From the right: A Landmark Win for Academic Freedom
The Wisconsin Supreme Court Friday handed down what The Weekly Standard’s Charles Sykes calls “a landmark decision on academic freedom in higher education.” The court ruled that Marquette University violated Professor John McAdams’ free speech rights when it suspended him for writing a blog post. Ironically, that post itself raised academic freedom issues: It criticized another instructor’s refusal to allow any opinions in her class opposed to same-sex marriage. Marquette in turn suspended McAdams, banned him from campus and even tried to terminate his tenure and fire him. But as Justice Rebecca Bradley wrote in her concurring opinion: “Academic freedom means nothing if faculty is forced to self-censor in fear of offending the unforeseen and ever-evolving sensitivities of adversaries demanding retribution.”
Media critic: NJ Wants State-Funded Journalism
The State of New Jersey thinks it’s found a way to make the drying desert of journalism bloom again, reports Politico’s Jack Shafer: A $5 million government subsidy for a university-led consortium that will dispense grants for local news coverage. Though “if you think $5 million won’t go very far in a state the size, and with the corruption problems, of New Jersey, you’re right.” Moreover, the project seems “barnacled with bureaucracy”: It will be directed by a 13-member board appointed by the governor, legislature and participating universities. So “even if the consortium stays clean, won’t it avoid politically charged stories of great watchdogging potential because it will fear to bite the hand that feeds it?” Frankly, “if ‘trustworthy’ news is the objective, a government consortium can’t be the solution.”
From the left: What’s Endgame for Trump Trade War?
On Friday, the US officially imposed a 25 percent tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese exports. In other words, says Jeff Spross at The Week, “President Trump’s trade war is on.” Which, like actual hostilities, “begs a question: How do you win?” Because if Trump has only “nebulous ideas about what China could do to satisfy him, extracting the US from this conflict could be challenging.” Yes, the administration has laid out what it wants. But the list is so sweeping that it would force China to “redo just about everything in its economy.” The key, suggests Spross, is to “bring the value of the two nations’ currencies into closer alignment by having the Chinese drain off their massive reserves of US dollars.” President Ronald Reagan did just that with France, Britain, Germany and Japan.
Conservative: Hatred Drives GOP Jump-Ship Crowd
For the “dwindling band” of Never Trumpers, asserts Jonathan Tobin at National Review, the GOP has become like the Vietnamese village of which it was said, “We had to destroy it in order to save it.” Historian Max Boot goes further, likening the party to 1930s Germany and Japan and says it “must be destroyed before it can be rebuilt.” So, like Jennifer Rubin and George Will, “that means voting for Democrats this fall.” But the issue, says Tobin, isn’t really how Trump has changed the GOP as much “as how Trump derangement has changed them.” If Trump is for something, “they’re against it even if they used to support it.” Most Republicans, though, “remain determined to make the best of a party that is still fighting for their principles, albeit under a problematic president.”
Transit writer: New York Needs Speed Cameras
In what City Journal’s Nicole Gelinas calls “a case of byzantine politics and self-dealing,” the Republican-led state Senate wants to end New York’s five-year-old network of cameras near schools, even though it has “reduced speeding, and thus reduced injuries and, most likely, prevented deaths.” But with GOP control hanging in the balance, “it’s unwise for the party to be seen as skimping on safety.” Two senators are blocking its renewal: Brooklyn Democrat Simcha Felder, who’s linking it to something “entirely unrelated,” and Republican Martin Golden, who “is not merely an opponent of speed cameras; he is also their victim,” having been caught speeding 14 times. Moreover while NYPD leadership is on board with cameras, the PBA union is opposed, saying they take work away from “live, professionally trained” police officers — i.e., its members.
— Compiled by Eric Fettmann
