FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE - Larry Sand - FEB 10, 2023
DeSantis and some state legislators are stepping up.
“The largest cultural menace in America is the conformity of the intellectual cliques which, in education as well as the arts, are out to impose upon the nation their modish fads and fallacies, and have nearly succeeded in doing so. In this cultural issue, we are, without reservations, on the side of excellence (rather than ‘newness’) and of honest intellectual combat (rather than conformity).
The above words were from William F Buckley’s National Review mission statement in 1955. Sadly, almost 70 years later, our “intellectual cliques” and, in fact, increasing numbers of our institutions are faddier and more fallacious than ever. In short, our country in many areas has gone bull-goose loony. To wit….
The mission of the Government Accounting Office is to “examine how taxpayer dollars are spent and provide Congress and federal agencies with objective, non-partisan, fact-based information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.” But most recently, the GAO jumped far out of its lane and proclaimed that school dress codes can make students “unsafe” and can further racism.
In suburban Connecticut, a father was arrested after he let his seven and nine-year-old kids go to Dunkin’ Donuts by themselves. The police soon released the dad, but the Department of Children and Families (DCF) got involved. At the same time, in Gillette, Wyoming, the local library director defended the use of obscene books in the children’s and teen sections, explaining that removing any books “is a First Amendment violation – and that means that we could get sued.”
The same woke crowd that has embraced the disgraced and disgraceful Anthony Fauci, who once proclaimed, “I am the science,” cannot define what a woman is.
In the medical arena, U.S. News has for years been ranking medical schools on factors such as reputation, MCAT scores, and grade point averages of incoming students. But now these schools are resisting. Typical is the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai which, in a Jan. 24 statement, said the U.S. News rankings undermine the school’s “commitment to anti-racism” and “outreach to diverse communities.”
Law schools are no better. Georgetown University Law School is demanding that students consider whether the law should any longer be “considered and enforced neutrally.” A professor at Boston College of Law suggests that it’s time to consider “scrapping” the Constitution.
Not surprisingly the education arena is the ripest area for the culture warriors’ efforts. This is “Black Lives Matter at School Week” and with the teachers unions leading the charge, the nation’s kids are being bombarded with propaganda. In fact, the California Teachers Association is positively gleeful over the celebratory week. “Structural racism, intersectional black identities, black history, and anti-racist movements” are all part of the union’s suggested curricula. Wednesday is set aside for a lesson on “Trans-Affirming, Queer Affirming and Collective Value.”
The National Education Association certainly is on board with all the propaganda, claiming that Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action “helps create a safe space to talk about race, racism, and other difficult topics in school.”
Back in the real world, Wilfred Reilly, an associate professor of political science at Kentucky State University, writes, “In 2021, University of Massachusetts researcher Travis Campbell found that cities that experienced Black Lives Matter protests and riots — and surely often attempted to accommodate the demands of the marchers — did see some decrease in police homicides . . . but also experienced “a huge overall increase in murders.” The resulting murder surge was at least 10 percent overall, “equaling 1,000 to 6,000 additional murders” when expanded to the nationwide level.”