June 11, 2020

"Ever since I started Legal Insurrection in October 2008, it’s been an awkward relationship given the overwhelmingly liberal faculty and atmosphere."

"Living as a conservative on a liberal campus is like being the mouse waiting for the cat to pounce. For over 12 years, the Cornell cat did not pounce. Though there were frequent and aggressive attempts by outsiders to get me fired, including threats and harassment, it always came from off campus.... Not until now, to the best of my knowledge, has there been an effort from inside the Cornell community to get me fired. The impetus for the effort was two posts I wrote at Legal Insurrection regarding the history and tactics of the Black Lives Matter Movement: The impetus for the effort was two posts I wrote at Legal Insurrection regarding the history and tactics of the Black Lives Matter Movement: 'Reminder: “Hands up, don’t shoot” is a fabricated narrative from the Michael Brown case ,"  "The Bloodletting and Wilding Is Part of An Agenda To Tear Down The Country."... My clinical faculty colleagues, apparently in consultation with the Black Law Students Association, drafted and then published in the Cornell Sun on June 9 a letter [with] absurd name-calling, distorting and even misquoting my writings, to the extent it purports to be about me.... None of the 21 signatories, some of whom I’d worked closely with for over a decade and who I considered friends, had the common decency to approach me with any concerns.... We are living in extraordinarily dangerous times, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution, in which professors guilty of wrongthink were publicy denounced and fired at the behest of students who insisted on absolute ideological orthodoxy. It’s a way of instilling terror in other students, faculty, staff, and society, so that others shut up and don’t voice dissenting views."

From "There’s an effort to get me fired at Cornell for criticizing the Black Lives Matter Movement" by William Jacobson (at Legal Insurrection).

156 comments:

Ray - SoCal said...

Glenn Reynolds commented…

People need to start suing over these campaigns, which are basically conspiracies to deprive people of their civil rights. I think there’s money to be made.
https://pjmedia.com/instapundit/379461/

mesquito said...

This is why our universities are called “little islands of tyranny in a sea of freedom.”

Lucid-Ideas said...

We're past the point of trying to be reasonable here. The evidence slapping you in the face is overwhelming. You could be completely rational and justified with the most level-headed and scientific argument and you will be attacked. Period. Stop trying to do the same thing over and over again expecting the same result.

Cold. Civil. War.

Aggie said...

And where are the alumni? The same kind of thing has been stealthily happening at Texas A&M University, which up into the millenium was a bastion of tradition and conservative values. Now it harbors an extension of the rabid liberalism and its toxic academic culture more commonly seen at the University of Texas. It's unfortunate but with tyranny this ubiquitous it becomes increasingly impossible to coexist peacefully. It cannot end well and I increasingly think the end boundary to this epoch will probably be delineated by violence on a grand scale, a purge one way or the other.

gspencer said...



Yet again we see it. In The Coming of the Third Reich, historian Richard J. Evans explains how, in the early days of National Socialist Germany, Stormtroopers (Brownshirts) “organized campaigns against unwanted professors in the local newspapers [and] staged mass disruptions of their lectures.” To express dissent from Nazi positions became a matter of taking one’s life into one’s hands. The idea of people of opposing viewpoints airing their disagreements in a civil and mutually respectful manner was gone. One was a Nazi, or one was silent (and fearful).

Today’s fascists call themselves “anti-fascists,” and this BLM is just a variant. Just like the Nazis, they are totalitarian: they are determined not to allow their opponents to murmur the slightest whisper of dissent. Forcibly suppressing the speech of someone with whom one disagrees is a quintessentially fascist act.

These fascists will target you for destruction if you oppose any aspect of their plans for destruction.

M Jordan said...

The Cultural Revolution is here. We must not succumb like the Chinese did.

Sebastian said...

So his main claims are 1. that hands up, don't shoot is based on a lie, and 2. that the goal of the rioting is to destroy capitalism, and to seek revenge.

On what basis do his colleagues disagree? 1. is obviously true, per Eric Holder. 2. is debatable, in the sense that many riots involved opportunistic looters, but insofar as they have goals and progs approved of them, destroying capitalism and seeking revenge seem a close approximation.

Of course, I am not implying that progs need a basis for anything. If they have the power, they'll try to use it.

Original Mike said...

"We are living in extraordinarily dangerous times, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution, in which professors guilty of wrongthink were publicy denounced and fired at the behest of students who insisted on absolute ideological orthodoxy. It’s a way of instilling terror in other students, faculty, staff, and society, so that others shut up and don’t voice dissenting views.""

I don't understand why supposedly intelligent people, like his law school colleagues, don't see this. I can only conclude that they do, and they desire the intimidation and terror. What truly awful people.

MeatPopscicle1234 said...

It is scary... as I've said before, these radicals are the ones that will line you up against a wall and blow your brains out without the slightest pang of guilt... and Democrats, in the fury at Trump, their hatred of middle America, and their lust for power, are leading a blind charge over a cliff, oblivious to the fact that like with all revolutions, they will be among the first to be "disposed of" once the mob has succeeded in destroying the old system...

Assistant Village Idiot said...

But it's happening to other people, so we don't need to worry about it.

Temujin said...

I'd be curious, Ann. What do you think about what's going on with William Jacobsen? But be careful with your answer. It may be used against you at some point.

Temujin said...

I guess I could at least spell his name correctly- William Jacobson.

JAORE said...

Boy,I hope they eat me last.

Sure, pal. But we are already sending out the dessert course.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Thou shalt have no other gods before Black Lives Matter

John Marzan said...

Would Ann survive in this environment if she was still teaching at Wisconsin?

Vance said...

Yes, there is no freedom of thought or speech in leftist utopia, is there? How dare you disagree with the latest messaging from Uncle Joe, comrade! Of course I mean Joe Stalin, since Joe Biden is senile and doesn't have any coherent thoughts left....

Since Inga is here posting, I would like to ask: Is this what you want? A land where college professors who have tenure are in fear of their life and job merely for disagreeing with you and your side? Is this America, the land of the free?

Or have we moved into your favorite period of history: the communist revolutionary phase?

Amy said...

This new McCarthyism puts the old McCarthyism to shame.

Michael K said...

He is, of course, correct just as there is an effort to get an Economics professor fired at U of Chicago. The drive to become Zimbabwe continues but I don't think the blacks are enough to do it. The white radicals who are using them as cannon fodder are also too small a group. A few blue cities will be destroyed.

pour encourager les autres

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Leftwingers are speech-crime Nazis.

M Jordan said...

Academia is 95% progressive/liberal. Yet that’s not good enough. When this terrible moment in history is over the left will be truly be dead for forty years. But until that happens, we all need to be prepared.

Expat(ish) said...

It’s easy to confuse a work colleague with a friend.

The friend calls when they see your name on the lay-off list. The colleague connects with you on LinkedIn.

-XC

Gk1 said...

Too bad. I have read his blog for years and wondered when the liberal lynch mob would finally catch up with him. It's no real surprise his liberal colleagues would be at the front of the lynch mob, that's who these people are and what they do.

Static Ping said...

Glenn Reynolds over at Instapundit says that when we get fed up with this and defund the universities, it will be declared anti-intellectualism.

I am fed up.

Owen said...

Ban all the things! Ban all the speech that makes me “uncomfortable”!

Note: “uncomfortable” means “I am too intellectually inadequate, too lazy and/or too addicted to this endorphin rush from venting my Very Righteous Anger, to bother even trying to answer the substance of what you say.”

mccullough said...

It’s an Ivy League school. Those places are insane asylums run by spies for China.

This looks like the beginnings of a Go Fund Me. He can run the website from a red town in a red state. Best of luck

Jim Gust said...

Professor Althouse, I think you retired in the nick of time. Your Madison colleagues were no more tolerant than those at Cornell.

I am stunned and disappointed at the speed at which supposed liberals are attacking the concept of free speech.

steve uhr said...

"The law enforcement system is being undermined by district attorneys funded by George Soros whose agenda is to prevent enforcement of laws,"

who are these nameless DAs?

Jupiter said...

The People pushing Black Lives Matter are not, for the most part, black. They are a small number of white people who believe they can use a pretended concern for the lives of blacks to achieve their political goals, which are terroristic, making use of a larger number of whites whose sympathy for blacks and guilt about the black condition combine with a primal fear of ostracism to make them manipulable. The former group would be perfectly willing to use the plight of North Koreans or Chinese Uighurs to fuel their campaign. However, the latter group is not concerned about those groups. So,apparently, the element of guilt is needed. Sympathy and fear of ostracism is not enough.

ConradBibby said...

It'd be interesting to see what sort of underlying assumptions are baked into these models. Are they assuming Biden will get something like 90-95% of the black vote, consistent with Dem performance in recent elections; or are the modelers open to the possibility that things won't play out according to the "last war?" Frankly, without even peeking at poll numbers, I'm having trouble believing that all of the chaos that is being not just tolerated but openly supported by the Dems is a sign of their electoral strength rather than weakness. I think there's likely to be a huge reaction against this insanity when the vast majority of people in this country, who are normal, get to cast their vote for or against.

CWJ said...

Althouse, do you think you'd be receiving threats and accusations in this environment had you not retired?

Charlie said...

Legal Insurrection is one of the best blogs out there.

Oso Negro said...

A bunch of people are gonna get killed before this is over. Half the country apparently has rejected our founding values, the probable majority of law professors among them.

Gahrie said...

I teach high school. (Government and History) I am seriously worried about my job next year. The administration was already getting complaints this year from students and parents that I wasn't woke enough.

Jupiter said...

Hmmm... Was it 2008, when it began? Trying to remember, when I stopped laughing at Leftists, and began to fear them. And, of course, hate them. Hate their stinking guts.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Althouse must be very happy she is retired.

Dave Begley said...

Isn't tenure there to protect him? Isn't that's what tenure is about?

Interesting that his critics would make this push even though he certainly has tenure.

Eleanor said...

Professor Jacobson's blog has been a great place to go for non-lawyers to get complicated legal issues explained. He has a staff that keeps the blog current and interesting. Anyone who followed the posts there by Andrew Branca during the Zimmerman trial got good lessons in the laws guiding self-defense. The verdict was no surprise to anyone following the trial there. Likewise, the on the scenes reporting of the Gibson's Bakery libel suit by Daniel McGraw was outstanding. But behind every issue is the teaching by Professor Jacobson. If he does this well in a daily blog, it must be a fantastic opportunity to actually take one of his classes. I hope this is just a tempest in a teapot. If Cornell can't handle having a measured, conservative voice in its law school, then it doesn't deserve to call itself a university.

DanTheMan said...

"It’s a way of instilling terror in other students, faculty, staff, and society, so that others shut up and don’t voice dissenting views."

Diversity is our strength.
And we must all have the same opinion about diversity.

Drago said...

BLM is the new marxist-Leninist-anarcho version of the late 1960s Black Guerilla Faction except now there are more of them and their lefty/liberal/LLR-left allies control key institutions and are conducting Maoist purges.

The Black Guerilla Faction took over areas of Oakland in the early 70's in precisely the sane way BLM has taken over Seattle districts and, just as the BGF was extorting and threatening locals in their controlled areas so is BLM.

Reread Thomas Wolfe's 1970 "Radical Chic" article in New York Magazine to see how far we've come in our culture with Bloom's "Closing of The American Mind" as a backdrop to the Maoist purges.

Unknown said...

This is why we have tenure.

GatorNavy said...

I could reference 1984, Fahrenheit 451, or Heinlein’s the crazy years, but I’m sure it has been done to death. So, I’ll just say attempting to silence a intellectual viewpoint is simply despicable

whitney said...

in my neck of the woods a bunch of rich white bitches are on Nextdoor trying to destroy a local restaurant because it's not woke enough

wendybar said...

His blog is the first I go to everyday....Yours is second! I knew they would be going after him, since they were just attacking David Collum who is a Professor of Chemistry at Cornell University. He made the mistake of tweeting about the old man in Buffalo (a known activist)….and the BLM, Antifa, hate crowd came out in full force. Cornell is in Ithaca, which is one of the most liberal bastions in New York.

Unfortunately this isn't going to end soon. If you don't group think, you are out. They are banning and banishing people at record speeds right now, even if their spouse tweeted something and they didn't. If you think this is going to help bring people to the left, I hope you are wrong. I don't want to live in a Mad Max world, and it looks like we may be heading there pretty fast. Vote wisely.

Wince said...

It’s a way of instilling terror in other students, faculty, staff, and society, so that others shut up and don’t voice dissenting views.

He's right. The most despicable part is when administrators and faculty use the students as a Red Guard mob to achieve their petty bureaucratic ends, all wrapped in the 'cause' of 'social justice', of course.

Sprezzatura said...

Legal Insurrection is a funny name. Sounds like the legal department of BLM. Using lawful means to fight oppressing gov power.

Odd that it’s actually a place that hyperventilates re distractions in order to divert attention away from implementing new limits re bad policing. ‘Legal Tyranny’ sounds more accurate.

Anywho, publishing POV re firing professor who thinks policing is overly criticized is bad for free speech. But publishing POV from dude who jabbers re the military being instant judge/jury/executioner (no quarter) against American citizens is good for free speech.

Got it.

cubanbob said...

Since we have moderation I don't know if this has been earlier on this thread. Althouse you are fortunate to have out of Dodge before the mob arrived. Your creul neutrality would not have spared you.

PJ57 said...

It is lucky you are retired Professor. I expect they would come for you as well. I'm reminded of Michel Houellebecq's novel Submission where when the Islamists come to power, they cleverly ask just for control of the education system. It is the key to hollowing out the rest of the culture. I have not heard from a person under 35 in the last two weeks who has views on BLM and other related matters that are not 100% in sync with the current Zeitgeist. Most are brainwashed, a few are scared. Pray for our country.

chickelit said...

This is chilling. Is Jacobsen a tenured professor? Getting rid of a tenured professor sends a message to the Academy that tenure means much less than it used to. In fact, tenure was created to prevent discipline for "wrong think." This gives BLM another black eye. Defund Black Lives Matter!

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

The Power of the Powerless.

"The manager of a fruit-and-vegetable shop places in his window, among the onions and carrots, the slogan: "Workers of the world, unite!" Why does he do it? What is he trying to communicate to the world? Is he genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of unity among the workers of the world? Is his enthusiasm so great that he feels an irrepressible impulse to acquaint the public with his ideals? Has he really given more than a moment's thought to how such a unification might occur and what it would mean?

I think it can safely be assumed that the overwhelming majority of shopkeepers never think about the slogans they put in their windows, nor do they use them to express their real opinions. That poster was delivered to our greengrocer from the enterprise headquarters along with the onions and carrots. He put them all into the window simply because it has been done that way for years, because everyone does it, and because that is the way it has to be. If he were to refuse, there could be trouble. He could be reproached for not having the proper decoration in his window; someone might even accuse him of disloyalty. He does it because these things must be done if one is to get along in life. It is one of the thousands of details that guarantee him a relatively tranquil life "in harmony with society," as they say."

Vaclav Havel

Wa St Blogger said...

I have to always be careful what I post under my own name and what I say around other people. Not wanting words to be changed (marriage, woman, etc.) can get you ousted from a job. The same goes for opposing false narratives and opposing radical dismantling of institutions.

This is antithetical to the American experiment. It will continue apace until either the cultural marxists gain enough authority to be able to ignore the constitution or there is a counter revolt. People's livelihoods are at stake, and it will devolve until their lives are at stake. Are we at the point where it is appropriate to say silence is violence. Or forfend, cruel neutrality is brutality?

Skeptical Voter said...

He's very very guilty of "wrong think". And when you are, the Yahoos will come get you.

Sprezzatura said...

BTW, if Althouse wants to do a post about mealy mouthed, extremely weak writing that says little, she should take a stab at the thing the libruls wrote.

Sheesh, you cons have such thin skin. No libs can even hint at disagreeing with you. But Jacobson can trash as hard as possible about how the libs are destroying the country, that’s cool. Just don’t weakly (not even naming him, just referring to the racist history associated w/ his jabber) say you disagree w/ is POV!

There’s definitely gaslighting here w/ this supposed claim of extreme victimization. But there’s also definitely genuine con feelings of oppression when they see folks w/ differing views getting uppity. I don’t know the ratio.

Kevin said...

I'm glad Althouse is out of the Academy.

Cruel neutrality will not be an acceptable excuse.

Karen of Texas said...

Well if you don't know that Alicia Garza, co-founder of BLM, is an avowed marxist, then you haven't been paying attention.

Cultural Revolution and Red Guard indeed - I said this very thing to my 28 yo son last night when we were arguing about "the movement".

Morning Sun is a great film if you can scare up a viewing. Watching them tear down monuments reminds me of...something...hmmm.

Leland said...

I suspect that many will say something along the lines of "the education bubble popping". However, we can't just assume the failure of universities like Cornell from some mass exodus, because that's not likely to occur. What is probably more likely to occur is they are successful in bringing about a Cultural Revolution. All evidence to date suggests they have been moving this was for decades.

DanTheMan said...

From the dean's response:
"recent blog posts of Professor William Jacobson, casting broad and categorical aspersions"

He's right, you know. Only one side gets to cast broad and categorical aspersions.

For example: "White privilege"

wild chicken said...

God how awful.

A law professor here at U Montana is Gianforte's running mate for governor/Lt Gov.

I'll bet that nasty faculty want her shafted too.

Larvell said...

I wonder if the publication process for the letter lives up to the Cornell Sun’s standards. You know, rigorous fact checking, time, etc. Surely an editor is going to be fired, right?

n.n said...

For example: "White privilege"

Diversity including racism.

Phobias of all manner.

Anti- this that and the other.

Semantic games.

Speaking emotion to em-pathy to truth to facts.

bagoh20 said...

If I only had a nickle for every time over the years an intellectual told me that the slippery slope was not a real thing when leftist ideas got a little bolder year after year, and grabbed a finger hold here and there with the lies. Now at near the bottom of the slope we find out that thinkers and writers are just more "experts" - the last to catch on to the truth hiding in plane sight.

chuck said...

Modern universities are intellectual deserts dominated by PC thought and mob action. The McCarthy era looks enlightened by comparison. Is this a surprise? No. There is no reason to expect the inhabitants of that coddled environment to possess courage or integrity, it is never needed, seldom practiced, and when the test comes they are unready.

Ice Nine said...

The Black Law Students Association has defamed Jacobson by calling him a racist in the face of a lifetime that demonstrates the opposite. Can't he sue them (individually, or at least the signatories) for defamation? Yes, I know that they are currently impecunious students. So for the moral victory, if nothing else. Or for money -- I'm assuming that a judgment would carry over to when these Black students upon graduation are being scarfed up by virtue-signaling, quota-filling big law firms.

CJinPA said...

We will complain about this, and do nothing. Wait for the next one, complain again.

This is the price paid for Republicans and Respectable Conservatives refusing to confront left-wing extremism on taxpayer-supported college campuses, and refusing to challenge even one claim made by "civil rights activists." Even when Al Sharpton become the Democrats' elder statesman on race, and was welcomed at the White House dozens of times, no one in the Right establishment challenged it.

They ceded so much territory, they look up now and see they are completely surrounded. The foot soldiers who would provide them support and cover, like Legal Insurrection, are being led to the firing squad one by one. Challenging conventional wisdom on the biggest issue of the day is officially verboten.

Consider: In a recent poll, the percentage of Americans who say blacks are treated differently by police is 50%. In practice, the percentage of Americans who MUST AGREE OR LOSE THEIR JOB is 100%. BLM demands *public policy* changes, and Americans are not permitted to debate those changes.

BONUS: If the U.S. *eliminated all racism today,* there would still be a black/white disparity in *all areas,* including police confrontations. Because the disparity in the number of black/white fathers in the home would remain, with statistically demonstrable outcomes. Black Lives Matter actively *opposes* the culture of two-parent families.

n.n said...

a Cultural Revolution. All evidence to date suggests they have been moving this was for decades.

Yes. They either have a consensus by omission, commission, or creation. They will coerce a consensus through protests, rioting, intimidation and cancellation. They will speak emotion to em-pathy to truth to facts. There are a number of vectors they can pursue to force evolution (modeled on their fitness function/faith/religion or ethics/special and peculiar interests/etc.).

n.n said...

"[select] Black Lives Matter" is a point of leverage, a cudgel, one of diverse choices, to force or enforce a consensus that complies with their faith, religion/ethics, ideology, special and peculiar interests, etc.

Rick said...

John Marzan said...
Would Ann survive in this environment if she was still teaching at Wisconsin?


She's be fine as long as she didn't try to stop it. Althouse is a liberal while Jacobson is an actual in the flesh conservative.

Douglas2 said...

"who are these nameless DAs?" asks Steve Urh, about the DAs whose campaigns were supported by Soros-funded PACs.

One outline is here:
https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/george-soros-criminal-justice-reform-227519

There have also been articles in the LA Times, the NY Times, the Philly Inquirer, etc. but these more focused upon Soros PAC support of races in their own states or regions.

I know when I see "Soros funded..." or "Koch funded..." I tend to expect a conspiracy theory, but in this case it has all been visible and talked about pretty openly.

Whether "The law enforcement system is being undermined" by these DAs is a matter of discussion.

Matthew Heintz said...

Unknown said "this is why we have tenure". I say this is why we have AK 47's!

BothSidesNow said...

Jacobson's reporting on the Oberlin bakery debacle was excellent. He brought the trial alive, and demolished any argument, which is still being made by Oberlin, that Oberlin was being held responsible for the actions of its students, rather than its own participation in the libel.

If anyone is waiting for Jacobson to get support from the Cornell faculty, do not hold your breath. Remember the professor at Yale who had the temerity to suggest that 18 year olds did not need to have their hands held when they were picking their Halloween costumes? She pretty quickly had to leave Yale. But what struck me is that not one of the 600 or so Yale college faculty raised a peep. No statement that in a university, a diversity of views has value, nothing. It is pretty discouraging.

Jim at said...

Anywho, publishing POV re firing professor who thinks policing is overly criticized is bad for free speech. But publishing POV from dude who jabbers re the military being instant judge/jury/executioner (no quarter) against American citizens is good for free speech.

It's all speech, asshole. We aren't the ones trying to shut down speech. You are.

hawkeyedjb said...

Sad, but just a taste of what's coming. Jacobson will lose his publicly visible positions, but he'll be OK. Those without independent means of support or skill will simply be ruined. Most Democrats will cheer.

I'm glad I'm old.

Mike Sylwester said...

The impetus for the effort was two posts I wrote at Legal Insurrection regarding the history and tactics of the Black Lives Matter Movement: 'Reminder: “Hands up, don’t shoot” is a fabricated narrative from the Michael Brown case" ...

The three fabricators -- Dorian Johnson, Piaget Crenshaw and Tiffany Mitchell -- told their lies to the mass media and eventually repeated their lies under oath before a grand jury.

In fact, none of the three actually saw Michael Brown being shot.

Because the grand jury recognized their lies, the grand jury exonerated police officer Darren Wilson.

The three perjurers should have been prosecuted for perjury. They certainly would have been convicted.

The decision to not prosecute the perjurers enables Black Lives Matters and its ilk to persecute ordinary citizens who say correctly that "Hands Up! Don't Shoot" was a fabrication.

Michael K said...

Sheesh, you cons have such thin skin. No libs can even hint at disagreeing with you.

The leftist troll speaks up and beclowns himself again.

The Godfather said...

I have tried 5 times to post a comment and gotten a "Whoops" message every time. Screw it!

Bruce Hayden said...

“ A law professor here at U Montana is Gianforte's running mate for governor/Lt Gov.”

Are you by there? This time last week we were sent by the local ER for an emergency appointment with an ophthalmologist in Missoula. The ER thought glaucoma. Turned out to be cataracts. Much better for my partner. Stayed in an interesting hotel downtown - the Marriott Residence Inn. Apparently there was a lot of controversy when they were going to build it, in particular that they were going to tear down the old mercantile building. So, behind the front desk there is a wall of old bricks from the mercantile building, and a lot of great old pictures of Missoula all over the place. We got a steal in the room. It was big, and the beds very comfortable. Except that they only have valet parking for $17 a day, and the pet fee was $100. Adding those to the hotel taxes, and the addons were more than the cost of the rooms. Usually, we stay over on Reserve, where the hotels aren’t quite as nice, but there is plenty of parking.

narciso said...

and jacobsen introduced us to andrew branca, who is tops in ballistics and other evidence,

Michael K said...

But publishing POV from dude who jabbers re the military being instant judge/jury/executioner (no quarter) against American citizens is good for free speech.

More of the lies we see everyday. They lie so easily, I wonder if they are capable of learning the truth? I kind of doubt it.

Openidname said...

How soon will Blogger shut down Althouse, if not because of her views (now we see the reason for "cruel neutrality"), then because of her failure to properly moderate her commenters? How soon will Amazon defund her portal?

Francisco D said...

We are living in extraordinarily dangerous times, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution, in which professors guilty of wrongthink were publicy denounced and fired at the behest of students who insisted on absolute ideological orthodoxy.

Yes. The parallel is obvious and one that I was making some time ago.

That is why the Leftists want to take away our guns, so that people cannot stand ups against the Mob.

Bruce Hayden said...

“ The three fabricators -- Dorian Johnson, Piaget Crenshaw and Tiffany Mitchell -- told their lies to the mass media and eventually repeated their lies under oath before a grand jury.”

Just a reminder there. Johnson was Brown’s accomplice, which may have been enough for a felony murder charge for Big Mike Brown’s death. Moreover, he took the handful of stolen cigarillos from Brown so that he could use both hands to attack Officer Darren Wilson as he sat in his Tahoe, and ultimately tried to take Wilson’s handgun away from him, which is typically considered attempted murder. Taking the cigarillos from Brown presumably made Johnson an active accomplice. He was facing upwards of 20 years for either charge, so it should be no surprise that Johnson, an older and much more sophisticated criminal than Brown, would have lied. It worked. He was never indicted for either crime.

As noted earlier, much of the credit for destroying the Martin and Brown BLM myths involving the deaths Trayvon Martin and Big Mike Brown goes to Jacobson’s Legal Insurrection, and his underblogger, self defense attorney, Andrew Branca. It was done the same way that trial attorneys win cases - with hours upon hours of research, investigating every nuance of the forensic evidence available, listening or reading the transcripts for every hearing, gavel to gavel, etc.

Just an old country lawyer said...

You will be made to care.

rhhardin said...

He uses "I" too much, and shows too little amusement with the other side.

It's all a game both sides play, not a righteous crusade against evil.

It's all looking for rhetorical kill shots, where the left is particularly inept. They might actually kill, but not rhetorically. That's why the game is fun for the right.

rcocean said...

"None of the 21 signatories, some of whom I’d worked closely with for over a decade and who I considered friends had the common decency to approach me with any concerns."

That's what got me, is these people who Jacobson thought were "Friends" didn't have the decency to talk to him first. You wonder if the Professor is just bad at reading people, or whether his "Friends" were extremely two-faced and sneaky. Were they in fact, not friends, but spies who were professing friendship but really just monitoring his behavior?

You know who helped kill Trotsky? His "Old Friend" who was in fact working for the USSR secret police and helped the NKVD murder squad assassinate him.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

mesquito said...
This is why our universities are called “little islands of tyranny in a sea of freedom.”

6/11/20, 2:14 PM

How dated. The last couple of weeks have made it clear those little islands of tyranny have significantly expanded, like cancer metastasizing throughout a body.

rcocean said...

If you wonder why so many Obama appointed Judges are not following the law, and extremely left wing, its simple. There are almost no conservative law professors and the ones that exist, are constantly being monitored. And if you want to get into or graduate from law school, you'd better not be "too conservative" and keep your crazy right wing legal opinions within the politically correct bounds. Meanwhile the extreme left-wing law students can run wild.

We're now seeing the results of 35 years of Liberal/left domination in the law schools.

Birkel said...

They hate the classical liberals even more than they hate the conservatives.

Althouse is a heretic in this new paradigm.
Heretics are not treated well, historically speaking.

Some of us have been warning of what has been coming this last decade.
It ain't good.

Birkel said...

They hate the classical liberals even more than they hate the conservatives.

Althouse is a heretic in this new paradigm.
Heretics are not treated well, historically speaking.

Some of us have been warning of what has been coming this last decade.
It ain't good.

Krumhorn said...

The rabid mob took down Brett Weinstein at Evergreen State University over the same issues when he very politely and thoughfully expressed his concern about the developing university plans to ensure adherence to the leftie orthodoxy. And Weinstein is a dyed-in-the-wool leftie.

The cancel culture is voracious and vicious, and the lefties are nasty little shits.

- Krumhorn

papper said...

I am amazed that Professor Jacobson has lasted this long.

Kyzer SoSay said...

"I don’t know the ratio."

There's a lot more you don't know. Including what your handle means. Par for the course.

Howard said...

Blogger Oso Negro said...
A bunch of people are gonna get killed before this is over.


Lots of deplorable heartichokes if Trump loses. Don't ever give up your wet dream of a heroic race war. It'll be just like Red Dawn, am I right?

Virgil Hilts said...

Absolutely disgusting. I can understand students dumb and mean enough to do this. The colleagues who do this are absolute scum. Maybe we really are heading towards some sort of conflict. I feel naive not realizing how absolutely toxic things had become. Have worked for decades across from people on opposite end of political spectrum. They are friends who I trust and I am pretty sure they trust me. But we're all old.

Kyzer SoSay said...

"You wonder if the Professor is just bad at reading people, or whether his "Friends" were extremely two-faced and sneaky."

The second one. I've seen it happen. And it almost happened to me. Thankfully, it backfired because I had rock-solid evidence that the rumors being spread were not only untrue, but actually referred to one of my antagonizers.

My reward for surviving that ordeal was a keyed car, a stolen laptop (recovered - well, stolen back), and getting jumped by a few of the folks who had tried to get me fired. Lucky for me, they were typical Leftists with noodle arms and backbones made of straw. Lucky for them, I had not yet begun carrying a concealed weapon. Still and all, the only bloodstains on the asphalt that day were not from me.

I still wonder if that guy's nose ever healed correctly. I was told there was more than one surgery involved.

Mark said...

They hate the classical liberals even more than they hate the conservatives.
Althouse is a heretic in this new paradigm.


That's a non sequitur - the latter does not follow the former.

AA is no classical liberal.

Kyzer SoSay said...

"and the lefties are nasty little shits"

Fun fact, leftist men will attempt to pull your hair once they realize that punching hurts. I suppose I'm fortunate nobody tried biting. That might have pissed me off for real.

sunsong said...

I think racism is on the way out...no longer to be tolerated

AllenS said...

Unfortunately, the police everywhere haven't been fired yet, so I'm unable to go to Cornell and help defend Jacobson.

Michael K said...

How soon will Blogger shut down Althouse, if not because of her views (now we see the reason for "cruel neutrality"), then because of her failure to properly moderate her commenters? How soon will Amazon defund her portal?

Good points. Doesn't Goolag own Blogger?

I will add one thing. It is nice to be retired. So many little shits appearing in white coats these days. My students liked my curmudgeonly emphasis on basics. Three of my female students invited me to their weddings. I wonder if that would happen today? We did have lefty professors. I once made the comment that the US Army Air Corps was the greatest educational institution in history. It taught 200,000 men to fly.

You should have seen the reaction.

walter said...

rcocean said..."None of the 21 signatories, some of whom I’d worked closely with for over a decade and who I considered friends had the common decency to approach me with any concerns."
That's what got me, is these people who Jacobson thought were "Friends" didn't have the decency to talk to him first.
--
Oh..that's just thin skinned jabber.
Anywhoo...

gilbar said...

extraordinarily dangerous times, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution, in which professors guilty of wrongthink were publicy denounced and fired at the behest of students who insisted on absolute ideological orthodoxy.

what's the problem? it sure sounds like; As long as you conform, EXACTLY, to WhatEVER the days orthodoxy is... You'll be fine
Isn't this what a Liberal Education system has Always longed for?

RNB said...

Less like the Cultural Revolution than the purging of Jews from German universities when the Nazis came to power.

Kyzer SoSay said...

"It'll be just like Red Dawn, am I right?"

Clearly, our resident manchild has never seen "Zulu".

Kyzer SoSay said...

"I think racism is on the way out...no longer to be tolerated"

Just as soon as you Leftists stop perpetuating it. #youaintblack

DanTheMan said...

>>I am amazed that Professor Jacobson has lasted this long.

I suspect not much longer. He may have tenure, but he is standing on the bullseye now. I suspect BLM, Antifa, Cornell students, and some faculty will now do everything they can to make him miserable 24x7.
I give it about two days before the first allegations of flagrant racism and sexual assault by former students are leveled against him.

FullMoon said...

The Hands up don't shoot lie immediately came to mind when reading that Floyd and the cop had "bumped heads" at work.

Bob Loblaw said...

This is chilling. Is Jacobsen a tenured professor? Getting rid of a tenured professor sends a message to the Academy that tenure means much less than it used to. In fact, tenure was created to prevent discipline for "wrong think." This gives BLM another black eye. Defund Black Lives Matter!

Apparently tenure is only there to protect people who offend the taxpayers.

mikee said...

I try to live my online commentary life such that I will never be granted a visa to visit mainland China (and now, Hong Kong) while the Chinese Communist Party remains in power.

Now I can modify that goal to include never being allowed to be a US college professor.

Congratulations, leftists, you are finally catching up to where the Chinese were in 1968. The internal purges will be spectacular. May none of your factions win.

Drago said...

sunsong: "I think racism is on the way out...no longer to be tolerated"

Behold, the New Soviet Man.

Iman said...

Seriously, these goddam people and their next wave - which is currently putting its serious mental illness on display - can go have intercourse with themselves. How long will serious-minded Americans put up with this schiff???

pacwest said...

who are these nameless DAs

Scott Colom, Robert Smith, Andrew Warren, Kim Foxx (yes, that Kim Foxx), Kim Ogg, Aramis Ayala, Larry Krasner, Joe Gonzales to name a few.

The commonality of these Soros funded (massively funded) DAs is their blatant actions to keep criminals out of jail and disruption of the American legal system.
Why Trump doesn't go directly after Soros is beyond me. I'm hoping his designation of antifa as a terrorist organization will be a first step towards that.

Openidname said...

"We are living in extraordinarily dangerous times, reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Cultural Revolution."

Sometimes I think Cultural Revolution, sometimes I think Russian Revolution, sometimes I think French Revolution. Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.

What it sure as hell ain't is the American Revolution. Except it is.

chuck said...

the purging of Jews from German universities when the Nazis came to power.

IIRC, a student group at Göttingen was the first to purge Jews from it's ranks about 1919. Universities are always ahead of the curve :)

MountainMan said...

RNB said...” Less like the Cultural Revolution than the purging of Jews from German universities when the Nazis came to power.”

The White Man is the Jew of Liberal Fascism

TwoAndAHalfCents said...

Here in Indy we’re seeing the same thing as Whitney mentioned up above. Long time restaurant owner being destroyed in social media & Nextdoor because his posts weren’t woke enough. Some folks really need to get a hobby/life.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I dunno who you hang out with, sunsong, but I’ve been a white lady for forty years and I’ve never had anyone do or say anything remotely racist around me. It’s sort of, not tolerated, even in “private” when it’s just us whiteys.

Yancey Ward said...

The pushback will start with a single instance of violent retaliation. At some point, a university president, corporate CEO, media talking head, or just some Twitterer who led the jihad against somebody for wrongthink is going to get their head blown off with a high-powered rifle. At first, the left will console themselves about how it is just a one-off assassination, but then it will quickly happen again, and then again, and then again until it becomes, first a fad, then a common occurence.

You play a dangerous game fucking around with peoples' careers and family lives over trivial shit like what that someone thinks about BLM, transgenderism, or climate change. You make such jihads acceptable and unstoppable, expect to pay with your actual life at some point.

Yancey Ward said...

This is like the Cultural Revolution and the rise of the Nazis, but with one big fucking difference- the people being persecuted are armed like no other population in history, and with an unparalleled ability to track their persecutors down the street they live on.

crescentcityconnection said...

We are long past the tipping point to nationwide violence in the USA, courtesy of Antifa, woke Democratic governors and mayors, and the overwhelmingly progressive members of academia , media and entertainment . If ever there was a time to put the 2nd Amendment to practical use, it is now.

crescentcityconnection said...

We are long past the tipping point to nationwide violence in the USA, courtesy of Antifa, woke Democratic governors and mayors, and the overwhelmingly progressive members of academia , media and entertainment . If ever there was a time to put the 2nd Amendment to practical use, it is now.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...
I dunno who you hang out with, sunsong, but I’ve been a white lady for forty years and I’ve never had anyone do or say anything remotely racist around me. It’s sort of, not tolerated, even in “private” when it’s just us whiteys.

6/11/20, 8:09 PM

Yeah, I have to wonder about the leftists who see racism everywhere. You need new friends, sunsong, if you're hearing racist comments all the time.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Yancey Ward said...
This is like the Cultural Revolution and the rise of the Nazis, but with one big fucking difference- the people being persecuted are armed like no other population in history, and with an unparalleled ability to track their persecutors down the street they live on.

6/11/20, 8:18 PM

And the people being persecuted are also not a tiny percentage of the population, like the Jews were in Germany.

Sprezzatura said...

“I’ve never had anyone do or say anything remotely racist around me“

Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?

It may be hard to remember, especially for a yute like me since I was way after this stuff, but:

https://www.theroot.com/from-most-hated-to-american-hero-the-whitewashing-of-m-1824258876

The folks who upon hearing these pleas respond by telling minorities to STFU where/are racist. And supporting racists makes you racist.

Like supporting POTUS. Do you know any folks who are cool w/ his history of racism re hiring and renting and deciding that there are very fine people who like to override the local government decisions (made by elected local officials) because they so much love monuments that were erected to oppose the extension of civil rights to minorities? Supporting racism makes a person racist. That’s called logic. BTW, is it that hard to imagine that those racist monument lovers ended up w/ the torches, chants and murder? You and your forty years of never crossing paths w/ racist stuff were, I’m sure, shocked re how these very fine folks ended up there.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"How soon will Blogger shut down Althouse, if not because of her views (now we see the reason for "cruel neutrality"), then because of her failure to properly moderate her commenters? How soon will Amazon defund her portal?"

Ah, but "cruel neutrality" will not be permitted in the Brave New World of cruel enforced orthodoxy.

"Liberals get the bullet too."

Michael K said...

Mitt Romney is not the only "conservative to join BLM this week.

National Review is right there with Mitt. How embarrassing for Buckley.

DavidD said...

I used to read a blog called something like theblogprof.

It was a lot like Legal Insurrection--conservative prof writing a blog.

He did a great post once about the global warming hoax, what percentage of the atmosphere was CO2, etc.

Unfortunately, his university forced him to choose between his blog and his job, apparently, and, pffft, it was gone.

That was a long time ago now.

DavidD said...

I read a book once called Defying Hitler, by Sebastian Haffner.

There was a part in the beginning where he talked about his father, who was in civil service, as I recall, and getting close to retirement.

His father was basically told that if he did not disavow his Jewish friends he would forfeit his retirement.

What's happening in the US today puts the lie to anyone who says that what happened in Nazi Germany can't happen here.

It's not Trump who's Hitler, though.

Sprezzatura said...

Doc Mike,

Here’s more for you to not like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=sb9_qGOa9Go&feature=emb_logo

boatbuilder said...

I am curious as to whether there are any liberal Cornell law professors who will publicly support their colleague Professor Jacobson. How hard would it be for a principled person to publicly say "I don't agree with him but he has the right to express his views"? It is after all a liberal arts law school which ought to at least pay lip service to the principle of freedom of expression, if not the principle of common decency.

Not to do so strikes me as the absolute height (or low) of cowardice.

I know that if the shoe could possibly be on the other foot (are there any "conservative" universities?) the first to speak up for the right of a leftist to speak would be the conservatives.

The cowardice of the liberals says it all.

DanTheMan said...

>>the people being persecuted are armed like no other population in history, and with an unparalleled ability to track their persecutors down the street they live on.

That cuts both ways. If the left decides to go full tilt, Jacobson will have his home address published, and get the full Kavanaugh treatment.
At some point, no matter how principled you are, it's just not worth it. His dean has already made clear that he's being tolerated, but that could change very quickly.

.

Rick said...

anti-de Sitter space said...
“I’ve never had anyone do or say anything remotely racist around me“

Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?


It's not often left wingers openly admit their definition of racism is "anyone who disagrees with me". They all believe it of course, but they usually pretend there's some principle involved.

Ampersand said...

How can institution of such high caliber continue to legitimate the intellectual integrity of this Nazi?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

With all these brilliant conservatives being run out of academia, you’d think a Koch brother, a DeVos wife, a someone would found a prestigious university with conservative principles to hire up all that talent and put the liberal universities to shame.

buwaya said...

At some point it has to come to pass -

You Americans will have to do as English Catholics once did, and set up dissident academic institutions in exile, such as at Douai, and the English College in Rome, and a large number of others as well, that kept English Catholicism alive during its days of persecution.

The only need is money.

Europe is a natural place for this, most likely Eastern Europe as most of those countries are unfriendly to the tide of bien-pensant corruption. Poland perhaps.

buwaya said...

That is it, the only need is money.

Most of the real philanthropic money is tied up in legacy institutions as most potential philanthropists are old, and they have a nostalgic view of the present.
Many of the lower tier do fund things like the Hoover at Stanford, not yet understanding that Stanford is a lost cause.

And there is the idea that the crown jewels, STEM, are as yet untainted. Soon enough that will change, the reality first, the perception later. Liberal Arts have long been abandoned as a lost cause, a degenerating parking spot for underqualified "diversity" admissions, and obsessed with fads and navel-gazing. But it was abandoned at the cost of the institutional soul.

But soon enough, I think.

Beaver7216 said...

anti-de Sitter Space stated:
"Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?"
"supporting racists makes you racist. That’s called logic."

Maybe you are in the wrong forum then. Althouse likes exact English definitions. Racism is defined as "the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities". So it is not logical that supporting racists makes one racist. Nor does opposing BLM or Kaepernick. People and organizations are complex with many features judged good or bad. Racism means assuming that a person has certain qualities simply by virtue of his/her race. It seems to me that Black Lives Matter and White Privilege are both racist terms as they imply an inherent quality is part of their race. If I see two people in front of me I should see simply two individuals, not one person who is black and deserves some extra consideration and the other person deserves less consideration because he/she is white. Existentialism means one's existence precedes his essence. "Hell is other people" Freedom is being able to escape labelling and defining by society. Society should fight for that idea. Everyone is an individual, able to be who he wants to be. Hopefully and in a perfect society.
If you know how society can become racism free by instituting race-based policies, please enlighten us.

You should read Malcolm X's The Ballot or the Bullet speech as delivered in Cleveland April 3, 1964. He has a story about African Americans being treated worse than an African. It appears that Malcolm X recognized that maybe racism is not the issue but cultural differences. When society sees African Americans looting it is somewhat scientific to assume some labelling by society, to the detriment of African Americans, will take place.

MAJMike said...

More LibCong tolerance and respect for the First Amendment. Typical.

Yancey Ward said...

anti-de Sitter space wrote in response to...

“I’ve never had anyone do or say anything remotely racist around me“

"Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?"

Interesting the way you define racism. So, everyone who didn't like President Obama is racist, too?

Bruce Hayden said...

Fun and games. Saw this yesterday, but made CTH tonight. A lot of the money that BLM is making as contributions from corporations, Hollywood stars, etc, is going to ActBlue, and most of that is going to Dem politicians, with China Joe Biden getting second most (after Bernie) - almost $120 million so far. Remember that picture of Schemer, Palsi, etc, wearing the African neck gear and genuflecting to BLM? They got their own piece of the action, with $55 million to House Dems getting $55 million, and Senate Dems $31 million.

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2020/06/11/exploited-again-financial-contributions-to-black-lives-matter-are-being-funneled-to-biden-campaign/#more-194164
https://thenationalpulse.com/politics/biden-black-lives-matter-defund-the-police/

The Crack Emcee said...

I hope Professor Jacobson prevails. You know that. While I think the conservative "Hands Up, Don't Shoot" obsession is wrongheaded, I don't begrudge him for pointing out a falsehood - that's not me. His critics are wrong.

That said, I'm reposting this here (I posted it once before elsewhere) because I hope you guys will want justice for me, too:

"Hey, Kids, I got a lot of reckonings going on these days (making record companies pay me for old records, those kinds of things) but I got one I need your help with:

Years ago, ZeitgeistSF, a bar/restaurant gave me a lot of grief after I served them well, and they used skinhead Nazis, violence, and lawyers to do it. I may have mentioned it, here, before.

I'm not going to get any more opportunities to have this addressed, even in the court of public opinion, if I don't take advantage of the BLM shit so would you do me a favor? Find me on Twitter @TheCrackEmcee and re-tweet (or whatever) that thread? I really need this, or I wouldn't ask.

I did a lot of things for them - set-up the DJ booth and worked it some nights, designed flyers and handed them out all over town, bar-backing and garbage duty - whatever was needed. But I want credit and payment for naming the bar and designing it's logo. It sticks with me. Not just that I did it and they robbed me, but how they did it, in America. I'm not kidding. That wasn't supposed to happen. Not just to me but at all. I dealt with Nazis in Europe, I shouldn't have been dealing with them here and nobody cared.

I'm talking too much. Please help me with this one. It's personal. @TheCrackEmcee - and Thanks."

Tina Trent said...

I wish these tenured professors luck, especially Jacobson, who sounds like a good and principled person. But I didn't see any of them take a real stand as the bodies piled up for decades -- not until the cart was parked outside their door.

Including Jordan Peterson; including those brothers, one of whom got a fat settlement from U. Washington and now preens on-pod about how he misses the magical influence of his minority students; including "conservative" or at least not-leftist professors I've known who discover they can get 10k a speech from Conservatism Inc. for whining gently about academia while doing nothing to really fight back.

Good luck to you. You should have done more. Tenure made you lazy. Ironically, tenure for some will be remembered as the end of free speech for all. Predictable, though: selective rights are the denial of rights to someone.

Rusty said...

"Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?"
Not really racist if you don't like someone or an institution because you don't believe in their philosophy. This point of view may be too subtle for you to grasp. Unless, of course, "stupid"is a race now. I which case, yes, I'm a racist. Again the difference is nuanced and may be difficult for you to grasp.

Tina Trent said...

Many people in the thread seem shocked by this because Jacobson has tenure.

Tenure is precisely what made this happen. Everyone without it was drummed out decades ago; those with it didn't use it because they had it. For many years now the conservative students I've worked with call themselves libertarian and plead for mercy -- or pray for invisibility. They don't list religious activities on their resumes out of reality-based fear of being harassed or worse by the gay mafia in administration.

Imagine what speech in the university would have looked like without tenure. It would have been a lot healthier. More Marxist-proof.

Now we're entering the phase where this behavior is coming out in all big businesses -- IBM, the Chamber of Commerce, sports teams, corporations are all trying to outdo each other cheering on the ... cop-threatening rioters. Next the purges start. What would have prevented this? Not giving in to the rioters who "occupied" Columbia University fifty years ago, et. al.

RichAndSceptical said...

They are all bigots, which maybe worse than being a racist.

Jamie said...

"Supporting racism makes a person racist. That’s called logic."

No, it's not "logic." (Well, I guess you're correct that these days it's often called "logic.") Take for example the old ACLU, which would regularly (and properly, given its name) defend the right of actual card-carrying Nazis - that is, support them - peacefully to demonstrate, as protected by the 1A, despite their (and everybody else's) rejection of Nazism. Was the ACLU Nazi? Or, instead, were they serving a greater principle?

There is, despite your personal belief, more than one reason to support the principle of not destroying historical monuments, even historical monuments of which you or others don't approve. Your personal belief that the only valid reason to support that principle is "racism" doesn't make it so. If your premise is false, then the conclusion you reach by applying that premise does not pertain. That's logic.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Have you been around anyone who at some point didn’t like Kaepernick or BLM?"

I have reservations about both - does that make me a racist?

Caligula said...

By now it should be abundantly clear that Black Lives Matter does not care about most black lives, but only about those very few that advance the organization's radical anti-police agenda.

The problem is, so many can't seem to get beyond responding reflexively to the very name of the organization; it's as if to oppose its agenda is to declare "No, I don't care about black lives; let 'em all die" Instead of recognizing that the organization really should be called something like "FtP" or "Death to Police!" or similar.

When did so many people become unable to think for themselves, instead of just reacting in knee-jerk fashion to political slogans?

As for Cornell and Ithaca, "overwhelmingly liberal" is a vast understatement. Cornell lost the battle against appeasing violent radicals in 1969 and has never looked back, and Ithaca remains deeply hostile toward anything less than instant, unthinking fealty to whatever the leftist-politics-of-the-day might be.

It's impossible to believe that Prof. Jacobson is not aware that he lives/works in a narrowly conformist community/university where few wish to tolerate his opinions, and many would welcome the opportunity to expel him, with prejudice.

DavidD said...

“I have reservations about both - does that make me a racist?”

Not in my book, Crack.

Rusty said...

No, Crack. It makes you reasonable.

RigelDog said...

Steve Uhr asked: "The law enforcement system is being undermined by district attorneys funded by George Soros whose agenda is to prevent enforcement of laws,"

who are these nameless DAs?}}}

Right off the top of my head, Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Chesa Boudin in California. I have personal knowledge of the takeover by Krasner.

Openidname said...

"Caligula said...

"When did so many people become unable to think for themselves, instead of just reacting in knee-jerk fashion to political slogans?"

I can't believe the number of people on Facebook and NextDoor saying, "Antifa just means anti-Fascist. If you're against them, that means you must be pro-Fascist."

I tell them I'm going to have my name legally changed to "Truth and Righteousness."

yin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
yin said...

I was in the school at China during Communist Cultural Revolution. Now I see the same things happening in America.

I read What We Believe on BLM website to a senior member of Chinese Communist Party. She said “this is the Communist Party.” After I told her it is from the website of BLM, she said “they share the same ideology, but difference name”.

BLM re-write What We Believe on their website recently. They have changed “Communal” to “Villages” and still using “comrades” to call each other.

Ann Althouse said...

"What do you think about what's going on with William Jacobsen?"

I don't understand the question.

yin said...

Professor Jacobsen has a right to show his opinion without any trouble.

Ann Althouse said...

From the Cornell Law School website:

"Clinical legal education is an alternative for those who want to combine practice with teaching. There are many clinical education models. While the Cornell Legal Aid Clinic provides legal assistance to indigent persons in civil matters, clinical teaching can cover a wide variety of practice areas and types of programs. Many clinicians have prior legal services experience, but there are a number of exceptions with backgrounds similar to those for tenure track positions. (Clinical positions may or may not be tenure track.)”"

Ann Althouse said...

There are some confusing ways to give clinical professors some of the prestige and security of regular law professors. One answer is to give them the same status. It was a hot issue at Wisconsin when I was there because there are SO many clinical professors, and if they had the vote, it would really change the dynamic.