Eating their own: Leftist protesters at Vassar College have forced Jeh Johnson, who was Secretary of Homeland Security during the Obama administration, to back out of giving the college’s May 22nd commencement speech.

Johnson was replaced by an actor, illustrating once again the growing vapidness of modern academia. The accusations against Johnson also illustrate this bankruptcy by their empty slogans and shallow cliches:

The switch in commencement speaker has sparked heated online debate among students and alumni, with one camp opposed to what one student called Johnson’s “violence on marginalized peoples” and the other camp complaining of runaway “woke” politics.

The controversy deepened after a story that had quoted students referring to Johnson as guilty of “war crimes” — and which warned of “protest and disruption” should he speak — was deleted from Vassar’s student newspaper website, the Miscellany News. [emphasis mine]

The deleted article appears to be available here. This quote in particular from it demonstrates the empty-headed and intolerant thinking in today’s academia, aided by the intellectual dishonesty of an agenda-driven reporter:

Some students of color feel especially impacted by Johnson’s policies. In regards to Johnson’s history with Homeland Security, Oona Maloney ’22 was not at all surprised by the announcement: “It’s not surprising that Vassar, a predominantly white institution, would invite someone who played a key role in the Obama administration by exacting violence on marginalized peoples in the Middle East and at the border in the name of protecting US imperial interests,” she said. [emphasis mine]

The word “some” is a typical journalistic lie. The reporter quotes one person, and implies that the quote represents the opinions of many. Meanwhile, Oona Maloney’s words reek of leftist cliches and empty catchwords. Worse, she is entirely focused on race hatred, not tolerance and good will to all. To her, whites are evil, and any action that she disagrees with must be “racist.”

As a Democrat who worked for Obama, Johnson however is no saint in this matter. His withdrawal statement illustrates his eager kow-towing to these leftist brownshirts:

I believe commencements should be joyous, tension-free events for graduates and their families. In my public life I managed many difficult and contentious issues. In my private life I do not seek to be the object of controversy or speak at a commencement where students will object to me.

…Immigration is a difficult and painful issue. In my three years as Secretary of Homeland Security, I visited our southern border numerous times. During those visits, I often took the time to enter Border Patrol holding stations and speak directly through a translator to the children in our care, to ensure their welfare. As a father, I wanted to take them all home with me; as the Cabinet official responsible for securing our border, I knew I could not. At the same time, on my watch, the number of deportations from our country went down, the percentage of those deported who were convicted of serious offenses went up, and the number of young people enrolled in DACA went up. Whether immigration, border security or national security, leaders with a sense of humanity are often faced with less than perfect choices, sometimes nothing but ugly choices, but we always try to do the right thing.

During Obama’s administration border security was horrible, but there at least was an effort to follow the law. That effort has mostly now vanished during the Biden administration, which has apparently been captured by people like Oona Maloney who view anything the U.S. does to protect its sovereignty to be an example of the “US’s imperial interests” and “violence against marginalized peoples.”

The result: Even Obama officials are now subject to blacklisting.

Welcome to the New America, a land of propaganda, slogans, blacklisting, and the abuse of power against anyone who does not agree.