John Fund continues to beat up on the Polically Unconscious, as opposed to Politically Correct, administrators at Yale in the Wall Street Journal. Today he tells us the story of Yale alum Grant “Ace” Bailey, who went down on 9/11, and his noble sister, Margaret Pothier, who is upset by the university’s then admitting a former Taliban official (Rahmatullah Hashemi). Yale continues, basically, to stonewall on this issue and, as we all know, repeat after me, it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.
This is not to say that Yale’s admission of Hashemi was a crime. I used the term Politically Unconscious quite deliberately, because it strikes me I have stumbled most accidentally, typing rapidly, on an apt phrase. Lost in the most traditional (that is completely unexamined) aspects of liberalism, the Yale admissions people simply did what they always do – reach out to what is to them the most diverse and most “disadvantaged” applicants to form a student body whose image most flatters the faculty and administration. It’s not about that student or even about diversity, really. It’s about them – that faculty and administration – their self-image. It’s a pure Politics of Self-Regard taking over the admission’s office, as in “We have a Malaysian this year.” That’s not a person. That’s an ornament. What greater ornament than a card-carrying member of the Taliban. Epater le bourgeoisie times four. How… well… bourgeois. (But that’s another discussion.)
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13 Comments
1. David Thomson:Yale University is a great place to obtain a hard science degree. There is little doubt but that its medical school ranks among the very best. The odds are overwhelmingly high, however, that for the most part only leftist intellectual sluts need apply for Yaleís liberal arts graduate programs. This is also, of course, true for Harvard, Columbia, and so many of our so-called elite institutions. Do you want to get ahead in such an environment? If so, just raise your wet finger in the air and see which way the wind blows.
Apr 3, 2006 - 8:39 am 2. danh:The only way to get to them is to hit them where it hurts… in the wallet.
- All alumni should stop all donations to Yale. They should also write letters/emails informing the university of this decision.
- High-school students should stop applying to Yale. Again, they should write letters/emails informing them of this decision.
- Other universities should be pressured into not participating in any events/activities/etc. with Yale.
- Companies should stop recruiting from Yale.
- Cancel all speaking/books/etc. involving Yale faculty and administration.
In short, boycott Yale!
Apr 3, 2006 - 8:40 am 3. Zimmdad:So Yale is trophy hunting? This reminds me of those who collect movie tie-in glasses at a fast food restaurant (Batman Forgives and Forgets!! Collect All Six Limited Edition Glasses with your purchase of the Super-Thirst-Buster Size!!). You have to wonder just how desperate these ìprogressivesî are to not appear to support a Republican policy (HmmÖ.Fascist thug or Validate a Bush policyÖ..This is a no-brainer — Screw Bush!)
Apr 3, 2006 - 8:44 am 4. beautifulatrocities:How about ‘politically unctuous’?
Apr 3, 2006 - 9:18 am 5. ic:Yale believes that 911 happened because ‘we asked for it’ for being insensitive to the head choppers. For them it’s wrong to attack Afghanistan and dislodged the Talibans. It’s only right for Yale to right a wrong that our President inflicted upon the noble savages. It’s Yale’s responsibility as a higher education instituition, the arbitor of right-and-wrong to show ‘moral courage’ not to knuckle under to Bush’s Nazi regime. You don’t expect Yale to abandon its moral superiority, do you?
Apr 3, 2006 - 10:06 am 6. Kevin Peters:Roger:
Yale is probably a little uncomfortable with the Taliban’s sub-human treatment of women but this was trumped by this thugs “America is the root of all evil” worldview. He will get tenure in the History dept. because with just a little tweaking and turning a blind eye to his hatred of women he fits right in. He won’t be able to teach women’s studies but he fits in perfectly with the rest of the social science’s departments pre-reqs. The Ivy league can’t be sullied with the prescence of Harvard’s Summers but ex-Taliban propaganda ministers will find a “welcome” doormat.
Apr 3, 2006 - 12:17 pm 7. Rick Ballard:The main thing is that they admitted a guy with a fourth grade education who doesn’t speak English very well.
How much does that Yale degree cost, again?
Go Texas A & M!
Roger – can you get your (or your folks) money back?
Apr 3, 2006 - 12:25 pm 8. Larry J:It’s hard to tell if Yale is simply being hypocritical or simply lacks intellectual inconsistency, but the pretensions of the self-proclaimed academic “elite” frequently amuses me. For example, many “elite” universities don’t like having military recruiters on campus because they’re actually obeying the law (passed by a Democratically-controlled Congress and signed by Bill Clinton in 1993) by enforcing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. On the other hand, Yale admits a representative of an organization that executed homosexuals. In the US military, women ably perform almost all jobs performed by men (with a decreasing number of exceptions). By contrast, the Taliban reportedly ripped off the fingernails of women who wore nail polish and executed women on a regular basis.
But you can count on the ìelitesî supporting someone who hates America. It seems theyíre very consistent in that regard.
Apr 3, 2006 - 12:45 pm 9. JenLArt:You don’t suppose there’s also big Saudi money behind this, do you?
Apr 3, 2006 - 1:11 pm 10. Rudersdorf:That’s presupposing they give as many petro dollars to Yale as they do to Harvard and its Bin Laden Institute of Islamic Studies.
And yes the Saudi Wahhabs were behind the Taliban as much as they’re behind OBL and Al Queda.
In fact, the road to ultimate peace and victory lead to Riyahd, someday…somehow.
This sounds like a bad case of “radical chic” (a quick re-read of Tom Wolf is worth it). Yale is showing itself to be remarkably clueless as to what they have done, or how to extricate themselves. Cf. the Ward Churchill fiasco…
Apr 3, 2006 - 2:30 pm 11. Roger:“Roger – can you get your (or your folks) money back?”
Actually, Rick, I was on a fellowship – something called the John Golden Fellowship in Playwriting. (Boy, did I ever not deserve it!) So Yale would be getting its own money back, for the most part. Of course, there was a bit of my parents’ and a bit of my own as well – from teaching English Comp at night at Bridgeport Engineering College.
Apr 3, 2006 - 11:40 pm 12. PJ:Yale proves that Tom Wolfe’s “Radical Chic and Mau-Mauing the Flak Catchers” is unfortunately as spot on today as ever.
Apr 4, 2006 - 9:28 am 13. Rick Ballard:“Boy, did I ever not deserve it!”
Not so. I didn’t know you had a fellowship but now I can start a list of ‘Things Yale did right.”
If measurable intelligence existed among studio heads you would be working on a pro-American ‘How to Thump the Mullahs’ script right now.
What a collection of pitiful jackasses.
Apr 4, 2006 - 2:13 pm