Leftist Academic Tries to Censor Instapundit

Marxists and left-wingers just love to heap criticism, opprobrium, and God knows what else upon folks they view as dwelling on the right side of the political aisle. Tools of choice are the smear, the slander, and if all else fails, the kind of concerted, almost choral denunciation one used to get in Uncle Joe Stalin's Soviet Union for simply daring to exist. Further, today's "progressive" scoundrels know that the MSM will help them pile on and that there will be no consequences for their thuggish behavior. (Indeed, it is often rewarded with prizes and honoraria.) Criticize them, however, and you'll live to rue the day you ever opened your mouth to proclaim the truth.

Of course, an individual who still possesses the faculty of reason can simply choose to keep silent and avoid this kind of character assassination. After all, such attacks can and often do lead to professional oblivion, particularly in academia. But just try to speak out publicly against any element of socialist dogma, actual or implied, and that Satanic chorus of "progressive" Marxists will arise to smite you down. And, for good measure, maybe even get you fired from your job.

Case in point was some political and military speculation by respected blogger and University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit. Glenn opined that maybe rather than attack an increasingly bellicose Iran, a less damaging choice might be selective assassination of the mullahs and scientists who are racing to ignite a nuclear holocaust while using their proxies to whack American soldiers:

We should be responding quietly, killing radical mullahs and Iranian atomic scientists, supporting the simmering insurgencies within Iran, putting the mullahs' expat business interests out of business, etc. Basically, stepping on the Iranians' toes hard enough to make them reconsider their not-so-covert war against us in Iraq. And we should have been doing this since the summer 2003.

Sort of returning the favor for what these Islamofascists are doing to our GIs in Iraq, right? Hugh Hewitt (also a legal eagle) weighed in with a concurring opinion, but also warned Glenn of what would probably happen next:

Glenn will no doubt attract virtual bricks from the usual suspects, but he goes right to the heart of the problem. If we know that Iran is killing American soldiers, if we don't punish that action is some way, the killing will not only continue, it will increase.

Note that Hezbollah hasn't kidnapped any Israeli soldiers lately. There's a reason.

Well, that was more than enough for left-wing law professor Paul Campos to puff up his showy feathers to denounce Reynolds (and Hewitt) in true Stalinist fashion, in the pages of the Rocky Mountain News in a hit-piece ironically titled "The Right's Ward Churchill" after the leftist "minority" imposter who got himself tenured in at Campos' school.

After he tired of his preening propaganda tirade, Campos decided to wrap things up by calling for U Tenn to fire Reynolds:

Certainly, it's worth asking Reynolds' administrative superiors at the University of Tennessee what limits, if any, the terms and conditions of Reynolds' employment put on his behavior. After all, if the American government were to follow Reynolds' advice, his employer would have an accessory to murder on its payroll.

Although there are clearly no limits on Campos' behavior, Campos picked the wrong adversary this time. Power Line (also authored by a triumvirate of attorneys) jumped all over him. But Reynolds can also take care of himself, and fired back in the same paper:

Paul Campos has beclowned himself. He did it in the usual way, by arguing loudly about things he does not understand.

Read the whole piece for Reynolds' devastating argument. (Facts trump propaganda and lies every time, although the media rarely allow that outcome in a public forum.) After demolishing Campos' fact-less rant, Reynolds concludes:

Other law professors have, of course, made similar arguments, at far greater length than my blog post. Campos, himself a law professor, could have learned these things through a simple Google search, but apparently did not.

Instead, he authored an uninformed column, and then added a thuggish suggestion that my university should discipline me for daring to utter thoughts that, in his uninformed state, he found uncongenial. After he has educated himself sufficiently to have an informed opinion on the subject, Campos might still disagree. But if he does, I promise not to try to get him fired for not sharing my opinions. Perhaps one day, he’ll learn to return the favor.

Don't count on it, Glenn. Today's Marxist left—particularly in its academic playpens where they rarely have to suffer adult supervision—pretty much observes the Seinfeld Rules of Behavior: No hugging. No learning.

The cumulative antics of anti-intellectual leftist thugs like Campos, and obvious frauds like Ward Churchill for that matter, may eventually draw the taxpayers who support their anti-American antics into at last supporting the real solution to the seditious propaganda mills that so many American institutions of higher learning have become: the abolition of tenure. If you don't learn to control your children, after all, they'll control you. It's high time for tenured radicals to be stripped of their artificial force-fields and required to undergo annual reviews and meet workplace standards just like the rest of us.

(Interesting note, BTW. Churchill is apparently still fighting his justifiable dismissal ("firing") from U. Colorado-Boulder, and has garnered Idiotarian statements of support like this one. Wonder if these same perps would support a respected, non-fraudulent academic like Reynolds? Bet Campos wouldn't.)