Like the bar in New Orleans that shares his name, I have swung wildly back and forth in my assessment of Dr. Pat O'Brien, president of West Texas A&M. There have been times in my life that I believed that Pat O'Brien's in the French Quarter was the best place on Earth. There have been other times (usually the next morning) when I assessed the place rather differently, cursing the moment I ever entered those doors and ordered one of those infamous Hurricanes.
And sometimes, as when he served wine to the faculty and staff at a reception during office hours in the middle of Canyon, Texas, Dr. Pat O'Brien has been an intoxicating kick in the balls to West Texas mores. Occasionally, as when he signed the petition to lower the drinking age, he has shown a bold vision for logic and for fairness.
At other times, he has seemed as clueless as a sea lion flopping across our sunburnt steppe.
I give props to Dr. O'Brien for even talking to BuffaloRove. His accessibility is to be commended. But I also hear this:
Dr. O’Brien is fully aware of Karl’s sordid reputation. He welcomes the controversy. The WTAMU president is shrewd. His goal is to fashion our little state school into a high-profile learning institution.And that makes me think of a comment made by blogarillo on our laughable blog, a comment that was probably unwelcome to both supporters and haters of Rove:
"Screw Rove and screw protesting him. The Powers-That-Be would like nothing more than to play the victim because a handful of people turned out to wave poster boards in the air. They want you to protest, so don't give them what they want. Let the aptly-named Turd Blossom blow in and out of Canyon like a cloud of Randall County cow farts."The jury's out. O'Brien has demonstrated a desire to make WT into an Athens on the High Plains, where all issues are on the table to be discussed. He has also demonstrated an ability to disingenuously argue on behalf of the status quo.
So, which is it, Pat? You gonna be Ed Roach, or you gonna be Socrates?
Follow your heart: either way you get poisoned in the end.
Just let the rest of us know which it's gonna be.
spacedark
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