Author Archive: Glenn Reynolds

LOOK, AN INSURRECTION! Hold on a minute, did these pro-Palestinian protesters just storm the Capitol? I thought that was called an INSURRECTION!

Don’t be silly, it’s only an insurrection if you’re protesting on behalf of Americans.

YOU NOTICE THE PRESS DOESN’T USE THE TERM “WITHOUT EVIDENCE” FOR ACCUSATIONS COMING FROM HAMAS OR ITS SUPPORTERS? U.S. Says Intelligence Shows Gaza Militants Behind Hospital Blast.

The thing to understand is that — just as in the Michael Brown / George Floyd era — these false reports aren’t just the result of bias or sloppiness. They’re intentional propaganda, designed to justify a violent response like riots in city centers, or at U.S. embassies. It doesn’t matter if/when they’re proven false.

And yes, the press outlets involved know all this and are complicit.

Related: The Curious Case of the Hospital That Didn’t Blow Up: Maybe don’t listen to Hamas, guys.

As it turns out, the people who behead babies and lie about it will also lie about other stuff.

Yesterday we got the news that Israel blew up a hospital in Gaza and killed 500 people.

However, there were a few minor, nitpicky problems with the story: 1) The hospital wasn’t blown up, 2) Nowhere near 500 people were killed, and 3) Israel had nothing to do with it.

And the lies are amplified by a press that has taken sides.

HMM: Davis Polk Rescinds Offers To Three Students At Columbia And Harvard For Statements On Israel, But May Reverse Itself.

I kinda hope it doesn’t. I hope they hear from some clients. At first I was sympathetic when I saw this: “On Tuesday, the firm said it was reconsidering that decision for two of the three students, who fought their dismissals and said that they did not authorize the letters, which did not have any individual signatories.”

But then I saw this: “The New York law firm said two of the students held leadership roles in groups that signed a letter at Columbia and one was affiliated with the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups, which jointly wrote a letter that held the ‘Israeli regime’ responsible for the deadly violence.”

People (including students) on the right have been canceled for far less.

Related:

SO IT’S LIKE BIRDS, THEN? Here Comes the “Race Isn’t Real” Movement.

Well, if race isn’t real, we don’t need the whole anti-racism/diversity apparatus that has been built around the idea that it’s the most important thing in the world, so with that understanding, sign me up. Though I suspect that this is really just a smokescreen for new varieties of grift.

But I agree with David Bernstein that America’s racial classification system is idiotic.

MICHAEL WALSH: The Gods of the Copybook Headings Strike Back. “A modest proposal: shut down all the Ivies for eight years, intellectually fumigate the places, then re-open them gradually, one year at a time, under new management.”