Thought Isn't "Free" For Some

I’m still stuck in the Bucks County Courier Times for now, and a column appeared from Nat Hentoff today lamenting what he perceives as the liberal bias that is rampant in our universities (and of course, a book has been written about this topic, or else Hentoff wouldn’t even have bothered to say anything).

Anyway, here is all of what he said that I will allow for publication here:

For years, "diversity" has been a driving goal for college administrators, but only when tied to racial diversity, which itself is usually attained through affirmative action. But now, influential members of the establishment — led by the American Council on Education — have actually recognized the crucial "diversity" needed in all levels of education — diversity of ideas. Eureka!

The present domination by liberal opinion on many college faculties — often verging on this majority's intolerant orthodoxies — was revealed in a recent study, "Politics and Professional Advancement among Faculty," by Stanley Rothman, emeritus professor of government at Smith College; S. Robert Lichter, a professor of communications at George Mason University; and Neil Nevitte, a political science professor at the University of Toronto.

As summarized in the June 24-26 New York Sun, the result of this study — confirmed in previous reports in the widely respected, nonpartisan weekly, Chronicle of Higher Education — reveals that campus liberal professors "outnumber conservatives 5-to-1. It also concludes that conservatives get worse jobs than liberals."

OK, stop. Enough.

(Oh, and by the way Mr. Hentoff, the book is titled, “Politics and Professional Advancement Among College Faculty.” At least get the title right, why don’t you.)

Before I say anything else, I would ask you to read the article from this link about Lichter and Rothman’s own bias on this subject (as I’ve said before, conservatives look into a mirror in a crowded room and see everyone’s refection but their own). I’m not quite sure how they got Neil Nevitte to buy into this, because his credentials seem pretty legit (probably paid him off).

Also, here is some exposition of this fraud from Mel Seesholtz (the writeup on the PA resolution that was just passed a couple of months ago appears halfway down in the article. I’ve been meaning to get the lowdown on this Gibson Armstrong character for a little while now, and I’ll keep at it). Screaming “liberal bias” at college campuses is a full-time job for conservative shill David Horowitz, by the way.

As I’ve said before, I’ve respected Nat Hentoff in the past for his jazz writing and social conscience, but those days are long gone, unfortunately. As he continues to recycle conservative talking points and lend his skills to the service of the right wing echo chamber, he sinks deeper and deeper into the muck of an intolerance that is far worse than anything he professes to despise.