Although the current archives only go back to 2005, I’ve been writing this blog for close to 19 years now. And over those years I’ve linked to a lot of right-wing sites to show what sort of nuttery is going on in them.
One of those sites is Legal Insurrection, written by a fellow named William Jacobson. Over the years Jacobson has been a reliably consistent apologist for whatever outrageous nonsense the Right is fomenting, and I have commented on his work occasionally, although it’s been a long time. This is one example, from 2009, although I notice the Legal Insurrection post I was commenting on appears to have been removed.
However, Jacobson is also a professor of law at Cornell University, and it seems a couple of his recent blog posts about Black Lives Matter have inspired an effort to get him fired. In a post full of high-minded sentiments about intellectual freedom and the importance of vibrant intellectual communities, he writes, “Those posts accurately detail the history of how the Black Lives Matters Movement started, and the agenda of the founders which is playing out in the cultural purge and rioting taking place now.”
So let’s take a look. This one from June 2 is titled “The Bloodletting and Wilding Is Part of An Agenda To Tear Down The Country.”
Yeah, it’s 2020 and this specimen is still using the word wilding in the context of racial crime..
Let us consider now what Professor Jacobson calls “history.” I’m putting nearly the entire post here, because I genuinely want people to read it all the way through.
This has been a long time coming. At least a generation, maybe two. The left methodically has taken control of key institutions to implement an anti-American, anti-Capitalist agenda.
You send your kids to public schools and college, where they are taught from their earliest years that America and capitalism are the sources of evil in the world, that we are a systemically racist society that consumes ‘black and brown bodies,’ while socialist and communist systems are more equal and fair. It’s all a lie, but it’s a lie told by the teachers, professors, and administrators with power. The real racists are the people who obsess about race, and who judge people based on the color of their skin.
When your kids emerge from the social justice warfare meat grinder, you don’t recognize them anymore. Oh well, you shrug.
There is a concerted effort funded by leftist billionaires and high tech companies to control what you can say, and to silence you through mob action or social media throttling if you get out of line. The large corporate media, with only a couple of exceptions, is thoroughly corrupt and works every day to elect their preferred candidates, always Democrats.
The law enforcement system is being undermined by district attorneys funded by George Soros whose agenda is to prevent enforcement of laws, and politicians whose goal is to see those arrested released immediately without bail. We’re seeing that right now with rioters and looters almost immediately released. The next push is to defund the police.
Hollywood, The music industry. Television. Gone.
We still have the vote and can win elections, despite the disadvantage. But it’s not a guarantee. Which is why the left wants to subvert voting integrity.
All this time, you have seen bits and pieces, and figured that while you might not agree, it wasn’t a threat to our existence.
The wilding and looting should be your wake up call. When seconds counted, the police were pulled back by the policitians.
The goal is to destroy capitalism, and to seek revenge. The Black Lives Matter movement, founded based on fraudulent narratives of the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown cases, is led by anti-American, anti-capitalist activists. They have concocted a false narrative of mass murder of Blacks at the hands of police, when the statistics show otherwise. They will exploit George Floyd’s death mercilessly to drive that agenda. And they will have some success, because all the institutions listed above are behind them.
There are short term things that can be done, but it depends on the federal government because in the Democrat states where most of the violence took place, the politicians are part of the problem. There needs to be a massive and relentless tracking down of the people who helped coordinate the violence. It needs to start right now. Of course, it will stop on a dime if Joe Biden is elected, but it needs to be started. It should not take more than 2-3 months to accomplish this, and it will take the key criminals off the street in the federal system where activist District Attorney’s can’t interfere.
Democrat states and cities are in a bad way financially due to their own mismanagement of their economies and their tolerance of rioters and looters. They all will be seeking federal bailouts. Just say no, unless there is structural change.
But these are just a short term actions that will not change the rot in our institutions. I wish I had a long-term solution. That’s something that needs to be discussed in the coming weeks.
Amidst all this gloom, there is a ray of light. Most of the country didn’t riot and loot. Most of the people in the country don’t hate capitalism and want a Marxist revolution. Most of the country still loves the country. Don’t lose sight of that. If after two generations the radical left were not able to beat patriotism out of most Americans, there is a chance.
This wackjob is teaching at a major university, mind you.
I’m not going to take the time to refute all this nonsense — mostly, a festival of strawman fallacies — because it would take a book to do so, but in brief Jacobson brushes aside generations of racial oppression so that he can fit the Black Lives Matter movement into his deeper concerns about the Communist Takeover of Capitalism, or whatever. And the destruction of capitalism is all a nefarious plot fomented by “leftists.” It’s not like capitalism is failing on its own or anything. (See also “The Looming Bank Collapse” at The Atlantic, which I just read this morning.)
And, of course, he’s ignoring the way red, rural states are soaking up the tax dollars of those liberal urban centers, Blue states and their allegedly dysfunctional cities have been bailing out the poorer and more rural red states for decades. But let’s go on.
The other post that’s gotten Jacobson into trouble, “Reminder: ‘Hands up, don’t shoot’ is a fabricated narrative from the Michael Brown case” does get one point right — a whole lot of forensic evidence discredited the claim that Michael Brown was executed while he had his hands up in surrender.
But it’s not like the police shooting of Michael Brown was an isolated case and that black men and women aren’t executed by police on a dreadfully regular basis. Sometimes law-abiding people are killed by Amerian police while they do have their hands up. Sometimes they are in their own homes and asleep in their beds. And these atrocities keep happening, over and over and over. I can’t imagine how far up one’s ass one must keep one’s head to not be at least a little concerned about this.
Further, Michael Brown’s shooting was hardly an isolated incident in Ferguson, Missouri. A federal inquiry found a long pattern of abuse of Ferguson’s citizens at the hands of police.
The Police Department in Ferguson, Mo., has persistently and repeatedly violated the constitutional rights of African Americans, jailing them for minor offenses far more often than whites, using traffic stops to arrest them disproportionately and subjecting them to excessive force, a Justice Department investigation has concluded.
The investigation portrays a city in which police dogs were set upon blacks but not whites and where blacks were seven times more likely to be subjected to force than whites, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation’s findings.
Officers and municipal court officials in the St. Louis suburb exchanged racist emails, the investigation found, including one from 2008 predicting that President-elect Barack Obama would not be in office long because, it asked, “what black man holds a steady job for four years”? Another email relayed a joke in which a black woman receives $5,000 for having an abortion and, when she asks why, is told that the money came from the citizens group Crime Stoppers.
And even if we assume the shooting of Michael Brown was justified — and I’m not saying it was — this event was followed by absolutely outrageous behavior on the part of St. Louis police, including what has to be called an out-and-out police riot. And while Jacobson might not be aware of it, the Michael Brown incident took place against the backdrop of long-delayed justice for the shooting of Anthony Lamar Smith by St. Louis police officer Jason Stockley. Will Bunch describes that bit of history here. Although the system let Stockley be acquitted, the St. Louis police board settled a wrongful death suit with Smith’s survivors for $900,000.
But in Jacobson’s mind, those simple black people are not really angry about police brutality and are just being stirred up by unnamed leftists who want to destroy capitalism.
It may be that William Jacobson is not dragging his wackjobbery into his classroom, and that he is competent at teaching whatever part of law he teaches. In that case, Cornell University might be justified in continuing to let him teach, which appears to be happening. It’s really hard to imagine that degree of bigotry doesn’t color the man’s professional work, but let’s continue.
The larger issue is, where is the balance between free speech and yelling fire in a crowded theater? Or, how much do we have to tolerate speech that is clearly harmful to our nation and society?
And then, of course, who gets to judge? Not the government, as a rule, because I don’t want the government to have censorship power. Even though the current White House thinks it does.
But Cornell Univeristy is not the government. Cornell has to consider whether keeping someone like Jacobson on as a professor is damaging the university’s standing and potentially driving better students to other universities. That possibility is one reason I think the Jacobson case requires widespread notice. If I were a recent college graduate with offers from more than one prestigious law school, this story ought to put Cornell at the bottom of the list.
It’s also the case that in the free marketplace of ideas, some ideas are worthwhile, and some are poison. And the First Amendment doesn’t guarantee that you won’t be criticized and ridiculed by other citizens for spewing out poison.
I’ve written elsewhere about how to protect liberal values without violating liberal values. See, for example, Tolerating Intolerance from December 2008. And it’s also the case that the Right perpetually uses every trick in the book to shut down speech they don’t like. See, for example “The Jackboot of Conservative Correctness” from June 2011.
Back in 2006 I wrote a post titled “Being Liberal Doesn’t Mean Being a Patsy.”
Some people don’t understand what tolerance is. It doesn’t mean being a patsy, or not respecting personal parameters. Righties in particular seem to think that because liberals value “tolerance” we’re supposed to stand aside like grinning idiots and approve of everything they do. Some righties think “tolerance” confers on them a right not to be disagreed with.
No; tolerance of public speech means I must not stop someone else from expressing an opinion. But “tolerance” doesn’t mean I can’t express my opinion of his opinion. Tolerance of behavior as a rule means tolerating behavior that is chosen from free will and not harming anyone else. It doesn’t mean I should stand aside if behavior is harming someone else. I don’t know why so many righties can’t grasp that.
And here we still are.
Word has it, that when the Koch Brothers make donations to colleges and universities, it stipulates they can insert a few professors of their choosing. Jacobson may be an example of that.
"It may be that William Jacobson is not dragging his wackjobbery into his classroom, and that he is competent at teaching whatever part of law he teaches. In that case, Cornell University might be justified in continuing to let him teach, which appears to be happening."
If the good professor has ever advocated for "Right To Work" standards, he's declared support for the employers right to fire at will. Your statement implies that Cornell may be applying teacher tenure standards to retaining Jacobson when he (quite probably) has argued against that standard.
I make it a point to not attempt a rational discussion with anyone who simply insults whoever they disagree with, rather than dealing with the issues involved. So let’s try considering an important issue…rationally, without rancor, or name-calling.
Let me begin this hopeful debate by pointing out that I am not a master chef, not a trained auto mechanic, not a physician, and certainly not a certified psychiatrist. However, I know when an omelet’s been burnt, when a finger is broken, when my car’s brakes don’t work, and when a person is mentally deranged.
Naturally, I might very well be wrong in any or all of these instances. I could be in a restaurant in France, where I’m told that omelets are typically reheated and browned on the bottom. That “broken” finger may simply be a congenital condition with no serious consequences. I could, and have, accidentally put my foot on the wrong pedal. And the object of my “analysis” could simply be clowning.
But, should actual experts in any of these fields make such “diagnoses at a distance”? That is a serious question, which is a crucial one in these troubled times. Here goes my attempt to answer it.
Not being a psychiatrist, I see no reason why I can’t state unequivocally, and based entirely on his tweets, speeches, interviews, and his public statements, that President Donald Trump is mentally ill.
But, should a professional psychiatrist make such a statement about our President? My answer is “yes”. Diagnosis at a distance by professionals in their field of expertise is ordinarily, at the very least, an absurdity. But, as in many instances in this life, actions which may be flat-out wrong in most instances could, under extenuating circumstances, be essential.
Since Donald Trump is clearly one of the most powerful persons on earth, can order someone killed without being held to account, may even plunge us into war through his position as Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces…public recognition of his fragile mental condition by psychiatrists is not only acceptable but even required.
It has been some years since I’ve read Gulliver’s Travels, but I do remember that the protagonist did what would ordinarily be regarded as an unpardonable act…having made use of his giant stature and the contents of his bladder to urinate on the Lilliputian monarch’s palace. But it was on fire, and that was the only water readily available.
Maybe now is indeed the time when psychiatrists must commit what would ordinarily be an inexcusable offense, which consists of diagnosing a person at a distance. However, this time the subject is a person who could do, and has already done, irreparable damage to others, to this country, and even to the world.
And, perhaps, psychiatrists are even justified in analyzing at a distance anyone who can casually overlook the evidence that President Donald Trump is clearly showing signs of a serious mental illness.
John A. Broussard
[email protected]
Within definite boundaries, and with good etiquette of all parties involved, non-standard ideas can be discussed in a civil manner. I have contended on multiple occasions that a huge problem in the United States is that such discussions are becoming more and more limited. Both the lack of boundaries and principles of etiquette must be faulted. The net result is a huge barrier to resolution of issues of controversy. We also loose a great joy, which is the experience of involvement in fine argumentation. One is also deprived of an opportunity to learn something, as we cannot master all areas of modern complexity.
Of late right wingers make statements about socialism which are just baffling, and I find myself telling them (usually several times) that I can't and will not listen to them or talk with them unless and until we can define what the word means. I have never gotten beyond that point. The area I live is provided it's utilities from an organization which is not for profit. It is in many respects, owned by the people it serves, and returns excess profits to it's customers from time to time. The big time those dividends are rained on you is after you die, which is kind of amusing. But at least you have some asset to reign on a favored survivor. All of the local right wingers do business with this utility, are eligible to serve on the board of directors, and are not at all aware of it's less than capitalistic nature. But from the way they talk, you would think they would be picketing the place every day.
What a strange poisoned culture we now live in. And we now lack any civil discourse to even learn deal with our everyday environment.
I had to look up wilding, and noted the English tend to use the term with reference to plants not people. It was a first to me either way.
ZOINKS!!!!!!
Anyone wanna bet that William A. Jacobson, this bigoted Ol' Legal Beagle, who, besides his profession of professoring his legal beaglery to legal beagle puppies, is also an avid QAnon acolyte?
No? I didn't think so. Too bad. Papa needed a new pair of expensive Air LeBron's.
And what is it with Harvard Law School consistently churning out conservative whackaloon lawyers like an assembly line, to further f-up this country's legal, political, and social systems?
If I had a kid who wanted to be a lawyer, I'd tell them, "Look, you wanna be a lawyer, right? Ok then, you have my blessing, and my financial help. But there are two schools you absolutely cannot go to in order to get your legal degree: Harvard Law School, and tRUMP University!!!"
NOT Fun Factoid: William A. Jacobson, who besides being nuttier than a Snickers bar, is the guy who got in Elizabeth Warren's face about her Native American heritage, and made that into a national issue.
It's completely amazing to me how 1) this old garbage is being swept away, in so many places around the country and even internationally, and 2) of course the expected counter reaction from the cornered right. COVID-19 brought a lot more than just bad RNA.
It's amazing to watch how this has upped the ante for desperate Trump and his loser flunkies. From the bible stunt, to the upcoming rally in Tulsa, deliberately chosen because it's where hundreds of blacks were slaughtered in 1921. What could go wrong?
I wonder if the Juneteenth meet up in Tulsa will be formal attire of robes and hoods, or just a casual MAGA hat affair?
BYOBF. Bring your own battle flag. (tiki torches are optional)
As I near the golden strand, I've witnessed two events that I never thought I would witness in my life time.. The election of a black president, and the banning of the confederate battle flag from NASCAR events.
Maybe there is hope for us yet.
You're right Swami. I couldn't believe my eyes when I read about NASCAR and the bars n stars. Too much to process these last couple weeks. This is stuff that would normally happen once every 5-10 years.
A guy naamed Bubba is driving the BLM car. You can't make this up'
moonbat, you ask what could go wrong? Trump just issued a threat to any protesters who show up at his Tulsa rally. He's created a magnet for confrontation and claimed that any protesters who come against his will, will be brutalized. So I think we're going to find out what can go wrong. It could be just Trump's typical paper tiger macho bluster, but he's rubbing it in the face of the black lives matter movement to do something about it.
If I lived in the Tulsa area I would show up just on principle to give Trump a neighborly, Fuck you, Trump!
Biden’s war chest swells as donors, many in California, grow increasingly alarmed by Trump
Jumping on a random bit:
Honestly, while I don't think it's right to fire him, what he's written is in bad faith; I mean, face it, he's not so stupid that he *really* thinks children are being told the US and capitalism are the source of all evil, etc..
I know there isn't a rule that a professor isn't allowed to make factual-seeming statements that have no basis at all; but for some reason, it strikes me as a terrible crime against academic (or perhaps "intellectual") integrity. You know, like "this is a university, and we are in service to the truth, insofar as it can be found, or understood; to write such lies, with no basis in fact or reality, is a crime against that service."
It's crazy how easily people spread such hateful lies, which are essentially ways of begging people to be angry with, and hateful toward others, including other good people who disagree about best political outcomes.
It might be that he's not really that stupid, but that's the kind of stuff he's written on his blog for years. If he's not really that stupid, why does he write it? I don't think it's a matter of intelligence per se; I think there's some miswiring in some conservatives' brains that cause their mythology to overwrite everything else.
Doug,
Bubba Wallace is half-black, and at 26, is very young driver.
So for him to press NASCAR to take down the flag of treason, and then get someone to sponsor him while he has BLM logos on his car, makes tRUMP'S cojones look like Raisinettes compared to Bubba's righteous mountain-sized ones!!!
I don't particularly much care for NASCAR, but now: GO BUBBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Off topic… and not wanting to pollute this blog with anything that could be construed as giving Trump any sort of promotion, But here's something that shows just how insidiously diabolical and devoid of original creativity the Trump camp is..They've hijacked the black lives matter logo and twisted it to appeal to Trump's Christian base. No talent, no shame, no scruples. Just keep milking them rubes!
https://shop.donaldjtrump.com/products/babies-lives-matter