Not a martyr. A business model with a pulse that stopped and a revenue stream that didn’t. TPUSA turned free speech into a cudgel, campus kids into content, and harassment into a donor pyramid. The Professor Watchlist wasn’t debate. It was a hit list with merch. Now they are trying to canonize the grift and call it gospel. Name it for what it is and cut the power at the outlet: no clicks, no cash, no sanctified lies.
My 95yo Fox-watching mother was going on and on about what a shame he was killed and how he was a good Christian, yadda yadda yadda. After she ran out of steam, I agreed that it was a shame that he was killed so brutally, but that he wasn't a good Christian.
I asked her if she wanted to know why I thought that and I proceeded to pull up an endless series of the most vile racist, misogynist and just plain sociopathic quotes (easy to find on the 'net.) Then I got to the quote about black women:
"If we would have said three weeks ago […] that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they're coming out and they're saying it for us! They're coming out and they're saying, "I'm only here because of affirmative action. Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."
I reminded her of her teaching colleague, [redacted], in the elementary school where I was a student, and who was also my 2nd grade teacher. I loved [redacted.] She was one of the very few Black women I came to know well as a child. We even shared the same last name. She and my mother were very good friends in and out of the classroom.
"Mom - if someone had told you back then that [redacted] didn't have any brain-power and stole a white person's slot, would you agree?"
<silence>
"Would you agree if somebody said that about her now?"
<silence>
"Turn off the damned TV, Mom. It is pure poison. Kirk was talking about wonderful people like [redacted] in the most demeaning way. I'm gonna hang up now. Love you."
‘O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!’ I say to myself when I think of my mom. She's always been the smartest person I've known, with two Masters degrees in her subject area, and a long, notable professional life at the top of her profession.
Not a martyr. A business model with a pulse that stopped and a revenue stream that didn’t. TPUSA turned free speech into a cudgel, campus kids into content, and harassment into a donor pyramid. The Professor Watchlist wasn’t debate. It was a hit list with merch. Now they are trying to canonize the grift and call it gospel. Name it for what it is and cut the power at the outlet: no clicks, no cash, no sanctified lies.
My 95yo Fox-watching mother was going on and on about what a shame he was killed and how he was a good Christian, yadda yadda yadda. After she ran out of steam, I agreed that it was a shame that he was killed so brutally, but that he wasn't a good Christian.
I asked her if she wanted to know why I thought that and I proceeded to pull up an endless series of the most vile racist, misogynist and just plain sociopathic quotes (easy to find on the 'net.) Then I got to the quote about black women:
"If we would have said three weeks ago […] that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama and Sheila Jackson Lee and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they're coming out and they're saying it for us! They're coming out and they're saying, "I'm only here because of affirmative action. Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a white person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."
I reminded her of her teaching colleague, [redacted], in the elementary school where I was a student, and who was also my 2nd grade teacher. I loved [redacted.] She was one of the very few Black women I came to know well as a child. We even shared the same last name. She and my mother were very good friends in and out of the classroom.
"Mom - if someone had told you back then that [redacted] didn't have any brain-power and stole a white person's slot, would you agree?"
<silence>
"Would you agree if somebody said that about her now?"
<silence>
"Turn off the damned TV, Mom. It is pure poison. Kirk was talking about wonderful people like [redacted] in the most demeaning way. I'm gonna hang up now. Love you."
‘O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!’ I say to myself when I think of my mom. She's always been the smartest person I've known, with two Masters degrees in her subject area, and a long, notable professional life at the top of her profession.
And he's not even a politician.
One of your most profound articles yet. Sharing it everywhere. Thank you.
You covered it. Thankyou.