THE INSURRECTION CONTINUES AT DUKE

In light of what is happening and not happening at Duke, an obvious question hasn't been asked. Why would any parent spend the large sums of money necessary to send their children to what is obviously a seriously flawed school with a radicalized faculty and a vigilante mob for students?

The latest ad run by the intellectual pretenders at Duke is another poorly written poorly thought out ramble through the usual Left targets; a meandering prattle whose purpose is the conviction of innocent students for a felony crime they demonstrably did not commit. The real intellects, both at Duke and the blogosphere, are all over the latest ad created by the quasi-masterminds who partially populate the faculty at Duke. The purposes of their ads are not only to convict innocent Duke students, they are designed to rally the agenda crazed students and faculty to the “cause. The Duke faculty “leaders” have created an advertisement so phony that one wonders what kind of education a person can possibly get at that Ivy wannabe college. The responses to the latest ad from the "88" over at Lie Stoppers have one common thread besides their affection for Duke University, the responders believe that the faculty people are smart and that they really believe what they are saying.

Well, it all depends on what smart is. If smart happens to be people with degrees from obscure universities or specialties requiring no scholarship at all (Women’s Studies, Chicano History) then they are smart with an asterisk. A sample of one of five hundred useless (but expensive) titles published by the Duke University Press: An Archive of Feelings: Trauma, Sexuality, and Lesbian Public Cultures; cost: $84.95. If smart means a thorough understanding of a discipline which must endure repeated rigorous tests of that understanding, writing and scholarship to butress knowledge within their specialty, together with some speaking engagements that show people respect the author; if these are the criteria for smart, then there are a very few smart faculty involved with this vigilante mob.

But the gang is serving a higher purpose for the rest of us. We will not soon "Rush to Judgment" about anything else (the current "Obama the Muslim" comes to mind first). The Duke insurgence is showing those of us on the outside what is going on inside faculty meetings, what Politically Correct means at Duke, and what has been going on at most universities for at least a decade. From what I can gather through reading the ads, Duke has a mediocrity rising to the top who are creating poorly crafted documents designed to rally their acolytes and to demonstrate to the world at large their commitment. A cheapo hick college version of the pricey full page New York Times ads run by the wealthy establishment liberals whenever they want to “show” where they stand.

The involved faculty members believe their own canned opinions with a religious fervor and they act out their agendas in every setting. In that respect they are no different from the old Communist Party of the thirties and forties, a movement that had thousands of totally committed members who would do anything to get rid of our government as they slavishly followed the shifting party line from Moscow.

The current faculty, the ones signing ads, believe in the current totalitarian PC agendas that have been running amok on every college campus for at least a decade. These agendas work so that a person "fits" into one or two of the dozen or so matrixes of arguments against our society or country and they launch attacks from one of the templates. The current PC mold is one that casts white males as oppressors of poor Blacks, minorities, and all women. But even more, they believe that white men intentionally “cause” this misery because they must keep the oppressed down in order to make even more money, be more successful, and be ever more powerful at the expense of Blacks, women, and other victim groups. In the environment of these true believers there are leaders and willing accomplices, and the accomplices will follow the leader. Period.

Just to remind everyone of the literal avalanche of media that lined up against the trio, be sure you read the account of this case in this week's Weekly Standard. Only a wealthy person could have survived this mob of media and faculty feeding frenzy.

The way faculty, both the 88 signers and the 900 who have sat on their asses saying nothing in public, have demonstrated their hatred of white males by flunking jocks, causing demonstrations to start, and so on; all from anonymous positions inside the faculty lounge, is a lot like the Commie army in the thirties. I am reminded of a series of lectures given by Stalinist-hard core communist, John Howard Lawson, a very talented writer who was one of the Hollywood Ten way back when. At a lecture to a large group of aspiring writers and actors he described how to get the communist “message” into a script so that it would get past the studio bureaucracy. He told the assembled writers to slip in no more than a twenty second scene, one that would leave the audience no doubt as to the class warfare message of the picture. He told the actors that they should be conscious of the social message at all times; even if they were just walk ons they should play a worker or other prisoners of capitalism to be as down trodden as possible; to dress the role, and play it even without dialogue.

In a sense, Lawson's desciples are the people at Duke who are writing their twenty second scenes or playing their walk on parts with gusto. This collection of faculty mediocrities are simply jumping into the pool because this particular pool suits their agenda. Thinking has nothing to do with anything. The "extras" are doing their little jobs in a bigger picture.

But something is missing from this revolution. Real talent is missing. The writers are not talented like the Stalinist, John Howard Lawson was. These inept Duke PC wordsmiths are simply not ready for prime time and are proving it every day. And unlike the Communists in pre-1950 Hollywood who operated behind the scenes with complete anonymity, the Duke radicals are discovering that there are actual critics out there who are not afraid to examine the script. Critics with the sharp knives who are more than eager to tear apart faculty propaganda, to cause opposition, to actually dare to examine piece by piece what is written. The leaders of the mob are reeling as if surprised that anyone with real brains would dare challenge them.

Their un-readiness for intellectual battle is made possible because of the totalitarianism implicit in the current PC environment where nobody is allowed to disagree with the teacher, either in class or in "conferences" with other faculty. The results of their self created hot house are delicate flowers who cannot survive tough climes. Their ideas are not battle tested. Note how many of the classes taught by these people will not allow any books that differ from the agenda of the teacher. They even state in their class descriptions that the student must already believe in the philosophy to be offered or ready to believe it. And to never challenge the teacher in class.

What we are seeing now at Duke is the Agenda Left being caught in the open before they can get dressed, but as is being demonstrated from the latest ads, they are ready to fire from no cover and with whatever weapon is handy. They are fanatically committed to the “cause.” Nothing will ever change their minds. The Duke Rape Case is their Spanish Civil War, which was a splashy PC foreign engagement in the thirties that became a demonstration of commitment for the faithful, a commitment that led thousands of true believers to their deaths.

So die PC rats. Die.