More on “Obsession” [Updated]

Eugene Robinson – Stoking irrational fears about Islam. For more than a century, the most remorseless and violent terrorist organization in the nation was the Ku Klux Klan. Watchdogs such as the Southern Poverty Law Center would be happy to share with King voluminous information about heavily armed militia groups out in the backwoods, training for some imagined Armageddon.

What a great idea for fighting for the rights of others. Don’t make it about them, make it about us. Normally I wouldn’t espouse this particular view, but it seems to work in this scenario. Non-Americans don’t have constitutional protections, so international scholars who are denied entry into the country have no legal standing. American scholars do have the ability to argue violation of the First Amendment. Good strategy. academic freedom, Freedom of Speech, war on terror[ism][ists]

Civic Pride Makes People Happier Than Ethnic Pride – News – GOOD. Patriotism looks different depending on how you spin it. It can create a fascist, racist monster, or it can be a symbol of justice and independence. The difference, according to a new global study published in Psychological Science, is the source of the pride in question. The study found that people who love their country for its laws and institutions, rather than its lineage, are happier.