How Groupthink News Today

The stakes are high—very high. The confirmation process for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has been a battle royale. But why should one government official’s position be so existentially important? Yes, control of the Supreme Court hangs in the balance, but that raises the question as to why the Court itself is so powerful. Could it be that the answer to that question tells us something about our increasing inability to govern ourselves as a free people?

The horrendous attacks on women in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve have exposed a deep crack in the façade of radical multiculturalism. On one side are radical feminists who argue that sexism, no matter how innocently expressed, must be vigorously repressed. On the other are the mavens of racial and ethnic identity politics who preach that Muslim refugees must be exempt from too much censure for sexual assault, lest we be guilty of “Islamophobia.”

By now, Beyoncé’s Super Bowl halftime ode to the Black Panthers has entered the national consciousness. We all know what she was driving at. She was channeling the meme of the “black lives matter” movement. But why use the symbolism of the Black Panthers? After all, the group has long and sordid history of violence. Why raise such a divisive symbol of racial militancy and separatism to the pinnacle of a Super Bowl halftime show? The answer is quite simple: because it shocks—or at least...

The one place where freedom of expression and the open mind should prevail is on college campuses, right?  Isn’t that what liberal education is supposed to be about — the free and open inquiry into history, science and the arts in order to understand how humanity has understood itself for millennia?

If Intolerant Liberals Succeed, Conservatives Should Be Very Afraid, Expert Says (Interview) JavaScript in your web browser. Please Go If Intolerant Liberals Succeed, Conservatives Should Be Very Afraid, Expert Says (Interview) If Intolerant Liberals Succeed, Conservatives Should Be Very Afraid, Expert Says (Interview) | Saturday, May 21, 2016 People dressed as the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted in favor of same-sex marriage, march in the San Francisco gay pride parade, two da...

It seldom occurs to them that intolerance comes in all political shapes and sizes. A protester storming a stage and refusing to let someone speak is intolerant. So, too, are campus speech codes that restrict freedom of expression. A city official threatening to fine a pastor for declining to marry a gay couple is every bit as intolerant as a right-winger wanting to punish gays with sodomy laws. There is a word that describes this mentality. It is “illiberal.” For centuries, we have associat...