The Patriot Post® · One Down; Two to Go

Last week’s hearing on the crisis of anti-Semitism at American colleges and universities continues to reverberate. University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned late Saturday evening. Steven Bok, chairman of the board of trustees, also resigned.

When the news broke, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), whose questioning led to Magill’s resignation, posted on X, “One down. Two to go.”

Leaks suggest that Harvard President Claudine Gay might have been forced out this weekend as well. She’s facing new questions about plagiarizing her dissertation, but the board didn’t want to look like it was caving to a “right-wing Republican” like Rep. Stefanik. That’s proof that the radical left controls our universities.

As we noted last week, Magill’s pathetic testimony cost the University of Pennsylvania a $100 million donation from hedge fund CEO Ross Stevens, who indicated he would proceed with the gift if Magill stepped down.

I hope he reconsiders that decision and decides instead to support pro-America, pro-Israel and pro-free speech organizations.

Even if Harvard’s Claudine Gay and MIT President Sally Kornbluth step down, and even if the presidents of the top 200 leftist universities all resigned, it wouldn’t solve the problem.

These university presidents — Magill, Gay and Kornbluth — are not the cause of the anti-Semitism crisis on our college campuses. They are merely evidence of the problem.

Anti-Semitism will continue to fester on these campuses after they are gone unless and until we deal with the neo-Marxist indoctrination that is being pushed on our children and grandchildren at these colleges and universities.

Neo-Marxist ideologies like critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion are indoctrinating young Americans to believe that the world is divided into “the oppressed” and “the oppressors,” and that America and Israel are “oppressors.” Therefore, anyone fighting America and Israel must be “the good guys.”

That’s why we’re seeing young Americans on TikTok praising Osama bin Laden and marching on college campuses in support of Hamas.

The House of Representatives is going to investigate these colleges, but it can’t change academia by itself. It will take conservative majorities in the House and the Senate, plus governors and state legislatures all working together to seriously confront the far-left educational establishment.

Major donors, like Ross Stevens, should stop giving to these neo-Marxist institutions and start supporting conservative organizations committed to defending Western Civilization!

SNL: Saturday Night Losers

After House Republicans exposed the rampant anti-Semitism on American college campuses, Saturday Night Live thought it would be really funny to do a skit about it.

Putting aside for a moment the appropriateness of joking about anti-Semitism, the obvious routine would have been to pillory the three university presidents who had difficulty condemning calls for the genocide of the Jews.

Instead, SNL decided to mock Rep. Elise Stefanik. This is worth pointing out because SNL is a major cultural influencer. Yes, this is a political war, but it is also a culture war.

It’s a culture war that’s being stoked on our university campuses by the likes of University of Pennsylvania Religious Studies Professor Athena Butler, who has claimed that white evangelicals “pose an existential crisis” to the country and “may end up killing us all.”

There should be no tolerance of that kind of hate and bigotry at any “institution of higher learning.” Sadly, her worldview is the rule on most college campuses, not the rare exception.

An Awakening

What’s been happening in the weeks since the horrific October 7th attack on Israel has caused a major rift in the increasingly anti-Israel Democrat Party.

As we have reported, President Biden has tied himself into a pretzel trying to satisfy Jewish Democrats while appeasing the Muslim voters he needs in states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Pennsylvania. But clearly major damage is being done.

It won’t help the Democrats that in the aftermath of last week’s pitiful testimony by three university presidents, members of Congress issued a letter demanding that those presidents resign. One did.

But here’s what jumped out at me: Of the 74 House members who signed the letter, 71 are Republicans but only three Democrats joined them. That says it all.

Meanwhile, in the “Better late than never” category, Sam Altman, CEO of Open AI and a major Democrat donor, had a major confession of his own last week. He posted on X, “For a long time, I said that antisemitism, particularly on the American left, was not as bad as people claimed. I’d like to just state that I was totally wrong.”

We have no way of knowing how many “Sam Altmans” are waking up to the neo-Marxist nihilism that infects the American and international left. Maybe they’ll go back to their old ways. But this feels like a moment that won’t quickly or easily fade away.

MLK’s Home

Late Friday, news broke that a black woman had been arrested pouring gasoline around the childhood home of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., with the intention of setting it on fire. In all the coverage since her arrest, I have noticed a curious lack of interest in her motive.

Ponder this: Imagine she had tragically succeeded in setting the house on fire and wasn’t caught. There would be an immediate assumption about the motive.

The incident would have been held up as another example of the “racist, white supremacy rising up all over America because of Donald Trump and Christian nationalism.”

Professor Athena Butler would be all over the TV. Joe Biden would be standing in front of the charred ruins giving a national address today about “semi-fascists in the MAGA movement.”

I have no idea what her motive was. She could be among the many mentally ill people walking our streets.

But one thing I know for sure is that over the next 12 months, we are going to see “false flag events.” These events will serve the purpose of making Americans fear that we’re sinking into some far-right wing racist insanity.

But we will find out later, just like Jussie Smollett, that the whole story is a lie or that the attack was carried out by someone on the left.

It’s just another timely reminder, my friends, to not fall for everything that hits the headlines.

The Tucker Carlson Network

Last week, I was pleased to be one of the sponsors of the annual gala for the American Principles Project (APP). They are a strong ally in this great battle for America.

APP awarded their first annual Jeff Bell Award to former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines for her courageous resistance to the radical trans agenda in women’s sports.

Jeff Bell passed away five years ago. He was a great friend, and part of a core group of people who convinced me to enter the 2000 presidential primaries to defend our values.

The keynote address at APP’s gala was delivered by Tucker Carlson. In his speech, he hit on a theme I have been promoting. He said the one thing we know for sure is that 12 months from now, America will be a dramatically different place than it is now. It could be dramatically good or dramatically bad. We don’t know yet.

But we know things will happen in the next 12 months that will astonish us. All of it will be capped by the most consequential presidential election in our history. And Carlson asked, “What should we do under these circumstances to prepare for what is coming?”

He said we must all become stronger, and that doesn’t mean going to the gym. He said we must be morally stronger in order to weather the storm.

One way to get stronger is to get closer to God and to always tell the truth. Every time you tell the truth you get stronger. Every time you lie or fail to speak up, you become weaker.

And one way to know the truth is to sign up for the Tucker Carlson Network — his new streaming service, which he just launched.

I’m sure there are some concerns at Fox News, but this is good news in my opinion. The more alternatives that exist to the “lamestream media,” the stronger we are. We need a proliferation of voices on our side, and I am glad to see it happening.