How far must we go down the rabbit hole of depravity before sleeping Americans cry uncle? Three college presidents testified to Congress this week, and yet again I shook my head at the spectacle. Actually, it was more than a head shaker; it was disgusting. When will this insanity end?
I never expect push back on anything that discredits a narrative that our media wants to further, so I all I usually do is shake my head. Yet, something good may actually came from this latest incident.
Students Rise Up
The Congressional hearing began with videos from student protests at Harvard, MIT, and Penn, the schools represented at the hearings. “Long live the intifada” and “intifada revolution” were captured on tape. Students by and large support the revolution begun on October 7, 2023, a revolution against against “Israeli occupation”. How can anyone, much less well educated, supposedly bright college students at elite universities, support actions of the current Middle East revolutionaries?
Wake up college students and professors, you who call yourself “woke”.
Israel has been pressured to limit civilian deaths in their retaliatory response to October 7 (by the US government, the UN, media around the world, among others). I will grant it is a reasonable expectation, but those folks will never accept that Israel, in fact, has taken extraordinary measures to limit civilian deaths. Even more pressure is applied after unprecedented precautions. The revolutionaries, the freedom fighters, whatever you want to label them are not pressured similarly. Hamas’s actions have rightly been condemned, but there is little in-depth examination of their actions.
First, Hamas deliberately targeted civilians: children, women, families, neighborhoods, peaceful gatherings.
Houses in Kfar Aza were ransacked and set ablaze. Overturned mattresses, destroyed furniture, broken trinkets and unexploded grenades lay strewn across the grounds, along with bodies – a window into the scale of devastation wrought by Hamas in this area.
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my career, never in 40 years of service this something I never imagined,” Maj. Gen. Itai Veruv told CNN on Tuesday, just a few hours after Israeli troops secured the kibbutz from Hamas assailants.
Babies and toddlers were found “decapitated” in Kfar Aza, Tal Heinrich, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Wednesday.
“I saw hundreds of terrorists in full armor, full gear, with all the equipment and all the ability to make a massacre, go from apartment to apartment, from room to room and kill babies, mothers, fathers in their bedrooms,” Veruv said.
Long live the intifada? Long live the revolution? Are college students paying attention?
Hamas actually used rape as a tactic. They trained rape squads–to ensure the maximum level of pain and humiliation was delivered. Women were raped multiple times and then murdered.
This took place at a “peace festival”. Among the hundreds left dead, many may have actually sympathized with the Palestinian cause. This is the revolution that should “live long”?
Hamas placed its headquarters under a civilian hospital. This is, in fact, a war crime, yet Whoopi and crew ignore the war crime and preach “equal justice” because the truth would damage the narrative of the Palestinian cause,
We also hear little of Hamas’s pressuring its own citizens.
Let’s ponder this. Could this tactic actually inflate the Gazan body count, the body count that is thrown back in the face of Israel to demand they do more to prevent such deaths?
We heard much fanfare of Israel bombing a hospital (on October 18). Immediately, we were told hundreds died, but the inflated numbers came from Gazan ministries (and were not questioned by media). Shortly after, we learn it was actually a Gazan rocket launched from behind the hospital and that it struck the hospital parking lot, not the hospital itself. There were not hundreds dead. Why the rush to judgment?
We do not hear of intimidation of Muslim students on campus. Yet, we hear repeatedly of intimidation of Jewish students who favor the less popular cause:
https://nypost.com/2023/10/26/news/jewish-students-reveal-what-happened-at-cooper-union-protest/
Cooper Union sophomore Taylor Roslyn Lent is reassessing reality Thursday, a day after she and other Jewish students were locked inside the East Village university library as pro-Palestinian protesters pounded on doors and windows.Lent, 20, said she and roughly 50 other students were barricaded inside the library after a staffer at the private college locked a door as protesters stormed past security.
Clearly, support of Palestine should be prohibited, only that students are ignorant of the facts. Most Americans recognize which side is pernicious (downright evil, in fact), but American youth apparently cannot distinguish between good and evil.
A poll published Thursday by Quinnipiac demonstrated the stark age divide. Respondents were asked, “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Israel is responding to the October 7th Hamas terrorist attack?” Half approved and 35 percent disapproved overall. But only 32% of respondents aged 18-34 approved of Israel’s response, as opposed to about 58% of those aged 50 and older.
Campus Speech Codes
“From the River to the Sea. Palestine will be free” is popular on college campuses today. It refers to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, currently Israeli territory. With that land ceded to Palestine, there is no room remaining for the state of Israel. There is no possible two-state solution in this instance. This is considered reasonable?
As Americans we tolerate all manner of protests per our First Amendment. However, colleges themselves routinely and severely restrict speech, especially for causes they do not support. By their moral code, Palestine is oppressed and Israel is an oppressor, so Palestine must always be supported; this means allowing slogans like “long live the intifada” which fundamentally support for violence (if not an actual call for violence).
On the other hand, if you express on campus the opinion: boys cannot become girls and vice versa or if you object to preferred pronouns or pooh-pooh micro-aggressions, your campus may restrict your speech. Transgenders may feel intimidated without their preferred pronouns, but there is no actual link between the lack of pronouns and violence. Furthermore, we need a real debate about whether such speech is problematic at all.
Facts don’t matter when you’re morally right — Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
Jewish students complain of intimidation on campuses. Do the campus speech codes actually protect them? Do colleges care about Jewish student concerns? This is the question Congress asked college presidents this week.
Campus Speech Codes
BEGINNING IN the late 1980s, colleges and universities around the country began to institute policies aiming to protect students from offensive and harassing speech. Most of the policies included restrictions on speech that the Supreme Court would not permit of federal or state government. While the legal right of private schools to adopt such policies is for the most part undisputed, the enactment of speech codes in public universities is a matter of continuing controversy.
Let’s be crystal clear. Many college campuses do not allow legitimate debate about cultural flashpoints. They have their talking points, their narrative, and they demand students get in line. Do not think for yourself unless your thinking supports the approved agenda. Harvard and Penn, the two lowest rated free-speech schools, were called to Congress because their record with regard to speech is abysmal.
Harvard University was ranked the worst school in the U.S. for free speech in 2023, according to an annual report by the nonprofit group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).
Harvard received an overall score of 0.00, the lowest possible score on FIRE’s 100-point scale . . . The second worst school for free speech is the University of Pennsylvania.
In her opening statement, the Harvard president claimed her school to be a bastion of free speech. Well, apparently not.
These Ivy League schools are supposed to be the pinnacle of American education. Forty years ago, I would have been thrilled to have been considered by one of them, yet today I am disgusted by them. I have one child in college and another visiting campuses in preparation for next year. Thankfully, I see none of this nonsense in the North Carolina schools we have visited. I won’t send my kids to schools indoctrinating kids and denying free speech.
Moral Equivalence?
Education Committee Chairman Virginia Foxx in her opening statement, said we need the courage to “delineate good from evil and right from wrong.” Yes, this is exactly the problem. The fact such fundamental definitions are even subject to debate these days, is telling.
Even after decades of America’s moral collapse, I was shocked at what I heard next. I haven’t seen it all yet. The three college presidents spoke very clearly on December 5. They had to be surprised at the response received.
During opening statements, the three college presidents lamented the loss of life on October 7. They call the acts atrocities and depraved. They also attempted to balance condemnation of Anti-Semitism with condemnation of Islamophobia. Yes, we condemn all such hatred. No question. Yet, too many draw unjustified moral equivalences between Israel and Hamas. Condemnations of Hamas are required but must always be followed by a “but”.
Wait a minute! We do not hear of Israeli soldiers raping Gazan women. We don’t hear of attacks on individual Gazan families. Can’t the college presidents recognize Israel has complete air supremacy in the region and therefore, could indiscriminately destroy all of Gaza (thereby limiting loss to Israeli lives) should it choose? Instead, Israel uses “knock bombs” to warn Gazan citizens a building is about to be destroyed, giving them time to leave. They drop warning leaflet and call Gazan civilians at home to warn them of the coming attack. What other country has ever taken such precautions to spare the lives of enemy civilians? Hamas, on the other hand, confiscates the humanitarian aid meant for its own citizens, and deliberately puts civilian lives at risk.
Israel shows more compassion for Gazan citizens than the Gazan government itself. No sane comparison should be made between Israel’s measured approach to war and Hamas’s indiscriminate slaughter. These college presidents are either ignorant of the facts or are deliberately lying.
Unfortunately, the call is coming from inside the building. We don’t hear college professors exhilarated by the deaths of Gazans, but one was exhilarated by Israeli deaths October 7:
Still, let’s not simply highlight a formerly unknown Cornell professor along with three formerly unknown college presidents. Former President Obama needs a scolding as well. He also drew a moral equivalence between Israel and Hamas in a recent interview with POD Save America. Yes, Hamas has done evil and is bad, he said, but the occupation is unbearable for Palestinians. He is a fool and a liar:
. . . what Hamas did was horrific and there’s no justification for it. And what is also true is that the occupation and what’s happening to Palestinians is unbearable.
What occupation, sir? There have been zero Jews in the Gaza Strip for twenty years, including all the years you were president. Did you notice? Gaza has been occupied solely by (2 million) Palestinians and governed solely by Hamas.
The citizens of Gaza were given a homeland by Israel, yet what remains now as a result of their government’s attack on Israel? Why is their fate, a fate tragically thrown away by the people themselves, matter more than the suffering of others?
Israel is country with a three-thousand year history. Palestine has never been a country, so how can the Israelis be the occupiers? President Obama doesn’t say Native American tribes who have been re-ceded territories in the US, are occupying American lands. That is a moral equivalence he carefully avoids.
Obama knows better. He distorts facts about an Israeli occupation. His words influence and give cover to many.
The College Presidents’ Damning Testimony
This five minutes of testimony to Representative Stefanik is the most surreal discussion I have heard in an age when surreal events are commonplace (the complete transcript is below).
Congresswoman Stefanik: And Dr. Gay at Harvard? Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
In her opening statement, Dr. Gay said “we at Harvard, reject anti-Semitism”. Here was the perfect opportunity to emphasize that commitment.
President Gay: It can be depending on the context.
Congresswoman Stefanik: What’s the context?
President Gay: Targeted at an individual targeted, as at an individual.
Congresswoman Stefanik: It’s targeted at Jewish students, Jewish individuals. Do you understand your testimony is dehumanizing them? Do you understand that dehumanization is part of antisemitism? I will ask you one more time. Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard’s rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
President Gay: Anti-Semitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct, that amounts to bullying, harassment, intimidation, that is actionable conduct, and we do take action.
Why can’t she answer with an unequivocal “yes”? Calling for the genocide of Jews requires context? Dr. Gay is given one more chance to clarify, but does not.
Congresswoman Stefanik: So the answer is yes. That calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard Code of Conduct. Correct?
President Gay: Again, it depends on the context.
Congresswoman Stefanik: It does not depend on the context the answer is yes, and this is why you should resign. These are unacceptable answers across the board.
Is there any doubt why students are ignorant about the Middle East and so much else? This leader of the country’s most prestigious university can’t answer the simplest of ethical questions. The two other college presidents answered in exactly the same fashion.
Congresswoman Stefanik: Dr. Kornbluth, at MIT, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate MIT’s code of conduct or rules regarding bullying and harassment? Yes or no?
President Kornbluth: If targeted at individuals not making public statements.
Congresswoman Stefanik: Yes or no, calling for the genocide of Jews does not constitute bullying and harassment?
President Kornbluth: I have not heard calling for the genocide for Jews on our campus.
Congresswoman Stefanik: But you’ve heard chants for Intifada.
President Kornbluth: I’ve heard chants which can be antisemitic depending on the context when calling for the elimination of the Jewish people.
Congresswoman Stefanik: So those would not be, according to the MIT’s code of conduct or rules.
President Kornbluth: That would be investigated as harassment if pervasive and severe.
Again, there is no unequivocal “yes”. Why is this question difficult? Were they all expecting this question and had all agreed to answer with nonsense about “context”?
Yes, of course, Congresswoman, we condemn Anti-Semitism (a comment apparently intended to put us stupid MAGA boobs off the scent), but we also want to be fair to (and not upset) our student and faculty who want to press the Palestinian point of view:
Congresswoman Stefanik: Ms. Magill at Penn, does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Penn’s rules or code of conduct? Yes or no?
President Magill: If the speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment. Yes.
Congresswoman Stefanik: I am asking, specifically calling for the genocide of Jews, does that constitute bullying or harassment?
President Magill: If it is directed, and severe, pervasive, it is harassment.
Congresswoman Stefanik: So the answer is yes.
President Magill: It is a context dependent decision, Congresswoman.
Congresswoman Stefanik: It’s a context dependent decision. That’s your testimony today, calling for the genocide of Jews is depending upon the context, that is not bullying or harassment. This is the easiest question to answer. Yes, Ms. Magill. So is your testimony that you will not answer yes? Yes or no?
President Magill: If the speech becomes conduct. It can be harassment, yes.
I included the entire transcript, so nothing can be taken out of context. Such evil must be clearly displayed and confronted directly.
These ladies sound intelligent, but are anything but. There is a lack of real education, a lack of critical thinking among so many “educated” individuals today. How do we once again teach children to think for themselves, to be skeptical, to not be afraid to go against popular opinion, and to challenge their own beliefs when these college presidents can’t do it?
Our educational institutions must be rebuilt. We have elevated ethically suspect individuals to lead them. This is appalling.
DeSantis to Newsmax: College Presidents ‘Disgraced Themselves’ | Newsmax.com
“It shows the rot that has developed in academia over many years,” DeSantis told Newsmax’s “Sunday Agenda.” “Those institutions — what they’re doing to indoctrinate these kids — they’re talking about it’s OK to say ‘genocide of Jews’ because they believe in free speech.”
However, he continued, “They’ll fire staff members who articulate normal conservative positions on garden-variety issues. So it was all a big fraud that they were perpetuating on the public, and I hope they’re all held accountable and lose their jobs.”
Apologies
The next day brought backlash from Democrat lawmakers as well as college benefactors. These three presidents were shamed and forced to apologize (unbelievably). These lunatics can be corralled after all!
The arrogance displayed by these leaders is something. They imply they are better than us. They are leaders of elite institutions from which many of our nation’s past leaders and great scientific breakthroughs came from. They are cream of the crop, the best of the best. The rest of us just couldn’t begin to understand their complex thought.
Dr. Gay even claimed the First Amendment was her guiding light. Nonsense. The First Amendment dictates nothing for folks like her. It is used only when it is to their narrative’s advantage and ignored at all other times.
These three thought they would bind together and the echo chamber would fall in place. Even President Obama made similar nuanced arguments as they. Surely, there would be no backlash if he is onboard. Besides, there is rarely any backlash for any outrageous statements these days; each week, one-channel media finds statements more outrageous than last week’s.
I am glad these arrogant, and not-all-that-smart, leaders finally received a come-uppance. They are legion in academia. They are the problem in education which in turn is the problem in our culture and our nation. They must be held accountable by us and our political leaders.
But as for the rest of us: don’t tell me you don’t want to involve yourself in politics. Politics will swallow you and all you believe in if you do not pay attention. Politics matter. Words matter too, as one of the president’s apologies indicated.
Their apologies were a good start, but not enough. These three should be fired and shamed by the whole country. More political leaders need to weigh in. God knows, one-channel media will do nothing.
There must also be soul-searching for those who haven’t been paying attention or have been going along. I am weary of people who complain of politics and change the channel. Pay attention to what these people say and pay attention to the response. Our future, our children’s future, and civilization itself depend on your attention to such matters.
Dave https://seek-the-truth.com/about/
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