Indiana Trip

On Feb. 6th-8th I'll be in Indiana recruiting activists and teaching them how to lobby their state government. We will be testifying at the capitol in Indianapolis about the need for competition in the telecommunications industry.

UCLA Alumni Group Exposing Left-Wing Indoctrinators

UCLA Alumni Group Is Tracking 'Radical' Faculty A fledgling alumni group headed by a former campus Republican leader is offering students payments of up to $100 per class to provide information on instructors who are "abusive, one-sided or off-topic" in advocating political ideologies. The year-old Bruin Alumni Assn. says its "Exposing UCLA's Radical Professors" initiative takes aim at faculty "actively proselytizing their extreme views in the classroom, whether or not the commentary is relevant to the class topic." Although the group says it is concerned about radical professors of any political stripe, it has named an initial "Dirty 30" of teachers it identifies with left-wing or liberal causes. The Bruin Alumni Assn. is headed by Andrew Jones, a 24-year-old who graduated in June 2003 and was chairman of UCLA's Bruin Republicans student group. Jones' group is following in the footsteps of various conservative groups that have taken steps, including monitoring professors, to counter what they regard as an overwhelming leftist tilt at elite colleges and universities around the country. (This seems to be a reference to the YCT watch list that my organization started a few years ago at UT-Austin.)

Iran... What to do?

David Ignatius has a great op-ed in the Washington Post today. "A key question for U.S. officials is how to assess Ahmadinejad's radicalism. Many were surprised by the belligerent tone of his speech to the U.N. General Assembly last September, and worries deepened after his reckless statements denying the Holocaust and calling for Israel's destruction. The toxic spirit of the 1979 revolution seemed to have returned."

U. of Delaware Secretary Sends Partisan Email

Here is the text of an email that a secretary in the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Delware sent through her list serve. Her role is ostensibly to send out job opportunities to students on the list. My questions: "Is it proper for someone who works for a university Biology department to send a partisan email to a student job list? Would it be proper for a Government department secretary to send a partisan email to a student job list?" After reading the email, you can let this staff assistant know how you feel by contacting her at: Ramona Wilson Biological Sciences Department ramonaw@UDel.Edu Office-302-831-2282 Here is some of the text of the email:

State Representatives Deborah Hudson and Melanie George Marshall, State Senator Patricia Blevins, NCC Councilwoman Karen Venezky and former NCC Council President Stephanie Hansen are holding a rally in support of Senate Bill 80 on Wednesday.

The purpose of the rally is to organize public support for the bill, discuss the current status of the bill and any amendments, and debunk recent misrepresentations by groups in opposition.

The rally is open to the public and anyone with an interest in supporting the passage of SB 80 is invited to attend.

Pennsylvania Prof Speaks Out Against Academic Freedom Bill

Here is a column by a professor at Penn State. Her rant against public scrutiny in the academy explains how leftist professors view their role as educators. It smacks of elitism when she writes that intellectuals tend to value lofty goals like social justice and equal rights. Right. So why didn't the public intellectuals support the liberation of Afghan women? Why do so many self-proclaimed intellectuals oppose foreign policies that would eliminate threats to the world from the likes of Saddam Hussein, Kim Jung Il and the mullahs of Iran? Leftist professors only value their own version of social justice, which includes affirmative action, redistribution of wealth and anti-growth environmental policies. Here are some quotes from the Professor's article:

House Resolution 177, known as the "Academic Freedom Bill," is currently under consideration in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

A liberal-arts-educated person is one who prizes freedom of thought and expression and who makes principled arguments in favor of things such as equality and social justice.

One might imagine that intellectuals, nationwide, are speaking out in brief and at length based on their knowledge of growing injustices, and their sense of civic responsibility. As education leaders they may be countering and correcting for what they know is not "fair and balanced" in the media mainstream.

If this is so, the solution is not censoring educators with intellectual and social conscience, but initiating broad societal changes that will bring integrity to the meanings of liberty, freedom and democracy.

Great film on Campus Leftists

Be sure to check out Evan Maloney's movie clip for Brainwashing 101 here. He is a friend of mine and a great film maker. His new film, Indoctrinate U, will be out soon!

Law Schools as Left-Wing Incubators

Here are some excerpts from this wonderful piece in the Wall St. Journal: Law school clinics weren't always incubators of left-wing advocacy. But once the Ford Foundation started disbursing $12 million in 1968 to persuade law schools to make clinics part of their curriculum, the enterprise turned into a political battering ram. Clinics came to embody a radical new conception that emerged in the 1960s -- the lawyer as social-change agent. --- Florence Roisman, a housing rights activist at the Indiana University School of Law, has inspired clinicians nationwide with her supremely self-confident call to arms: "If it offends your sense of justice, there's a cause of action." --- Students help lead protests and then rustle up media coverage for those protests -- part of what the clinic calls "explor[ing] . . . ways of being a social justice lawyer." Students in Georgetown's State Policy Clinic work on "building a new economy that is inclusive, participatory and environmentally sustainable." Yale's Legislative Advocacy Clinic aims to move Connecticut toward "a more progressive agenda in taxing and spending revenue." --- Jeez... Wasn't it Shakespeare who wrote, "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

Academic Freedom Hearings in Pennsylvania

The information is here. State Rep. Gibson Armstrong is trying to pass legislation inspired by the academic freedom movement. If you are in PA, please support his efforts by contacting his office. HARRISBURG - Academic freedom continues to be a hot topic on campuses throughout the Commonwealth and even the nation. As part of a continued study by the House Select Committee on Academic Freedom, hearings will be held at Temple University in Philadelphia on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 9 and 10, said Rep. Gibson C. Armstrong (R-Lancaster).

Great Column on Campus Conservatives

Hans Zeiger has a great piece on the campus conservative revolution on WorldNetDaily here. It mentions TCR and the new network of campus conservatives run by Christopher Flickinger.

Number One

Texas upset USC 41-38 to win the national title at the Rose Bowl. I will never forget that game. I was in the stands watching Vince shred USC for over 460 yards and 3 touchdowns. What a season! Hook Em Horns!!!

I'll be on the radio tonight...

Tonight, around 10:45pm Eastern I will be on the Bruce Elliot Show discussing religious freedom in California. You can listen live here: http://wbal.com/shows/elliott/ Just click at the top-left of the page where it says, "Listen Live."