Who's To Blame For Campus Chaos?

 COMMENTARY WND NEWS CENTER

DISINFORMATION

Exclusive: Michael Ackley talks to Columbia professor relegated to the basement

By Michael Ackley
Published April 25, 2024 at 6:59pm

Editor's note: The powers that be at WND.com have told Michael Ackley he may submit the occasional column. As Golden State madness has accelerated, Mr. Ackley continues to give in to the urge to stay in the game. Hence, the items below. Remember that his columns may include satire and parody based on current events, and thus mix fact with fiction. He assumes informed readers will be able to tell the difference.

We found our way to a dim hallway in the basement of Columbia University's Low Library. 

We were there to seek out Howard Bashford, Columbia's Distinguished Sophistrean Professor of Disinformation, Misinformation and Malformation, emeritus.

We were told his office was near the president's room, and it was … below it in the basement. 

After traversing a maze of dusty passages deep within the huge, neoclassical pile, we found the professor. 

He was asleep, with his head on his desk.

We cleared our throat loudly, and he sat up, revealing that he had pillowed his pate on a week-old copy of the Sunday New York Times.

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After appropriate formalities, we were able to ask Bashford the pressing question: 

"As a professor of disinformation, can you tell us why the Palestinian cause is so idolized at American universities?"

His expression brightened considerably.

"It is all about disinformation," he said, "and this disinformation is popular because it is disruptive. 

Left-wingers love disruption."

We begged him to explain his reference to "left-wingers," and he continued enthusiastically, 

"The American Left likes anything that disrupts American or, more broadly, Western values.

"It likes the trans movement because it disrupts the family, America's bedrock institution. 

In fact it likes anything that disrupts any Western institution that is based on Judeo-Christian values. 

For example, it values the disruption of public education and the disruption of the English language through the 'pick-your-gender' movement."

"Very well," we said. "But why should universities be so taken with the Palestinian movement? 

Doesn't it have a religious – Islamic – component?"

We could see Bashford was struggling to be patient as he answered.

"You asked about its popularity on university campuses," he said. "Where are we now?".

Of course, we noted we were at Columbia.

"And who works at university campuses?" he asked.

"Professors?" we said, tentatively.

"And what are most professors?" he queried.

The light broke upon us, there in the library's dim corridors: "Left-wingers?"

"Ah!" said Bashford. "So they are! 

The Left values disruption per se. 

This is because naive Leftists believe that after the destruction of Western culture, our nation will evolve naturally to embrace state-centered order — to wit, socialism or communism.

"The idea that Palestinians are downtrodden victims took root in American academia with the first importation of Palestinian foreign students. 

They established Palestine liberation clubs throughout the nation and never ceased propagandizing about how history had dealt them injustice.

"They certainly have been agitating on campus since I was an undergraduate – and that is going on 60 years ago. 

Initially, they were just quietly militant, but they have been implacable, steadily feeding students and faculty their warped view of history.

"They gradually have convinced intellectually lazy, left-wing faculty members and mentally overburdened students of the line that Palestinians are the underdogs in the conflict with Israel, because of the legacy of Western colonialism."

Adopting an Aristotelian pose, he challenged us: "Faculties bought into their line. … Why?"

We said, "Because it was disruptive?"

"Right!" said Bashford. "And it is next to impossible to find faculty to take up Israel's cause. … Why?"

"Because they're leftists?" we asked. "But you're not a leftist, are you?" we asked.

He replied, "Why do you think I'm in the basement?"

---

Meanwhile, at Google: The search-engine behemoth had its own pro-Palestinian demonstrations as employees took over offices for anti-Israel protests. 

Google fired a couple of dozen of the participants.

An outfit called No Tech For Apartheid called the dismissals a "flagrant act of retaliation" that was "a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers. …"

Well, yeah.

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