- John McWhorter (who supports him nonetheless) admits it (Instacurtsy)
- a Kansas blogger notes it.
Blah, blah, I had a bunch more links (just yesterday Michael Barone reported the stats: Obama's the candidate of blacks and academics), but then I got busy, and then the Pope arrived, and in the meanwhile the story changed. Many people have noted the oddity of Obama's defending the Weather Underground terrorist, Bill Ayers, as "an English professor." The obvious implication being that the little matter of blowing up buildings was a youthful indiscretion, and now the gentleman is respectable. As to that, Lileks put it best:
It was a difficult time. What a wonderful absolution. Oh, we all went a little mad. Some of us listened to Steppenwolf, some of us bombed government buildings and plotted robberies that killed people, some of us were rotting in Vietnamese prisons having our teeth bashed out by torture experts. Those days are behind us now, best forgotten. (Unlike the McCarthy era, which will be the subject of 163 movies about the blacklist next year, bringing the total to 45,203.)However, I agree with Richard Adams, the scandal here is less who Obama's friends with than the fact that barbarians who hate not just America but civilization find tenure in our university faculties. Ward Churchill. Peter Singer. Bill Ayers. William Dohrn. Sami al-Arian. One used to go to university to become civilized. Now between dorm life and multi-culturalism, much of academia is fit only for swine. (I know there are bright lights and exceptions even in the darkest university caves). I keep waiting for the "academic bubble" to burst the way the housing market has. How long will we keep paying upwards of $50,000-$100,000 per year for the privilege of endangering our youth by prolonged exposure to barbarians?
