Thursday, March 16, 2023

The Stanford Free Speech Debacle Is Another Reason Universities Need To Fire 99.9% Of Their Administrators

University bureaucrats will continue to flex their power, stifle learning, undermine the quality of professors, and shut down viewpoint diversity until faculty and students demand they be banished from campus.

 "If you are at all curious about how the war on campus free speech has evolved since student arsonists torched the University of California at Berkeley in 2017, look no further than the angry mob of infantile Stanford law students who shut down a talk by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kyle Duncan last week. Intolerant campus leftists have been shouting down speakers for years now, but what transpired at Stanford law school last week was special: The students’ effort to squash intellectual diversity was condoned and even enforced by a prominent university administrator.   

"Ducan, who had been invited by the Stanford Federalist Society to give a talk titled “Covid, Guns, and Twitter,” was driven from the podium by Stanford Law School’s Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Tirien Steinbach.

"Due to heckling, Duncan asked an administrator to control the students, who were violating Stanford’s free speech policies. That’s when Steinbach stepped in, took the podium from Duncan, and personally chastised him with prepared remarks.

"Steinbach said of their behavior in her pre-written speech, “I’m glad this is going on here.” “The Stanford Review” reported that students at the talk were screaming and holding obscene signs, such as “Judge Duncan can’t find the clit.” 

"While Stanford President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Stanford Law School Dean Jenny Martinez have apologized to Duncan, it appears neither the offending students nor Steinbach have been disciplined for their breach of university policy they’ve agreed to follow. ". . .

The Stanford Law School Culture, Not The Diversity Dean, Is The Problem (but I repeat myself) (legalinsurrection.com)   Something is wrong with the culture at Stanford Law School, and many (most) law schools. Let’s address that issue. 

There are many calls for Steinbach to be fired, including by Judge Duncan, and there’s also a petition drive by Speech First.

"I think the focus on Steinbach is a mistake, for reasons I articulated in my post Firing Diversity Dean Over Judge Shout-Down May Help Stanford Law School Escape Consequences Of Its Toxic DEI Culture. My point was that Steinbach was just doing what was expected of her as a DEI officer. She is the symptom, not the underlying problem, which is the DEI culture of intolerance.

"That toxic culture evidenced itself after the shout-down. The Stanford Law School Chapter of the Federalist Society, which invited Judge Duncan to speak, got almost no faculty support (only two reached out privately), even though not just Judge Duncan but also Federalist students were targeted. Through its silence, the faculty sent a strong message that what happened was acceptable (had it been a liberal judge shouted down, you can be sure there would have been a faculty uproar.)". . .

. . ."The Stanford Law chapter of the far-left National Lawyers Guild not only defended the shout-down, it promised to do the same to future conservative speakers. David Lat wrote:". . .

. . ."These students thinking that it is protected “free speech” to prevent someone else from speaking reflects how uneducated these law students are. Ken White, clearly no fan of Judge Duncan, writes about the students’ position:

However, shouting down is not protected by the First Amendment. Neither is pulling the fire alarm, setting off an airhorn, or making bomb threats to stop the speech from happening. You couldn’t pass a law that said “no shouting down conservative speakers” or “no shouting down political speakers,” because those wouldn’t be content-neutral, but you can absolutely prohibit disrupting someone else’s exercise of free speech so long as you do so in a content-neutral way.

"Firing the Diversity Dean is a distraction and deflection. Let’s keep her front and center, let her be the face of Stanford Law School for all the world to see. Because she reflects the culture there.". . .

Gutfeld: How Stanford Law became a daycare center

Douglas Andrews: Stanford Law Students Heckle Federal Judge | The Patriot Post   . . . Steinbach stood up and gave a minutes-long lecture to Judge Duncan about the “harm” he’d caused on the Court of Appeals. As The Washington Free Beacon notes, “The students were particularly angry at Duncan for a 2020 opinion in which he refused to use a transgender sex offender’s preferred pronouns.”. . .

The tears of Tirien Steinbach | Power Line (powerlineblog.com)  

Kelly deserves some kind of award for her gifted mimicry of Steinbach. I found it hilarious.


The Vulgarization of America (townhall.com)    . . ."But what shocked me was not just the utter lack of respect for others’ constitutional rights displayed by law students at one of the nation’s “top” law schools; it was the appalling vulgarity. These students were yelling obscenities at a federal judge and holding up signs with the coarsest language imaginable. (I could not provide it even if I were inclined to -- it is unprintable in most newspapers.) The protesters apparently thought this was clever.". . .

If Stanford cares about free speech, it must fire any administrator who actively encourages these unruly actions against it. Someone who is so eager, at the behest of an unruly mob, to shut down free speech, which Stanford itself considers “a bedrock principle for the law school, the university, and a democratic society,” has no place as a Stanford dean. . . ."She helped engineer chaos with her email before the event, delivered prepared remarks interrupting his speech, took the spotlight for herself, and has shown no remorse since."

"Indeed, we at the Review are concerned about what example this sets for these future lawyers, judges, and Supreme Court Justices."

Stanford Eliminates Harmful Language Such As “American”

 Stanford again.

The Lid

The Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative (EHLI) is a multi-phase, multi-year project to address harmful language in IT at Stanford. EHLI is one of the actions prioritized in the Statement of Solidarity and Commitment to Action, which was published by the Stanford CIO Council (CIOC) and People of Color in Technology (POC-IT) affinity group in December 2020. 

"The goal of the Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative is to eliminate* many forms of harmful language, including racist, violent, and biased (e.g., disability bias, ethnic bias, ethnic slurs, gender bias, implicit bias, sexual bias) language in Stanford websites and code. 

"The purpose of this website is to educate people about the possible impact of the words we use. Language affects different people in different ways. We are not attempting to assign levels of harm to the terms on this site. We also are not attempting to address all informal uses of language. 

"This website focuses on potentially harmful terms used in the United States, starting with a list of everyday language and terminology.** Our "suggested alternatives" are in line with those used by peer institutions and within the technology community.*** Content Warning: This website contains language that is offensive or harmful. Please engage with this website at your own pace.". . .

There’s No Liar Like A Biden –And he is president of the United States, a mistake for which we’ll be paying for decades if not longer.

Issues & Insights

Given his uncontrollable urge to deceive, why did 81 million Americans believe him? Why would just 81. . . put their trust in a man who is the biggest liar in the post-Lyndon Johnson political era? It’s obvious he has a deep character flaw and has been in a decades-long descent into madness. He is a “psychopathic personality of some type.”


"How do we know when Joe Biden is lying? When he says he gives us his word as a Biden. But that’s not the only time he spins a whopper. He says something untrue quite regularly, the most recent instance a tall tale about his “epiphany” regarding gay marriage.

When asked about his “evolution on marriage equality” during an interview on Monday night’s “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, Biden radically revised his personal history so that he would appear to have been woke for more than a half century. Our president (how did such a thing ever happen?) said he “hadn’t thought much about” same-sex marriage until his “senior in high school.” But one day as his father was dropping him off, he saw “two well-dressed men in suits” kiss each other.

“I mean they give each other a kiss. … And I’ll never forget, I turned, looked at my dad, he said ‘Joey, it’s simple. They love each other. It’s simple.’ No, I’m not joking. ‘It’s simple. They love each other.’  … It doesn’t matter whether it’s, whether it’s same-sex, or heterosexual couples should be able to be married. What is the problem?”. . .

. . ."Biden has also lied about his education, his family background, his life experiences (he really said that he “used to drive a tractor trailer”), that he was on a plane that was fired at in the Balkans, was on a helicopter forced down by terrorists in Afghanistan, and told at least one group he was a “hard coal miner”). In the 1980s, he plagiarized a speech by British Politician Neil Kinnock appropriating the Labor leader’s story as his own.

"Long before he ran against Donald Trump in 2020, Biden was a well-known liar. Yet more than 81 million voters cast their ballot for him, a man who cannot tell fact from fiction. He lied when he promised he’d “shut down” COVID, unite the country and rescue the economy, which had been roaring before it was maimed by lockdowns.". . .

Joe Biden Claims a Child Wrote to Him About the ‘Gender Wage Gap' – PJ Media  . . ."PJ Media readers are well aware that the purported gender pay gap is a fallacy. Despite this, the left continues to cling to the notion that women earn between 79 and 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. However, sex-based pay discrimination has been prohibited since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

"Not that this has ever stopped the left from claiming that the gap still exists. In fact, they’ve tried to “fix” the gender pay gap.

"If Joe Biden is claiming that the wage gap still exists, then I suppose he admits that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, signed by Barack Obama while Biden was vice president, failed to fix the problem. According to the Democrats, neither the Equal Pay Act nor the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act succeeded in achieving equal pay for women. So, obviously, more legislation is needed! I just can’t wait for Joe Biden to fix this nonexistent problem!

"The notion of a pay gap between men and women is largely an illusion generated by the left’s misleading method of calculation. This was clearly demonstrated when the Obama White House was accused of having a gender pay gap, and their rebuttal was that men and women in equivalent roles and experience earned identical salaries. The same explanation has been offered by fact-checkers to disprove the existence of the gender pay gap for years.". . .

'People actually believe this s**t?' Biden tweeting child's letter met with heavy skepticism (bizpacreview.com)

Dianny’s 10 Most Tiresome People of 2022

 Dianny’s 10 Most Tiresome People of 2022 - PatriotRetort.com


"With Christmas done and dusted, it’s time to unveil my annual 10 most tiresome people of the year, a tradition I began way back in 2013 when I was a contributor at another conservative website that I carried on when PatriotRetort.com launched in 2015.

"Compiling this list every year is a job of work, let me tell you. And not just because it runs around 5,000 words and I always try to add 3 or 4 new Dianny images.

"No, the biggest challenge is limiting the list to my allotted 10 people. So many tiresome people parade by each year demanding our attention that I generally end up with an initial list of over 20 names. Paring it down to the 10 most tiresome of those tiresome people ain’t easy.

"Keep in mind, this isn’t a list of the 10 most evil people or the 10 people I despise with every fiber of my being, although, some of this year’s entrants definitely fit into one or both of those categories.

'These are the 10 most tiresome people. The folks that get on this list are the ones who, when I see their faces in the news or online, the first thought that pops into my head is, “Good grief. Not you again. Will this person ever go away?' !”. . .

You knew we'd feature Joe:


Doug Emhoff Links Parents Speaking At School Board Meetings To The Holocaust

 Doug Emhoff Links Parents Speaking At School Board Meetings To The Holocaust | The Daily Caller

. . .(Obama's choice for the Supreme Court) Attorney General Merrick Garland then directed the FBI to “use its authority” on parents who pose a threat and disrupt school board meetings.


"Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband, linked the “hate” which led to the Holocaust to parents speaking out at school board meetings on Wednesday during the South by Southwest conference (SXSW), a weeklong event on civic engagement and media.

"During a conversation about antisemitism with MSNBC’s Symone Sanders-Townsend, Emhoff shared stories of meeting Ukrainian refugees and survivors of the Holocaust, a video posted to Twitter showed. Emhoff said the “hate” that caused the Holocaust is “interconnected” to the “hate [in America] you see just going to a school meeting.” (RELATED: Teachers Union Runs Ad Calling Conservative Parents ‘Extremists’)

“ 'I met one woman who was saved in the Holocaust in Germany, settled in Ukraine and is now a refugee again back in Berlin where she originally left as a Jew in the Holocaust,” Emhoff said. “These are the stories that are happening out there, and so this stuff is so important. This hate is interconnected, you see it in the discourse in the country right now. You see it in the divide that we have. Just going to the school meetings, you see that hate that is out there. We’ve got to step up and speak out and we’ve got to call out the cowards out there, people as my wife likes to say ‘these-so-called leaders,’ but she’s right. Because you can’t be in leadership if you’re not going to lead.”. . .

Biden pushes the 'distract' button

 

Monica Showalter  "Joe Biden was in San Diego a couple days ago, signing a historic AUKUS pact for mutual defense and technology-sharing with the prime ministers of Australia and the U.K., in a new effort to counter China.

"Despite that, he moved a little further north to Monterey Park and announce this:

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Tuesday designed to increase background checks in a visit to a Los Angeles suburb that was the site of a mass shooting this year.

Biden issued the order shortly before a trip to Monterey Park, where 11 people were killed in January at a gathering for Lunar New Year celebrations.

"We all saw a day and festivity and light turned into a day of fear and darkness," Biden said Tuesday afternoon, when he read the names of the mass shooting victims.

"I’m here with you today to act," Biden said.

" This was in Biden's backpocket. These announcements always timed to change topics. (Not sure how criminals will find guns now)

"Which has an odd 'clang' given that the shooting happened months ago, and had no racial or other political kickers for him to capitalize on. It was just a miserable character acting out a personal grudge who went on a melee, Asian-on-Asian violence.

"Given how much else is going on in the world Fox News's Charles Payne wondered why the oddly out-of-touch announcement was made at all:". . .

Drew Barrymore the feminist prostrated before an enthroned man in a dress is a sight to behold

The intersection of programmable ladies and imperious, cunning men? Well, apparently biological women groveling to biological men who are appropriating all things feminine, and cold-blooded baby murder.


Olivia Murray; American Thinker   "The scene between Drew Barrymore and Dylan Mulvaney was like something out of an Arthurian legend where Guinevere clasped at the hem of her knight’s tunic, or a film that hearkens back to Hollywood’s earliest era where the gentle housewife fell in line with the 1950s iron-fisted husband:

"A woman on her knees, pleading with a man as he sits on his throne of superiority; the spectacle all seemed rather misogynistic if you ask me. (One could reasonably expect a kissing of the signet ring would be next.)

"Predictably, this event set conservative outlets abuzz because of its sheer ridiculousness — Barrymore advertises herself as a feminist and advocate for women. However, the text from the tweet above got me thinking: is this switcheroo really the “sneakiest trick the patriarchy ever pulled”? I’d argue it’s not.

"Why I find this particular instance of prostration so gross is because it isn’t the first time females have been majorly played by domineering, and legitimately toxic males. Ever wonder how the “right” to murder children in the womb wound up as a rallying cry for women all over the place?". . .


Babylon Bee parody: In Honor Of Women's History Month, Woman Kneels Before Man

"This is indeed a great day for women," said Professor David Megli of the Institute for the Advancement of Women and People Who Say They Are Women. "There's nothing that shows how far women have come than seeing a female down on her knees in front of a man on national television!"

White House ‘working behind the scenes’ with media to get positive coverage

 


"The White House has been secretly begging news organizations to give “favorable” coverage to President Biden rather than focusing on his failings, according to a report.

"The administration is “not happy” with the unflattering headlines and coverage of the supply-chain disaster and handling of the economy — and so “has been working behind the scenes trying to reshape coverage in its favor,” CNN’s Reliable Sources said.

"Senior White House and administration officials “have been briefing major newsrooms over the past week,” a source told the outlet’s media reporter Oliver Darcy.

"The meetings have been led by a trio of administration officials: National Economic Council deputy directors David Kamin and Bharat Ramamurti, as well as ports envoy John Porcari, Darcy wrote in his newsletter.

“ 'I’m told the conversations have been productive, with anchors and reporters and producers getting to talk with the officials,” Darcy wrote.". . .

“ 'The left-wing media is tough on him … He has no real support,” Milbank said of Biden, showing his own feelings as he hailed the commander-in-chief as a leader “trying to restore the organs of democracy.”

"His views knocking the media were — unsurprisingly — shared by the White House, with chief of staff Ron Klain sharing the Washington paper’s op-ed, writing, “Submitted for your consideration.”

"Reports of the secret PR mission quickly had the administration roasted online.". . .More here...

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Burning Questions, Even Hotter Answers

 Ann Coulter

I don’t begrudge anyone for living in a “low crime” neighborhood with “good schools,” but it’s striking how the very people loudest in their condemnation of Adams seem to have arranged their own lives in strict accordance with his “racist” advice.

"From time to time, my readers email me asking for my take on issues of the day. (This has happened twice.)

"I feel more obliged than usual to respond, now that we know that the rest of the media cannot state an opinion on anything until they figure out which side Trump is on.

"MSNBC: Trump is against men in women’s sports? … Children will DIE if men cannot compete in women’s sports!

"Fox News: Trump says he built the wall? … Go Trump! He’s built 0.2% of the wall! ONLY 1,305 MILES TO GO! 

"I may be cruel, brusque or impatient, but I don’t lie. When I say something, it’s because I think it’s true, not because I’m angling to get a show on MSNBC or a call from President Trump.

"So here are my answers to readers’ fictional questions.

"QUESTION: Are books like David Cole’s “Republican Party Animal,” Ryan Anderson’s “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” and Jared Taylor’s “A Race Against Time,” “White Identity,” “Face to Face With Race” and “If We Do Nothing” still banned from Amazon?

"Why yes they are! But please tell me more about how Gov. Ron DeSantis is Hitler for removing pornography from Florida schools.

"Liberal brainteaser: What’s the difference between a book in a public school and a book that is simply available for purchase on Amazon? Think hard. You only have three hours.

"BREAKING NEWS! Jean Raspail’s “Camp of the Saints” is now available from Amazon on Kindle!!!

"Other News In Book Banning: Barnes & Noble — unlike Amazon — sells “When Harry Became Sally,” “Camp of the Saints” — albeit in French only — and all of Taylor’s books,

"Takeaways:". . .

Fake ‘fact-checker’ finally gets it right: Joe Biden’s word isn’t worth a wooden nickel -

And the media cheers about how great the economy and Biden’s policies are as he intentionally destroys the economy; they actively campaign for him and run cover, seeking to destroy any Republican who gets in the way, no matter how much they have to lie.

  American Thinker  "Did anyone really need to fact check this story before knowing it was a lie?

"Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post just came to and realized he’s been had: ol’ Joe’s “word as a Biden” is in fact a counterfeit bank note. It all began when Kal Penn stepped in as a guest host for “The Daily Show” and interviewed the biggest stooge in political theater, Joe Biden; see the video clip below:

 "In response, Kessler penned, “Three reasons to doubt Biden’s story on his father and a gay kiss” — Kessler challenged the story’s veracity, noting both the version of events and Biden’s views on homosexuality have consistently evolved over the years.

"This should be no surprise; Biden has enhanced his life stories for years. His lies dwarf George Santos’s lies, but the media never cared.

"Heck, if we took Joe at his “word as a Biden”, he is a Puerto Rican truck driver who was very active in the Civil Rights movement, and was also arrested in South Africa while trying to “see Nelson Mandela.”

"Biden had “no idea” that he filched classified documents for fifty years. Why was there no coverage when they found fifty more boxes in a Boston office?

"In the past few weeks, Biden and the Democrats have falsely blamed Trump for the Ohio train derailment and the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank. Instead of properly blaming the regulators for their failure to do their job, they try to blame Trump.". . .

Democrats Blaming Trump for Bank Crisis Are Lying

 Townhall

And as Fox News’ Steve Hilton pointed out why Warren’s line falls flat: Silicon Valley Bank was regulated by California officials, picked by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

"I’m sure the Biden White House was looking forward to moving on from the toxic train crash in East Palestine, Ohio, but then the banking system came under threat. Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, and the second-largest bank closure in American history landed at the feet of Joe Biden. The banking system was downgraded yesterday, but Biden is offering a soft bailout, ensuring all depositors who doled out more than $250,000 will be covered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Insurance Fund. No doubt it will stabilize things, though the Biden administration rushing to the aid of the wealthy while giving the finger to East Palestine is beyond unseemly. 

"Now, the blame game begins because SVB wasn’t the only bank to shutter; Signature Bank soon followed. Signature was more of a cryptocurrency operation, but it’s notable since former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), whose namesake bill post-2008 was supposed to prevent such bank failures, is sort of what caused this week’s calamity. But Frank is adamant, and probably right, that the slight administrative tweaks to Dodd-Frank weren’t the source of the bank closures. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) wants to blame Trump (via Politico):

From his front-row seat, he [Frank] blames Signature’s failure on a panic that began with last year’s cryptocurrency collapse — his bank was one of few that served the industry — compounded by a run triggered by the failure of tech-focused Silicon Valley Bank late last week. Frank disputes that a bipartisan regulatory rollback signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2018 had anything to do with it, even if it was driven by a desire to ease regulation of mid-size and regional banks like his own.

“I don’t think that had any impact,” Frank said in an interview. “They hadn’t stopped examining banks.”

But Warren, a fellow Massachusetts Democrat who designed landmark consumer safeguards that ended up in Frank’s 2010 banking law, is placing the blame firmly on the Trump-era changes that relaxed oversight of some banks and says Signature is a prime example of the fallout. . . .

Voters want Biden to take on China but fear he is compromised by family business ties

 Voters want Biden to take on China but fear he is compromised by family business ties | Just The News  "A survey released Friday shows 57.6% of U.S. voters think for the U.S. to address tensions with China the Biden administration should be more aggressive in leading a global coalition to contain the communist-run country – though voters also appeared concerned about whether President Biden has limited power in the situation because of a conflict of interest.

"The survey by the Convention of States, in partnership with Trafalgar Group, found 17.1% of voters believe the administration should continue to do exactly what it's already doing in response to tensions with China, escalated by the Chinese spy ballon over the U.S. last month. Nearly 9% surveyed said the administration should try to de-escalate tensions with China to appease the country, and 16.5% were unsure.

"However, the poll also found 57.2% of voters think Biden has a conflict of interest while responding to China's aggressive actions against the U.S. – as a result of the Biden family’s business relationships with China.

"This poll shows that Americans are rightly concerned about China’s aggressive actions towards the U.S. and want to see leadership from President Biden," said Mark Meckler, president of Convention of States. "But we are at an alarming and dangerous place when the majority of Americans believe Biden’s hesitations to address the threat from Communist China is the result of jeopardizing his family’s business dealings." 

"The survey was conducted Feb. 22-26 among 1,000 likely general election voters. The poll's margin of error is 2.9%"