Drexel professor resigns, citing "harassment by right-wing, white supremacist media outlets and internet mobs."

George Ciccariello-Maher, a professor of politics and global studies, says his "situation has become unsustainable," and "Staying at Drexel in the eye of this storm has become detrimental to my own writing, speaking, and organizing," CNN reports.

He became a target after he tweeted this joke last December: "All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide." What's funny about that joke, he explains, is that racists are paranoid about white genocide, which, in fact, "does not exist."

He also tweeted that when he saw someone on an airplane give up a first-class seat to a soldier, he was "trying not to vomit." People should have understood that he meant that he opposed the killing of civilians in the Iraq war.

Now, he says, "the forces of resurgent white supremacy have tasted blood and are howling for more," and universities should "refuse to bow to their pressure, intimidation, and threats." But he himself is resigning. If I assume Ciccariello-Maher is rational, I infer that he means to imply that his university did not support him enough.

ADDED: On reflection, I identify with this guy (or at least with one image I have of him). He leaves his university job because he wants to be free to speak in a challenging way, using sarcasm and surprising concision. You have to stop and think: What's he really saying? Or: Not sure exactly what he means, but here's what he's making me think. Or: He's making me so mad but if I try to say why he's got a way to tell me I'm wrong.

Trump does similar things, but he won't withdraw to a safe distance from which to freely gibe.