Why does Drexel University professor George Ciccarielo-Maher want “to vomit” when someone extends kindness to a member of the military?

On a flight last Sunday, Ciccarielo observed an unnamed passenger giving up his first-class seat to a uniformed person. Wonderful gesture, right? Not according to Ciccarielo. Here’s what he tweeted. He later made it private, but you know how the internet never forgets.

Rob O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who was on the team which took out Bin Laden, appeared on Friday’s “Fox and Friends” to rip Ciccariello.

“How to Grow Facial Hair Without Testosterone.” Oh, snap!

Is Ciccariello feeling even the teeniest bit of remorse over his comments? Hardly. On Thursday he released this statement to a Fox affiliate in Philadelphia:

Two days after U.S. airstrikes incinerated an estimated 200 civilians in the Iraqi city of Mosul, I sent a personal tweet in reaction to what I considered a smug and self-congratulatory gesture by a first-class passenger toward a uniformed soldier. Maybe predictably, my tweet has since been fed into and misrepresented by the outrage machine that is right-wing media. Needless to say, my personal views expressed off-campus have absolutely nothing to do with those of my employer, Drexel University.

Well, of course. Conservative knuckle-draggers are too ignorant to appreciate the prof’s academic genius and brilliantly nuanced remarks.

Or maybe we love our country, respect those who serve her, and despise arrogant asshats who sneer at patriotism. I know, that’s beneath the dignity of a genius like Ciccariello.

So just who is Associate Professor George Ciccariello-Maher, PhD?

I looked up his bio at Drexel University so you wouldn’t have to. Here are some revealing facts:

• He acquired his MA and PhD in Political Science from U.C. Berkeley in 2004 and 2010. Surprise, surprise!
• He taught political theory at Berkeley, San Quentin State Prison, and the Venezuelan School of Planning in Caracas. He’s really proud of that too. “Everywhere that I have lived, from Caracas to Oakland, has impacted my approach to teaching, research, and how I understand the world more generally, and I expect Drexel and Philadelphia to do the same,” he wrote. Rob O’Neill was right — he is a blowhard.
• He calls himself a specialist in “Colonialism, social movements, political theory, Latin America, and race and racism.” Well, color me shocked!

Furthermore, to see whom he salutes, here’s the cover for his Twitter feed. I’m thinking those are South American guerrillas. They’re certainly not Americans.

And, in case you were suspecting this — yes, the pompous professor has also described himself as a communist. From a December, 2016, tweet culled from the internet:

Oh, but I suppose I’m taking that out of context or something. Or I’m too stupid to understand his intellect.

So once again, Drexel University is faced with having to cover for Ciccariello’s twitter spew. It’s something to which they should be accustomed — in December they were forced to respond to this gem of a tweet:

Now, after their wunderkind’s latest social media escapade, Drexel has issued this statement:

“The recent social media comments by George Ciccariello-Maher, Associate Professor of Politics and Global Studies at Drexel, were made outside the classroom, are his own opinion and do not represent the University’s views. Drexel is committed to and vigorously supports our ROTC students, student veterans and alumni who have served in the military. Our support for student veterans has helped us create an inclusive campus culture that honors service and Drexel’s deep connection to American military history.”

That, my friends, is a plastic-fantastic, cover-your-ass statement.

Certainly Professor Ciccariello-Maher has a right to make contemptuous comments about our military. But parents don’t have to send their kids to the university that covers for him. Students don’t have to enroll in his classes. And Drexel alumni don’t have to contribute, either. If Drexel University faced a pocketbook backlash, that would be the best sort of payback for sponsoring this crackpot who just can’t keep from vomiting his scorn for those who serve America.