Tempest In A Tea Pot
It appears that great anguish has befallen America’s academia! Howls (sorry Allen Ginsburg) have been heard from those lofty ivory towers! Shock and awe echo through the halls of higher learning! America’s professors are nonplused!
Hampshire College brought their American flags to half mast! Later they took them down entirely! Yale professors made their scheduled examinations OPTIONAL, presumably because their students were befuddled to the point of catatonia. Many schools gave their students time off to recover! Some offered counseling. Demonstrations on campus popped up like mushrooms after the rain! Even on the grade school level, it’s been reported that some of our youngsters have been taught to FEAR the up coming presidency!
What, you might ask, has caused this educational temblor? It’s no secret that the majority of American teachers were quite partisan in favor of Hillary. And it’s also apparent that teacher’s union self interest is another major factor. Disappointment among these individuals would certainly be understandable. But the HYSTERICAL reaction to Donald Trump’s election goes beyond rational explanation. Is academia against DEMOCRACY, after all? The same minions that only weeks earlier swore fealty to the American electoral system (saying “How dare Mr. Trump even QUESTION the process?”) were now up in arms, and doing just that! And these minions were cheered on, overtly and covertly, by their mentors. In fact, one might say that they were GOADED on by their mentors!
I recall after the Obama victories in 2008 and 2012 being EXTREMELY disappointed in America’s short sighted choice. TWICE! But never did I consider trying to protest or fight the result. Nor did I consider denigrating our electoral system. It’s turns out, of course, that ALL of my reservations and apprehensions regarding Obama were more than borne out by the ensuing Obama performance over the next eight years, but the point is, that as a loyal American citizen, I accepted the result and moved on.
So we might ask, why haven’t America’s educators done the same thing? Why is there so much animus in the academy?
Well, I’ll tell you why. It’s simple: The professors of America had THEIR FEELINGS HURT! That’s it! It’s that simple!The poor dears were at first confused, and then enraged that America had the temerity NOT TO LISTEN TO THEM! “How can this be?” they asked. “Everyone knows how smart we are!” they exclaimed. “We couldn’t have been any clearer!: Vote for Hillary or civilization as we know it is doomed!” “Could we have spelled it out any better than that?” “America is DOOMED.” “There!” “Only a MORON would ignore us!” Or a “deplorable!” Or an “irredeemable”. “In fact I can’t even deal with this any more!” “It’s time, now, to go to my ‘safe space’!” “FOOLS!”
Well, ladies and gentlemen, that’s what we have: A tempest in the academic pot of tea!
what even more terrifying is this is the future generation of world leaders.