Case Growing Against Controversial University of Wisconsin Lecturer

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," July 25, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.

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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: "Factor" follow-up segment tonight: The strange and disturbing saga at University of Wisconsin — teacher Kevin Barrett. A couple of weeks ago Barrett accused the USA of attacking itself on 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN BARRETT, PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: It's happening, you know, largely through this false flag terrorism. It looks to me like, you know, not only 9/11, but also Madrid, 7/7, the Bali hotel bombing, and probably most of the so-called Zarqawi-style bombings in Iraq, are all false flight operations being carried out by, you know, a special wing of probably U.S. or western military intelligence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Of course, that's nuts. But university Provost Patrick Farrell says Barrett can continue teaching, and he's going to teach a class on "Introduction to Islam." After that ruling I said this:

This guy would have been gone at Boston University, my alma mater, in a heartbeat. The chancellor their, John Silver — this guy would be in the Charles River floating down toward the harbor.

So what did Barrett do when he heard I said that? He wrote a letter to my boss saying, quote, "It has come to my attention that one of your announcers, Bill O'Reilly, has stated on national television that he would like to see me murdered and thrown into the Boston Harbor," unquote.

And this guy is teaching at the University of Wisconsin?

Joining us from Madison, a state representative, Steven Nass.

This is a total collapse of standards at the University, an embarrassment for the state of Wisconsin. Is anything going to be done?

STEVEN NASS, STATE REPRESENTATIVE: Well, I'm hopeful. Sixty-one members of the legislature signed off asking for him to be dismissed. It really is about honesty in the classroom. It's about fact versus fiction, and it's about the administrative end of it, too, and the lack of decision-making that has gone about here.

They're in a tailspin. The board of regents have been in a coma, and this just continues to go on.

O'REILLY: Yes, I mean, this guy is obviously — there's something the matter. I don't know what it is. But you know, when he writes that I wanted him murdered.

And I mean, to be a teacher you're supposed to be fact-based academic. You're supposed to have a mastery over your subject. This man is delusional. And the fact that you got 61 legislators out of how many? How many legislators are there in Wisconsin?

NASS: One hundred and thirty-three.

O'REILLY: All right. So you've got almost half, but you should have 133 out of 133.

See, I'm not understanding the mentality of the provosts who, I think, you know, again, this is just a collapse of all academic standards. And then the legislature, I mean, aren't they — don't they understand that, when you bring a guy like this onto the campus, as delusional as he is — I don't think he's danger to anybody, but I think he's just not up to the job. Are there any standards at the state's most prestigious university?

NASS: Apparently not. And interestingly, this is the only individual that applied for the job, and he was hired. So the university talks about winnowing and sifting ideas, and yet, when it comes to hiring somebody credible in the classroom, that falls through. So that does raise the question as to how in the first place did he get hired?

O'REILLY: I mean, this is how bizarre it is. That Barrett is going to teach an introduction to Islam and is putting forth that 9/11 and all of the other terror attacks around the world are being orchestrated by the U.S. government and other western democracies to divert attention from the truth. I don't exactly know what the truth is.

But this would be like a math teacher going in and saying, "You know, three and three is not six. Three and three is 10."

You know, don't there have to be any standards at all for instruction at the university? And why are half the legislators in Wisconsin sitting this out? I'm not getting it.

NASS: Well, unfortunately, many of them had decided to make this a partisan issue, with the exception of one individual.

O'REILLY: Is that right?

NASS: That is unfortunate. It is very interesting to know that the very liberal members of the legislature have hunkered down. They have stayed out of the fight. I think they even realize this is a bad idea for the university...

O'REILLY: Are you telling me that Wisconsin Democrats want to keep this guy in there? Is that right?

NASS: Apparently so, by their back of signatures on the resolution.

O'REILLY: It was all Republicans except for one?

NASS: That is one Democrat has signed on. The others have not signed on.

O'REILLY: Really? That's stunning. The governor, Doyle, right, he's sitting it out, right?

NASS: Yes, he initially was with me. Now he has put his tail between his legs, and even the board of regents, who thumbed their nose at him, he has run from them.

O'REILLY: Doyle did the same thing when you had the sex molesters, the child molesters teaching there, he did the same thing, right? Let us know what happens. We'll continue to follow this story.

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