Dr. Wayne Flynt - Alabama's Resident Intellectual

Via The Gadsden Times, Dana Beyerle, Montgomery Bureau chief for the New York Times Regional Newspapers, reminds us of the contributions of Professor Wayne Flynt to our state. The article is clear that Bobby Lowder's micro-management of Auburn University motivated Dr. Flynt into leaving AU early. I only had the chance to take one class with Dr. Flynt and valued partly since he was one of the few "old school" essay. He was brutal in his essays but by the end of the term I had a handle on his style. I always valued the man!

One portion of the writing distured me however. Beyerle wrote,

"... Flynt is no bleeding heart liberal since he believes people are responsible for their actions and consequences."

What liberal doesn't know that? Labels are so very dangerous. Especially when the next sentence is ,

"I also know that a lot of bad choices are conditioned upon things that are beyond our control," he said, such as under-funded education, politicians and governments that don't place a premium on economic and social equality and the economic hand that Alabama and much of the South was dealt since the end of the Civil War until the 1960s and 1970s when opportunities on par with other regions of the country first began.

The average "bleeding heart liberal" simply looks at the big picture. Peace ... or War!