Way Over The Top

The Roanoke Times editorial page looks more and more these days like a detached and subservient mouthpiece for MoveOn.org. And nothing more. I must say, my jaw drops in shock and dismay when I read some of the flagrant abuses of the truth that come out of that rag on a regular basis.

Take today's editorial, "Foster diversity at Virginia Tech." Does this pass the smell test?

In some circles, "diversity" is an obscene word, especially when uttered on a university campus. Virginia Tech found that out the hard way when its leaders dared to recognize that a diverse campus enriches the Hokie experience.

The dispute started a while back as Tech considered adopting diversity policies that would have affected hiring and other faculty decisions. Before officials had hashed out all of the details, the National Association of Scholars and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education caught wind of the plan.

NAS and FIRE are conservative groups that oppose campus diversity efforts across the country.

"In some circles, diversity is an obscene word"? Would they be able to source that?

"NAS and FIRE are conservative groups that oppose campus diversity efforts"? Really? Or do they oppose "affirmative action" efforts that reward certain approved minority groups at the expense of others? (why aren't Asians ever protected?)

According to the NAS website, that group "is an independent membership association of academics working to foster intellectual freedom and to sustain the tradition of reasoned scholarship and civil debate in America’s colleges and universities."

Where do they betray that mission statement and portray themselves as being opposed to diversity?

Ditto FIRE:

"The mission of FIRE is to defend and sustain individual rights at America's colleges and universities. These rights include freedom of speech, legal equality, due process, religious liberty, and sanctity of conscience—the essential qualities of individual liberty and dignity. FIRE's core mission is to protect the unprotected and to educate the public and communities of concerned Americans about the threats to these rights on our campuses and about the means to preserve them."

Can a sane person read that and come away thinking, "Boy, these guys are racist bigots opposed to diversity"?

Of course, as Bill Clinton might put it, it depends on what the word diversity means. The Times:

"Having people from different backgrounds with diverse views come to campus strengthens the educational mission, especially in Southwest Virginia."

Without doubt.

But "diverse views" are not what the "diversity" effort at Virginia Tech has ever been about. It's always been about skin color and lesbians. Thus, Madam Mediocrity - Nikki Giovanni - has become the poster child of the Tech way of life. Such as it is.

So the Times doesn't really care about diverse views (as doesn't Virginia Tech). The intellectuals there simply want diverse skin pigmentations. But how does that "strengthen the educational mission" exactly? Well, we are never told that. We're just to believe it's a good thing and it therefore must be mandated.

I'm getting a little tired of it too. You'd think a bunch of guys who pride themselves on their noetic capabilities would be able to speak - or write - the truth instead of spouting this tripe.