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How twisted has higher education become?

Academia tilts very far to the left: Restoring balance won’t be easy

“…“In most disciplines there aren’t enough conservative PhDs to staff ideologically balanced campuses, or even provide otherwise left-leaning campuses a vibrant conservative counterweight,” writes McArdle. That won’t change quickly.

To rebuild the pipeline, potential graduate students with right-of-center views would have to be persuaded that their qualifications and publications would be judged fairly by progressives, she writes. They’d have to believe they wouldn’t have to “run an ideological gauntlet” to advance or be excluded by colleagues if they ever got a job.

McArdle imagines affirmative action for conservative students and professors. “Training left-wing faculty on conservative thought, so they won’t accidentally say something offense, a campus center for conservatives to relax and bond, pro-life and MAGA scholarships and a “plus factor” for conservative applicants could help restore balance…”

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Samuel Whittemore, American hero…

Samuel Whittemore Jr. (July 27, 1696 – February 2, 1793) was an American farmer and soldier, renowned for being the oldest known colonial combatant in the American Revolutionary War. Born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, to Samuel Whittemore Sr. and Hannah Rix, he lived a remarkable life marked by military service and extraordinary resilience.

Whittemore’s military career began in his late 40s when he served as a private in Colonel Jeremiah Moulton’s Third Massachusetts Regiment during King George’s War (1744–1748). He participated in the capture of the French Fortress of Louisbourg in 1745, where he reportedly acquired an ornate sword from a fallen French officer. Some accounts suggest he later fought in the French and Indian War (1754–1763) at age 64, again aiding in the capture of Louisbourg, and possibly took part in a campaign against Chief Pontiac in 1763, though evidence for these later engagements is less certain.

His most famous moment came on April 19, 1775, during the British retreat from the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the opening clashes of the Revolutionary War. At 78 years old, Whittemore was working in his fields in Menotomy (now Arlington), Massachusetts, when he spotted a British relief brigade under Earl Percy. Arming himself with a musket, two dueling pistols, and his sword, he took position behind a stone wall and ambushed the British grenadiers of the 47th Regiment of Foot. He killed one soldier with his musket, then used his pistols to kill another and mortally wound a third. As British troops closed in, he drew his sword and fought hand-to-hand. The soldiers shot him in the face, bayoneted him multiple times (accounts vary from six to thirteen wounds), and beat him, leaving him for dead.

Remarkably, colonial forces found Whittemore alive, attempting to reload his musket despite his grievous injuries. He was taken to Dr. Cotton Tufts in Medford, who doubted he would survive. Defying all odds, Whittemore recovered and lived another 18 years, dying of natural causes at age 96 in 1793. He is buried in the Old Burying Ground in Arlington.

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Josh Blackman…

Luttig: “A rebuke from the nation’s highest court … could well cripple Mr. Trump’s presidency and tarnish his legacy”

“…Former-Judge Luttig wrote a guest essay in the New York Times, titled “It’s Trump vs. the Courts, and It Won’t End Well for Trump.” The essay concludes with these two paragraphs:

If the president oversteps his authority in his dispute with Judge Boasberg, the Supreme Court will step in and assert its undisputed constitutional power “to say what the law is.” A rebuke from the nation’s highest court in his wished-for war with the nation’s federal courts could well cripple Mr. Trump’s presidency and tarnish his legacy.

And Chief Justice Marshall’s assertion that it is the duty of the courts to say what the law is will be the last word.

I think every sentence is demonstrably incorrect. First, the Court has no power to “assert” its own authority. The Court lacks the power of the sword or purse.

Second, I can say with a high degree of certainty that a “rebuke” from the Supreme Court would do little to “cripple Mr. Trump’s presidency and tarnish his legacy.” As for the “legacy,” if two impeachment trials, an alleged insurrection, and federal and state indictments didn’t keep him out of the White House, then a few pages in the U.S. Reports will hardly leave a mark. By contrast, I think such a feeble effort to control Trump very well could “cripple” the Supreme Court.

Third, Luttig tries to invoke Marbury, but in that case Chief Justice Marshall had the good sense to not assert any authority agains Jeffrson. The Court did not order the Jefferson Administration to deliver the commission, as such an order would likely be ignored. Likewise, Marshall never ordered President Jackson to do anything. Marbury teaches the judiciary to avoid unwinnable conflicts with the President.

Let me try to put this conflict in perspective. Donald Trump was able to roll over Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and every other politician that stood in his path. Does anyone think John Roberts can do better? Does anyone think Roberts’s press statement to respond to Trump’s social media post even moved the needle? Op-eds like this from people like Luttig likely give the Chief some faint echoes of praise within his echo chamber, but will not register beyond the Capital District. (I think Texas would be considered District 12.)…”

Doug Santo