Didn't someone recently call bloggers a "lynch mob" in the case of Eason Jordan? Well, check out the "firing squad of faculty" arrayed against Harvard president Lawrence Summers.
"Watchman" Richman has the story at Jewish Current Issues -- including the Summers apology count (four), a link to the transcript of his recent "controversial" speech, and email addresses to which you can address some of your own free speech. Read the post, Veritas in Education, and then the follow-up, Part II.
Ostensibly, Summers has sinned by ranking discrimination as the least important {Gasp!} of three possible factors contributing to a given disparity in numbers of men and women in "high-end scientific professions." But my gut tells me that it was his statement in 2002 on the antisemitic effect ("if not intent") of professors calling for divestment from Israel that really pissed them off.
These days in American academia, you can call innocent people "little Eichmanns" and be received with "thunderous" applause and standing ovations, but call people antisemites, and the lynch mob will come for you ...eventually.
For my part, I will continue to track the Ward Churchill apology count out here in Boulder. It's presently holding steady, at Zero.
To each his own ... "gut response."
Or her. she. the feminine too. of course.
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