Those of us old enough to have lived through the reaction of America's campuses to the Vietnam War will remember the role of the 'teach—in' as a forum for converting opinion against the war. Distant though the memory seems, until the 1960s, America's campuses were viewed as part of the Establishment, if not conservative, at least vested in the status—quo.

Teach—ins were events usually sponsored by relatively newly—founded groups, intended to present speakers and views under—represented in the well—established Political Science, History, or Asian Studies faculties. Teach—ins presented left wing speakers, who often attacked ties between the Department of Defense, The CIA, the State Department, and other official agencies, and academia.

Responding to this agitation, students protested vigorousloy against their own professors and administrations, whom they saw as tainted by their associations with the war efforts. Recruiters for the military and other official bodies were hounded off campus, and a few academic programs which received contracts to assist in Vietnam policies, such as those at Southern Illinois University, were relentlessly attacked, eventually into nonexistence.

How things have changed!

Today, America's campuses are run by the people who conducted, listened to, or agreed with the earlier teach—ins. Now that they are the Establishment, they tolerate even less dissent than the campuses of the 1960s did. Faculties are staffed by left—wingers, predominantly, and they can state without shame that the reason they lack intellectual diversity is that their opponents are too stupid to qualify to teach.

As a result of this arrogance and unfairness, campus protest is arising. A new wave of teach—ins, this time in favor of a war unpopular on campus, is spontaneously being generated to counter the stifling omnipresence of left wing propaganda attacking America's liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan, and denigrating our wartime Commander in Chief as a criminal, idiot, or evil mastermind (take your pick).

This weekend, at Minnesota's St. Olaf College, an official college—sponsored event, the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, is hearing from the likes of Jimmy Carter about the evils of America's foreign policy. According to the Minneapolis Star—Tribune, 'The two—day conference features workshops on "peace skills" and 55 seminars on a wide range of topics from meditation to genocide.'

Fortunately for the tender minds of St. Olaf College students, the left—wing atmosphere on campus led to the creation of an alternative group, called Counterpoint, which asked to be able to present heterodox views. Only one of its proposed seminars was accepted by college officials, so today, Counterpoint is sponsoring a new wave teach—in in a dormitory, while the left wing Establishmentarians occupy the high ground of classroom and auditorium.

Among those presenting will be Power Line blogger Scott Johnson, who will be covering the cost of appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s. Johnson wryly states, "My proposal is peace through meditation —— on Winston Churchill."

The American Thinker proudly salutes Scott Johnson, Power Line, and all of those engaged in new wave anti—Establishment activity on campus, and on the internet. We have not yet begun to fight.

We also take hopeful note of the Minneapolis Star—Tribune's transcending of its usual ideological blinders.

Posted by Thomas  02 21 04