The way in which what was once a joyful mix of all sorts of lifestyles in San Francisco has curdled into a leftist, Puritan sect is perhaps best represented by that bastion of political correctness, Berkeley. Here’s a little insight into how these people think. It’s from Orville Schell, dean of the J-School:
“It strikes me that the better educated people are, more often than not, they tend to be more liberal, and I think this is a very well-educated area … When you live in a beautiful place, which the whole Bay Area is, you draw people for whom that is important and the idea of preservation, moderation, of walking a little more softly, is important. And I think that creates a kind of liberal mind-set in an environmental sense and in a larger political sense.”
Imagine being a right-of-center student at his school! You immediately know that your own dean thinks your political views might be a function of your lower intelligence. And the notion that only statists care about the environment, or about beauty, is so insulting it hardly bears comment. But there you have it.
THE PLAME LEAK: It may have been disgraceful, but probably legal. Here’s why. I largely agree with Nick Kristof on this – both sides come out looking terrible, but the administration leaker is a truly odious character. Josh Marshall, however, surely goes a little over the top with his claim that because Plame’s cover had already been blown by Aldrich Ames, the White House official deserves to be seen in exactly the same light. He’s vile, but not on the Ames level.
The Dish 