by Bob Barr | Oct 7, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.com Move over COVID-19. There is a new contagion loose in America. This virus attacks that part of the brain which develops and controls the adult male’s sense of self-esteem and courage of conviction. Its effect is felt quickly once the victim exercises any degree of independent thought contrary to the prevailing politically correct orthodoxy. One of the most recent victims of this viral infection is Ohio State University Professor Matthew Mayhew, who succumbed to the intellectually debilitating disease shortly after publishing an opinion piece praising the return of college football at Ohio State. Apparently oblivious to the fate that awaited him, Mayhew last month co-authored an opinion piece titled “Why America Needs College Football,” published September 24th by Inside Higher Ed. The symptoms of the disease swiftly and mercilessly manifested themselves.Three days after Mayhew’s opinion piece was published, a fellow academic – Andrew McGregor, who teaches history at Dallas College in Texas – excoriated Mayhew in the same publication for writing in support of the long-standing Fall tradition known as “college football.” Mayhew’s prostration in the face of this politically correct onslaught quickly followed. The seriousness of the attack on Mayhew’s intellect became evident just two days thereafter, on September 29th, when his complete loss of self-esteem caused him to write an apology in which he berated himself for having voiced support for college football.Some observers might feel compassion for Prof. Mayhew as he confronts the complete, and likely permanent loss of his intellectual courage. It is far more important, however, that we focus on the damage to our culture resulting from the emergence of the disease known as “cancel culture.” This...
by Bob Barr | Oct 5, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerPrinceton University President Christopher Eisgruber is likely heaving a huge sigh of relief that the attention of the nation’s media is focused on COVID’s infestation of the White House, the Senate battle over the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and, of course, the looming national election. Were it not for these stories (and a handful of other newsworthy events such as continuing violence in one American city after another), Eisgruber’s September 2 letter openly admitting that the fabled Ivy League school engages in “systemic racism,” would be vying for front-page news coverage.Eisgruber’s letter, however, did not escape the eye of lawyers at the U.S. Department of Education; and it should not be allowed to be swept under the rug.Two weeks after the Princeton President’s highly unusual mea culpa, Robert King, the Education Department’s Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education, sent a letter to the university demanding that the admissions made by Eisgruber be explained and documented. The Department gave Princeton 21 days to provide the required evidence of its self-admitted racism, and one more week after that to schedule interviews “under oath” by Eisgruber and other Princeton officials.So far, there has been no publicly acknowledged response to the Education Department’s demand letter, other than a September 18 press release by the University stating that it “stands by” Eisgruber’s letter and would “respond” to the federal government “in due course.”Not surprisingly also, several dozen other university presidents quickly leaped to Princeton’s defense. In a letter made public only a few days following the Education Department’s letter, presidents of the seven other Ivy League schools and dozens of other colleges and...
by Bob Barr | Sep 30, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Townhall Of all the methods of control and surveillance conjured by George Orwell for his dystopian novel 1984, the use of children as spies is one of the most disturbing. As with so many of the measures and actions depicted in Orwell’s fictional work, however, the use of child snitches has today become an eerie reality; fostered, not surprisingly, by the fear according to which governments and government-like institutions such as schools now seek to control the population. Today, it is fear of COVID that is transforming students into Snitches for the State.In seeking to ensure students on campus and off abide by rigid COVID safety protocols that essentially forbid the broad range of activities in which college students traditionally have engaged, universities are strongly urging (if not requiring) students to report other students for violations of COVID safety protocols. Yale University even established a “tip line” for individuals to file confidential reports against their fellow students. Offending acts need not occur in the classroom or anywhere on campus to qualify as reportable infractions. Students at schools such as Cornell and New York University have been suspended for allegedly participating in social events hosted off-campus after being the target of other students’ snitching. For example, at NYU a student was caught in a video recorded by another student at an outdoor, rooftop party that apparently was in accord with New York City’s rigid social gathering rules. The student, who claims he maintained what he believed to be safe distances while in attendance, was only aware of his grave mistake after receiving an email from school officials excoriating him for “threatening the health and safety...
by Bob Barr | Sep 29, 2020 | Uncategorized |
Daily CallerIn a March 2019 decision certain to spur furious badgering from Democrats when she appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee next month, federal Appeals Court Justice (and now Supreme Court Associate Justice nominee) Amy Coney Barrett showed herself to be not only a supporter of the Second Amendment, but a thoughtful and courageous one.Transactions involving firearms are among the most heavily regulated of all commercial and legal activities in the United States. It therefore is not unusual for a federal judge to issue rulings on one or more matters involving the Second Amendment during their tenure.In the case of Justice Barrett, a decision by a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, on which she currently sits, illustrates the depth of her knowledge about the Second Amendment and of federal firearms laws. More important, her dissent in the case of Rickey Kanter v. William Barr, shows that she is remarkably unafraid to go against conventional wisdom in order to apply an historically correct and common-sense based interpretation of both the Bill of Rights and federal gun laws.At issue in the Kanter case was the long-standing federal law that makes it a crime for anyone who has ever been convicted of a felony offense under either state or federal law to thereafter legally possess a gun. Although the federal ban does not kick in if the felony for which an individual has been convicted was for violating a federal antitrust law or similar trade-restraint provision, and while there is language in the law allowing for the person to apply to have their rights restored, in every practical way, short of...
by Bob Barr | Sep 23, 2020 | Townhall Article |
Townhall.comIn every life there comes a moment of “clarity,” in which a decision must be made to stand up and do the right thing, or fold and take the easy way out. For Senate Republicans, that moment is staring them in the face. If they cannot muster 50 votes to confirm a Supreme Court nominee submitted by President Donald Trump, the “Grand Old Party” will no longer deserve being considered a “major” political party; it will have proved itself unworthy of the heritage bequeathed them by such true leaders as Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Far more important than the political fallout of such cowardice by a handful of GOP senators, however, will be the long-term damage to one of the most enduring and vital institutions undergirding our government – the Supreme Court of the United States, against which the Democrats have declared open warfare. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi no longer even pretend to camouflage what their intentions are. Should the Democrats win a majority in the Senate and also defeat Trump in the coming election, they will at once start the legislative process to expand the number of justices on the High Court (which has remained at nine for a century and a half). They also will move to change the rules according to which future judicial confirmations will be handled in the Senate. If Democrats succeed in these measures, they will all-but-guarantee the Republican Party will never again be able to ensure a “conservative” majority on the Court. The Democrat’s plan to pack the Court will be solidified if they are successful in achieving...
