a situation and the accompanying speeches, while the characters in the play remain unaware of the incongruity.
The fascinating question here is, how did he do in terms of grades? The fact that he was applying for Rhodes and Fulbright scholarships suggests that he was doing very well.
ReplyDeleteSteve Sailer said..."I'm sure the President's Aunt Zeituni, a long-time resident of Boston, could offer the victim some winning legal advice."
ReplyDelete...Aunt Zeituni, a long-time resident of Boston...
Oh, mercy. If I'd come up with that, I'd've dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back.
As to this from the article: "He was indicted on 20 offenses, including larceny, identity fraud and pretending to hold a degree", apparently Harvard is quite selective in its belief that no student is a fraud.
For some strange, possibly even Gladwellian reason, the names Barack and Caroline keep coming to mind.
Didn't Steven Spielberg fake his way into Hollywood? Well, he outperformed everyone else.
ReplyDeleteDo guys like Robert Rubin and other Harvard Business School graduates have to repay what they've stolen from all of us?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how Harvard elites not only support and institute stuff like affirmative action and illegal immigration which have stolen from Americans but also train finanacial wizards who cook up stuff like Cds and derivatives and 'ownership society'. (I believe Bush too was a Harvard business graduate.)
Seems to me those great ideas of Harvard's Best and Brightest have cost all of us far more than this kid cost Harvard.
"Later on when I came to interview candidates who wanted to work for me I was deeply suspicious of work experience at companies no longer in business."
ReplyDeleteThis is where the interview is key. If anyone has actually held a job they will be able to talk about it ad nauseum. The important thing when hiring is to confirm continuity of employment over the past 10 years, then probe ruthlessly for details of any experiences which make them qualified. It's not clear resume padding buys you anything in today's labor market.
Employers want specialized plug and play job candidates. They want to use you, not challenge you. If the job challenges you and requires an extraordinary effort -- more than say 50 hour work weeks -- it means there is a risk you will fail or under-perform.
And I say all this based on absolutely no experience.
Later on when I came to interview candidates who wanted to work for me I was deeply suspicious of work experience at companies no longer in business.
ReplyDeleteThe nature of dot coms is that many of them are no longer in business. But that should not mean that contact with former managers/co-workers is impossible. Your candidates should be able to provide the names of these people.
A bigger problem is dealing with people here on visas. Theres no way at all you can verify the work history of somebody from India, unless they worked there for a US subsidary.
was deeply suspicious of work experience at companies no longer in business.
ReplyDeleteproblem is that that's the real case for many people - I have been in the work world 20 years - all but 1 of the dozen or so companies i worked for are out of business or merged into oblivion.
Someone told me once that no one with an undergraduate degree from Harvard has ever won a Nobel prize.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if it is true, but sounds 'bout right.
The valedictorian of my senior class attended Harvard. He was the son of an Air Force officer. His mother was from Nicaragua. I look back now, and I'm pretty certain he got in because his mother was a mulatto.
And a high GPA is not indicative of how well a student did in high school. The parochial school I attended (mostly white members of the working class or middle class) was notorious for giving inflated grades to what John Derbyshire termed DVGs, as in Designated Victim Group.
This "undocumented" genius needs to go out and write the obligatory book. Gotta earn some more $$$.
Just 5 days ago there was an NYT story about an illegal Mexican immigrant fighting the system after being found out:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/15/us/15student.html
Wheeler should totally use this girl's never-apologize response:
"I never thought that I'd be caught up in this messed-up system," Ms. Colotl said Friday at a news conference after being released on $2,500 bail. "I was treated like a criminal, like a threat to the nation."
Roger Chaillet: I know at least one exception - Al Gore! Also Theodore Roosevelt in 1905. I don't know enough about the science winners, which is perhaps what your friend was referring to.
ReplyDeleteFunny stuff. Almost as if you were waiting for this...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the President's Aunt Zeituni, a long-time resident of Boston, could offer the victim some winning legal advice.
Yup. If Harvard kicks him out, he'll face persecution at home. He should apply for academic refugee status.
In Ross Douthout's memoir of his Harvard experience ("Privilege" re re-counts the story of a putative Harvard black undergraduate who hung out in his dorm (and dorm room) for an entire year before it was discovered he was not officially enrolled. Can't remember how it turned out.
ReplyDeleteHarvard's heavy-handed tactics against undocumented students are outrageous, and we should organize a boycott.
ReplyDeleteBy all accounts this young man was hardworking (he was applying to be a Rhodes scholar) and rule-abiding.
The college risks pandering to reactionaries, who falsely claim that undocumented scholars drain university resources and diminish opportunities for "real Harvard" students.
Actually, economists note that undocumented students enrich the educational experience for everyone.
And according to experts like Douglas Massey, excluding students from admissions would just be counterproductive anyway, since it would prevent the currently undocumented from transfering, as they'd fear they couldn't return.
Harvard professors need to teach, but documented students just won't enroll in some courses. Meanwhile, there are plenty of prospective students who are willing to learn. This episode shows that any mean-spirited measures to exclude them won't be successful.
if you claim you had held a managerial position
ReplyDeletewith a now defunct Internet start up, you are safe from almost any investigation.
Even better do a little research. Not just a defunct business but make sure you add a reference from someone at that start up you positvely know to be dead.
Warning: If you do get an interview, be sure to look suitibly mortified when you are told that you old boss and mentor died in a freak accident recently. "Oh no! I wondered why he didnt sent a Christmas card last year."
Maybe even carry an onion.
putative Harvard black undergraduate who hung out in his dorm (and dorm room) for an entire year before it was discovered he was not officially enrolled. Can't remember how it turned out.
ReplyDeleteHe became President?
"Someone told me once that no one with an undergraduate degree from Harvard has ever won a Nobel prize.
ReplyDelete43 according to wiki.some might be graduate school
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_university_affiliation
Cambridge has 61 graduates who are Nobel winners.
ReplyDeleteCambridge University's alumni list is just beyond belief. Here's some alumni of merely Trinity College at Cambridge:
ReplyDeleteFrancis Bacon, Niels Bohr, John Dryden, Thomas Babington Macaulay, James Clerk Maxwell, Vladimir Nabokov, Bertrand Russell, Ernest Rutherford, and William Makepeace Thackeray! And that's leaving out worthies of the caliber of Arthur Balfour, G. H. Hardy, A. A. Milne, Jawaharlal Nehru, John Maynard Smith, Lytton Strachey, and Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Oh, yeah, and Isaac Newton.
Well, Steve, does Cambridge have affirmative action?
ReplyDeleteIt must since there are so many Africans and folks from the Maghreb now living in the UK.
Harvard is the place you go for a sinecure after you become world renowned for something. Everyone else is there just to be Groupies of Greatness.
ReplyDelete"Cambridge University's alumni list is just beyond belief. Here's some alumni of merely Trinity College at Cambridge:"
ReplyDeleteDidn't Wayne Rooney play for their soccer team, but leave early to go pro.
In Mr. Wheeler's defense, he was only doing courses that other students won't do. Without the likes of Mr. Wheeler, who would fill the positions for the Queer Feminist Theory classes or the Afro-American Transgendered Women's seminars? Who would pick the library books that the other kids just won't pick?
ReplyDeleteDidn't President Bush tell us that anyone "worth his salt" would try to find a way to sneak into Harvard?
I would also add that family values don't stop at the 3.5 GPA line. Besides, people like Mr. Wheeler are natural born contributors. If we could only find a way to bring him out of the shadows, I'm sure he would go on to contribute much to the university's academic life.
To showcase this massive display of unfairness, I am producing a documentary called A Day without a Wheeler and Dealer. Then maybe Harvard would realize the vibrant diversity they are losing with Mr. Wheeler's departure.
Come on, Steve. Don't hold the kid's cheating against him. What are you? Some kid of Cheatist?
Anyway, there are an estimated 12,000 undocumented studiers in American universities today. There's no way you could ever remove them all.
I propose a solution: A "Temporary Guest Student Program." Let's title it the Kennedy-MccCain CHEAT Act. It's not really unfair as it seems because.... I'm going to make sure all these undocumented studiers pay back tuition and undergo a remedial math class. After that I'm sure Mr. Wheeler and his ilk will be plenty prepared for university life and will never EVER break any rules again.
A grade is only a line on a piece of paper. I propose the creation of a group called SWG (Student's Without Grades). My group would seek to eliminate the arbitrary and classist barriers that keep people like Mr. Wheeler out of Harvard.
and what did subjects did he study, and grades did he get?
ReplyDeleteif he got reasonable grades, then as Phi said, "anybody can graduate from Harvard".
BTW, sometimes people tell me they wish had a PhD. I always offer to give them one, but no-one has taken me up on it so far
Well, Steve, does Cambridge have affirmative action?
ReplyDeleteIt must since there are so many Africans and folks from the Maghreb now living in the UK.
We dont have AA in the UK....yet.
But as we are further enriched the political pressure will build up.
More evidence we need amnesty for undocumented military officers - http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_army_infiltrator
ReplyDeleteI liked the old days when everyone was expected to blame themselves for their own actions and failures. Now everyone blames whites for any and everything that goes wrong.
ReplyDeleteGood God these comments are funny!
ReplyDelete@ asdadfasdfaf
Count me in.
>I have been in the work world 20 years - all but 1 of the dozen or so companies i worked for are out of business or merged into oblivion<
ReplyDeleteTry getting anyone over 50 to comprehend this and believe you.
I see that I struck a nerve when I suggested that it was better to fake experience rather than to fake educational attainments. First let me assure everyone that I really did pad my resume with fictional positions and I was never caught, furthermore I have no regrets or apologies.
ReplyDeleteMy resume claimed at one point I had held the position of "Web Architect" at a previous company. I never did. But there was indeed such a position and I had wanted it. Of the sixty some programmers at that real company I was nearly the only plausible candidate for architect.
The company was a web development shop that advertised their expertise in Microsoft ASP development. In fact ASP coders cost too much so they used Lotus Notes coders whom they could acquire for much less. To those not familiar with Web bubble thinking this sounds incredible even impossible. Actually this kind of thinking was typical. The owner and top management had almost no idea what these tools did so they substituted one set for the other because of something they must have remembered from some business school class. They were charging $150 to $180 an hour for trainees. Almost none of the applications these newbees wrote actually ever worked. In retrospect its easy to see why this company went bankrupt and was sued by so many of its former clients. But at the time on the inside it just looked like a great opportunity for me.
I was already the "go to" guy on ASP and database - I had real training and experience in these that almost no one else there had. In fact I prepared a document arguing that I immediately be promoted to the recently empty architect position and given a substantial pay raise. I went into the meeting with this document and was laid off. Quite a shock. I was told not to take it personally by the HR woman. Everyone else was also being let go. She said that she only hoped that by wiping out all the coders they would save enough money that it would save her job. It didn't.
So when I next interviewed for a job I claimed to have held the architect position. Everyone who had known me at the now defunct company had scattered, all the personnel records were likewise gone. I have never felt very guilty because I subscribe to the Multi Universe interpretation of quantum mechanics. In some other parallel universe that company didn't go bankrupt and I was promoted to architect. I wasn't lying I was just referenciing my experience in another universe.
I have never felt very guilty because I subscribe to the Multi Universe interpretation of quantum mechanics. In some other parallel universe that company didn't go bankrupt and I was promoted to architect. I wasn't lying I was just referenciing my experience in another universe.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and I wrote "Dreams from My Father".
I rarely comment here, but I have to say that I am appalled, though not surprised, by the nature of the response here, especially given how much you, Mr. Sailer, and your readers/fellow HBD travelers, whine, moan and complain so much about Affirmative Action. This post only goes to show that your opposition to AA isn't based on principle, but merely spoils politics.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I say that? because the argument against AA as you and others put forth, is that it tramples on the idea of merit - we either lower standards and/or admit lesser qualified folk in favor of those who truly belong there based on their inherent ability and/or work ethic. Mr. Weller's actions are every bit as egregious as any Affirmative Action admit, I would argue moreso, since he is accused of committing *federal crimes* such as mail fraud and taking federal monies in the form of grants. His actions have truly taken spaces from more deserving and qualified students who would otherwise be there at Harvard. Mr. Weller's actions drive right to the heart of what you and others constantly complain about wrt Affirmative Action. Yet, you and your readers treat the whole matter as if a joke.
Which makes your own position wrt AA come off as a joke, because no one truly believes you guys are so interested about merit, so much as you are interested in the fact that the right people in your eyes didn't get in. Spoils politics, plain and simple. That would be OK if you guys were at least honest to call it for what it is, instead of tripping over yourselves trying to put highbrow lipstick on a racialist pig.
Here`s my take on you guys "position" on Affirmative Action:
http://theobsidianfiles.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/the-importance-of-being-earnest-consistent/#comment-11978
The Obsidian
Obsidian,
ReplyDeleteI'll try to be as blunt as I can because you obviously can't handle irony.
This post is about illegal immigration, not affirmation action.
Okay?
Oh, and Wheeler is analogized to an illegal immigrant (aka "undocumented worker")
ReplyDeleteNobody's really approving of him here, although there's plenty Harvard hate.
He "was admitted to Harvard and became a student in 2007" and was found out when he was applying for Rhodes and Fulbrights. So I deduce that his grades at Harvard were Rhodes- and Fulbright- worthy--he wouldn't be applying through Harvard if he had failed Geniusness 101 at Harvard.
ReplyDeleteThe Crimson disavows you of that assumption...
The resume stated that Wheeler had a 4.0 GPA at Harvard, in contrast to prosecutors' claim that he received some A's some B's and a D in his Harvard classes.
Here is the link to his resume too...hilarious!
http://www.tnr.com/sites/default/files/Wheeler-redacted.pdf
Tom V,
ReplyDeleteYea, I get the "joke" and read the story about the illegal immigrant Latina down in GA. No doubt she's in violation of the lawm, but there is one crucial difference - she got into the school legitimately - according to all the info we have at the moment, we cannot ssay the same about Mr. Wheeler. Which again, brings us back to a crucial point - you cannot claim to take the high ground wrt opposing AA, but then either say nothing, or worse, attempt to "joke" about the Mr. Wheeler's of the world. If you're serious about the issue, and if you want to be taken seriously, you have to oppose ALL forms of line-busting, and Mr. Wheeler's actions definitely did that.
I mean, where were any of you when GWB ascended to the heights of American power and prestige? Everyone knows that he got where he is on the strength of his familial connections. Moreover, he wasn't a particularly special or accomplished student while at Yale or Harvard; surely there were other more deserving students who just didn't have the money and connections Bush 43 had, yet none of you had a problem with that.
Hmm.
O.
where were any of you when GWB ascended to the heights of American power and prestige?
ReplyDeleteSo, you say an illegal immigrant --who ought not to have been in U.S. in order to apply for Harvard admit in the first place -- "got in legitimately," but Mr. Wheeler, who did a level of school work sufficient to be try for Rhodes scholarship, was illegitimately there.
Huh.
As far as GWB, a whole bunch of us were busy holding up "Google Ron Paul" cards.
"I mean, where were any of you when GWB ascended to the heights of American power and prestige? Everyone knows that he got where he is on the strength of his familial connections. Moreover, he wasn't a particularly special or accomplished student while at Yale or Harvard; surely there were other more deserving students who just didn't have the money and connections Bush 43 had, yet none of you had a problem with that. "
ReplyDeleteHave you ever done any critical thinking? Opposing illegal immigration and liking Dubya are not necessarily concommitant. Indeed, Dubya was as much an accomplice of open borders as any CEO seeking to benefit. That's the GOP for you.
POTUSs don't "ascend" of their own accord. Think about it--they need the media and big money on their side. Who among recent POTUSs did anything in their pre-POTUS lives to merit the Presidency? I can't think of anyone, though Nixon had been a VP, Reagan and Clinton and Bush II at least were governors and Bush Sr. was CIA. But were any really all that?
They are ascended by others for reasons of their own. Presidents are selected long before the fact of their election. There's a little wiggle room for the unexpected, but not too much.
How do you know what persons here had a problem with? Bush went on for years and plenty of people disliked him.
However, we do at least have verifiable records of his mediocre performance in University and assurity in the public domaine that he did go there.
It's the least we should expect a President of the United States to provide.
Obsidian:
ReplyDeleteyou have to oppose ALL forms of line-busting, and Mr. Wheeler's actions definitely did that.
I do oppose what Wheeler did. Other people here do as well.
I don't know the Latina in GA story that you alluded to, but it tells me that you still don't get it.
This post is about illegal immigration in general. Wheeler gatecrashed Harvard. Illegals gatecrashed America. Of course, both are opposed by people here. They are just mocking Harvard for opposing the former but not the latter.
This post is not about AA. AA admittees are analagous to the Diversity Visa lottary winners. The selection criteria are stupid in both cases, but at least people are being selected and the policy objectives (misguided though they are) are being achieved. Not so in the cases of illegal immigration and illegal studying (Wheeler).
Tom V,
ReplyDeleteReplies below:
TV: I do oppose what Wheeler did. Other people here do as well.
O: You do? Where? I'd like to see those quotes, please. Thanks.
TV: I don't know the Latina in GA story that you alluded to, but it tells me that you still don't get it.
O: A link to the story can be found either in this thread or in the other one Sailer has here in the forum. Another commenter posted it up and I read it, and I do agree that she broke the law and in my view should be deported. So, yea, I do get it. However, it seems clear, that you and others, don't.
TV: This post is about illegal immigration in general. Wheeler gatecrashed Harvard. Illegals gatecrashed America. Of course, both are opposed by people here. They are just mocking Harvard for opposing the former but not the latter.
O: OK, but why no mocking for the egregious acts on Wheeler's part? Why the near-lionizing of him as some kind of hero striking a blow for disaffected White guys? Please explain?
TV: This post is not about AA. AA admittees are analagous to the Diversity Visa lottary winners. The selection criteria are stupid in both cases, but at least people are being selected and the policy objectives (misguided though they are) are being achieved. Not so in the cases of illegal immigration and illegal studying (Wheeler)
O: I respectfully disagree; this post is indeed about what it means to be consistent on principles, something that many on your side of the aisle go on and on about when it comes to AA. The fact that this issue has to be couched within illegal immigration, and not as a straight up condemnation of Mr. Wheeler fullstop by rabid anti-line busters, really says it all. Again, if you're really serious about the position, you just don't stop at AA - you go after, with equal vim and vigor, legacy babies, Z-listers, trust fundees, and the like.
Again, please point out to me the many Sailer articles, posts and the like, as well as that of other well known HBDers on the Right, who has done this?
I'll wait.
O.
Pearl,
ReplyDeleteReplies below:
P: Have you ever done any critical thinking? Opposing illegal immigration and liking Dubya are not necessarily concommitant. Indeed, Dubya was as much an accomplice of open borders as any CEO seeking to benefit. That's the GOP for you.
O: Fair enough. But your comments here seems to indiciate that your critical thinking skills are quite suspect.
P: POTUSs don't "ascend" of their own accord. Think about it--they need the media and big money on their side. Who among recent POTUSs did anything in their pre-POTUS lives to merit the Presidency? I can't think of anyone, though Nixon had been a VP, Reagan and Clinton and Bush II at least were governors and Bush Sr. was CIA. But were any really all that?
They are ascended by others for reasons of their own. Presidents are selected long before the fact of their election. There's a little wiggle room for the unexpected, but not too much.
P: How do you know what persons here had a problem with? Bush went on for years and plenty of people disliked him.
O: You're kidding me right?
P: However, we do at least have verifiable records of his mediocre performance in University and assurity in the public domaine that he did go there.
O: I'm sorry, I don't follow your comments here, what do they have to do with what I or Sailer is saying?
P: It's the least we should expect a President of the United States to provide.
O: ? Again, what does this have to do with what I've said?
O.
>P: How do you know what persons here had a problem with? Bush went on for years and plenty of people disliked him.
ReplyDeleteO: You're kidding me right?<
Newbie, read the archives. Dubya is prominent in our menagerie of monsters (to use a Mencken term).
The point of this post is to demonstrate the surprising similarity of illegal immigrants and the criminal who cheated his way into Harvard. You see, illegal immigrants cheat their way into the United States. The Harvard imposter cheated his way into Harvard. There is the similarity. And because Steve disapproves of the Harvard imposter, he uses him to denounce illegal immigrants, of whom he equally disapproves, because their actions and ethics are parallel to his. The difficulty you may be having with this post is that it is written in an ironic voice. Here I will explain what "ironic voice" means, as follows. Because the establishment actually praises illegal immigrants, Steve "praises" the Harvard criminal in order to mock the establishment, even (very funny) using the exact same words and phrases that the establishment uses when it praises illegal immigrants. The purpose of this ironic voice is not to praise the Harvard criminal, but to mock the establishment for praising illegal immigrants, who are also criminals. Steve ironically praises (or implies praise for) the Harvard criminal in order to ridicule the establishment that praises illegal immigrants for being "brave," "seeking a better life regardless of laws," etc. Many of the commenters here are continuing Steve's use of irony, but naturally their use of irony or mockery is angrier and more bitter than Steve's is: these commenters are trying to appear as if they are so angry with the establishment and its hypocrisy on illegal immigration that they will deliberately break laws, like the Harvard imposter did, or alternatively will praise the imposter far and wide, all as a way of rejecting and defying the establishment. You would be wise not to believe that they really engage in or approve of lawbreaking.
If you have any questions about this, please ask; I will be happy to clarify further. I understand there are people who have difficulty with irony and who need a little help to appreciate its meaning and pleasures.