…Or that any previous holder of his position would have ever dreamed of displaying to any previous President.

The White House, you see, asked the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home to turn over the Sword of Honor given to Ike in 1947 by the city of London for his role as Allied Supreme Commander during World War II, so President Trump could now give it to King Charles last month during the President Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom. The gift would symbolize the continuing bond between the two nations that was most powerfully forged during that war, but never mind: Todd Arrington, a career historian who was director of the museum, refused to allow the President to use the sword as a weapon of diplomacy, insisting that it had been donated to the institution and “belonged to the American people.”

Oh. Well, anything the government uses for any purpose “belongs to the American people.” Trump was reduced to giving the King a replica of the sword, and was, justifiably, ticked off. Arrington was told he could resign or be fired. He resigned.

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Northwestern University required mandatory viewing of an anti-Semitism training video to comply with President Trump’s crackdown on campus harassment and abuse of Jews. At least 300 of the school’s 22,000 students have boycotted the training, so the university barred them from registering for fall classes. Northwestern also requires students to watch anti-bias training regarding Muslims, and its email to the campus earlier this year announced that the new anti-Semitism training “will adhere to federal policy” in compliance with the President’s January executive order “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.”

Indoctrination is indoctrination, and the subject of the indoctrination is irrelevant. The students who are refusing this abuse of education are right and principled, and I hope they refuse to fold.

The 17-minute video was produced by the Jewish United Fund and claims to teach students about “who Jews are, how Jews understand themselves, and how anti-Semitism has morphed throughout time.” The video defines anti-Zionism, which has gained popularity among radical anti-Israel protesters, as “the opposition to the Jewish right of self-determination,” warning that anti-Zionism “takes many forms, most of which are anti-Semitic because they work against Jewish human rights.”

Maybe it’s effective propaganda and maybe the video is generally or mostly true, but such a video is also an advocacy piece, and as with the Al Gore climate change hysteria film that my son was forced to watch at his over-priced private school where he attended 7th grade until we pulled him out of it, it is not the job or role of educational institutions to force their beliefs and political positions on their students.

“Sensitivity training,” “anti-bias training,” and any similar mandatory programs aimed at brainwashing attendees and eliminating “WrongThink” are unethical and abuses of power that are absolutely contrary to our nation’s values. The practice is indistinguishable from the “re-education camps” of the former Soviet Union. That current practitioners from the Left or the Right do not put cages with hungry rats in them on their victims’ faces doesn’t change the fact that the objective is the same: “Change how you think, or else.”

True: it would be nice if the boycotting students were also similarly sensitive to the unethical nature of indoctrination that aligns with their belief systems, in part the product of indoctrination.

But one has to start standing up for principles somewhere.

How awful? Oh, awful for me personally, a I was sick for most of it and had a serious Missing My Dead Wife relapse; awful for ethics, as there were even more disgusting events than usual; awful for good taste, as Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air, where he is and has always been a toxic pollutant, and the Trump Administration’s ham-handed attempts at censorship turned the creep into some kind of First Amendment martyr—is that enough for you? It’s enough for me. Meanwhile…

1. Kash Patel fired all of the FBI agents who kneeled to honor George Floyd, or Black Lives Matter, or something. Ooooh, another freedom of speech controversy, and another opportunity to accuse the Trump Administration of being racist! Was this move necessary, fair and responsible, never mind legal? My verdict: unnecessary, fair and arguably responsible, as such conduct shows wretched judgment and possible anti-law enforcement bias, but as speech goes its rather vague to justify firing, don’t you think? Or is it just MAGA grandstanding?

2. Speaking of grandstanding, former child star and #MeToo activist Alyssa Milano decided to make a public spectacle of having her breast implants removed. The 52-year-old shared an Instagram photo of herself in a hospital gown, and explained why she’s undergoing the removal process. “Today I’m releasing those false narratives, the parts of me that were never actually parts of me,” she wrote “I’m letting go of the body that was sexualized, that was abused, that I believed was necessary for me to be attractive; to be loved; to be successful; to be happy.” Translation: “I haven’t worked in years, and the implants weren’t doing me any good, so my publicist thought I could get some interviews and podcasts by making a big deal out of getting rid of the things.” Is she also eschewing make-up, hair extensions, false eyelashes, tooth implants, botox and other parts of her that were never actually parts of her? Those implants did their job (they got her the role of “Long Island Lolita” Amy Fisher once upon a time), but now that they have outlived their usefulness, she’s kicking them on their way out. Seems mighty ungrateful to me! Aging, desperate celebrities and attention addicts are a tragic group….

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