So-called American "progressive" politicians and intelligentsia often use a light metaphor to encourage everyone to see what they want them to see. They say that sunlight is the best disinfectant, and that we need to shine a bright light to illuminate whatever they define as true. Many of the same progressives praise or ignore when Ivy League students turn out the lights on those who attempt to introduce ideas that they oppose. For instance, they closed down Condoleezza Rice's 2014 Rutgers University commencement speech and the 2017 "Stand Against Fascism" speech of University of Oregon President Michael Schill.
Since elite Americans are in a mood to "enlighten" the populous by encouraging young people to tear down statues, maybe they should turn on Lady Liberty on which is inscribed, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door". After all, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who created it reportedly had "...cultivated friends and clients among republican activists, monarchical nostalgics, and the powerful Napoleonic elites of the Second Empire" (nps.gov, 2020). And, as all intelligentsia should know, "The Second French Empire (French: Second Empire), officially the French Empire (French: Empire français), was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France. Historians in the 1930s and 1940s often disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of FASCISM" (Wikipedia 2020). Reasoning as the iconoclastic mob does, one could argue that the presence of the Statue of Liberty inadvertently “elevates” its fascist creator, and, therefore, Lady Liberty should be torn down.
But no present day leader would try to dim the lights of knowledge. Wouldn't they support truth tellers, such as those who write for the widely respected New York Times (NYT) that publishes "All the News That's Fit to Print"? The NYT is so open to diverse ideas that they specifically hired a journalist, Bari Weiss, who said that she was chosen "with the goal of bringing in voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages: first-time writers, centrists, conservatives and others who would not naturally think of The Times as their home." (Weiss, 2020). But because Bari just couldn't keep her unpopular opinions to herself, she soon suffered such unrelenting harassment there that she felt compelled to quit her job.
In her resignation letter to the Times, she explained,
My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.” Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.
So, Bari Weiss apparently was felt to be too harsh toward some NYT party-line topics. She was too defiant for the New York Times who wanted her to shut up and write what they believe is "all the news fit to print."
The Times is just one example of an American elitist, progressive group that controls the reins of power. They decide which statues to erect and which to tear down. They determine where to shine the light and where to snuff it out. These are the very people who rail against Fascist book burning, Soviet history revisionism, and Chinese communists' tendencies to crush all dissent. They are quick to condemn anyone who opposes them, but support mobs who do their bidding by tearing down our statues, burning our cities, and attacking law enforcers in the process. Of course, American "progressive" politicians and intelligentsia don't have to worry about anarchy, since they live in guarded enclaves far from the maddening crowd. It is okay with progressives when inner-city citizens daily suffer urban riots and chaos, as long as that helps progressives win elections and promote their agendas.
References
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi
https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/frederic-auguste-bartholdi.htm
Second French Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_French_Empire
Weiss, B. (2020) Resignation letter to the New York Times. https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter
Since elite Americans are in a mood to "enlighten" the populous by encouraging young people to tear down statues, maybe they should turn on Lady Liberty on which is inscribed, "I lift my lamp beside the golden door". After all, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, the French sculptor who created it reportedly had "...cultivated friends and clients among republican activists, monarchical nostalgics, and the powerful Napoleonic elites of the Second Empire" (nps.gov, 2020). And, as all intelligentsia should know, "The Second French Empire (French: Second Empire), officially the French Empire (French: Empire français), was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France. Historians in the 1930s and 1940s often disparaged the Second Empire as a precursor of FASCISM" (Wikipedia 2020). Reasoning as the iconoclastic mob does, one could argue that the presence of the Statue of Liberty inadvertently “elevates” its fascist creator, and, therefore, Lady Liberty should be torn down.
But no present day leader would try to dim the lights of knowledge. Wouldn't they support truth tellers, such as those who write for the widely respected New York Times (NYT) that publishes "All the News That's Fit to Print"? The NYT is so open to diverse ideas that they specifically hired a journalist, Bari Weiss, who said that she was chosen "with the goal of bringing in voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages: first-time writers, centrists, conservatives and others who would not naturally think of The Times as their home." (Weiss, 2020). But because Bari just couldn't keep her unpopular opinions to herself, she soon suffered such unrelenting harassment there that she felt compelled to quit her job.
In her resignation letter to the Times, she explained,
My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m “writing about the Jews again.” Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly “inclusive” one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.
So, Bari Weiss apparently was felt to be too harsh toward some NYT party-line topics. She was too defiant for the New York Times who wanted her to shut up and write what they believe is "all the news fit to print."
The Times is just one example of an American elitist, progressive group that controls the reins of power. They decide which statues to erect and which to tear down. They determine where to shine the light and where to snuff it out. These are the very people who rail against Fascist book burning, Soviet history revisionism, and Chinese communists' tendencies to crush all dissent. They are quick to condemn anyone who opposes them, but support mobs who do their bidding by tearing down our statues, burning our cities, and attacking law enforcers in the process. Of course, American "progressive" politicians and intelligentsia don't have to worry about anarchy, since they live in guarded enclaves far from the maddening crowd. It is okay with progressives when inner-city citizens daily suffer urban riots and chaos, as long as that helps progressives win elections and promote their agendas.
References
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi
https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/frederic-auguste-bartholdi.htm
Second French Empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_French_Empire
Weiss, B. (2020) Resignation letter to the New York Times. https://www.bariweiss.com/resignation-letter
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