Leftist heads will roll
(and it will sound like bowling for dollars)
Somebody left the editorial section of the afternoon Progressive Dane newspaper at the mercies of a neocon, judging by its Saturday edition. Somebody is going to have, as Ricky Ricardo used to say, "some 'splainin' to do."
Someone allowed to appear in print an opinion essay by one Robert Maranto, political science professor at Villanova University, that neatly skewers the political canon of the liberal Madison establishment.
Prof. Maranto notes that in most settings, he would be a moderate liberal but not in academia. "I spent four years working for ... the Bill Clinton administration ... yet, ... I've been on the 'far right' as one who thinks:
- Welfare reform helped the poor
- The U.S. was right to fight and win the Cold War and that
- Environmental regulations should be balanced against property rights.
Maranto writes, "All these views -- commonplace in American society and among the political class -- are practically verboten in much of academia."
- The public had determined by the 1970s that welfare wasn't working. Yet many sociology professors even now deny that '70s style welfare programs were bad for recipients.
- Despite New York City's 15-year-long decline in crime, most criminologists still try to attribute the increased safety to demographic shifts or random statistical variations rather than more effective policy.
- It took years for bureaucracy-defending professors to realize that Vice President Al Gore's National Performance Review (aka "reinventing government") was not a reactionary attempt to destroy government agencies but rather a centrist attempt to revitalize them.
Maranto concludes:
Since debate requires disagreement, higher educations needs to encourage intellectual diversity in its hiring and promotion decisions with something like the fervor it shows for ethnic and racial diversity. It's the only way universities will earn back society's respect and reclaim their role at the center of public life.
Isn't that what State Rep. Steve Nass has been saying all along?
I would add to Prof. Maranto's liberal shibboleths:
- A nuclear energy policy shaped by Jane Fonda in the China Syndrome. Given that windmills draw lawsuits, ethanol higher prices for corn flakes, and hydroelectric the wrath of trout fishermen; given that coal mines collapse or produce mercury, why are we holding up nuclear energy? Or that the implosion of Three Mile Island these 25 years later produced no adverse health impact.
- A sexual policy written by Hugh Hefner. Remember when Tipper Gore was castigated for drawing attention to the misogynistic lyrics of so much popular music? Who attacked her? A hint, not us conservatives. Now, who really thinks it is a good idea that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister is in a knocked-up way?
- The war on religion that gave us such Bowdlerisms as "holiday tree." After having chased religion so thoroughly out of the public square was it any wonder why libs would wonder after the last presidential election why they lost the values voters? (Memo to Dave Zweifel: the Gaylors are not defenders of the First Amendment. They use it -- as is their right -- to further their stated purpose of an atheist society. If the Gaylors ever achieved a 50.5% majority, I have no doubt believers would be persecuted back into the catacombs.)
- Guns. Liberals are correct that guns are easy to get. And that is with all the strictures already in place. The U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the D.C. law prohibiting the possession of guns in one's own home!
Hey kids, have fun! Offer some of your own gems!
To All My Democrat(ic) Friends:
This has been circulating on the Internet. Pardon me if you've already seen it:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2008, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
Have a Happy Non-Denomination Winter Holiday
To All My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Arlington National Cemetery at Christmas
