Wall Street to Hillary: Go On Take The Money And Run

[Guest post by hit and run*]

 

Glenn Reynolds has an article up in USA Today, encouraging the GOP to take on Big Business.

 

The Republicans have a real opportunity to connect with voters and win big in 2016. But to do so, they'll have to get over their traditional love for Big Business. Will they be smart enough to do that? The prospects don't look especially bright.

 

But the fact is that many big businesses are unpopular with the public, aligned with the Democrats, and wide open for attack. And after eight years of the Obama administration's naked cronyism and support of Wall Street even as the middle class has suffered, the opportunities are there.

 

Reynolds goes on to explain why Hollywood and Silicon Valley are both ripe targets for GOP efforts.  But I want to focus on what might be the most throw-away line in his piece:

 

But I'm not too optimistic. That's because the GOP seems unwilling to criticize Big Business, even those parts of Big Business that hate the GOP and want to destroy it.

 

The link in Big Business goes to a Politico piece from last November, called "Why Wall Street Loves Hillary".

  

Oh, you don't say?

 

Any regular reader of Instapundit is familiar with the tag he has placed on Obama now for several years: President Goldman Sachs.  I happen to be the blogger who came up with the Obama/Goldman Sachs logo that Professor Reynolds often uses when using that phrase (I've gotten 31 Instalanches to the original post, but who's counting?).

 

Anyway, now that I have my opening, I'm going to run through it like running back DeMarco... Well, Tom Maguire is more a New York Football Giants guy, and DeMarco Murray just left my Cowboys for our shared enemy the Eagles, and "Running Back by Committee" doesn't carry the same punch, so let's just say I'm going to run with it.

 

From the Politico article:

While the finance industry does genuinely hate [Elizabeth] Warren, the big bankers love Clinton, and by and large they badly want her to be president. Many of the rich and powerful in the financial industry—among them, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Tom Nides, a powerful vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, and the heads of JPMorganChase and Bank of America—consider Clinton a pragmatic problem-solver not prone to populist rhetoric. To them, she’s someone who gets the idea that we all benefit if Wall Street and American business thrive. What about her forays into fiery rhetoric? They dismiss it quickly as political maneuvers. None of them think she really means her populism.[...]

 

In June, the biggest donors to the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation met with the Clintons at Goldman Sachs’ headquarters in lower Manhattan for a day-long discussion about the foundation’s goals. Goldman has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Clintons’ foundation, and in October 2013, Hillary Clinton gave two speeches at Goldman. Her usual speaking fee is $200,000, and Goldman is known to be a full payer on the speaking circuit. [...]

 

...as the former U.S. senator from New York, [Hillary Clinton] is well known to many of Goldman’s leaders. They have seen her at numerous Goldman events over the years or at fundraisers in the Hamptons. Blankfein ran into the Clintons in August at a party in the Hamptons at Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein’s house, and there are the many pictures of Blankfein smiling broadly at her side during September’s Clinton Global Initiative in New York. A few weeks later, they spent time together at a dinner celebrating the Goldman Sachs “10,000 Women Initiative,” a Goldman-funded training and education program for female entrepreneurs.

 

Many Goldman employees, especially women, are also excited about the historic potential of the 2016 presidential election since Clinton could become the first female president. “They’re not going to reflexively support any woman, but she’s a woman that seems more or less in sync with the way they think about the world,” says another former Clinton administration official who now works on Wall Street. “And she’s successful, and they just like her.”

Well, I can't quote the whole piece, but let's just say that the author is just getting warmed up.

Which leaves us where?  Oh, yes: Goldman Sachs Loves Hillary Clinton.  And Hillary Loves them right back.  

 

 

 

STRAY THOUGHT: Maybe I need to find a way to tie this back to Hillary's email server, since that's where all the hot action is with Hillary these days.  Stories of Hillary's deep ties to Wall Street are old and tired.  Kind of like Hillary.

 

Link to Last Page of Thread

Comments

[Threadkiller]

I really enjoyed the last page link!

[Old Lurker]

Oh let's go OT for HARA right off the bat.

This really ticks me off:

The Hill: "President Obama's role during the Israeli elections was larger than reported, according to a pollster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

"What was not well reported in the American media is that President Obama and his allies were playing in the election to defeat Prime Minister Netanyahu," John McLaughlin, a Republican strategist, said in an interview on John Catsimatidis's "The Cats Roundtable" radio show broadcast Sunday on AM 970 in New York.
"There was money moving that included taxpayer U.S. dollars, through non-profit organizations. And there were various liberal groups in the United States that were raising millions to fund a campaign called V15 against Prime Minister Netanyahu," McLaughlin said.

He noted an effort to oust Netanyahu was guided by former Obama political operative Jeremy Bird and that V15, or Victory 15, ads hurt Netanyahu in the polls. McLaughlin said the Israeli leader rebounded after delivering a speech to Congress early this month, prompting more critical ads.

V15 was viewed as part of a broader campaign to oust Netanyahu. The group was linked to Washington-based nonprofit OneVoice Movement, which reportedly received $350,000 in State Department grants. Money to OneVoice stopped flowing in November, officials said, before the Israeli elections."

[NKvirusedandback]

OL- is V15 any surprise?

[Sue]

It doesn't matter how pissed off we are, unless Jon Stewart is pissed off, LIVs will never know about Obama's role in the Israeli elections.

[Sue]

And great post, H&R!!!!

[Old Lurker]

No, NK, but tell me again why any Jew would vote for Obama or his party? If he secretly hated Jews and Israel, what would Obama do differently?

[henry]

Hit gets to run amok, but Hillary has to run away. Excellent!

SC clears voter ID for WI. Nice start to the week.

[James D.]

"If he secretly hated Jews and Israel" ?

I think that train left the station long ago. He and his administration (and far too many Dems generally) openly despise both Israel, and Jews.

It's well past time the R's started talking about it, too.

[Jane]

Scary:

First he comes for the banks and health care, uses the IRS to go after critics, politicizes the Justice Department, spies on journalists, tries to curb religious freedom, slashes the military, throws open the borders, doubles the debt and nationalizes the Internet.

He lies to the public, ignores the Constitution, inflames race relations and urges Latinos to punish Republican “enemies.” He abandons our ­allies, appeases tyrants, coddles ­adversaries and uses the Crusades as an excuse for inaction as Islamist terrorists slaughter their way across the Mideast.

Now he’s coming for Israel.

Barack Obama’s promise to transform America was too modest. He is transforming the whole world before our eyes. Do you see it yet?

Against the backdrop of the tsunami of trouble he has unleashed, Obama’s pledge to “reassess” America’s relationship with Israel cannot be taken lightly. Already paving the way for an Iranian nuke, he is hinting he’ll also let the other anti-Semites at Turtle Bay have their way. That could mean American support for punitive Security Council resolutions or for Palestinian statehood initiatives. It could mean both, or something worse.

Whatever form the punishment takes, it will aim to teach Bibi Netanyahu never again to upstage him. And to teach Israeli voters never again to elect somebody Obama doesn’t like.

Apologists and wishful thinkers, including some Jews, insist Obama real­izes that the special relationship between Israel and the United States must prevail and that allowing too much daylight between friends will encourage enemies.

Those people are slow learners, or, more dangerously, deny-ists.

If Obama’s six years in office teach us anything, it is that he is impervious to appeals to good sense. Quite the contrary. Even respectful suggestions from supporters that he behave in the trad

http://nypost.com/2015/03/22/israel-beware-of-obama/

[Jane]

We are an utterly ball-less nation.

[maryrose]

Finally honest elections in Wisconsin

[Threadkiller]

Taqiyya Ted has decided to ignore the Constitution as well.

Let's see how much better it will be with him.

[maryrose]

Jane Great linkEven Woodruff said Dems will lose Jewish voters in the next election Repubs need to take this ball and run with it

[Sue]

taqiyya: Religious dissimulation while under threat or persecution

So I guess you just like the sound of Taqiyya Ted?

[pagar]

" If he secretly hated Jews and Israel,"

Doesn't appear to be a secret.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/viewSubCategory.asp?id=1521

" David Rubin, a U.S.-born Israeli author and expert on the Middle East, put it this way: “President Obama is very harmful for Israel and very dangerous for the future of Judeo-Christian civilization.”"

[NKvirusedandback]

TK takes on the Canadian citizen menace.

[clarice]

Good news for all those Chicago welfare recipients--no more long bus rides to Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha to vote.

[Old Lurker]

FDR found just enough "greater good for the greatest number" cover so he could fight the broader WWII. He, to the delight of antisemitics here and abroad ignored the Jewish Extermination underway, and basically did as little as possible to help the plight of the Jews until the end of the war. But this time around America will have no place to hide if we abandon them this time and they are bombed out of existence in the next decade.

I might be a bad Episcopalian, but this I know.

[Old Lurker]

Lest I exaggerate...Fox just now: "DRUNKEN MOB STORMS a London synagogue early yesterday, shouting 'Kill the Jews,' as worshippers use chairs to fend off the attackers, further stoking fears — after deadly attacks against Jews in Paris and Copenhagen — of anti-Semitic violence spreading across Europe."

[Threadkiller]

So I guess you just like the sound of Taqiyya Ted?

It seemed more hip than Mental Reservation Theory Ted.

Either way he is deceitful.

[Appalled]

Hit:

OK, I am impressed that you have OGH's style down so well.

Hope you have lots of free time. Doing a blog right eats just about all of it up. (Doing it the way I did it took a lot of time, too....)

[Extraneus]

Hit - a suggestion:

At Ace of Spades, all non-Ace posters attach their names to the titles of their posts. This way, readers know who they're reading before getting to the end of a post. (If there's no name, it's Ace himself.) This is especially helpful on long posts, and I think it would work here, too.

[NKvirusedandback]

OL-- the jewish elites consider themselves elites first and jews second. I'll have to check my memory banks, there was an excellent book on the topic about 15-20 years ago by a Repub diplo.

[Beasts of England]

Mo'ne Davis was just on SportsCenter. She is a truly beautiful young lady. Screw baseball - she needs to get her super model on!

[Sue]

It seemed more hip

Not really. Associating him with taqiyya is for your benefit, not for truthfulness.

[Old Lurker]

True, NK. And in the end they will get their punishment as bad Jews just as I might as a less than good Christian.

[Beasts of England]

Ignore all the other suggestions, hit - just get the damned engagement ring ad off of my sidebar!!

[Extraneus]

Cue the Cruz birthers… again

[Thomas Collins]

Engagement ring, BOE? My ad is for a poker tournament. I'll tell you what: If you're tempted to get an engagement ring but think it's not time yet, just send me the money you were going to use for the ring, and I'll blow it having fun at the poker tournament. Win win for both of us!

By the way, H&R's main thread style is amazingly similar to TM's. Has anyone seen the two of them live and in person at the same time?

[JIB]

Wow a post with McGuiresque editorializing, analysis and links. TCFAB (this calls for another breakfast) just to read the whole thing.

[Thomas Collins]

Walker is the one who has the best chance of positioning himself as the champion of Main Street as opposed to Wall Street. It's doubtful that Jeb Bush could pull that off.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--But this time around America will have no place to hide if we abandon them this time and they are bombed out of existence in the next decade.--

There's a bestseller that predicts Israel will at one point seem to be alone but really isn't.
They do ok in the end.

[Sue]

I am listening to Ted Cruz's speech and he is soaring with the eagles.

[Jane]

Great job by Cruz.

TK please do not spend the next 2 years on a birther rant about him. That will make JOM unbearable.

I have no ad.

[Rick Ballard]

I've wondered how much of the current antisemitism seen on social media is paid for by Persian/Arab money. I'm aware of the fact that most of it probably comes from pathetic losers of substantially lower than average intelligence desperately seeking a rationale for their own pathetic state but it has the same rhythm and beat as the paid for "Hope and Change" idiocy which put the buffoon in the Oval Office.

[Sue]

TK please do not spend the next 2 years on a birther rant about him.

He warned us yesterday that he would hold off until Cruz announced before going ballistic. I fear your pleas will fall on deaf ears, Jane.

[clarice]

I second Jane's plea, TK.

[Miss Marple]

I am trying to figure out how Cruz will discuss his wife's employment with.......

Goldman Sachs.

[glasater]

If one tunes into Stuart Varney's show on Fox Business news in about a half hour one can hear Judge Nap on birther questions re Ted Cruz.

Brilliant move by dear leader having Hit run this great blog's show for a time.

[NKvirusedandback]

An old Lefty/anti-colonialist's primer on ISIS: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3005882/A-grotesque-love-propaganda-Unspeakable-barbarity-loathing-Jews-hunger-world-domination-stunning-intervention-literary-colossus-V-S-NAIPAUL-says-ISIS-Fourth-Reich.html

[Threadkiller]

Goldman Sachs.

Posted by: Miss Marple | March 23, 2015 at 11:03 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsoiQ0Wnc_Q

I didn't take "hispanic" to be racist.

[DebinNC]

Marco Rubio's peculiar "offering specific ideas" strategy: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/18/politics/marco-rubio-policy-strategy/index.html. Very refreshing imo.

[Miss Marple]

Link to CNN doesn't work, Deb.

[MarkO]

The words "hot action" in the same sentence as Hillary win the day.

[MarkO]

Hmmm. Wally Pipp?

[DebinNC]

If link doesn't work, Goggling "Marco Rubio's Brainy Political Strategy" should do the trick. http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/18/politics/marco-rubio-policy-strategy/index.html

[Lazybusy]

Well the sun came out right on time this morning after the first full day reign of Hit I. So far no crazy unilateral action that I can detect. Life good.

[Extraneus]

That's how Lord of the Flies started, too, Lazybusy.

[Beester]

Off topic--I'm not a regular poster but want to share a "white privilege" story just sent to me from my daughter. Because I'm angry and want to vent. My daughter was in Aiken, SC for a friend's wedding and this is what transpired in her words:

I was checking out of the hotel this morning. One staff member (black) and one guest in front of me (black). He helped her, she walked away then he started helping me. The woman/guest returned to the counter and said "my bill is wrong" so he proceeds to multitask and help both of us. Her bill was messed up and mine wasn't, so after a minute or two he said, here you go. It looked right to me and I was all set. Then this woman said to him," why is it that whenever I'm in line with a white person, they get treated first." I was pretty shocked and said (very calmly) "I'm surprised by your comment and it's hurtful that you'd say that since he's helping both of us." The other guest said, "I'm not talking to you...I was talking to him...you get helped first because you're a privileged white bitch." And I said, very calmly, "I'm surprised you're discriminating against me. There's no need for it and I feel very sorry for you." As I walked out, she continued to swear and yell at me in the lobby and everyone just stood there. The worker apologized and I left.

...I'm pleased with how she handled herself and probably shouldn't be shocked given the tenor of race relations under this administration and the in-your-face tactics of racial operatives. Still, I wish I could smack that entitled, belligerent witch.

[Jeff Dobbs]

MarkO:
The words "hot action" in the same sentence as Hillary win the day.

Thanks for reading the entire post! I'm not convinced anyone else did, since no one else brought that up.

I had thought about tricking the link in that...to look something like this...

hot action is with Hillary these days.

Once you see it...........

[Sue]

He helped her, she walked away then he started helping me. The woman/guest returned to the counter and said "my bill is wrong"

I guess common courtesy is out the window? What if she had been in a drive through window? Wouldn't she have had to wait her turn rather than barge in front of your daughter?

[Threadkiller]

http://freedomoutpost.com/2015/03/ted-cruz-announces-presidential-bid-even-though-he-is-not-constitutionally-eligible/

What a bum.

[Beester]

Sue...she was looking for micro-aggression I suppose and a chance to lash out. No basic courtesy. She WAS TO BE WAITED ON.

[Sue]

Beester,

I hate people like that, black or white or purple.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/03/ted-cruz-birther-attacks-kick-into-high-gear-as-tx-senator-announces-run-for-potus/

Mental Reservation Theory Ted has some allies.

[Sue]

And I hate people griping at the help for something they have no control over. Ask for management. If she truly felt she was being discriminated against, go toe to toe with someone who isn't afraid to address the situation with you for fear of losing their job.

[henry]

"Victim" privilege is big on the prog side of the street.

[MarkO]

I'd hate to think that anyone here could read "hot action" with Hillary and not comment. So, I prefer to think our friends wanted to get right to the comments.

Good work.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--...you get helped first because you're a privileged white bitch...--

Just think how nasty she would have been without the healing balm of the last six years of Barry and Eric, like Daniels come to judgment, fighting the dying embers of poor race relations with napalm and phosphorous grenades.

Too bad Hillary will never be president because she could bring the same glad tidings of great joy to relations between the Heinz 57 types of genders.

[Rick Ballard]

Placing "hot action" and "Hillary" in the same sentence may have triggered a reflex necessitating a lengthy period of cleanup for many readers.

It's a good post, Hit.

[NKvirusedandback]

I thought this post was an excellent TomM imitation. Thank you Hit.

[glasater]

My ISP wouldn't allow me to search for "hillary nudes". Net neutrality in action.

[Comanche Voter]

Well Wall Street knows that Hillary is a lying weasel, and she'll say one thing and do another if that's what's needed to win.

But they have a childlike faith that if you pay a lady of "flexible virtue" [I'm avoiding the use of the "W" word here], she'll stay bought and do what she's asked to. And Hillary--they've got you pegged.

[DebinNC]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/magazine/hillarys-eternal-quest-for-relatability.html?&_r=0

I think Bill-Hill have always tried to appear "relatable" to voters. Not so Mr. and Mrs. BOzo, whose Versailles, taxpayer funded life-styles imo are pure take-that-whitey, intentionally meant to satisfy the repressed hatreds of too many of their black brethren.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--I'd hate to think that anyone here could read "hot action" with Hillary and not comment.--

Mark,
You're neglecting to include the time lag between commenting and first buying a retch proof keyboard in your calculations.

[Danube on iPad]

Note that TK does not entertain the possibility that Cruz, like a great majority of legal scholars, honestly interprets the constitution differently than TK does. No, it must be that he "ignores" it.

And I feel pretty confident that every time someone--anyone--claims Cruz is ineligible, TK will post it here.

[Beester]

She'll learn from the "white privilege" experience and be more prepared if another ill-mannered idiot pulls a similar stunt. I'll mention all your comments to her (victim privilege will be added to the rebuttal repertoire). Mad Viking momma is getting on the treadmill for an hour to burn off adrenaline that plus the vision of Hillary nudes has brought me abruptly back to the present.

[Threadkiller]

You might also note that I am posting when people say he is eligible.

But that might wreck your narrative.

[Threadkiller]

"Look I was born in Calgary. My mother was an American citizen by birth. Under federal law that made me an American citizen by birth. The constitution requires that you be a natural born citizen"

More lawyerly than scholarly...

Killing John Jay.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.fireandreamitchell.com/2015/03/22/producer-of-modern-family-goes-birther-on-ted-cruz/

Here come the liberals.

[Porchlight]

JOM STYLEBOOK ALERT

I believe it should be Hillarity! not Hillary.

But if hit wants to have his own style apart from TM's, that's cool too.

Carry on.

[Danube on iPad]

My narrative is that you are obsessed with the issue and will disregard all requests that you not bring it here.

[lyle]

Insty gets droll:

OBAMA IS ENRAGED … by Netanyahu quoting Kerry at him. Well, it’s bad enough to have Kerry as Secretary of State, without people rubbing your nose in it.

[Threadkiller]

Obsessing about inconvenient topics being presented in an open comment section isn't as obsessive as the topics themselves.

[Threadkiller]

http://www.thepostemail.com/2015/03/23/sen-ted-cruz-announces-presidential-candidacy-but-is-he-eligible/

[Sue]

It's going to be a long two years at JOM. And longer still if Cruz is elected president or vice president.

[Threadkiller]

Glenn Beck wrong about Cruz eligibiliy, It’s the Constitution stupid not your feelings, Ted Cruz natural born citizen?, Senate Resolution 511 states McCain had 2 US citizen parents & born on US base, Citizen not equivalent to NBC

http://citizenwells.com/2015/03/23/glenn-beck-wrong-about-cruz-eligibiliy-its-the-constitution-stupid-not-your-feelings-ted-cruz-natural-born-citizen-senate-resolution-511-states-mccain-had-2-us-citizen-parents-born-on-us-b/

I thought I was alone on this.

[NKvirusedandback]

Walker-- the SCOTUS upholding the voter ID law is a boost to Walker in the General election. Hw can point ot another common sense reform that is effective in fighting fraud and constitutional. It's a great pushback against the lies the Dems/Media (same thing) will spew about Walker the 'radical'.

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Can we get back to hit's first excellent point that the GOPe is incapable of telling the crony capitalists to take a hike and that a Reagan level landslide would happen if they'd only pull a Costanza level ignore-every-instinct?

[Buckeye]

Hey Beasts

You have been completely profiled by Google Ads. That ad for engagement rings is not going away until you pop the question.

Just make sure SHE is a gem:)

[Buckeye]

Hit

So far you are batting a thousand.

But be forewarned, this could cut into your pool hall time in a big way.

[maryrose]

I for one will scroll by Life is too short to get your panties in a twist over a foolish topic

[Appalled]

Let's give TK props for consistency, even when it is an admission against interest since Cruz otherwise probably comes pretty close to his ideal candidate.

I'm sure Cruz has a legal opinion in his briefcase documenting why he is eligible, which he will produce on demand. Hopefully he will let Danube have a copy.

[Danube on iPad]

Told ya.

[Jane]

I'm pleased with how she handled herself

You should be - which under the circumstances might be as good as it gets.

Hit, I often think about what TM must think when he posts a long rant about Janet Yellen (or something) and we continue to rant on about Michelle's pantsuits. I think a thick skin is warranted in your new job.

Something (thick skin) we know TK does not have, nor does he have any respect for the requests of his fellow posters. Perhaps his real goal is to clear this place out.

[maryrose]

Media last night declaredHlarity scandals are over for now They think the Clintons have weathered the storm Just wait until the first Dem debate

[lyle]

http://www.the-american-interest.com/2015/03/20/captain-obama-and-the-great-white-whale/

Moby Dick seems to be the country's ur-text these days what with a certain obnoxious stunt by a leading purveyor of over-priced coffee.

[glasater]

"Fox News senior judicial analyst and former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew Napolitano believes Cruz is eligible as well.

"The children of at least one American citizen are natural-born citizens, no matter where they were born," Napolitano said."

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2013/05/02/does-tx-sen-ted-cruz-qualify-for-president-though-was-born-in-canada/

[maryrose]

Dems would be fools to clear the field for a flawed candidTe like her
Last week I learne Klobuchar. And
Feinstein and
had voted for the trafficking bill in committee and then got the. Spots when it hit the Senate floor Such incompetence should be voted out of office

[Threadkiller]

I guess I'll email Napolitano the immigration act of 1795.

[lyle]

http://www.sbnation.com/2015/3/21/8271323/nc-state-villanova-cat-barber-THE-F-WRONG-WITH-BARACK-OBAMA

Sit down, son. This'll take a while...

[NKvirusedandback]

lyle -- LOL.

[Threadkiller]

even when it is an admission against interest since Cruz otherwise probably comes pretty close to his ideal candidate.

True.

[Sue]

Those hips aren't near large enough JiB.

[Threadkiller]

And their worried about my posts, JiB.

;-)

[NKvirusedandback]

and the other things are waaaay tooooo big.

[lyle]

And not near enough cellulite.

[Old Lurker]

And even her face overstates the case. She is much uglier than that in every dimension...

[Jack is Back!]

Regarding beester's daughter and her confrontation with "Black Lives Matter at Checkout Too". 6 years ago there would not have been any confrontation. I think certain segments of the AA community especially the non-college educated young now feel more emboldened with Obama, Holder, Rice and Jarrett in teh WH and DoJ. The Man is now a Black Man and we can now get away with "in your face" kind of carp.

Seeing it more and more even for Sunday Brunch.

[lyle]

OT, but still in the current zeitgeist of all the fomenting fashionable fascism these days. Powerline reprints something from a tumblr site:

Personally, liberal students scare the shit out of me. I know how to get conservative students to question their beliefs and confront awful truths, and I know that, should one of these conservative students make a facebook page calling me a communist or else seek to formally protest my liberal lies, the university would have my back. I would not get fired for pissing off a Republican, so long as I did so respectfully, and so long as it happened in the course of legitimate classroom instruction.

The same cannot be said of liberal students. All it takes is one slip—not even an outright challenging of their beliefs, but even momentarily exposing them to any uncomfortable thought or imagery—and that’s it, your classroom is triggering, you are insensitive, kids are bringing mattresses to your office hours and there’s a twitter petition out demanding you chop off your hand in repentance.

Paranoid? Yes, of course. But paranoia isn’t uncalled for within the current academic job climate. Jobs are really, really, really, really hard to get. And since no reasonable person wants to put their livelihood in danger, we reasonably do not take any risks vis-a-vis momentarily upsetting liberal students. And so we leave upsetting truths unspoken, uncomfortable texts unread.

Excuse me, my eyes are a torrent of crocodile tears...