One day this past week my horoscope said, don’t waste your time trying to get other people to see things your way—instead, get them to think for themselves and come up with their own ideas and insights.
So, here’s a potpourri, a melange, a holiday goulash of topics, and I will ask what you think, before I tell you what I think.
First up, Harvard.
At the end of last week’s blog, Inclusion Illusion, I told you I believed Harvard President Claudine Gay is a plagiarist. That was based on a couple of passages in her dissertation she lifted from other scholars and copied them pretty much verbatim without proper citation.
Well, well, well. This week, in the words of the once-great Harvard University, duplicative language was found in two articles Ms. Gay published. Harvard said she had inadequate citation.
Did I just hear a collective oy vey coming out of Cambridge? Here’s a little review of the life of Claudine Gay from the past two weeks.
First, the congressional hearings on antisemitism, where she wouldn’t say she would take action against students who call for the genocide of Jews. She said she had to look at the context.
Then there was the dissertation plagiarism. Harvard investigated her and exonerated her, but now, two more instances of inadequate citation have shown up.
Let’s not forget the public dressing down of President Gay at a menorah lighting in Harvard Yard by Rabbi Hirschy Zarchi, for not doing enough to protect Jews on campus. That embarrassment went viral on social media.
How many shoes must drop before she’s given the boot?
That’s an interesting question. Ms. Gay is the first Black person and only the second woman to head Harvard. Plus, she’s only been on the job since October. So the optics of canning her are less than optimal.
But my horoscope says I must get you to think for yourselves and come up with your own ideas. So, what would you do? Would you keep Claudine or let Gay go?
I know what my answer is, so stick around.
Next, President Joe Biden.
On the one hand, Biden’s been saying that Israel has been too rough in Gaza, too much indiscriminate bombing, too many civilian deaths. He’s reportedly told Bibi Netanyahu he’d better wrap things up real soon, or, or…or something.
On the other hand, Biden’s secretary of state is saying to all those calling for a ceasefire, that they should think before they bleat.
Tony Blinken says the war would have been over a long time ago if the world community demanded that Hamas surrender.
And here’s his killer quote: How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim?
He’s right, 100 percent. But who’s making the demands on Israel, the victim? It’s the UN and a bunch of countries, including the United States of America, whose demands carry a ton of weight.
So, do you still believe the Biden Administration has Israel’s back till Hamas is annihilated?
Now for the third issue to chew on at this subject matter smorgasbord. This one also relates to what I wrote about last week, about DEI, diversity, equity and inclusion, and how it doesn’t include Jews.
Two former Jewish organizational big wigs, Abe Foxman, the former longtime head of the ADL, and David Harris, former number one at the American Jewish Committee, came out on Wednesday and said the DEI departments at American colleges and universities need to be dismantled.
Foxman says the problem with DEI is that it’s based on a faulty premise…that all white people are oppressors and all people of color [are] oppressed. He says that has spawned bias, illiberalism, reinforced, legitimized and institutionalized antisemitism in many institutions.
Harris says the DEI bureaucracies are too large and too powerful to try to reform by nibbling around the edges, by trying to add Jews to the DEI agenda.
The current ADL and AJC bosses want to continue to work within the system.
So, on the one hand we have the DEI-ities (adequate citation: this neologism from FWoB subscriber with the initials HH), and on the other hand we have the DEI demolishers.
Which group do you identify with?
I’m curious for your answers. Stay tuned, mine is coming shortly.
Okay, back to question one. Should Harvard keep Claudine or should it let Gay go?
Using the plagiarism thing to fire her is murky, because Harvard cleared her after twice. It would be hard for them to go back now and say, our bad, she really is a plagiarist.
If the Harvard board had moral clarity, not to mention a spine, it would have canned Claudine Gay right after the congressional hearing.
However, money talks and you know what walks. Billionaire Len Blavatnik is another major donor to Harvard who is now pausing donations. His family foundation has given more than $270 million to the university. So the pressure on dumping Gay continues to build.
Eventually, I believe, the board will force her to resign.
She will say she stands by her integrity and her opposition to antisemitism, but that she doesn’t want to become a distraction to the institution she treasures, blah, blah, blah. Harvard can thank her for service, give her a professorship of some kind and move on.
They’ll definitely take heat from her supporters, but they’ll figure out a way to mollify them.
So, my answer is a resounding, Gay’s gotta go.
Now to question two. Do you believe, in your heart of hearts, that Joe Biden will let Israel finish off Hamas?
I say no. Joe is looking at his plummeting approval ratings plus pushback of his support for Israel from not only his party’s progressives, but also from traditionally pro-Israel Dems. He needs all of them to motivate their constituents to vote for him or he’ll be heading back to Delaware on January 20, 2025 for lots of Ovaltine and plenty of nap time.
Blinken speaks the truth, that the onus should be on Hamas to end the war, but the reality is the White House will pressure Israel to shut it down, even if it means Hamas survives.
Last question. Can the DEI bureaucracy be changed, or must it be expelled from our institutions of higher education?
Adding a Jew here, or a Jew there to make the DEI departments more inclusive, is a waste of time. It won’t make a difference as long as the DEI DNA remains in tact, that white people oppress people of color and Jews are white people.
The DEI industrial complex at colleges and universities, is a many-headed hydra that will be extremely difficult to slay. For sure, it will take a take a non-Democrat president (but not Trump) to even begin that battle.
Lots of things to ponder, lots of difficult questions to contemplate.
I trust you answered with honesty, sincerity and with a solid moral compass. Because I left out one other thing from my horoscope. It said that I don’t have to be everyone’s moral compass—being [my] own is enough.
Ain’t that the truth?!?