tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25646362273604719362024-03-12T19:59:46.231-07:00Anonymous Political ScientistJohn C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist who is featured in Trevor Loudon's documentary, The Enemies Within. John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.comBlogger341125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-83075217785112834432023-02-23T01:25:00.004-08:002023-02-23T01:27:19.782-08:00Michael S. Heiser: Saying Good Bye to a Brave, Realistic, and Enlightened Scholar of the Bible<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxf6CfVdMxTRCYws7yeqH-QcBDDW9ET4iBWpv44waAPfU1F-GhwPzPKYZnzaw-xGu67jAa1JlGzkuegk0wPz-txylWGm9ImUgFcx2BwdkBOO4n5yXelbnALi1AqfwdFHso1zW7wXyVRiq7h4nu0772HImdVqLZW1Ujlaxp-HMdmUuy2bYf8v2Pk4ejIg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="517" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxf6CfVdMxTRCYws7yeqH-QcBDDW9ET4iBWpv44waAPfU1F-GhwPzPKYZnzaw-xGu67jAa1JlGzkuegk0wPz-txylWGm9ImUgFcx2BwdkBOO4n5yXelbnALi1AqfwdFHso1zW7wXyVRiq7h4nu0772HImdVqLZW1Ujlaxp-HMdmUuy2bYf8v2Pk4ejIg" width="194" /></a></div><br />LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - I was sad to hear of the death of a beloved scholar Dr. Michael S. Heiser who died on February 20, 2023. To me, he was an intellectual mentor even though I never met him face to face and only caught on to his ideas last year. <p></p><p class="MsoNormal">He quickly became a hero of mine because of his total commitment to telling the truth. For example, he had a fresh take on how to interpret the Bible that explained the meaning of
various passages that were so confusing to me in the past that I would just
skip over them. (As would just about everyone else.)</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For example, there are passages in the Bible where God
refers to the others in his midst, the Elohim which is a grammatically plural
noun for "gods" or "deities" or various other words in
Biblical Hebrew.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heiser pointed out that the God of the Old Testament had an
assembly of divine beings that he presided over to help do his work, just as
the Pharaoh in Egypt had a household of officials.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The idea that God has a team of other Gods hanging out with
him is controversial because it seems to undermine the monotheism of
Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heiser was a practicing, believing Christian who thought
that it was best for the faith that followers understand this supernatural
feature of the Bible. In his view, Christianity would be improved and the Bible would be easier to understand if theologians and other faith leaders accepted his view of the unseen realm of the Bible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He explained questions like<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">How did descendants of the Nephilim survive the flood?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Who are the assembly of divine beings that God presides
over?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In what way do those beings participate in God's decisions?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why do Peter and Jude promote belief in imprisoned spirits?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Why does Paul describe evil spirits in terms of geographical
rulership?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For me, his views also explained odd features in the Bible
including the role of giants, the famous Nephilim who are mysterious beings, or people who are large
and strong. Personally, I don't see how you really understand the Bible if you
forget about, or ignore the way, it sets up a role for giants, particularly the
giants who are believed to have died in the Great Flood. </p><p class="MsoNormal">How else do you make sense of the idea that it was okay for the followers of Joshua to slaughter the giants they encountered when they first found land for themselves in Israel? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">How do you make sense of the David and Goliath story without understanding the back story about the role of the Nephilim?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately, I admired Heiser because he was honest, brave,
and fearless about being absolutely real about the Bible.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>You might enjoy his book. After you read it, you will know
more about the meaning of the Bible than most of the people who rely on it. See, <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Unseen-Realm-Recovering-Supernatural-Worldview-ebook/dp/B0141QB9XA/ref=sr_1_1?gclid=Cj0KCQiAutyfBhCMARIsAMgcRJT099lu_PpZBmWH4pFvn0N6LRhZmpmg8_VLgHGumA5I10-txQmBe7AaAv30EALw_wcB&hvadid=321859566879&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031558&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=11155014581828400485&hvtargid=kwd-652316007791&hydadcr=19738_10212490&keywords=the+unseen+realm+dr+michael+heiser&qid=1677143035&sr=8-1">The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible</a></i>. <div><br /></div><div><i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist who has taught at many of our nation's formerly prestigious schools including Williams College in MA. </i></div>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-30717920372115806692022-06-02T23:34:00.003-07:002023-06-15T00:45:14.072-07:00It Takes a Couple to Replace Rick Warren: Andy and Stacie Wood to Replace Iconic Mega-Church Pastor<p>LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - I just learned about who will be replacing Rick Warren, 67, the senior pastor at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddleback_Church">Saddleback Church</a>. The new senior pastor will be Andy Wood, 40, of <a href="https://www.echo.church/about/leadership/">Echo Church</a> which has a three-campus and online program up in the Sunnyvale, San Jose, and Fremont, CA area. </p><p>As far as I can tell, one of Andy's chief virtues as a candidate for the lead pastor position was his wife, <a href="https://www.echo.church/about/leadership/">Stacie Wood</a>. Stacie is a teaching pastor at Echo Church and would have the same role at Saddleback Church. She is more telegenic than her husband and is perhaps well suited to such a role. This approach would represent a further movement in the direction of ordaining female pastors which the church initiated in 2021 to the chagrin of those who hold to the tenents of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Apparently, Echo Church has similarly been in the <a href="https://baptistnews.com/article/43-years-after-launching-one-of-americas-most-innovative-churches-rick-and-kay-warren-name-their-successors/#.YpmnLHbMKUk">crosshairs</a> of SBC complementarians because of allowing women to preach.</p><p>Warren, as you may know, is leaving due to health problems. According to <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/june/rick-warren-retirement-saddleback-church-pastor-andy-wood.html">Christianity Today</a>, h<span style="font-family: "Chronicle SSm A", "Chronicle SSm B", serif; font-size: 16px;">e told the church last year that he has spinal myoclonus, which causes tremors and blurred vision, and that it has worsened in recen</span>t years. </p><p>Rick Warren was a pioneer in creating a “seeker” church that is designed to not turn off the newest visitors. In fact, the essence of the seeker concept is that the Sunday service is purely focused on attracting new people. The actual religious services of the church take place mid-week instead. This makes the Sunday services an all-hands-on-deck performance piece for the newest visitors. As such, he was part of a larger movement to take the word “Baptist” out of church names to make them more seeker-friendly. </p><p>I first got the news when one of our small group members from Saddleback Church forwarded me a copy of a video of Andy breaking the news to his existing Echo Church followers. He and his wife Stacie were quite emotional, and tearful, in delivering the news to their flock. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kLbOJUp-j1w" width="320" youtube-src-id="kLbOJUp-j1w"></iframe></div><br /><p>Ever since I moved to Laguna Niguel, I have been interested in following the story of who would succeed the charismatic mega-church pastor who built a small church into an international monolith based on the ideas in his book <i>Purpose Driven Church</i> (1995). This was a book that was later vastly over shined by his exceptionally successful <i>The Purpose Driven Life</i> (2002) book. More news about this appointment is available on the Saddleback <a href="https://saddleback.com/watch/news/2022/06/02/Announcing-Our-Next-Senior-Pastor">website</a>. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ayNcZC7VLWE" width="320" youtube-src-id="ayNcZC7VLWE"></iframe></div><br /><p>In this video, Andy mentions he was an early convert to the book in 2001 and that it inspired his own church-building, and church planting efforts. Moreover, Andy earned a master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, as did Rick Warren. </p><p>All in all, I have to say I found them to be charming, and easy to look at the couple. His wife, Stacie, looks like she could be a Christian broadcaster. Stacie reports she was inspired by Kay Warren's book, <i>Yes to God: A Call to Courageous Surrender</i> (2010).</p><p>What do I make of the choice based on my understanding of charismatic leadership? First, it is almost impossible to follow another charismatic leader. No matter what, there will never be another Rick Warren, not for a century or more. Consequently, whoever follows in his footsteps will be forever labeled as less than no matter what they accomplish. Among charismatic leaders, the sustainability of their efforts is almost always shaky at best. A ministry based on a charismatic leader like Rick Warren can easily unravel in their absence due to a scandal, a schism, or a poorly implemented plan. </p><p>As George W. Bush often <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/president.bush/index.html">joked</a> about his father George W.H. Bush, "I inherited half my father's friends and all of his enemies." </p><p>So, I start, pessimistically, by observing that Andy has a difficult task. Listening to Warren's over-the-top self-confidence and assurance is always a bracing experience. Nevertheless, it is a tough, even impossible act to follow. Even for someone like Andy who appears to be a sincere student of his approach. </p><p>Personally, my advice to him would be to bring with him as many of his current staff as he can so that he has a strong, personally loyal team around him. This too would be an homage to Rick Warren, who employed his sister's husband, <a href="http://www.tomholladay.com/about-tom-1">Tom Holladay</a>, as his somewhat awkward, even goofy, right-hand man since 1991. What Andy may not fully realize is that his success at Echo Church was a team effort and that it is not always so easy to retain one's charisma in a new environment with a different leadership team in place. </p><p>What else? There are a lot of ways the church, by which I mean Rick Warren himself, might have gone in picking a successor. </p><p>First, it looks like Saddleback was conservative racially. They picked a white guy with a white wife. In a sense, the Warrens have replaced themselves with a younger version of themselves. </p><p>This meant that Rick Warren probably considered and turned down the opportunity to hire an extraordinary black, Latino, or Asian pastor. Doing so would have symbolized the movement of the church into a perhaps more contemporary minority-majority direction and placed greater emphasis on its growth internationally. </p><p>For me, I was assuming that Saddleback would end up with an Asian or Hispanic lead pastor. After all, I tend to see Rick Warren as perhaps too left-wing for the good of his local church, but left-wing enough to the advantage of his international church. I remember Trish and I were particularly disillusioned when he made an early exit during a veterans day service and left the job of thanking U.S. veterans to the always cheerful Holladay instead. </p><p>Likewise, I thought Warren was wrong to go along with the recent mask mandates, lend support to the Black Lives Matter cause (thereby offending law enforcement), and - most recently - violate the tenents of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) in 2021 by ordaining three women pastors. </p><p>This, as you may know, is contrary to the Convention's confession of faith which asserts pastoral ministry is reserved for men. According to <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/june/rick-warren-retirement-saddleback-church-pastor-andy-wood.html">Christianity Today</a>, <span style="font-family: "Chronicle SSm A", "Chronicle SSm B", serif; font-size: 16px;">Saddleback was reported to the Credentials Committee, which is charged with deciding whether or not a church is in “friendly cooperation” with the denomination. Significantly, though some churches have left the SBC after naming women as pastors, the denomination has never officially removed any church for having a female pastor.</span> </p><p>Previously, Warren distanced himself from conservatives by focusing too much on people with AIDS, opposing the use of waterboarding, and contributing to global warming hysteria. </p>Second, it looks like they made a decision to go with a relative unknown rather than an existing, Christian celebrity figure. I am particularly thankful Warren did not hand over his ministry to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Stetzer">Edward John Stetzer</a>, 56, who would have probably brought both stature and an unpleasant aura of wokeness to a church that has already gone too far to the left for my tastes. Stetzer, as you may know, is the Billy Graham Distinguished Chair of Church, Mission, and Evangelism at Wheaton College and Executive Director of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College.<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><div>Finally, it is clear that Rick Warren decided it was best to bring in an outsider as well. The most normal approach would have been to promote the next senior pastor from among the ranks of the existing pastors. Here, technically, I think Rick Warren made the right decision. Charismatic leaders typically surround themselves with less powerful people, in large measure, to prevent anyone from outshining them. Accordingly, I am guessing that an insider would have been someone with less boldness and less business/entrepreneurial experience. Bringing in a talented outsider may have been the only way to actually bring in new talent at all. </div><div><br /></div><div>From the videotape above, it looks like Kay and Rick Warren believe they have found younger versions of themselves. Kay, in particular, is blown away by the things the two couples have in common and the coincidences they share. </div><div><br /></div><div>Given Stacie's confidence in front of the camera, it looks like the Warrens wanted to leave in their wake not just a strong individual leader, but a strong couple. </div><div><br /></div><div>After all, at Echo, Stacie is regarded as a teaching pastor. She will apparently have the same role at Saddleback. </div><div><br /></div><div>Will that be enough of a difference, that is a useful edge, to keep Saddleback Church thriving for the next decade or so? At least it gives Andy of fighting chance of differentiating his approach from Warren's approach. Then again, it may be that the Warrens have set him up for failure already.</div><div><br /></div><div>Is Warren betting that having Stacie serve as both a female teaching pastor and the senior pastor's wife is the wave of the future? I am completely sure that this is the case. Frankly, I think it is a mistake. To the extent that Kay influenced Warren's ministry, I think she influenced it in a negative direction. Caving into the feminist approach to mega-church leadership cannot possibly end well. </div><div><br /></div><div>Is this part of a larger effort to bring men into the church by first bringing in their wives and children? Potentially, that is the case. Unfortunately, by feminizing the church, Warren's successor may very likely take away the conservative approach which made the church so attractive to its local followers in the first place.</div><div><br /></div><div>Again, what is my take? I think Rick Warren has always believed the Southern Baptist Convention's prohibition on female pastors is old-fashioned and a hindrance to the growth of the mega-church movement. Nevertheless, he knows this is an unpopular stance. He was ready to implement it only after it was clear he and Kay would be handing off the church to someone else. In a sense, he made his decision and then decided to get out of Dodge. </div><div><br /></div><div>Andy will take over full responsibilities on September 12, 2022. He will be an instant national leader in a larger experiment to see how well you can sustain a church with a strong role for female pastors. On the bright side, Echo Church in San Jose was roundly criticized for not taking masking so seriously last year. Perhaps this is a sign that Andy is not as feminist or as woke as the Warrens hope? If so, that would be good for Saddleback Church and good for all of its stakeholders too. </div><div><br /></div><div>I do not think you will ever see a mega-church successfully led by women. I doubt Saddleback will be the first. </div><div><br /></div><div>______________________________________________________________________</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't have the time or energy to do a new article on this topic. I will add, however, that the Southern Baptist Convention reacted to the appointment of Stacie as a teaching pastor with a bold and decisive effort to kick out Saddleback Church. This was an effort that completely succeeded on June 13, 2023. I left this post as a comment on a blog site. I thought it made sense to leave it here too. </div><div><p class="MsoNormal">I attend Saddleback. I thought it was a mistake to ordain
female pastors. I think they tend to be more liberal than male pastors and the
last thing we need is a more woke Christian church. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think where Rick went wrong is that he campaigned on
attacking the leadership of the SBC instead of making a Biblical case. To be
sure, his case was weak. He tossed out three Bible stories that really had
nothing to do with women serving as pastors. And that was it. He never had a
good rebuttal to all the straightforward evidence that the Bible opposes the
ordination of women. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The SBC rightfully called a stop to this and voted against
him by 88%. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What's really going on? </p><p class="MsoNormal">I suspect Rick is betting that large
female-led churches (he keeps mentioning one in Asia) are the secret sauce that
will save Christianity for the future. </p><p class="MsoNormal">I think the supposed superpower of a female-led Church is what attracts him to suggest that the Christian Church of today should model the egalitarian, out-of-control, miracle-popping house churches which developed in the immediate wake of Christ himself. </p><p class="MsoNormal">As a political scientist, it looks to me like Rick has gotten himself caught up in some sort of bizarre fantasy world where a pre-Paulinian matriarchy becomes the model for the worldwide resurgence of Christianity. </p><p class="MsoNormal">If that is the case, I just don't think that makes any sense
at all. Ultimately, I don't see how you create a larger church by ignoring its foundational
document. Or, to put it more bluntly, reconceptualize conservative Christian leadership by wrapping it around a vague feminist-friendly Great Commission
instead of the straightforward words of Paul. See,</p><p class="MsoNormal">1 Corinthians 14:33–35 (NIV) states:<o:p></o:p></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;">"As in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. Women should remain silent in the churches, They are not allowed to speak but must be in submission, as the law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church."</div></blockquote><div><br /></div><div>or, the equally straightforward, </div><div><p class="MsoNormal">1 Timothy 2: 9-15 (NASB) says:<o:p></o:p></p>
</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">"Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper
clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or
costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women
making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with
entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise
authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first
created, and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman
being deceived, fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through
the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with
self-restraint." </p></div></blockquote><div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even worse, I suspect female-led churches will turn into
Canaanite fertility temples...staffed with the hottest priestesses on the
planet. </p></div><div><br /></div><div><i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist who has taught at many of our nation's formerly prestigious schools including Williams College in MA. </i></div><div><br /></div>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-71050533610054693102021-12-28T20:04:00.001-08:002021-12-28T20:06:05.081-08:00Media Note: Hillary Clinton’s Behavior - Guest Column By Zachary R. Wood<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5DhHPBbzoM1bkkaEAketeDEm8Tqc42IiQUZvn8p8BfqLb0FfvVFPf8uvcM_KuA5o1Fq1lPPD85-ZRG4XTbxY7h_1D9EfTMDQCnAmGj5Ct-87SM4fVoS0KVZLxGIgOPNznuN5QdydojMkx9Y7w_Op-tB5Kjpw2X6p0mGb2E8cSF_tUsZcC0KlNsrNhrg=s720" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="720" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj5DhHPBbzoM1bkkaEAketeDEm8Tqc42IiQUZvn8p8BfqLb0FfvVFPf8uvcM_KuA5o1Fq1lPPD85-ZRG4XTbxY7h_1D9EfTMDQCnAmGj5Ct-87SM4fVoS0KVZLxGIgOPNznuN5QdydojMkx9Y7w_Op-tB5Kjpw2X6p0mGb2E8cSF_tUsZcC0KlNsrNhrg=s320" width="320" /></a>WASHINGTON, DC - Hillary Rodham’s well-disguised family weapon — Clinton
Foundation — enjoys strategically investing and manipulating cutting edge
technology to plant powerful resources in fertile soils of medical health-science,
artificial intelligence and highly malleable neurological software.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Clinton Foundation — marred often by Hillary weak or in
defeat — suffers blistering criticism from observant critics across the globe.
Some call Clinton Foundation a slush fund or demonstrate its unscrupulous
tactics and dealmaking. Others focus on range of suspicious activity and
possibility of criminal conflict. Note also two notable challenges to integrity
of the foundation:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2016 public
corruption probe of Clinton Foundation financial expediture; access and
donation intermingling.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2) Boston Globe’s editorial board urged the foundation to
stop accepting donations of any kind for remainder of her beaten 2016 campaign
and shut down entirely if Hillary Clinton had won a presidential election.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What is worse? Bill Clinton’s sleaze and sewage pride, but
necessarily that evisceration calls for a vivid book proposal I might explore
next year.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For time being, I will comment on Ms. Clinton’s behavior and
openly encourage writers and journalists to thoroughly interrogate Hillary
Clinton’s use and intent in using state-of-the-art technology.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hillary is the most maligned presidential loser in American
history.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Distilling my own impression: She’s a grating woman
incapable of discovering sexual interest in her husband; this woman who, for
some reason, married a philandering man who feels nauseous at the thought of
their intercourse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What else? Briefly, Hillary is stiff on the stump, curtly
arrogant, clueless on social cues; more obviously fake in her every attempt to
relate to people. Rodham frustrates because she feigns political adequacy and
her deficits breed self-delusion: It’s like Hillary expects applause from all
of her Black rapper friends.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I don’t know. I’ve been reading about new technology lately,
talking to family, and researching personal experience. My careful review
should aim at Hillary Clinton. Novel invisible technology can be designed and
used to control cognitive function, trigger cerebrovascular and cardiovascular
obstruction — and inflict penile and testicular pain by castration.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to know what Hillary Clinton thinks about these
excruciating tech capabilities. I want to know if she has access to or has
acquired these technologies.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Does she use them?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I want to know if Hillary Clinton embodies so many physical
properties of pig manure that she might ever rationalize castrating, say, a
former Clinton supporter who grew tired of her abuse and tried to expose her
ruthless cruelty.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My hope is that thoughtful scholars and journalists may
consider looking into Hillary Clinton’s history of exacting revenge on her
political enemies, and people they care about.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally — I will think of a woman I care about who knows
Hillary Clinton. I do consider close study of every legal means by which I and
other American citizens can pressure Ms. Rodham.<o:p></o:p></p>
There are more details and links to significant online resources in the original article, see <a href="https://medium.com/@zacharyw548/media-note-hillary-clintons-behavior-d11b1d16257e">https://medium.com/@zacharyw548/media-note-hillary-clintons-behavior-d11b1d16257e</a><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="text-align: justify;">Zachary R. Wood is an assistant curator at TED, as well as a former columnist and assistant opinion editor at The Guardian, a former Robert L. Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal, and a class of 2018 graduate of Williams College. He is the author of Uncensored (Random House, 2019). </i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-84152303296720740242021-10-28T00:56:00.004-07:002021-10-29T02:08:23.856-07:00Bill Clinton Ever Sickens: Guest Column By Zachary R. Wood<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1elOWGB5XTA/YXpWcS1SYoI/AAAAAAAAOG8/kIhCUye2i_c2bq6_PvH-Ixt_qILlxTQlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/Bill%2BClinton-Caption3.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1400" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1elOWGB5XTA/YXpWcS1SYoI/AAAAAAAAOG8/kIhCUye2i_c2bq6_PvH-Ixt_qILlxTQlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Bill%2BClinton-Caption3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>WASHINGTON, DC - Two weeks ago, I decided to commence research for a large writing project on ex-president Bill Clinton. My first task: Review some thirty or so articles in popular press about Bill Clinton’s flaws and mistakes. After that, I ta<span style="text-align: left;">lked to three political scientists at my
alma mater, Williams College, about his administrative hallmarks and leadership
failures. </span>Then I interviewed Juanita Broaddrick over the phone for roughly
twenty minutes. Her testimony was detailed, thoughtful, and sounded credible.
The information she gave me about Mr. Clinton was violent, severe, vivid, even
startling.</div></div></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In Ms. Broaddrick’s words, Clinton inveighed after raping
her: “Don’t worry I’m sterile. I had mumps when I was a boy. You better get some
ice on that (her bleeding upper lip).” Bill, she explained to me, is a man
callous with no conscience.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I paused before responding.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since my conversation with Ms. Broaddrick, I have read
another dozen articles about Bill Clinton’s shame and infidelity in <i>The
Washington Post</i>, <i>New York Times</i>, <i>The Atlantic</i>, and <i>Boston Globe</i>. Tomorrow I
should revisit books by David Maraniss and John D. Gartner that explore Bill
Clinton’s difficult upbringing in Hope, Arkansas. I might also peruse some
books that parse his muck and sexual repulse for Hillary Clinton. For example,
<i><a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Case-Against-Hillary-Clinton-Audiobook/B002V1OKA2">The Case Against Hillary Clinton</a></i> by Peggy Noonan.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My writing on Mr. Clinton may take as its starting place an
interesting story I heard from a former colleague at a dinner party about how
Bill Clinton found himself emailing Hillary’s campaign staff with concerns —
because Mrs. Clinton did not want to hear from Bill herself. As my friend
explained, he emailed Robby Mook about Hillary’s deficits and received no
response.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This article for ABC leads me to believe that Bill Clinton
was <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/shattered-authors-bill-clinton-pushed-tone-hillarys-campaign/story?id=46974506">heavily blamed</a> for defeating his wife in 2008, so Hillary tended to ignore pudge of his ego.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bill’s ego is gaseous and gooey. Imagine a rich spinach dip
with jalapeño, cheese, cream, onion, tomato, and green chilies. A blob of fatty
acid screaming excess and high cholesterol. Mr. Clinton, as one political
scientist told me, was a soft populist with talent who never matured as mama’s
boy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">I look forward to more.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i>Zachary R. Wood is an assistant curator at TED, as well as a former columnist and assistant opinion editor
at The Guardian, a former Robert L. Bartley Fellow at The Wall Street Journal,
and a class of 2018 graduate of Williams College. He is the author of Uncensored (Random House, 2019). </i></p>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-20428383932890696622021-02-04T04:46:00.003-08:002021-02-04T04:46:39.566-08:00Would Jesus Ever Boo God? Thoughts on the Republican Values of Christ<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W3gXJzdc3jw/YBvsCamw4kI/AAAAAAAANBM/sS301sinu0Qm9q43rfjU0WvIJH6pGiJjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s230/I%2BSaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="230" data-original-width="219" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W3gXJzdc3jw/YBvsCamw4kI/AAAAAAAANBM/sS301sinu0Qm9q43rfjU0WvIJH6pGiJjQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/I%2BSaw.jpg" /></a></div>I'm a political scientist, not a theologian. I've been a Democrat and a Republican. When I was a Democrat, I remember I was hostile to Christians. Accordingly, I understand the thinking of Democrats who want to make Christianity less important in our culture. I understand why the Democrats booed the very mention of God at their convention a few years ago. <br /><br />When I was a Democrat I did conflate Christianity, white supremacy, and capitalism. I saw them all as expressions of the same thing. I thought that the Christian emphasis on God's presence in daily life was a superstitious idea that held back social progress and progressive public policies. If you believe there is no God, then it makes sense that government should take on the responsibilities we would assign to him. The countries that embrace atheism are also among the leaders in creating highly taxed economies that provide massive levels of public services. That makes sense to me too.<br /><br />Today, I'm a follower of Christ and a Republican. Due to my previous experience as a highly active Democrat - I used to pal around with Barack Obama - it makes sense to me that as I became more spiritual I found a welcoming home in the Republican party. <br /><br />As of today, I am pro-life, fearful of powerful public employee unions, and vehemently opposed to affirmative action. I see affirmative action as the equivalent of racial discrimination. I do not think it is helpful at all. It leaves its victims enraged and permanently filled with bitterness and resentment. <br /><br />I am especially concerned about the increased influence and military might of the Communist Party in China. As a former academic, I am concerned about freedom of speech and cancel culture. <br /><br />In my view, I just do not see how Jesus would be a member of a political party where it is okay to boo God. <br /><br />I do not see how Jesus would ever vote for someone who promoted abortion. <br /><br />Everything I read about him tells me he would be hostile to public officials who took advantage of their positions to get rich. He would bristle at restrictions on thought and free speech. <br /><br />I do not see how Jesus would approve of racial discrimination, especially against young white and Asian boys and girls who have done nothing wrong. I don't think Jesus would be pro-China either given China has a totalitarian bent, strong anti-Christian, anti-religious policies. <br /><br />As far as I am concerned, an atheistic perspective naturally leads to policies that are favored by liberals and Democrats. Following Christ, however, leads to policies that are favored by the Republican party. As I said earlier, I do not see Jesus being a member of a party that booed God at its convention. If Jesus witnessed that, I suspect he would be tearing down the state flags and flinging around the delegate's hats. <br /><br />For a good book that helps explain the correlation between religious belief and conservative political orientation, I recommend Thomas Sowell's <i>A Conflict of Visions</i>. His book is particularly helpful in understanding the origins of politically motivated violence and why it was tolerated by liberals and leftists and thoroughly condemned by Republicans throughout most of 2020. John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.<div><br /></div><div>For an excellent book that lays out the political beliefs consistent with the teachings of the Bible, check out Jim Garlow's excellent book, <i>Well Versed</i>. <br /><div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="ea9ev" data-offset-key="o0c9-0-0" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="_1mf _1mj" data-offset-key="o0c9-0-0" style="direction: ltr; font-family: inherit; position: relative;"></div></div><div><br /></div><div><i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist who has taught at many of our nation's formerly prestigious schools including Williams College in MA. </i></div></div>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-34206479397340492882021-01-14T18:17:00.006-08:002021-01-16T03:22:00.766-08:00Home Disappointment: Still No Home Depot Dishwasher - After a Month of Waiting for Delivery from Temco Logistics<span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fSmIeZOSKxQ/YAD7GwOUe0I/AAAAAAAAM-A/jS-My95kLTc-9gnQnkeTSXkR-s1FidAIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Home%2BDepot%2B-%2B2021-01-14.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fSmIeZOSKxQ/YAD7GwOUe0I/AAAAAAAAM-A/jS-My95kLTc-9gnQnkeTSXkR-s1FidAIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Home%2BDepot%2B-%2B2021-01-14.jpg" /></a></div>I had a very negative experience with Home Depot - Laguna Niguel. My wife went in for hip replacement surgery on December 22. A week earlier the dishwasher stopped working. We bought that dishwasher from the same store back in June 2018. At any rate, we ordered a new dishwasher. Eventually, they told us we would receive it on January 14, 2021.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The problem is that the crew they sent over from Temco Logistics to deliver and install the new dishwasher was very negative from the start. They didn't call us ahead of time as promised. They just showed up. Then, their lead guy, David, said there was a problem because there was water in the old dishwasher. To me, this seemed like a simple fix. Scoop out the old water. The other technician from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/temcologistics/">Temco Logistics</a>, Juan, seemed nice enough. </span><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Eventually, David asked that I give him some towels to dry it out. Problem solved. Next, he comes backs and says he cannot get the old <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/l/Laguna-Niguel/CA/Laguna-Niguel/92677/1077">Home Depot</a> dishwasher out. Somehow he got it into his head that the tile floor was too high for him to remove the dishwasher. He bragged to me that he had 10 years of experience at this and that it was impossible for him to remove it. He implied that we had installed the tile floor after the old dishwasher had been installed. </span></div><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">This was silly. Their own records from Home Depot would show we had that dishwasher installed in June 2018. That crew managed to pull out the earlier dishwasher and put the present one in its place with no problems at all. Even worse, David was insistent that getting the old dishwasher out of there was my responsibility now. </span></div><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My gut feeling is that I had some leverage over them, but only if I did not accept delivery of the dishwasher. The lady back at the <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a> headquarters ' office was insistent that they wouldn't go out of their way to fix the situation. I only had two take it or leave it choices. They would deliver the dishwasher and leave it with me or they would take it back to the warehouse. I told them to take it back.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">So, I called the local <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/l/Laguna-Niguel/CA/Laguna-Niguel/92677/1077">Home Depot</a> store and was told to call back in the morning. I called the national office and was also told to call back in the morning because, they said, the delivery company was closed for the day.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm on hold right now with my second call with the national office. I'm killing time and listening to their music even as I write this. Basically, it seems to me that Home Depot owes us to fix this. If the old dishwasher is too tight to remove, then this is a problem they created for themselves back in June 2018. Even worse, there are substantial complaints online about <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a>. As far as I can tell, my experience is strikingly similar to that of other folks who have dealt with <a href="https://www.yelp.com/biz/temco-logistics-pomona-3">Temco Logistics</a>. The best advice I saw online was the recommendation to not sign any paperwork until they have your appliance installed, working, and the old one out the door. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">At this rate, I'm done with Home Depot. I cannot believe that they would think so little of their customers that they would work with a firm like <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a>. The dishwasher we bought from Home Depot in June 2018 worked for only about two and a half years. It was installed incorrectly - if I believe David at <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a>. Next, we are cheated in terms of the promised delivery date. We are again cheated when the crew from <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a> refused to take out the old one, carry it away, and install the new one. I'm beyond frustrated at this point.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;" /><span face="arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Home Depot was a great brand at one point. As of today, however, I will be shopping elsewhere. Ironically, I got a call from someone at <a href="https://temcologistics.com/">Temco Logistics</a> asking if I wanted to set up another delivery time. In the message, the lady repeated the assertion that my tiles were too high. I'm not returning that call until I get better service from them and <a href="https://www.homedepot.com/l/Laguna-Niguel/CA/Laguna-Niguel/92677/1077">Home Depot</a>. </span><div><br /></div><div>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</div></div>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-32797981586884897772020-10-04T16:33:00.001-07:002020-10-04T16:33:13.106-07:00Dr. Drew's Ballot Recommendations for MAGA California<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FEstgTWqhY/X3pbqsJDHwI/AAAAAAAAMX4/jJ1JOX8BZj83ETsB0Znch4L06IlCwdFzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s580/cocaine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="310" data-original-width="580" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4FEstgTWqhY/X3pbqsJDHwI/AAAAAAAAMX4/jJ1JOX8BZj83ETsB0Znch4L06IlCwdFzQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/cocaine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - I thought it was about time that I put out my personal ballot recommendations for the propositions in California. These are tedious and often difficult to sort through. Here you go. <br /><br />Proposition 14: No<br /><br />This measure would authorize the issuance of $5.5 billion of bonds to finance stem cell research. This is a function best left to private investors, not taxpayers. At a time when finite resources are more important than ever, we can think of much better uses for the $260 million of public funds a year for 30 years this measure would require to repay the bonds. <br /><br />Proposition 15: No<br /><br />Best known as the “split roll” measure, Prop. 15 is the most significant and direct threat to Proposition 13 in decades. The measure would split off commercial and industrial properties from Prop. 13’s protections in a misguided effort to raise billions in new taxes that will ultimately go toward papering over California’s public sector pension problem.<br /><br />Proposition 16: No<br /><br />Government should treat all people equally. Since Prop. 209 was passed, the state’s civil service and public colleges have increasingly reflected the diversity of the state. Prop. 16 seeks to sacrifice the principle of equality in the name of justice. That is unjust.<br /><br />Proposition 17: Yes<br /><br />Parolees who have done their time should have their voting rights restored.<br /><br />Proposition 18: No<br /><br />17-year-olds can wait until they’re 18 to vote.<br /><br />Proposition 19: No<br /><br />This special interest measure is the result of the California Association of Realtors basically “buying” the support of a state firefighters union in an effort to pass what they couldn’t two years ago with Prop. 5.<br /><br />Proposition 20: No<br /><br />The Legislature needs to do a better job overseeing criminal justice reform. But that doesn’t justify this heavy-handed measure, backed mainly by police unions and the state’s prison guard union.<br /><br />Proposition 21: No<br /><br />This measure would make it easier for local governments to adopt rent control policies. Amid a housing crisis, all this measure would do is make the housing crisis worse.<br /><br />Proposition 22: Yes<br /><br />This measure would create a middle-ground between Assembly Bill 5 and the gig economy as we knew it for app-based drivers by establishing minimum pay, portable health care benefits and other perks for those who choose to drive for companies like Lyft, DoorDash and Uber. While we’d rather see AB5 repealed, this is the next best alternative.<br /><br />Proposition 23: No<br /><br />This measure is a cynical effort by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West to raise costs on the dialysis industry in an effort to pressure dialysis companies into letting them unionize their workers. The measure presents as a good faith proposal to improve dialysis clinics. It’s not.<br /><br />Proposition 24: No<br /><br />This measure is a convoluted privacy law crafted behind closed doors that would authorize a new state agency to enforce the aforementioned convoluted data privacy laws.<br /><br />Proposition 25: No<br /><br />This is a referendum on Senate Bill 10, a bail reform law signed into law in 2018. A “yes” vote upholds the law, while a “no” vote rejects it. It is fundamentally unjust for anyone to commit crimes. If you don't want to be locked behind bars before you've been convicted for your crime stop stealing and hurting people.<br /><br /></div><i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-48494600318880693772020-04-02T00:12:00.004-07:002020-04-05T20:55:46.789-07:00The Front of the Line: How Can Your Charity Access the SBA Paycheck Protection Program?<div class="MsoNormal">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2OpVR-ncKg/XoWUa4PAfXI/AAAAAAAAK74/qNvP8o9oTBo6KgoRArS7oSY2CbWSz4K1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Business%2Bat%2BHome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="420" height="238" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D2OpVR-ncKg/XoWUa4PAfXI/AAAAAAAAK74/qNvP8o9oTBo6KgoRArS7oSY2CbWSz4K1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Business%2Bat%2BHome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a bold and timely reaction by the federal government to the present crisis. It provides $350 billion in relief to small businesses and nonprofits.<o:p></o:p></div>
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PPP will give you the resources to pay salaries and benefits even as charitable contributions continue to decline. I'm sure many charity leaders and board members are anxious to benefit from this program. They do not want to be left out of what may be a once-in-a-lifetime deal that will keep their churches, charities or schools alive.<br />
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<b>After all, the loans that will be given out can be completely forgiven. It will be like having an ATM in the lobby of your institution spitting out money all day long.</b><br />
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<a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WLXYJFL366Q8A" style="background-color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">Buy Now</span></a></div>
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For most of us, the problem is we are not sure where to turn for help, whether we are eligible, if we are too late, or how to prepare ourselves to secure PPP funding once the application process opens up on Friday, April 3, 2020. Even worse, we can be frustrated that only larger charities or small businesses with up to 500 employees will have the resources, connections or staff needed to be first in line to get this money.</div>
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I know what it's like. I'm applying for a PPP forgivable loan myself to protect Drew & Associates and our staff.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We are now working with a number of our non-profit clients to get them ready to apply later this week. As one of them reminded me it easy to put this off because you're afraid it is too much work, that it is a waste of time, or that it only goes to more established charities. I get it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Frankly, it seems silly for me and my staff to work hard to win you grants when the SBA Paycheck Protection Program is coming on line. I can't think of anything more important right now that to help you participate in this program. The amounts and benefits will be amazing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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According to the SBA, your total loan amount will be equal to your annual expenses for labor - wages, salaries, benefits, and 1099s - divided by 12 and then multiplied by 2.5. We have a spreadsheet calculator that will help you figure out the exact amount you can request.<o:p></o:p><br />
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NOTE: If any of those 1099s went to people who were providing your with services, like your accountant or attorney, then you'll need to leave them out of the mix. They should be applying for this funding on behalf of their own businesses. </div>
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As long as you maintain at least 90% of your current staffing, you can spend this money anyway you want as long as you focus on payroll, utilities, rent and interest expenses. If you do that, your loan will be completely forgiven.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<b>I have put together a new service to help you quickly, easily and reliably access these funds with the assistance of our conscientious team. </b><br />
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Personally, I've got years of experience in dealing with federal loan programs as a loan officer, a client of the SBA, and as a grant writing consultant. My skills will help you to get started and to secure this money. We will:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<ul>
<li>Save you time by screening your charity for eligibility.</li>
<li>Fill out the appropriate PPP paperwork for you.</li>
<li>Help you gather the necessary documentation.</li>
<li>If you do not have it, we will help you find it or create it for you.</li>
<li>Submit your application on time.</li>
<li>Answer any inquiries or requests for additional information.</li>
<li>Make sure you get paid quickly.</li>
</ul>
As far as we know, you should be getting your funding instantly after receiving your application approval from your existing bank or lender. Later, we will work with you to make sure you collect the exact receipts, records, and financial reports you need to qualify for the forgiveness of your loan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the cool things about this process is that we will help you become one of the first community leaders to protect their employees and their non-profit by accessing PPP funding. You will be a hero.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the other hand, I have to be real with you. If you do not apply for this funding it may be catastrophic for your charity.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WLXYJFL366Q8A" style="background-color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">Buy Now</span></a></div>
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We have no way of knowing exactly how long this crisis will last or how long this PPP funding will be available. Since this money is given on a first come, first served basis, it will eventually run out and some people will not be able to get it. Even if you manage to survive without the income needed to cover your payroll, utilities and rent, your charity will be threatened because it will emerge from this crisis damaged, living on a tighter margin and potentially even more vulnerable to continuing financial and pandemic shocks.</div>
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<b>All it takes to get started is to pay a small deposit of $250.00 and set-up an intake phone call with me at 949-338-5921.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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In that phone call, I ask you some questions about your charity, screen you for eligibility, and then make a recommendation on whether or not it makes sense to bring you on as a client for this PPP opportunity. If it is not a fit, then I will refund your money. If it looks like you are a good prospect, then we will move forward with the paperwork. I'll provide you with a list of needed documents, a loan amount calculator, urgent program updates, official SBA application w/ instructions, unlimited email and phone support.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Once we are ready to go we will charge you an additional $750.00 The total fee for our service will be a flat rate of $1,000.00</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The final result will be astounding for you and your charity. Your employees will enjoy the peace of mind and security that you have wisely provided for them. You will be able to keep up your rent and utility payments. You will be able to put your people to work again doing useful things even if they are no longer meeting with your clients face-to-face.<o:p></o:p></div>
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You will also be prepared to go after a second round of funding too. This will most likely happen if stay-at-home orders, quarantines or marshal law are declared in your area. All in all, you will be appreciated for leading your charity in a crisis and protecting its capacity to complete its mission now and in the years to come. I'm excited to work with you to make this happen. To get started, use the Buy Now button below.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=WLXYJFL366Q8A" style="background-color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #f4cccc;">Buy Now</span></a></div>
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-48711240181165092812020-02-12T20:56:00.005-08:002020-02-12T21:47:04.273-08:00Laguna Niguel Nice: My Passive Aggressive Outreach to Moderate Democrats Addicted to Facebook<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've spent the last few weeks debating some of the last moderate Democrats in my life, mainly friends and acquaintances of business acquaintances and others. They are all older, white, mainly retirees with pensions from the public sector. If I have time, maybe this should be an article for <i>American Thinker</i>?</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNjvJJ7cNX0/XkTh73hsiXI/AAAAAAAAKsQ/op2dL6sQ3IgMHOfTO03csjsdX2DzNA4tgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Consequences.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="380" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GNjvJJ7cNX0/XkTh73hsiXI/AAAAAAAAKsQ/op2dL6sQ3IgMHOfTO03csjsdX2DzNA4tgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Consequences.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Some of what I'm doing is too good to lose track of completely, and might be useful in the upcoming campaign...especially if Bernie Sanders wins the next election. I'd feel sad, give what I've written, is suddenly blocked or erased. So, here's some of my best stuff, particularly my complaint about Bernie Sanders' socialist views and the naive faith of those who underestimate his dangerous views. For the sake of privacy, I'll only give you my written comments. I'll start with the simple statement that started the polemics as follows: </div>
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<b>Round One - You Don't Know What You're Talking About</b></div>
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I don't think you appreciate the degree to which the programs you are defending actually leave the most vulnerable worse off. You need to read up on the concept of moral hazard.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Round Two - Well, Yes...</b></div>
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Moral hazard applies just as well to corporate decision makers.<div>
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<b>Round Three - Corporations Aren't Mean</b></div>
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A corporation is just a way of organizing human activity. It provides investors with limited liability and separate legal existence.<br /><br />There are dozens of different kinds of corporations in the U.S. and they exist in multiple forms internationally based on the laws of each country. Modern life is inconceivable without the corporate form of organization.<br /><br />Even a non-profit is organized as a corporation.<br /><br />Personally, I'm extremely curious to learn what you think of a new national poll showing Bernie Sanders, a socialist, pulling ahead of Joe Biden. <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/elections-2020/sanders-overtakes-biden-in-national-poll-for-first-time/ar-BBZQKeb?li=BBnb7Kz&fbclid=IwAR0ppN3gBNKmwr9zIcFDxunMTmgKQHOWIE1Skaq8iIJZStJyNZ6rgcmETDY">https://www.msn.com/.../sanders-overtakes.../ar-BBZQKeb...</a><br /><br />For a moderate Democrat like yourself, I'm wondering to what degree, if any, Bernie's success is making you anxious about your party's future.</div>
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<b>Round Four - Let's Read Hayek</b></div>
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As an ex-socialist, I may be in the perfect position to help you understand why you are being naive about the dangers of socialism. The one book that did the most to help me understand why socialism has never worked was Friedrich Hayek's book Road to Serfdom. The book explains why the idealism of my youth was both appealing and doomed to failure. You should check it out.<br />
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<b>Round Five - Others to Read</b></div>
<br />No. I'm more of a fan of J.D. Salinger. The political scientists who have had the greatest influence on my thinking - particularly my rejection of Marxism and socialism - were Theodore Lowi, James Q. Wilson, Thomas Sowell and Charles Murray. If you want to understand my take on contemporary politics, rent the film <i>The Enemies Within</i> by Trevor Loudon. This is a documentary which gave me my best opportunity to share my political views. One of my former students, Ann Coulter, also has some outstanding books which will help you better understand conservative thought.<br />
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<b>Round Six - Trust Me About Bernie Sanders, I'm an Ex-Socialist Myself</b></div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rITEcaj09XU/XkTQmGsJi9I/AAAAAAAAKrY/t3F5QucDR-cAs80MY0_jwG3H2LCHt-HXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Cars.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="535" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rITEcaj09XU/XkTQmGsJi9I/AAAAAAAAKrY/t3F5QucDR-cAs80MY0_jwG3H2LCHt-HXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cars.png" width="320" /></a></div>
When I was in graduate school at Cornell University, I took courses in the field of political economy and studied countries like Sweden, Norway, Denmark, England, Canada.<br />
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Two of the professors I took courses from later became presidents of the American Political Science Association.<br />
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I've taught political economy at Williams, our nation's most prestigious liberal arts college.<br />
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If I sincerely thought your take on socialism was correct, then I would tell you so.<br />
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I'm totally confident that if you had taken the same courses, hung out with the same international experts, and read the same articles and books that you would come to the same conclusions as me regarding the desirability of electing a socialist like Bernie Sanders.<br />
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One of the reasons why I recommended you read Hayek is because he explains how socialism starts with the innocent appeal of prosperity for all, but then - inevitably - drifts into a horrific system where threats of violence and persecution are the only way to obtain crucial information and to get things done.<br />
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A lot of people report that reading Hayek was a turning point for them ideologically. Part of the appeal is that Hayek was himself a former socialist.<br />
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If you are not interested in reading a book which has persuaded thousands of socialists to change their views, then I recommend you check out Trevor Loudon's movie, <i>The Enemy Within</i>. It is a documentary film which features my take on the attraction of socialism among young people. I understand you can rent it through Amazon Prime.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/abI2wIuRJ58/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/abI2wIuRJ58?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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<b>Round Seven - Can You Take Bad News? Socialism Makes People Worse Off, </b></div>
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<b>Not Better...Even in Sweden.</b></div>
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The per capita income of the USA is $62,606. This is above Sweden at $52,984, above Denmark at $52,121, way above Canada at $49,651 and incredibly above the UK at $45,606. Most Bernie bros do not realize that a socialist economy makes people poorer while at the same time taking away personal freedom, individuality and ability to make your own choices.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2gdhm3oz4ws/XkTUmCKuHRI/AAAAAAAAKrk/bG_-vhADMzAHIOTbv3QrWzj73AXXheUAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Cultures.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="668" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2gdhm3oz4ws/XkTUmCKuHRI/AAAAAAAAKrk/bG_-vhADMzAHIOTbv3QrWzj73AXXheUAQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Cultures.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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You didn't get my reference to scarce resources. Capitalist economies use markets to quickly and effectively allocate scarce resources. Typically socialist economies, say like Sweden, make poorer choices regarding the allocation of scarce resources. This inevitably creates a lower standard of living as measured by per capita GDP.</div>
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I think you are being a tad naive about how socialism limits your freedom. If you read Hayek's book, you will have a better grasp about exactly why socialism is incompatible with freedom of speech. There are now steep penalties for language which violates politically correct standards in Sweden or Canada or the UK. I don't think you would like living in any of these countries if you value being able to speak your mind.<br />
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Again, please read Hayek. You may be surprised to learn that Joseph Stalin was the wealthiest man in the world during the height of his power. In a similar manner, we see how African and Latin American socialist politicians betray their followers by stealing enough to become millionaires or billionaires. They enjoy their wealth in Swiss bank accounts while their people are starving.<br />
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The bottom line is that socialism in the USA would look less like Denmark or Sweden and a lot more like Cuba or Venezuela.<br />
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<b>Round Eight - You Are Still in the Fight? It is Time to School You with Statistics</b></div>
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First, per capita income is the statistic typically used to measure the standard of living by political economists. Measurement theory helps explain why this is so. For example, as you add more measurements to assess the standard of living it quickly becomes increasingly difficult to understand what, if anything, you are actually measuring. This becomes a growing weakness in what is called the validity of a measure.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5hlZD-jUFfw/XkTVP3SpXNI/AAAAAAAAKrs/ypfBguXoI38qCh_F52kVuSVOgP3ZBvOSACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Libya.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="590" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5hlZD-jUFfw/XkTVP3SpXNI/AAAAAAAAKrs/ypfBguXoI38qCh_F52kVuSVOgP3ZBvOSACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Libya.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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For example, in the survey you have shared with us, the rating system includes measurements for crime...a variable which makes Sweden appear higher in the ranking than the USA. Since crime has causes which have nothing to do with economics, it is inappropriate to include crime rates in an evaluation of a socialist economy.<br />
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Likewise, as you add additional terms to your measure, you reduce the reliability of your measurement. This is simply the degree to which we are confident that the measurement will produce the same results after repeated trials. Think of it as being a juggler. The more balls you toss in the air, the more likely you are to drop one or find one has inadvertently gone astray. Does this help?<br />
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Next, I would think the most typical errors in the allocation of scarce resources among socialist economies like Sweden are in the field of labor resources. In virtually all socialist economies it becomes increasingly difficult to hire skilled professionals. In many cases, skilled professionals will exit the country to find higher paying positions elsewhere. If you study the socialist countries you seem to admire, you will find they have great difficulties in attracting and retaining skilled professionals in their labor forces.<br />
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Your complaint about using Stalin as an example of socialism gone astray is what we call the No True Scotsman logical fallacy. You are basically trying to protect the general idea that socialist systems are good by saying that Stalin was not a socialist. If you want, there are plenty examples of socialism enriching its leaders and their families in contemporary Cuba and Venezuela.<br />
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It is interesting to me that you are not addressing my earlier point that socialist countries are less protective of freedom of speech. You may not completely understand that socialist countries are also less protective of private property, gun ownership, rule of law, and of course personal privacy. It is difficult for me to understand how you might measure the quality of life in a country separate from its built in protections for freedom of speech or the right to bear arms.<br />
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I think you are naive in your expectation that socialism in the USA would end up leaving us like Sweden. The demographics and political culture of a socialist majority-minority USA would have far more in common with Cuba or Venezuela than it would in largely white, Protestant Sweden or the five million white folks who live in Norway. I think that the more you educate yourself on these matters, the closer you and your ideological friends will come to agreeing with me.<br />
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After all, I am a former Democrat myself. I'm a former Marxist socialist who used to see the economic and social systems of Sweden as the goal for us all. I'm just sharing with you the facts which have changed my views over time.<br />
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i></div>
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John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-41982831380477544462020-01-20T21:35:00.002-08:002020-01-20T21:50:49.626-08:00Time to Chill - Nothing is as Black and White as You Suppose: Note to a Friend Regarding the Trump Impeachment<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dizflR0Ih1o/XiaRHj-JZ5I/AAAAAAAAKpk/qf9P32ntnlA9RgTSwr-baVVt9kMT2kOVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Believe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="665" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dizflR0Ih1o/XiaRHj-JZ5I/AAAAAAAAKpk/qf9P32ntnlA9RgTSwr-baVVt9kMT2kOVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Believe.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
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I've been a little surprised at the hostility to Trump I have seen among people I have known for a while. Their level of outrage seems out of proportion to what is actually going on. I took out some time in December to draft some detailed answers to a friend's questions. Maybe you can use my answers with your friends too?<br />
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I don’t have a lot of time. So please pardon the limits of
my response. <b>The most important thing to state is that the U.S. Department of
Justice has determined that Trump committed no crime.</b> </div>
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Regarding you’re
particular legal theory, I would only point out that it assumes a level of
repression which would violate the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of
speech. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Regarding you questions over Trump’s motivations, it looks
to me like you are following Democrat party talking points and may not be
familiar with the full story. I do not think that things are as bad or as black
and white as you imagine. In many cases, the assumptions behind your questions
have already been debunked. I’ll try to go through them all quickly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump not follow the protocols outlined in the Legal
Assistance Treaty with Ukraine? </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I think you are assuming that this treaty controls a
president’s actions. This is just not true. There is nothing in the treaty
which limits a president’s Article II powers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump never mention corruption in either of his
phone calls with Zelensky? </b></div>
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I’m assuming your concern here is based on your
belief that the Biden family was not involved in corruption. As I have stated
earlier, Biden violated the Hobbs Act. Burisma was clearly a corrupt company
and Hunter Biden was on its board.</div>
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<b>Why did he wait until Biden had become a front runner to
bring up his concerns about the former vice president? </b></div>
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I don’t think you have
the timeline right here. As I understand it there were concerns about the Biden
family’s corruption long before the phone call with Zelenski. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did he only mention the Bidens when there are other
Americans involved in potentially more nefarious activities in Ukraine (Paul
Manafort, Igor Buzyukov to mention just two)? </b></div>
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I double checked. I couldn’t find
anything regarding corruption and these two individuals. Manafort was a
political consultant and Buzyukov was involved in money laundering. I don’t
think this question gets you anywhere. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump ignore the DOD report that certified that
Ukraine was adequately addressing corruption and was therefore eligible to
receive the military aid that had been funded by Congress?</b></div>
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Again, you seem to
assume this report was controlling. That was not the case. The report itself
asserted that more investigations into corruption in Ukraine were still needed.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump not go through the DOJ, but instead used his
personal lawyer, and even directed Zelensky to talk to him? </b></div>
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My understanding is
that representatives from the government of Ukraine sought out Rudy Guliani
because they felt they were being stonewalled by U.S. and Ukrainian
bureaucrats. It is actually pretty normal for presidents to use alternative
forms of communication and investigation. Historically, there is nothing
nefarious about this element of the story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Sondland, a big Trump donor, believe that this was a
quid pro quo, and that everyone was in the loop? </b></div>
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Sondland’s testimony was not a
clear cut nor as decisive as you think. At best, it was one man’s opinion. In
other parts of his testimony Sondland makes it clear that Trump did not want a
quid pro quo. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Mulvaney also state that this was a quid pro quo? </b></div>
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As
I recall, Mulvaney walked back that statement indicating it was an error on his
part. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Why ask Zelensky to make a public statement about opening an
investigation into the Bidens? </div>
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I don’t understand this either. I don’t recall
Trump asking for this. Trump released the transcripts of the conversation. At
best, this looks like a second-hand report. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump wait until after the whistleblower was known
to him and an investigation was imminent to unfreeze the military aid? </b></div>
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This
question has already been debunked. It appears that the release of the funds
was caused by the passage of the budget in the Congress which made delays in
the military aid perfunctory. Trump signed that budget. The decision had
nothing to do with the whistleblower. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why did Trump fire Ambassador Yovanovitch when she was
highly regarded in addressing corruption in Ukraine?</b> </div>
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As I understand it, Yovanovitch
was seen as being too close to George Soros. Her values and behavior were
inconsistent with Trump administration policies. Finally, all ambassadors serve
at the pleasure of the president. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why does Trump still refuse to release documents? </b></div>
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Trump’s
actions here are pretty standard. Most presidents are reluctant to do this and
seek to preserve their independence from the Congress through exercise of
executive privilege. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Why does Trump still keep people from testifying? </b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again,
there is nothing nefarious here either. Defense of executive privilege is a
long-standing tradition. Normally, the Congress would appeal to the courts to
resolve this issue. Congressional Democrats declined to challenge Trump on this
in the courts, most likely because they know the Supreme Court would defend the
president’s prerogatives. For better or
worse, allowing Congress unfettered powers in this arena would undermine the
balance of power between the Congress and the president. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once again, I am surprised to see the degree to which you
are making a mountain out of a molehill. There was no crime committed. As far
as I can tell, most of your questions are based in what is best referred to as
fake news. They have been debunked by later investigations as was your earlier assertion
that the investigation into Burisma was winding down prior to Joe Biden’s
explicit quid pro quo demand. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-86819899056729347872019-12-21T18:11:00.000-08:002019-12-21T18:11:56.971-08:00Right Sized: Pastor Jim Garlow Responds to the Attack of President Trump Launched by the Editor in Chief of Christianity Today<span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">MY RESPONSE TO CHRISTIANITY TODAY’S EDITOR IN CHIEF MARK GALLI’S PATHETIC ARTICLE CALLING FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE PRESIDENT</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">When the CT Editor’s Feelings Trump Facts</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">by Dr. Jim Garlow</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Mark Galli has used his platform as Editor in Chief of Christianity Today magazine to demand that Donald Trump be removed from office. At one point in the article, Mark Galli compares Trump to Clinton, Strangely, Mark Galli avoided a key issue: Was a law violated? Bill Clinton actually committed a crime. Donald Trump didn't. Galli fails to make the distinction.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Galli speaks of Clinton’s “immoral acts” in the context of our current President. He fails to note that the President’s acknowledged immoral conduct occurred a dozen years ago and not while he was in the White House, in contrast to Clinton’s conduct, while in the Oval Office, serving as President. Galli states that Clinton lied. Yes, but more than that, he perjured himself, which is legally serious. Trump didn’t.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Remarkably, Galli claims "the facts in this instance are unambiguous." The "facts" are "unambiguous?" Many in the House of Representatives - all 196 Republicans and two Democrats – who have access to key documents - don't see it that way. In addition, Americans who are not aligned with either party - Independents - don't view it that way.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">The keys to understanding authentic facts in this case are the actual transcript of the call and the Ukrainian President’s recollection of the phone call. Galli fails to note those two critically important “witnesses” to truth. They might get in the way of his “facts.”</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Galli further asserts that the President's phone call was "a violation of the Constitution." It is precisely at this point that so many strongly disagree with Galli. Simply put, many contend that there was no violation of the Constitution. Again Galli chooses to state his opinion as “fact.” Even liberal Democrat Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz contends that there was no violation of the Constitution. Amazingly, the Democrats could not even get all of their own to vote for impeachment, let alone any of the Republicans.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Furthermore, those who know the President, with all his flaws, past moral failures and sins, have discerned and commented that he is a man who really wants to do what is right. This fact has been noted by many of the evangelicals who are closest to him. Godly discerning people around him see it and know it.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Galli writes "the impeachment hearings have illuminated the president’s moral deficiencies for all to see." There you have it, according to Christianity Today’s Editor in Chief. Based on Mr. Trump's failure to model sanctification, he should be impeached? Hardly.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">And while we are talking about character - which is one of Galli's key issues - it is important to point out that what Mr. Trump promised as a candidate is exactly what he has delivered as an elected official. It is indeed a rare treat for a politician to fulfill his word. That is a wonderful indication of character. It's called honesty.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Condescendingly, Galli lectures evangelicals who support Trump, saying that they "brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency." To my knowledge, I know every one of the persons who have served as the President's faith advisors. (In the interest of disclosure, I have been one of them.) Not one of these faith leaders "brushes off" anyone's immorality or behavior, including the President’s. Not one. They never have. Not one of them has ever said or believed that the (using Galli’s words) "bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end.” Not one. I could speak with specificity here, but I will not. In that one sentence, Galli is participating in character assassination, a favorite tool of many these days.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Closely related to that is the fact that Galli has no grasp of the kind of healthy spiritual input that is coming from evangelicals to our president. Admittedly, this is a side issue, not Galli’s key issue, but it is still important. The CT editor apparently has no knowledge of the internal meetings which have been constructively pastoral in nature. Numerous high visibility evangelicals have had opportunity to be with the President, to counsel him and to pray with him. Some have spoken truth to leadership. Wisely, they do not discuss the content of those meetings publicly. Nor should they. They are considerably more aware of the "heart" of the President than is Mr. Galli. If he knew what they know about Mr. Trump, Galli would not have written such an article.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Offensively, Mark Galli seems to invoke the name of Billy Graham to bolster and credential his viewpoint not only in the first sentence of the article, but again in the third paragraph. The only one who can use Billy Graham's name with integrity is Billy's son Franklin or daughter Anne Graham Lotz or one of his other children or grandchildren. Interestingly, Franklin Graham is standing 100% with the President. And he even felt compelled to reveal for the first time that his famous father – who knew Donald Trump – voted for him. Franklin Graham is more qualified to speak for Billy Graham than a CT editor.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">While it is admittedly not of profound significance to Galli’s article, it still might be important to note that Christianity Today has been losing influence for some time. Why is this relevant? The Left will fall all over themselves loving this article, not knowing that CT’s influence among rank and file evangelicals peaked a long time ago. Had there not been outside funds to prop CT up, the magazine would likely have folded years ago. It is not the voice it once was. How do I say this nicely? It is rather "yesterday."</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">It is hardly news that CT is not a fan of the President. For purposes of transparency, it might be interesting if the editor – since journalists ought to acknowledge their bias - would reveal for whom he voted for in 2016. The once-solid magazine, like the National Association of Evangelicals, has moved leftward for some time. They once reigned. They were supreme. But ask the typical evangelical churchgoer today if he or she reads CT or knows what the NAE is. They don’t. These once prestigious organizations have now been displaced in influence by other groups, organizations, magazines and news sources.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">But one thing is for sure: Mr. Galli will now be exalted by the Trump-haters. They now have a new hero. The Left loves CT's Trump-bashing. CNN and New York Times, for example, were two of the first to run with this story on the national scene. Other disdainers of Trump will do the same. More hated of Trump has been fueled. The self-proclaimed pious ones will be eagerly casting stones at Trump. Mr. Galli has done our nation a great disservice.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Meanwhile, the President will continue saving the lives of preborn babies, helping families, supporting Israel, defending religious liberty in the US, trying to stop religious persecution globally, blessing the nation with a healthy economy - especially impacting the middle class and most notably Blacks and Hispanics with jobs, as opposed to Obama’s debilitating massive food stamps increase, reducing governmental intrusions into our everyday lives, advocating for healthy entrepreneurship-driven capitalism, rebuilding the Obama-era broken military, saving young girls from sex trafficking, appointing justices and judges that actually respect the US Constitution, leading in prison reform that is giving many incarcerated persons a new opportunity in life, defeating terrorist organizations like ISIS, stopping the transgender experiments that would destroy our military, stopping nations from taking advantage of America, arresting and removing MS13 gang members and making America truly a great nation. He will continue doing what the Bible admonishes a governmental leader to do: to protect the citizenry and to punish evil.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">But to Galli, and his groupies who will Facebook post his article repeatedly, this does not matter. Why? Because according to Galli, Trump acts wrongly. He is bad. His personality is not that of St. Francis. Trump is not Mother Teresa. Trump, you see, is a bad man, and that qualifies as a “high crimes.” Trump – according to Galli – must be removed.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">And in case you have not noticed, those advocating impeachment are not merely after the President. They are impeaching those of you who elected him – all 63 million of you. They are impeaching the values of those who voted for him.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">It is interesting that Galli never once called for the removal of President Obama, who was responsible for supporting the mutilation of preborn babies more than any President in US history, who helped destroy the definition of marriage and who was the first to defend men dressed as women using women’s bathrooms.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">How should we respond to all this? Is there a better response? Yes. For starters, how about a call to pray for our President? (I have followed politics closely, virtually every day since I was age nine years of age. I know that is strange, but I have.) I have never seen a national leader so castigated and attacked on a continual basis. I know few if any who could handle the pressure that our President is under.</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">What if Galli had interviewed some of the people who are on the “inside” (I am not one of them), who are helping to spiritually guide the President, and have inquired how believers could and should pray for the President in very specific ways at this time? How much better if he would have described ways to help our nation come through the massive divide.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">But while Mr. Galli did not do that, you can. You and I can make a difference. We can do these things.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Will you pray for your President? Right now? Will you pray for those who have the opportunity to speak and provide spiritual counsel to our national leaders? Galli condemns them. It might be better to pray for them.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Will you commit to try to bring healing to our severely divided nation? Will you pray that Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff and Jerrold Nadler would work with our President to address the greatest challenges in our nation?</span><br />
<br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">Would you pray with me that there would be a massive release of scriptural truth to those in high government positions of our nation? Would you pray that there would be a Holy Spirit release of the biblical principles of governance to all of those in governmental authority? In doing so, you would help make American great – and good – again.</span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> </span><br style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;">(Garlow, has a governmental ministry in Washington, DC, New York City and Jerusalem. You can learn more at </span><a data-auth="NotApplicable" href="http://www.wellversedworld.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">www.WellVersedWorld.org</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #201f1e; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-size: 14.6667px;"> )</span>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-8995114118000459472019-12-04T09:09:00.000-08:002019-12-21T15:50:11.541-08:00Chad Topaz of Williams College Begs You to Associate with His Stigmatized Charity, QSIDE, After Rebuke From Top Math Leaders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2j4sWV_Hg8I/XefnkLO73UI/AAAAAAAAKaI/DgUBcrwDgyocUViMybyzdfRU9W-OWJRywCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ChapTopazShameMeme2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="996" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2j4sWV_Hg8I/XefnkLO73UI/AAAAAAAAKaI/DgUBcrwDgyocUViMybyzdfRU9W-OWJRywCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/ChapTopazShameMeme2.jpg" width="248" /></a></div>
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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Chad Topaz appears to be desperate for legitimacy now that his widely <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">condemned</a> plans to get a white female professor at UC Davis fired have <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2019/11/mathematician-abigail-thompson-now-being-pilloried-for-opposing-mandatory-diversity-statements-int-h.html">backfired</a> on him. As you may know, Topaz called for his Facebook and Twitter followers to subject Abigail Thompson to a merciless <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">public shaming</a> and to pressure her employer to punish her for expressing her personal opinions in the <i>Notices</i> of the American Mathematical Society.<br />
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In response to outrage in the mathematics profession, Topaz took both his Facebook and Twitter pages private. <b>Bizarrely, he also began <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-meme-reveals-real-chad-m.html">redirecting</a> links to his QSIDE Institute website created by his critics over to the landing page of the Southern Poverty Law Center. </b>The insinuation, of course, is that anyone who disagreed with him was a dangerous white supremacist.<br />
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One of <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/12/02/i-dont-debate/">Chad Topaz</a>'s Williams College colleagues, Colin Adams, created a <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjvC_OovxE0ePoZ3V695GdlV9A4aXOH0ixU-n2gogiKI0akA/viewform?fbzx=-5813570425189406045">petition</a> condemning Topaz's efforts to censor and punish Thompson. This petition has attracted over 625 supporters including two famous <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/chad-topaz-enemy-of-free-speech-master.html">Fields Medalists</a>, former presidents of the American Mathematics Society (AMS), and math and biology faculty at Williams College including his own department chair <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/">Richard de Veaux</a>. If you wish, you can sign the petition <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjvC_OovxE0ePoZ3V695GdlV9A4aXOH0ixU-n2gogiKI0akA/viewform?fbzx=-5813570425189406045">here</a>.<br />
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In his most recent missive, which I have included below the break, he calls for his supporters to join QSIDE and promote it by including mention of it in their e-mails and other channels of community. Unfortunately for Topaz, anyone who joins his brand new, family-run <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">QSIDE Institute</a> will share in the stigma of his appalling effort to get a white female professor black listed and the negative publicity now associated with the QSIDE Institute <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">brand</a>.<br />
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Finally, the story of Topaz's campaign to get Abigail Thompson fired has come to the <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/uc-davis-professor-under-fire-for-opposing-required-diversity-statements/">attention</a> of a national news blog, <i>The College Fix</i>.<br />
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Among the <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/uc-davis-professor-under-fire-for-opposing-required-diversity-statements/">comments</a> are the following gems: <br />
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<li>Say it with me, kids: "The university is no longer the place for academic discussion." Your degree is worthless.</li>
<li>The irony is she is AGAINST making a decision based on skin color. This makes her the anti-racist, yet they will say the opposite.</li>
<li>Those who support totalitarianism and loyalty oaths need to consider the consequences for their own future. Eventually, they will need to go out into the world. And, of course, there is always the possibility that they will some day find themselves on the wrong side of the "party."</li>
<li>Chad Topaz? Since when have 2nd rate porn stars become mathematicians?</li>
<li>There is no God but the Party, and the Dialogue is his prophet.</li>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist and a former Williams College professor. He is an occasional contributor at American Thinker, Breitbart, Front Page, PJMedia and WND. His pronouns are Master/Commander.</i></div>
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Get involved with QSIDE<br />
Posted by <a href="https://qsideinstitute.org/author/chadtopaz/">CHADTOPAZ</a> on <a href="https://qsideinstitute.org/2019/12/04/get-involved-with-qside/">DECEMBER 4, 2019</a><br />
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Do you want to use your academic and/or professional skills to promote social justice? QSIDE will soon open a variety of routes for involvement with the institute. You can <a href="https://qsideinstitute.org/what-we-do/">read about our mission</a> and see some of these examples of our work:<br />
<a href="https://qsideinstitute.org/2019/12/02/making-the-criminal-justice-system-transparent-preliminary-analysis-of-berkshire-county-courtwatch-data/">Making the criminal justice system transparent</a><br />
<a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212852">Diversity of artists in major U.S. museums</a><br />
<a href="https://unbound.williams.edu/islandora/object/studenttheses%3A1265">Forecasting the effect of affirmative action policies in undergraduate college admissions</a><br />
<a href="https://qsideinstitute.org/download/maya-princess-scientist/">Maya, Princess Scientist</a><br />
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If you are potentially interested in participating in QSIDE by serving in any of the roles described below, please fill out <a href="https://forms.gle/w2rYKMba3RGEpzsB7">this form</a>. We will contact you when further details are available.<br />
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ALLY. You are visibly supportive of the QSIDE mission. To become an ally, you will submit a very brief profile along with interest areas and skills. This information will go in a QSIDE database and will be searchable by other QSIDE participants for engagement in common interest areas of scholarship and activism.<br />
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AFFILIATE. You have your own research and/or activism portfolio that is thematically related to the mission of QSIDE. Affiliates have a higher degree of responsibility to the organization than allies and are eligible for more benefits. Expectations include putting a QSIDE Affiliate line in your professional email signature and acknowledging QSIDE affiliation in presentations and publications related to QSIDE’s mission. Benefits include connection to other QSIDE participants, eligibility to apply for QSIDE internal grants (once funding becomes available), and professional support for QSIDE-related activism, grant-writing and research projects.<br />
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PARTNER. Beyond having your own research and/or activism portfolio, you get involved with core QSIDE research and/or action projects and make substantive contributions.<br />
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Again, if you are interested, please fill out <a href="https://forms.gle/w2rYKMba3RGEpzsB7">this form</a>.</div>
John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-6237187368132063292019-12-02T13:58:00.002-08:002019-12-10T22:09:12.516-08:00Answer - Pamela E. Harris, Question - Who At Williams College Supports Chad Topaz's Campaign to Get a White Female Math Professor? <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FZxZ1a1dU4/XeYwphiVQpI/AAAAAAAAKZg/VffGjxkz8fER_Ste0g9ww4meHLNXYj62gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Pamela%2BE%2BHarris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="528" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FZxZ1a1dU4/XeYwphiVQpI/AAAAAAAAKZg/VffGjxkz8fER_Ste0g9ww4meHLNXYj62gCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Pamela%2BE%2BHarris.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pamela E. Harris, Ph.D. Mathematics <br />
at Williams College.</td></tr>
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I scanned the list of people who signed the petition favoring Chad Topaz's efforts to silence, boycott, and fire a white, female math professor named Abigail Thompson. I was curious to see if anyone from his own department at Williams College was supporting him. I found there is only one signatory who claims Williams College as their institutional affiliation: <a href="https://www.pamelaeharris.com/">Pamela E. Harris</a>.<br />
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According to a recent <a href="https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/201808/rnoti-p1025.pdf">article</a> in the AMS <i>Notices</i>, it looks like she was an illegal immigrant from Mexico. She came here with her parents when she was 12. She appears to have lied on her paperwork to get into a community college. The article states: "It took some creative
form-filling, and hoping that nobody found the inconsistencies in the paperwork, for Pamela to be on her way to
the Milwaukee Area Technical College, where she earned
two associate degrees."<br />
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She arrived at Williams College about four years after getting her doctorate. Here is how Williams <a href="https://faculty.williams.edu/2016-17-new-faculty/">described</a> her in 2016:<br />
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Dr. <a href="https://www.pamelaeharris.com/">Pamela E. Harris</a> received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee in May 2012. Her research interests focus on combinatorial problems related to representation theory. Dr. Harris has previously taught courses in number theory, linear algebra, calculus, and statistics and probability. In addition to enjoying working with students on original research, Dr. Harris actively works to improve diversity and retention rates among women and minorities in the mathematical sciences through her work and involvement with the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Dr. Harris enjoys cooking all types of spicy food, playing tennis, and she is looking forward to joining a new jiu jitsu dojo.</blockquote>
As far as I can tell, she is used to teaching Linear Algebra and Calculus 1. Her <a href="https://www.pamelaeharris.com/">CV</a> is largely filled with travel, small grants, woke activities and articles on which she is a <a href="https://3065584e-084d-4c56-ac19-da7a38af6a7e.filesusr.com/ugd/edad98_d6495a51eb0b4ffc9874b2bc5547457c.pdf">contributing author</a>. I looked through a talk she gave at a conference and she talks openly about how she feels less pressure to perform when she is just one in a series of authors and not the sole author of an article herself. She claims she has found her "place" in the mathematics community as a member of one of these teams.<br />
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I believe her husband, <a href="https://security.williams.edu/staff/">Jamual Harris</a>, works as a campus safety and security officer. I'm assuming this is how she ended up with a non-Mexican last name.<br />
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Curiously, I found that she was one of the "co-authors" of a <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0212852&type=printable">paper</a> Chad Topaz did about the horrifying shortage of non-white guy artists in the major collections of prominent art museums. The paper was written by a number of Williams College math department professors including Chad M. Topaz, Bernhard Klingenberg, Daniel Turek, Brianna Heggeseth,
<a href="https://www.sacnas.org/2019/08/13/announcing-keynote-featured-speakers-for-2019-sacnas-the-national-diversity-in-stem-conference/">Pamela E. Harris</a> and <a href="https://sites.williams.edu/jcb5/">Julie C. Blackwood</a>. Of these, only Harris appears to have signed up with Topaz's attack on Abigail Thompson.<br />
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Julie Blackwood, however, signed the anti-Chad Topaz petition. This puzzled me a little because Blackwood, who recently got tenure, appears to be deep into ecology, global warming, and anti-Trump ideology. Nevertheless, she took a <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "bitstream charter" , serif; font-size: 14px;">Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics (2010) from UC Davis, the same institution as the beleagured Abigail Thompson. A</span>wkward...<br />
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Listening to <a href="https://www.2019sacnas.org/keynote-speakers/">Pamela E. Harris</a> speak, I think she is someone, like Chad Topaz, who has been taking advantage of an unearned, inter-sectional harvest of academic privilege including being Mexican, female, and - best of all - an illegal alien DREAMER. She is the sort of person who - for purely selfish reasons - I would expect to support a partisan, anti-white, McCarthy-like purity test designed to screen out the job applicants, the sort who might always beat her at theorems but will never enjoy her ethnic, sex or legal status advantages.<br />
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<br />John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-75475109553120788882019-11-25T15:25:00.001-08:002019-12-17T23:19:40.617-08:00Are We All White Supremacists? Ayatollah Chad M. Topaz Decrees All Links to His QSIDE Website From His Critics Will Be Redirected to SPLC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-id4bw_wIVXE/Xd9uzI1ctZI/AAAAAAAAKPA/7IBFsyPNiX0f0jzt7O5fn5Iv0gsYsVAUwCEwYBhgL/s1600/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BEmperor%2BFade.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-id4bw_wIVXE/Xd9uzI1ctZI/AAAAAAAAKPA/7IBFsyPNiX0f0jzt7O5fn5Iv0gsYsVAUwCEwYBhgL/s320/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BEmperor%2BFade.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Ayatollah Chad Topaz has decided you are a white supremacist if you are critical of his <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/">hateful</a> campaign to get a white female professor fired and to boycott her UC Davis math department. On Facebook, <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad Topaz</a> announced he was setting up redirects for links to his <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">QSIDE</a> website created by bloggers critical of his extremist fatwa. In many cases, he altered his <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">QSIDE</a> website so that clicking on an author's link will now take the reader to a Southern Poverty Law Center <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">web page</a> instead.<br />
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Currently, his list of white supremacist bloggers include many of us who are surprised to be labeled as such including those posting at <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/chad-topaz-enemy-of-free-speech-master.html">Anonymous Political Scientist</a>, <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=14074">Campus Reform</a>, <a href="https://www.econjobrumors.com/topic/mathematicians-fire-back-at-abigail-thompson-diversity-piece">Economic Job Market Rumors</a>, <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/">Ephblog,</a> <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/uc-davis-professor-under-fire-for-opposing-required-diversity-statements/">The College Fix</a>, <a href="https://theotherdunwoody.blogspot.com/2019/12/weapons-of-math-destruction.html">The Other Dunwoody</a>, <a href="https://motls.blogspot.com/2019/12/diversity-statements-rebellious-uc.html?m=1">The Reference Frame</a>, <a href="https://posttenuretourettes.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/nice-things/">Post Tenure Tourettes,</a> <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/">The Leitter Report</a>, <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">Why Evolution is True</a> and <a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/2019/11/get-your-axis-straight-chad-topaz-of.html">Williams Liberty</a>. Chad Topaz's efforts to redirect traffic away from his website have continued as late as December 10, 2019 when he created redirects for a second article from <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/hundreds-of-academics-sign-letter-in-support-of-prof-who-criticized-diversity-statements/">The College Fix</a> which quotes his colleague Colin Adams who reports that the petition critical of Topaz was signed by four Fields Medalists and eight past presidents of the American Mathematical Society.<br />
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All in all, it is easy to defeat these redirects. All you have to do is set up a new link, or link to a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/qside-institute">third party</a> he deems safe which then links to his <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">QSIDE</a> website. For a while, it was a kick to simply use the Internet Wayback Machine to link to the earlier <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20191126001633/https://qsideinstitute.org/2019/11/25/updates-ii-the-need-for-qside/">posts</a>.<br />
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Now, however, <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad Topaz</a> has used a simple insert to block the the Internet Wayback Machine from scanning his site. This, of course, may be seen as a good thing because it makes his posts at <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/error-code-whats-up-with-institute-for.html">QSIDE</a> less reliable and less accessible to future researchers.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist and a former Williams College professor. He is an occasional contributor at American Thinker, Breitbart, Front Page, PJMedia and WND. His pronouns are Master/Commander.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-73297982450799749462019-11-25T14:55:00.003-08:002019-12-02T02:44:11.081-08:00Darkside: Funniest Ayatollah Chad Topaz Memes<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0LrbhzI9SqY/XeTqhCNTBFI/AAAAAAAAKZI/-GJORRTzrss3ilbn5N0Y4bAGO_eO7LJ3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ChapTopazShameMeme2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="996" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0LrbhzI9SqY/XeTqhCNTBFI/AAAAAAAAKZI/-GJORRTzrss3ilbn5N0Y4bAGO_eO7LJ3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s640/ChapTopazShameMeme2.jpg" title="Shameful Chad M. Topaz Meme - UCLA" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shameful Chad M. Topaz Meme - UCLA</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOJmfWp4LHo/Xd5xkGuVibI/AAAAAAAAKNw/wz6nuZDlitcQkaK2Oky3v7xqlOBp6rTpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BEmperor%2BFade.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xOJmfWp4LHo/Xd5xkGuVibI/AAAAAAAAKNw/wz6nuZDlitcQkaK2Oky3v7xqlOBp6rTpgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BEmperor%2BFade.png" title=" Chad M. Topaz fades to Emperor Palpatine." width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad M. Topaz fades to Emperor Palpatine.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quantitative research on being a jerk at Williams College.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hannibal Lecter Fades to Chad M. Topaz</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pennywise fades to Chad M. Topaz.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chad M. Topaz Fades to Hannibal Lecter.</td></tr>
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<br />John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-6924505332885417982019-11-25T02:12:00.001-08:002019-12-09T23:33:17.925-08:00Error Code - What's Up with the Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity?WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Williams College math professor, <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad M. Topaz</a>, is <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/qside-institute">asking</a> for donations to pay for consulting services for graduate students seeking to craft winning diversity statements. While this looks like an open invitation to commit academic plagiarism, it may be among the least worrying ethical issues surrounding Chad Topaz and his non-profit organization.<br />
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I had an intuition something was up with Chad Topaz when I noticed some odd things in his description of his <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2019/11/mathematician-abigail-thompson-now-being-pilloried-for-opposing-mandatory-diversity-statements-int-h.html">Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity</a> (QSIDE). I have worked for a couple of decades in the non-profit field, so I'm sensitive to the red flags. In particular, I know that it makes board members anxious when the president of the charity is stirring up trouble by calling for employers to fire people and for others to boycott an institution.<br />
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This might not be so much of a big deal if Chad Topaz's ranting only endangered himself. Unfortunately, he is using the name and resources of his charity in his attacks and is thus involving others in his shenanigans, particularly the members of his Board of Directors.<br />
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In this regard, we can visit the MA Secretary of State's website to get the names and addresses of the board members for <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity</a> (QSIDE). They include:<br />
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President <a href="https://sinews.siam.org/About-the-Author/chad-topaz">Chad Higdon-Topaz</a> Williamstown, MA 01267 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Treasurer <a href="https://www.bennington.edu/about/college-leadership/jude-higdon">Jude Higdon-Topaz</a> Williamstown, MA 01267 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Clerk <a href="http://www.iberkshires.com/storyOld/60131/Mount-Greylock-School-District-Seeks-Williamstown-Resident-to-Fill-Vacant-Committee-Seat-.html?source=most_read">GeraldineShen</a> Palo
Alto, CA 94301<o:p></o:p></div>
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Director <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/derek-kaufman-5416586">Derek Kaufman</a> Greenwich,
CT 06831 <o:p></o:p></div>
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Director <a href="https://www.postregister.com/news/local/caes-director-named-to-science-policy-board/article_804f3189-35dc-50cd-9dbe-02a37095859c.html">Noel Bakhtian</a> Idaho
Falls, ID 83406 <o:p></o:p></div>
Director <a href="https://alumni.williams.edu/profile/stw4/">Sharifa Wright</a> Williamstown,
MA 01267<br />
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It would be nice if an enterprising reporter from the <i>Williams Record</i> like <a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/2019/11/hell-froze-over-dr-drew-gets-respectful.html">Nicholas Goldrosen</a> would look into whether or not the board members who are responsible for <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2019/11/mathematician-abigail-thompson-now-being-pilloried-for-opposing-mandatory-diversity-statements-int-h.html">Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity</a> (QSIDE) have decided whether or not they approve of Chad M. Topaz using the resources of their organization to <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/">advocate</a> the firing of an innocent white female math professor working at UC Davis who's only mistake was to articulate her views on diversity statements.<br />
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Depending on how he is running <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2019/11/mathematician-abigail-thompson-now-being-pilloried-for-opposing-mandatory-diversity-statements-int-h.html">Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity</a> (QSIDE), Chad's board may have some unwanted legal exposure. As the folks at the Legal Center for Non-Profits <a href="https://www.legalcenterfornonprofits.org/2018/03/22/why-does-your-nonprofit-need-officers-how-much-power-should-you-give-them/">write</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We’ve all heard of the all-volunteer nonprofit whose board president—often the founder—runs the whole show, with the board coming together only occasionally to rubber-stamp the president’s acts. It happens in organizations with staff as well, when the executive director is allowed to be the sole organizational decision-maker. In these cases, the board has abdicated its responsibility to oversee and manage the entire nonprofit. But ultimately, the board is responsible, and the officers (volunteer as well as paid) are accountable to it. When things go wrong, the board—collectively and, in certain circumstances, individually—will be liable.</blockquote>
If I was a board member at <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity</a> (QSIDE), I would be particularly anxious about whether or not the organization is run in a manner that protects board members from being <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/">sued</a> for their decisions. This can happen if the non-profit does not hold its annual meetings on schedule, fails to keep accurate minutes, or allows <a href="https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/mathcs_oralhist/4/">Chad Topaz</a> to act on their behalf but without their permission.<br />
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As an aside, I should point out that it is suspicious <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/author/chad-topaz-716">Chad Topaz</a> has his significant other, <a href="https://www.bennington.edu/about/college-leadership/jude-higdon">Jude Higdon-Topaz</a>, serving as the treasurer of the organization. This is a situation ripe for the misuse of non-profit funds. This may not be a big deal. As far as I can tell, Chad Topaz submitted one of those cheap quickie IRS non-profit determination applications in which you have to promise that your charity will make less than $50,000 a year for three years. So there won't be much there to embezzle if the temptation become too great. As far as I can tell, the position of clerk, basically the secretary, looks okay.<br />
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist and a former Williams College professor. He is an occasional contributor at American Thinker, Breitbart, Front Page, PJMedia and WND.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-80133000352281766632019-11-24T15:19:00.001-08:002019-12-10T22:09:53.909-08:00Chad Topaz - Enemy of Free Speech - Denounced by His Own Math Department Colleagues at Williams College<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m3qZUu1K1VA/XdxZaUTnr-I/AAAAAAAAKLg/B-v1QpVeLbQb92hOlGPCD1wnNky_96qTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BHannibal%2BLector.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m3qZUu1K1VA/XdxZaUTnr-I/AAAAAAAAKLg/B-v1QpVeLbQb92hOlGPCD1wnNky_96qTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BHannibal%2BLector.png" title="Chad M. Topaz - Hannibal Lector" width="400" /></a></div>
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WILLIAMSTOWN, MA - Academics offended by the extremism of <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad M. Topaz</a>, a woke Williams College math professor, have organized a petition in response to his campaign to <a href="https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2019/11/24/uc-davis-math-professor-demonized-for-criticizing-required-diversity-statements-for-academic-jobs/">silence</a> Abigail Thompson, a white female math professor at UC Davis. You can read and sign the petition <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjvC_OovxE0ePoZ3V695GdlV9A4aXOH0ixU-n2gogiKI0akA/viewform?fbzx=-5813570425189406045">here</a>. So far, the petition has been <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SrfMiCFzaU8If6zdy8HhquHda84IDPwrJWI0tFzKvy4/edit#gid=2115247716">signed</a> by over 725 people including the chairman of his own math department, <a href="https://sites.williams.edu/rdeveaux/">Richard De Veaux</a> and <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/hundreds-of-academics-sign-letter-in-support-of-prof-who-criticized-diversity-statements/">four</a> winners of the prestigious Fields Medal including <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mumford">David Mumford</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terence_Tao">Terence Tao</a>. Colin Adams has told <a href="https://www.thecollegefix.com/hundreds-of-academics-sign-letter-in-support-of-prof-who-criticized-diversity-statements/">The College Fix</a> that signatories also include eight former presidents of the American Mathematical Society (AMS).<br />
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The petition is worth reading in full. Its authors appear to be most alarmed by the efforts of Chad Topaz made to get Thompson fired from her job because he disapproved of an article she wrote in the December issue of the <i>Notices</i> of the AMS. The petition reads as follows:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "robotodraft" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To the American Mathematical Society</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "robotodraft" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We write with grave concerns about recent attempts to intimidate a voice within our mathematical community. Abigail Thompson published an opinion piece in the December issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. She explained her support for efforts within our community to further diversity, and then described her concerns with the rigid rubrics used to evaluate diversity statements in the hiring processes of the University of California system.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "robotodraft" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reaction to the article has been swift and vehement. An article posted at the site QSIDE urges faculty to direct their students not to attend and not to apply for jobs at the University of California-Davis, where Prof.Thompson is chair of the math department. It recommends contacting the university to question whether Prof. Thompson is fit to be chair. And it recommends refusing to do work for the Notices of the American Mathematical Society for allowing this piece to be published.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "robotodraft" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Regardless of where anyone stands on the issue of whether diversity statements are a fair or effective means to further diversity aims, we should agree that this attempt to silence opinions is damaging to the profession. This is a direct attempt to destroy Prof. Thompson’s career and to punish her department. It is an attempt to intimidate the AMS into publishing only articles that hew to a very specific point of view. If we allow ourselves to be intimidated into avoiding discussion of how best to achieve diversity, we undermine our attempts to achieve it. </span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "robotodraft" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre-wrap;">We the undersigned urge the American Mathematical Society to stand by the principle that important issues should be openly discussed in a respectful manner, and to make a clear statement that bullying and intimidation have no place in our community. </span></blockquote>
What is most interesting to me about this statement is that it was written by liberal academics who are, for the most part, in favor of affirmative action. The issue, for them, is that <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad Topaz</a> has taken on the role of enforcer of the most extreme policy expectations of critical race theory and identity politics. I was surprised to see who has signed the petitions complaining about Topaz.<br />
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Other signatories include at least eight from his own college - <b>Luana Maroja, Matt Carter, Joan Edwards, Daniel Lynch, David Gurcay-Morris, David C. Smith, Phebe Cramer </b>and <b>Susan Dunn</b> - and no less than five from his own math department - <b>Colin Adams, Julie Blackwood, Richard De Veaux, Thomas Garrity and Steven J. Miller</b>.<br />
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As you may know, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Williams College was the 2014 top recipient of the AMS Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. According to the American Mathematical Society the department was honored for “excellence in providing exceptional teaching and research experiences for its students, as well as those in the wider mathematical community.”<br />
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I was startled to see that one signatory might even be the disgraced Williams College trustee, <b>Joey Horn</b>. Check out the whole list below:<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Colin Adams Williams College<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Luana Maroja, Williams College<o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Matt Carter, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Charles Frohman<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rob Kirby, UC Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Julie Blackwood, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Clifford Henry Taubes (Department of Mathematics, Harvard University)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Martin Scharlemann, University of California at Santa Barbara<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David Eisenbud, U.C. Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Cox<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Michael Freedman Microsoft and UCSB math<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Benedict H Gross, UCSD<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Steven J. Miller, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Michael Kapovich, Distinguished Professor, University of California, Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">D.D. Long UC Santa Barbara<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bruno Nachtergaele, University of California, Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mladen Bestvina, University of Utah<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Marc Culler, University of Illinois at Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Laurence R. Taylor University of Notre Dame<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Wilfried Schmid, Harvard University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Eric Babson, UC Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Joan Edwards, Professor of Biology, Williams College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dan Romik, UC Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>David C. Smith, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mohamed Elhamdadi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jozef H. Przytycki, George Washington University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">James Glimm Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Stony Brook University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Gompf, The University of Texas at Austin<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ronald Fintushel, Michigan State University (Emeritus)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Darij Grinberg, Drexel University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Emily Hamilton, California Polytechnic State University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Theodore Slaman, University of California Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">J. Elisenda Grigsby, Boston College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">William Goldman, Professor, University of Maryland<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Elbridge Gerry Puckett, Full Professor, Department of Mathematics, UC Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Shiqian Ma, UC Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nicolai Reshetikhin, University of California, Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hung-Hsi Wu, Univ. of Cal., Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adam Jacob - UC Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Louis H Kauffman, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, University of Illinois at Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Vivek Shende, UC Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">William H. Meeks III, Professor of Mathematic, UMass Amherst<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jennifer Schultens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Ghrist, University of Pennsylvania<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Barbara Nimershiem, Franklin & Marshall College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Fernando Q. Gouvêa, Colby College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Thomas Garrity (Williams College)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Phebe Cramer Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Marjorie Senechal, Smith College<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sergei Tabachnikov, Penn State<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Susan Dunn, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David Gabai (Princeton University)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Thomas Crawford (Swarthmore College)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sergiu Klainerman Princeton University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gigliola Staffilani, MIT<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David Auckly, Professor Kansas State University, Director Indigenous Math Circle Communities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniel Ruberman, Brandeis University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Hans Riess, University of Pennsylvania<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Boris Khesin (University of Toronto)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dr. Bert Frank Smits<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bastian Rieck (ETH Zurich)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alek Vainshtein, University of Haifa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sara A. Solla - Northwestern University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">James Arthur, University Professor, University of Toronto. Past President of American Mathematical Society, 2005-2007<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alex Kontorovich, Rutgers University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lev Rozansky, Professor, Department of Mathematics, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Richard Montgomery, UC Santa Cruz, distinguished professor<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Richard De Veaux, Williams College</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Joey Horn</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Michael Stay, CTO, Pyrofex Corp.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Lev Reyzin, Department of Mathematics (MSCS), University of Illinois at Chicago<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dionne Kunkel, The George Washington University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Walter Neumann, Barnard College, Columbia University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Robin Blankenship, Morehead State University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ivan Izmestiev (TU Wien)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">João Nogueira, University of Coimbra<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">R. Douglas Chatham, Morehead State University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Casey Rodriguez, Massachusetts Institute of Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Bill Casselman, UBC<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alan Isaac, American University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Carolyn Gordon (Dartmouth College)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Vladislav Vysotsky (University of Sussex)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">David Farris, National Centre for Biological Science, Bangalore<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dmitry Fuchs, professor emeritus at University of California, Davis<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Chandler Davis, University of Toronto<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Vadim Zharnitsky, University of Illinois<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Adebisi Agboola (UC Santa Barbara)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Erica Li<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Aaron Kaestner, North Park University<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alexandre Chorin, Mathematics, UC Berkeley<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Alexander Tumanov, Professor, University of Illinois<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">David A. Meyer, UC San Diego<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Animesh Ray, Professor, Keck Graduate Institute; Extended Faculty, Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Claremont Graduate University; Visiting Faculty Associate, DBE, Caltech<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Erik Postma, Maplesoft (on personal title)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Gregory Benford UC Irvine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Mikael Sundqvist, Lund University, Sweden<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Daniel Allcock (U.T. Austin)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Yakov Pesin, Penn state University</span><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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To understand the full viciousness of Chad M. Topaz's <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/20/die-uber-alles/">fatwa</a> against Abigail Thompson, you have to read his Facebook post on the topic. It is much more raw and extreme than his later comments, especially one of the last posts I read at QSIDE where he deleted his call for getting her fired for her politically incorrect views. My observation is verified by a bright comment maker at Ephblog who noticed this <a href="http://ephblog.com/2019/11/25/particularly-nasty-and-vitriolic/#comment-284565">retreat</a>. He calls it the <a href="https://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/07/social-justice-and-words-words-words/">motte and bailey</a> technique. I'm embedding a link to <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-id4bw_wIVXE/Xd9uzI1ctZI/AAAAAAAAKO4/DKyz0i1gyK8TumF-Z1s8y14yOfHJvNjkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Chad%2BM%2BTopaz%2B-%2BEmperor%2BFade.png">Chad Topaz</a>'s Facebook post and the text of that post after the break.<br />
<br />
Finally, I should point out that <a href="https://math.williams.edu/profile/cmt6/">Chad Topaz</a> has retreated from social media. Initially, he was only <a href="https://twitter.com/dajmeyer/status/1198683968918310912">blocking</a> Twitter accounts. Later, he took his Twitter account completely off line. Now it is only visible to his approved followers. In reaction to negative publicity, he was quick to remove incriminating statements on his Facebook page. His virtually all of his Facebook posts were removed from public view by November 28, 2019. In inexplicably, Chad Topaz also <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-meme-reveals-real-chad-m.html">disrupted</a> links to his QSIDE website that were created by authors critical of his views. These <a href="https://anonymouspoliticalscientist.blogspot.com/2019/11/new-meme-reveals-real-chad-m.html">redirects</a> steered readers away from his posts at QSIDE to website of the Southern Poverty Law Center.<br />
<br />
<i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist and a former Williams College professor. He is an occasional contributor at American Thinker, Breitbart, Front Page, PJMedia and WND. Pronouns - Master/Commander.</i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Math friends, PLEASE PAY ATTENTION.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This is important and this post its public and shareable. PLEASE SHARE. Despite my better judgment, I am linking in the comments below to a piece in the AMS Notices by AMS VP Abigail Thompson of UC Davis, who writes to oppose the practice of asking for diversity statements in hiring, likening it to McCarthyism. [Edited to include #5 below.]</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">I don't know why Abigail Thompson would think this stuff, nor why the American Mathematical Society w<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">ould publish it. The "personal opinion" disclaimer at the start does not help. There is no room in today's world for false equivalencies and both-sides-ism.</span></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Here are some steps you can take in response.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">1) I emailed the following to AMS Executive Directory Catherine Roberts (cnr@ams.org) and Notices Editor in Chief Erica Flapan (ELF04747@pomona.edu). You are welcome to use my text if you want to write to them.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dear AMS,</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">I am truly dismayed by the AMS's decision to publish Abigail Thompson's piece in the December Notices. The "personal opinion" disclaimer at the start is no consolation. You have given a far-reaching platform to dangerous views that build a false equivalency between diversity and inclusion in hiring, on one hand, and on the other hand, McCarthyism. There's no room in today's world for a both-sides-ism approach whether it's in math or politics or any other venue.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">I believe you have made a grave and very damaging mistake by publishing this piece.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Respectfully,</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chad</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">2) I already have one piece that will soon appear in the Notices and it's too late to pull it, but I was asked to write another piece for a few months down the road and I have written them and told them that I will not do it. Please consider not doing any favors for the Notices until they fix this and explain their editorial decision.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">3) Please spread the word about this travesty on social media and in your workplaces.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>4) Please tweet at UC Davis, Thompson's institution, to provide some good 'ol public shame. If she is publicly opposed to diversity statements, and if UC Davis requires them, how can they trust her as department Chair?</b></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b></b></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>5) Given the chilling effect of Thompson's AMS piece, I'm henceforth advising my students not to apply there for grad school, and I am advising any grad student/postdoc collaborators of mine not to apply there for jobs.</b></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">As I get more ideas on my own and from y'all, I will update this post with ideas for responses. Please share widely.</span></blockquote>
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<br />John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-47759486461028038332019-11-07T21:50:00.001-08:002019-11-07T22:10:11.708-08:00For Good? Moody's Investor Services Down Grades Occidental College Debt in Middle of Capital CampaignThanks to an <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-admissions-adviser-rick-singer-called-this-school-said-no-thanks-11573036202?emailToken=d57ae7bb7d880bd92580eacf2f85d0cbuPgtzUKnBsrkMBUDUb/PWZrLPlGGAbi0KxkXckHD2RnYXcFqMHkp8/SNrCTtedOHTQKUeS3kN+098b32FcJwcuOStvpPGb18DiAYFelytDb/1aRC2b//5uItZj0l74yTca2zPY/QZVD3DX0xMIZCkw%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share">article</a> in the Wall Street Journal, I recently learned that I'm not the only white guy who gave up on giving money to Occidental College. According to the WSJ, the school - which is in the middle of a <a href="https://campaign.oxy.edu/">capital campaign</a> - is choking so hard that Moody's Investor Services just down grade its debt from stable to negative. The timing of this announcement couldn't be worse. No rational donor wants to throw good money after bad. There are details on the cringe worthy "Oxy Campaign For Good" on the school's <a href="http://the%20oxy%20campaign%20for%20good/">website</a>.<br />
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According the the Occidental College spin, the school's financial failures are its punishment for not being nicer to wealthy white families who - perhaps illegally - were willing to pay for their otherwise ineligible children to attend the school. This, of course, is a joke. The school admits tons of black and Latino kids who wouldn't have been eligible to attend the school back when I was a student with extremely high test scores and a number of high school track records too.<br />
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In reality, Occidental College has ticked off potential white donors and white alums like me by embracing anti-white bigotry, socialist professors, and identity politics. Moreover, it ruined the prestige of the school by lowering its standards in order to make the school less white.<br />
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I remember how its first black president, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brooks_Slaughter">John Slaughter</a>, told a group of alumni with white faces that he looked forward - essentially - to a future where there were fewer white faces around. I was offended. I still think Slaughter was a sick jerk. He was completely unqualified to serve as a college president. He had no experience as a fundraiser or as a liberal arts college administrator. Under his feckless leadership, support for students shot up so high and so quick that the Board of Directors had to draw down the endowment to keep the school going.<br />
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I complained to him in writing once and he ended up calling me. He denied having said he wanted to see fewer white faces around even though his comments had been printed in the<i> Los Angeles Times</i>. I complained, as I remember, about affirmative action and he said it was clear I had a personal beef with the college. Duh. He was especially incensed when I complained about how admission standards at Occidental College had been dropped to allow for more non-whites on campus. His response, as I recall, was quite odd. "Are you suggesting these students aren't qualified to be here?" This was freaky, in part, because my concern is not whether or not the students were qualified, but whether they were the best of the best. To be sure, I have to give <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brooks_Slaughter">Slaughter</a> credit for calling me back. Subsequent presidents of this declining school haven't done even that...<br />
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Since then, Occidental College has been a leader in rolling over to please leftist students and professors with everything from denying guys due process to fight sexual assault and giving in to the demands of black students who took over the administrative building. The <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-admissions-adviser-rick-singer-called-this-school-said-no-thanks-11573036202?emailToken=d57ae7bb7d880bd92580eacf2f85d0cbuPgtzUKnBsrkMBUDUb/PWZrLPlGGAbi0KxkXckHD2RnYXcFqMHkp8/SNrCTtedOHTQKUeS3kN+098b32FcJwcuOStvpPGb18DiAYFelytDb/1aRC2b//5uItZj0l74yTca2zPY/QZVD3DX0xMIZCkw%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share">article</a> in the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> is reprinted below, after the break. There are a number of really twisted people on the faculty including <a href="https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10068">Lisa Wade</a>, a leader in the fight against toxic masculinity. Or, to be more correct, just masculinity itself. As has been reported by <a href="http://lisa%20wade%20rejects%20the%20notion%20of%20%22toxic%20masculinity%2C%22%20saying%20it%20is%20time%20to%20recognize%20that%20%22it%20is%20masculinity%20itself%20that%20has%20become%20the%20problem.%22/">The College Fix</a>, Lisa Wade rejects the notion of "toxic masculinity," saying it is time to recognize that "it is masculinity itself that has become the problem."<br /><br />
Heroes of the school include ethical lightweights like leftist journalist <a href="https://campaign.oxy.edu/stories/steve-coll-80">Steve Coll '80</a> who - as far as I can tell - left his wife <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/susan-coll-continues-to-skewer-suburban-life-affluent-bethesda-families-in-new-book/2014/07/07/8bca2516-02cc-11e4-8fd0-3a663dfa68ac_story.html">Susan</a> for an intern working at his non-profit organization. (I used to be friends with Steve and Susan.) The husband of one of my Occidental College friends, Joe<br />
<br />The capital campaign, of course, is being led by president <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-college-race-20151117-story.html">Jonathan Veitch</a> who distinguished himself as among the nation's most groveling academic leaders who allowed students to occupy his office, terrify his staff, and get away with a number of absurd identity based policy changes. <div>
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I have a couple of hot takes on this....<br /><br />Occidental College has been a victim of politically correct nonsense for a number of years. It reduced standards to allow more black and Latinos to attend. The negative consequence of this reduction in standards is that subsequent alumni are both less bright and less wealthy than earlier alumni.<br />
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Occidental College leaders like John Slaughter, the first black Oxy president, went out of their way to discourage whites from teaching at the school or sending their children there as students. The problem in Slaughter's view was basically that the school was too white.<br />
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The school has gone off the deep end in hiring socialist/Communist faculty members who despise whites in principle and who certainly have no respect for those who have acquired any large amount of wealth. Such people, to these socialist/Communist faculty members, are their enemies...not their donors.<br />
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I attended at talk at Oxy in 2012 where I overheard Eric Newhall, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/when-admissions-adviser-rick-singer-called-this-school-said-no-thanks-11573036202?emailToken=d57ae7bb7d880bd92580eacf2f85d0cbuPgtzUKnBsrkMBUDUb/PWZrLPlGGAbi0KxkXckHD2RnYXcFqMHkp8/SNrCTtedOHTQKUeS3kN+098b32FcJwcuOStvpPGb18DiAYFelytDb/1aRC2b//5uItZj0l74yTca2zPY/QZVD3DX0xMIZCkw%3D%3D&reflink=article_copyURL_share">quoted</a> in the WSJ article, bragging about how much better Oxy was now that it had fewer white people on the faculty. He didn't realize I was a young white guy who was pissed off at the discrimination the school practiced against young white conservative scholars. He looked shocked that a white guy would be upset at a system where he and his relatives got screwed just because of their race.<br />
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I wouldn't give a dime to these people. If affirmative action isn't evil, nothing is evil.<br />
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I got a request from the school asking me, as an alum, to give to their capital campaign. I've considered the school my enemy for years. I wish I had read this article before I filled out the questionnaire. If they are a bad bet for Moody's Investor Services, then they are a bad bet for me too.<br />
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<h2>
When Admissions Adviser Rick Singer
Called, This School Said,
‘No, Thanks’ </h2>
<h4>
Years ago, Occidental College opted not to use admissions to chase money. The decision came with a
cost. </h4>
<div>
<b>Nov. 6, 2019 530 am ET By Jennifer Levitz and Douglas Belkin </b></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
One day in 2012, an admissions director at Occidental College got a surprising email. William
“Rick” Singer proposed that the school reconsider an application from an academically
challenged daughter of a wealthy family.
He wanted the school to overturn her rejection, and he suggested the parents would give the
school money above and beyond tuition.
“Are you kidding?” an incredulous Mr. Singer wrote about her not being admitted. “We can
create a win-win for both of us.”<br />
<br />
Vince Cuseo, the admissions official at the small California liberal-arts school, gave a simple
response: No.<br />
<br />
Mr. Singer, the admitted mastermind of what federal prosecutors have called the largest
admissions-cheating scandal in the country, had reason to be hopeful. He had made inroads into
brand-name colleges and universities around the country scores of times, exploiting higher
education’s focus on money and willingness to give extra consideration to wealthy applicants.
Mr. Singer’s illegal operation has spawned criminal charges against 52 people, 29 of whom have
pleaded guilty or plan to. It has also further highlighted the role of money in admissions, and
the often wide gulf between high ideals of meritocracy and mercenary business practices.<br />
<br />
Occidental, a small, private liberal-arts college in Los Angeles, has charted a different path. Two
generations ago, it opted out of the chase for well-heeled students and put its money into
scholarships for less well-off minorities.
Those decisions, however, have come at a cost. Occidental’s $434 million endowment is roughly
$70 million smaller than what it might have been had the school prioritized prestige and wealth, according to Amos
Himmelstein, the school’s
vice president for
planning and finance.
While the school boasts
beautiful beaux arts
architecture and is
building a new aquatic
center, the infrastructure
hasn’t kept up with
improvements made by its
peers,
he says.<br />
<br />
The
question, Mr.
Cuseo says, is at what price “are you willing to sell your soul”?
The once-booming age-old business model of higher education faces tremendous pressure due
to demographic changes, disruptive technology and the tightest labor market in half a century.
As a result, colleges and universities face rising incentives to cut corners or outright lie to boost
rankings. They are also under pressure to use legal backdoor strategies to attract affluent
students and donations to boost bottom lines.<br />
<br />
Mr. Singer exploited these forces to create what he called his side door strategy, in which he
bribed college coaches to tag clients’ children as walk-on athletes even though they didn’t play
the sport. He also rigged SAT and ACT scores.
Occidental has largely resisted these temptations.<br />
<br />
A turning point for the school came in the
1980s, as Los Angeles transformed into one of the nation’s most diverse cities. Occidental
trustees, many local business owners themselves, felt there weren’t enough educated
minorities to fill jobs.<br />
<br />
Occidental reworked its curriculum and enrollment practices to draw
more black and Latino students, said Eric Newhall, a retired Occidental English professor who
headed the school’s faculty council at the time.
The school emerged as one of the nation’s most racially and socioeconomically integrated
private schools, long before many universities were prioritizing diversity.<br />
<br />
One concern across the school quickly arose: If it turned away wealthy white students, who
would pay the bills? The question divided the school, said Mary Weismantel, a young professor
at Occidental in the 1980s who now teaches at Northwestern University.<br />
<br />
Today, Occidental is 49% nonwhite and attracts fewer wealthy students than the vast majority
of its peers. It also boasts one of the highest percentage of poor and working-class students
receiving Pell Grants and has one of the highest rates of economic mobility of its peers,
according to Harvard economist Raj Chetty and Occidental.
But financial stress has followed. In 1995 Occidental’s endowment ranked 120th in the nation.
By last year it was 208th.<br />
<br />
The school has lost ground partly because of its commitment to enroll poor and working-class
students who need grants. Occidental’s need-blind enrollment program climbed from 11% of the budget in the mid-1980s to 24% by 1993.<br />
<br />
That December, then-President John Slaughter said the
increase in financial spending “has escaped the boundaries of reasonableness,” according to an
alumni publication.
The school eventually had to dip into its endowment to pay the bills. And today, while it
maintains a strong reputation and a middling $434 million endowment, it still faces underlying
fiscal issues.<br />
<br />
<b>In September, Moody’s Investors Service revised the outlook on Occidental’s $84 million in
debt, which has a solid Aa3 rating, to negative from stable, citing the school’s “commitment to
affordability” and lagging fundraising.</b><br />
<br />
These headwinds mean dormitories are cramped and nearly half are without air conditioning.
The steel lawn-irrigation system installed in the 1930s is thoroughly rusted out.<br />
<br />
The campus is
pretty and tranquil, but amenities pale when compared with those offered elsewhere: lazy
rivers, palatial fitness centers, climbing gyms, high-tech libraries and swanky apartment-style
dorms.
“Does that influence incoming freshman? I think it does,” said one prominent alumnus, who has
been active in fundraising. “The sad reality is that colleges that have leveraged white wealthy
students have really prospered.”<br />
<br />
Unlike other schools, it doesn’t heavily prioritize athletes or legacies in admissions.
Occidental fields 21 varsity teams but offers little credit in the admissions process for athletic
prowess, according to school officials. The idea isn’t to be the best but to stay competitive, said
Mr. Cuseo, now the vice president for enrollment and dean of admissions. In 2017 the school
had to cancel the last four games of the football season because there weren’t enough healthy
players.<br />
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The team has since rebuilt.
In September, a
study analyzing
admission data at
Harvard showed
43% of white
students are either
athletes, legacies
or were children of donors or faculty. A similar count at Occidental was 18%, school spokesman
Jim Tranquada said.
Occidental also resists gaming the rankings. Perhaps the most widespread strategy to
manufacture an appearance of selectivity is lowering the bar for applicants in order to attract<br />
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more. That generates more rejections, making a school appear more selective. Occidental hasn’t
done this.
“There are a lot of things you can do that are pretty simple, and I’ve been in faculty meetings
where it’s been discussed,” said Occidental Professor John McCormack. “But it’s just not who
we are.”<br />
<br />
In 2004, Mr. Singer assembled an advisory board for his then company CollegeSource, which at
the time had a legitimate division. The board included five prominent higher-education figures,
including Ted Mitchell, then president of Occidental.
Mr. Mitchell, who left Occidental in 2005, has said he was an unpaid adviser to Mr. Singer’s
venture 15 years ago to provide counseling to low-income students.<br />
<br />
The prominent Occidental alumnus who also knew Mr. Singer recalls hearing Mr. Singer call
Occidental “dumb” for having what he portrayed as too thick of a wall between admissions and
fundraising departments.
Mr. Cuseo says he has never felt pressure to take any of the students if they don’t meet school
standards. Five years ago, the development office recommended he look at an applicant whose
prominent and widely known name made his “eyes kind of open up,” he says.<br />
<br />
Yet, “it was pretty darn clear that the student didn’t deserve to be admitted to Occidental,” he
says. The school rejected the teen.
Mr. Cuseo said the email from Mr. Singer in 2012 was extremely unusual. An upset Mr. Singer
requested a meeting to discuss helping his client’s child “find her way to becoming a student at
Occidental” after she had been rejected. Mr. Singer also criticized Occidental’s admission
policies.
“You are off base,” Mr. Cuseo replied.<br />
<br />
<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i></div>
John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-68662643955231473832019-10-27T19:12:00.000-07:002019-10-27T19:12:01.085-07:00Phony Moderate Poser, Rep. Katie Hill (D), Resigns After Media Exposes Her Weird Dysfunctional DarksideI was pleased to learn that Rep. Katie Hill (D CA-25) has resigned today. A copy of her resignation letter is saved below. You can also access this document through this <a href="https://twitter.com/RepKatieHill/status/1188591520531779584">link</a>.<br />
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<br /><br />In the end, even House Speaker <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/category/person/nancy-pelosi">Nancy Pelosi</a>, could do nothing to protect her. Pelosi issued a statement saying, “Congresswoman Katie Hill came to Congress with a powerful commitment to her community and a bright vision for the future, and has made a great contribution as a leader of the Freshman class.”<br /><br />“She has acknowledged errors in judgment that made her continued service as a member untenable,” Pelosi wrote. “We must ensure a climate of integrity and dignity in Congress, and in all workplaces.”<br />
Katie Hills resignation today was a striking contrast with her statement earlier this week which indicated she was going to stick around and fight the charges against her. In a letter sent to constituents on Wednesday, Hill acknowledged that in the final years of what she called an “abusive marriage,” she began a relationship with the unnamed campaign staffer.<br /><br />“I am going through a divorce from an abusive husband who seems determined to try to humiliate me,” Hill said in her statement last week. “I am disgusted that my opponents would seek to exploit such a private matter for political gain. This coordinated effort to try to destroy me and the people close to me is despicable and will not succeed. I, like many women who have faced attacks like this before, am stronger than those who want me to be afraid.”<br />
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She denied having an affair with a congressional staffer. This is the charge that started a House Ethics Committee investigation. Apparently, Hill's determination to stick around got weaker as more damning evidence appears which demonstrated her "errors in judgment." For example, media reported a series of purported late-night texts in which her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep, called into question Hill’s drinking. Other texts showed the female staffer involved in the “throuple” expressing concerns about Hill's drinking. On top of all of this, the texts revealed Hill was drinking on top of her existing psych meds. (I'm guessing she has been diagnosed with a bad case of bipolar disorder.) The situation was so bad that Hill had been missing her flights back to Washington.<br />
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I think Hill's bizarre behavior and what looks to me like a co-occuring mental health challenge inadvertently illustrated the statistical evidence which shows bisexuals to have a higher incidence of mental health problems compared to the rest of us.<br />
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According to research reported by the Human Rights Campaign HRC, "Although the LGBTQ community reports <a href="http://www.nami.org/Find-Support/LGBTQ">high rates of anxiety and mood disorders</a>, recent statistics show that bisexual people are far more likely to experience mental health issues than either lesbians or gay men within the community." Among adults, like Hill, who report they are bisexual, approximately 40 <a href="https://www.hrc.org/blog/bisexual-health-awareness-month-mental-health-in-the-bisexual-community">percent</a> have considered or attempted suicide, compared to just over a quarter of gay men and lesbians. HRC’s<a href="https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC-BiHealthBrief.pdf?_ga=1.77083292.863070331.1486759626"> Health Disparities Among Bisexu</a><a href="https://assets2.hrc.org/files/assets/resources/HRC-BiHealthBrief.pdf?_ga=1.77083292.863070331.1486759626">al People</a> found that “when compared to heterosexual adults, bisexual adults reported double the rate of depression and higher rates of binge drinking.”<br /><br />In her resignation letter, Katie Hill mentioned her role as a role model for girls. She wrote: <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I know that as long as I am in Congress, we’ll live fearful of what might come next and how much it might hurt,” Hill wrote in Sunday’s statement. “That’s a feeling I know all too well. It’s the feeling I decided to leave when I left my marriage, and one I will not tolerate being forced upon others. I can no longer allow my community, family, friends, staff, supporters, and especially the children who look up to me as a role model, to suffer this unprecedented brand of cruelty.</blockquote>
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Hill did not seem to understand that her status as a role model had been permanently erased much earlier in the week thanks to photos which showed her, naked, smoking a bong, with what appeared to be a Nazi-era tattoo in her bikini area. <br /><br />“For the mistakes made along the way and the people who have been hurt, I am so sorry, and I am learning – I am not a perfect person and never pretended to be. It’s one of the things that made my race so special,” Hill wrote. “I hope it showed others that they do belong, that their voice does matter, and that they do have a place in this country.”<br />
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So, Rep. Katie Hill is leaving us with the suggestion that those with profound cases of mental illness, those who are most likely to show profound "errors in judgment" should nevertheless be allowed to make the rules that control and manipulate the rest of us. I don't think so...<br />
<br /><i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-13652288309702869302019-10-26T01:38:00.000-07:002019-10-26T01:38:08.801-07:00Experiments in Photoshop: 2001 a Space Odyssey and Drew Painting Mash UpI've always been a fan of <i>Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey</i>. I thought I'd see what it would look like to insert one of my oil paintings into one of his most iconic scenes. Here's the result followed by the original.<br />
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John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-16988592764614024532019-10-25T03:26:00.000-07:002019-10-25T23:21:11.332-07:00Not Too Sad to Laugh: Funniest Jokes About Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA 25th District)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Why does Katie Hill need two lovers? One for the sex, the other to bring her the pills and the booze.<br />
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Why did Katie Hill become bisexual? Because mistreating men wasn't enough.<br />
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What do dental dams and Congressional ethics have in common? Both are ignored by Katie Hill.<br />
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Why did Katie Hill get naked and comb her staff member's hair? To keep from wigging out.<br />
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Why did Katie Hill run for office? To meet even more people to screw.<br />
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Katie Hill has two addictions. Luckily, she's licked them both.<br />
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What did Katie Hill say when she reunited with her campaign staff girlfriend. "Long tongue no see."<br />
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What does Katie Hill call oral sex from her girlfriend? Campaign consulting. <br />
<br />AOC has invited Rep. Katie Hill to join the Squad...for an orgy.<br />
<br />John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-11237403776780956302019-10-24T14:07:00.002-07:002019-12-07T21:16:32.661-08:00Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA 25th District) Nude Again: Congresswoman from Santa Clarita, CA Shown Naked Smoking a BongSANTA CLARITA, CA - The Rep. Katie Hill story just keeps getting worse. The woman who looked like a decent alternative to an existing Congressman has now been revealed as a hopelessly out-of-control sex addict with a severe case of what appears to be bipolar depression. Even worse, she is drinking and smoking pot on top of her bipolar meds. This is an insane combination which helps explain her weird, reckless, unethical behavior.<br />
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Going where domestic papers fear to tread, the DailyMail.com has released politically questionable photographs of <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/democrats/index.html">Democrat</a> Katie Hill posing naked with a tattoo of what appears to be a Nazi-era Iron Cross on her bikini line - all while smoking a bong. The 32 year-old libertine has also been pictured naked brushing a young woman's hair, who they have identified as Morgan Desjardins, 24, from Santa Clarita, <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/california/index.html">California</a>.<br />
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Hill's wild lifestyle has been revealed through a cache of texts and intimate photographs obtained by DailyMail.com. As sources revealed, Hill and her husband Kenny Heslep posted her naked photos online under a thread called 'WouldYouF**kMyWife'.<br />
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i></div>
John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-31563944840524131052019-10-20T20:28:00.003-07:002019-10-25T02:46:10.050-07:00Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA 25th District) Nudes: My Hometown - Santa Clarita, CA - Now the New Pottersville SANTA CLARITA, CA - For a long-time, I have thought of my hometown of Santa Clarita as a modern day Pottersville. Pottersville, as you may recall, is the fictional counterpart of Bedford Falls, the town where George Bailey grew up in the Frank Capra <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life">classic</a>, "It's a Wonderful Life." Pottersville is a decadent sinful place, the place that Bedford Falls becomes when George's guardian angel, Clarence, grants his wish to "have never been born."<br />
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I led the slow growth movement out there in the early 1990s. I was disappointed when our efforts to protect the community failed. (I didn't understand enough about fundraising and organizing at the time.)<br />
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The big news today is that the Congresswoman in the area - Dem. Rep. Katie Hill - has been compromised by a nude photo showing her combing the hair of a 22 year old female staff member Morgan Desjardins.<br />
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As far as I can tell a number of hot looking photographs and text messages show that Dem. Rep. Katie Hill was involved in a long-term sexual relationship with this young female campaign staffer. The woman, Morgan Desjardins, was hired by Hill in late 2017 and quickly became involved in a “throuple” relationship with Hill and her estranged husband, Kenny Heslep.<br />
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Katie Hill got into office thanks to a weak Republican incumbent - the lame son of one of my political opponents a lifetime ago - and a massive $5 million plus contribution from billionaire Michael Bloomberg to buy television ads which ran in the district.<br />
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Thanks to our enterprising friends at Redstate, we are now free to flip through several <a href="https://truepundit.com/warning-graphic-naked-dem-congresswoman-grooms-staff-member-multiple-extramarital-affairs-with-staff-alleged/">photographs </a>showing Hill and the staffer kissing along with a photograph of a nude Rep. Hill brushing the staffer’s hair. Additional intimate photographs of the women were also provided to <a href="https://truepundit.com/warning-graphic-naked-dem-congresswoman-grooms-staff-member-multiple-extramarital-affairs-with-staff-alleged/">Redstate</a>.<br />
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<i>True Pundit</i> reports that Rep. Hill also reportedly had a year-long affair with her now Legislative Director, Graham Kelly. Reportedly, once Hill’s husband found out about this affair he filed for divorce. While this and Hill’s “throuple” relationship all involve consenting adults, there are some legal and ethical issues. Members of Congress, for example, aren't allowed to have sex with their employees. A review of FEC records for Hill’s 2018 and 2020 campaigns reveals that the staffer was first paid in November 2017, with her payment classified as “salary,” making her an employee.<br />
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Ultimately, the real message here is that Katie Hill is too stupid and too careless to represent her district. How hard is it to avoid posing for nude photos of yourself combing your staff member's hair?<br />
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The Republicans in Santa Clarita now have an opportunity to flip this seat red, but only if they demonstrate the responsibility needed to recruit a strong, impressive candidate to oppose Katie Hill next year. Such a task should be as urgent as finding where Uncle Billy lost the day's deposits from the Bailey Thrift & Loan.</div>
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i></div>
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John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-54473262258602888462019-08-14T04:40:00.000-07:002019-09-04T09:22:12.780-07:00Universal Relents: "The Hunt" Showed Liberal Elites Hunting Down DeplorablesEven Hollywood is promoting the sort of anti-white hate we saw directed against white representatives at the Williams College Council meeting of April 9, 2019. Right now, Universal Pictures is promoting a new film in which liberal elites stalk and kill Trump <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/movie-showing-elites-hunting-down-trump-supporters-slated-to-hit-theaters-in-september_3033214.html" target="_blank">supporters</a>.<br />
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“The Hunt” shows people hunting down “deplorables.”<br />
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“Did anyone see what our [expletive]-in-chief just did?” one character asks, reported the <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/ads-pulled-hunt-wake-mass-shootings-1229829">Hollywood Reporter</a>. “At least The Hunt’s coming up. Nothing better than going out to the Manor and slaughtering a dozen deplorables.”<br />
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According to the Reporter, the movie’s script features blue-state characters hunting down red-state characters, characters with pro-life positions or who are labeled racists.<br />
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Unfortunately, Williams College has been a national leader in teaching anti-white propaganda. It has contributed to the efforts to turn innocent white kids in to villains who deserve to be mistreated and humiliated. Hopefully, in this next semester there will be more people on campus seeking to defend whites against abuse.<br />
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I just found out this morning, August 10, that Universal Pictures has <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-hunt-canceled-by-universal-following-significant-backlash" target="_blank">cancelled</a> the release of this film. It was originally called "Red State, Blue State".<br />
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<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/the-hunt-canceled-by-universal-following-significant-backlash" target="_blank">'The Hunt' canceled by Universal following significant backlash</a></div>
According to president Donald Trump, "What they’re doing, with the kind of movie they’re putting out, it’s actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country.” Thankfully, it looks like someone in Hollywood has come to their senses.<br />
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2564636227360471936.post-39306148567203747062019-08-10T00:19:00.004-07:002019-10-25T23:12:34.322-07:00To Readers of EphblogLAGUNA NIGUEL, CA - If you would like to stay in touch, I have established a new blog called <em><a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/">Williams Liberty</a></em>.<br />
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<em>Williams Liberty</em> has a different mission compared to <em>Ephblog</em>. <a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/"><em>Williams Liberty</em></a> will be focused primarily on breaking news. It will be promoted through my existing Twitter accounts, accounts that have more followers than the college's Twitter accounts. Covering breaking news at our nation's top liberal arts college is a service which cannot be provided by the <em>Williams Record</em> and would not be allowed on the college's websites.<br />
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It will, of course, be conservative friendly and politically incorrect.<br />
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In particular, it will provide the conservative viewpoint which has been largely absent on campus since 1989. Its contributors will be immune from ideologically motivated abuse or boycotts.<br />
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Consistent with conservative sensibilities, it will be well-written, tightly edited and moderated. Its language will be professional and PG at worst. <a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/"><em>Williams Liberty</em></a> will be open to guest contributors (anonymous or not).<br />
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Guest contributors will be restricted to existing or prior William's College faculty and students.<br />
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Comments will be welcome from all. It may reserve a few spots for student contributors who will be picked on a competitive basis at the beginning of the school year or who have done a good job as guest contributors.<br />
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If you would like to submit an article for publication at <em>Williams Liberty</em>, please contact me through the form available on the <a href="https://williamsliberty.blogspot.com/">blogsite</a>, or me at 949.338.5921.<br />
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By the way, you can follow <em>Williams Liberty</em> on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamsLibert5">@williamslibert5</a>.<br />
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<i>John C. Drew, Ph.D., is a former Williams College professor in American politics and political economy. He contributes to American Thinker, Breitbart, Campus Reform, The College Fix, and WorldNetDaily.</i>John C. Drew, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/03304534055896886843noreply@blogger.com0