We have devoted ample space to the paucity of Republicans welcomed in academia. What is almost as instructive is a look at the representatives of the Grand Old Party who are embraced in academe.
Consider Meghan McCain’s recent appearance at George Washington University [1].
“Meghan McCain voiced her support for marriage equality in a speech at the Jack Morton Auditorium Thursday night, calling the gay rights movement ‘this generation’s civil rights movement’ and urging like-minded ‘progressive Republicans’ to start speaking out,” Madeleine Morgenstern [2] reported in the GW Hatchet Online on March 29, 2010. “McCain—the daughter of former Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain—was met with a protest by GW’s Young America’s Foundation before the event for her stance on gay marriage, but McCain fired back during her speech, telling the audience that she is outspoken on provocative issues because she believes in them.”
“I am not Ann Coulter,” she said. I can vouch for that. I know Ann Coulter. I worked with Ann Coulter. Ann Coulter is a friend of mine. Meghan McCain is definitely no Ann Coulter.
“I am not Glenn Beck,” Meghan McCain said at GW. “I am not trying to be a pundit.”
“I am not trying to have a show on FOX,” she said. “My intention is to promote dialogue in this country.”
“I do [support marriage equality], got that George Washington Young Republicans?” she asked. “I had to get that little jab in.”
“McCain said the LGBT community is the only one that completely supports her, adding that during the presidential campaign, she went to the Log Cabin Republicans, a national Republican organization that supports gay marriage, and told them that regardless of her father’s position, they had an ally in McCain and her mother, Cindy,” Morgenstern reported. “Both have been photographed with duct tape covering their mouths as part of the ‘NOH8’ campaign—a campaign in support of repealing Proposition 8, the California ballot initiative that repealed gay marriage in the state.”
“McCain said she has become ‘a favorite target of the far-right’ because she has ‘the temerity’ not to agree with all the facets of the party line,” Morgenstern wrote. “Where the hell did the notion of free speech go?” McCain asked the crowd at GWU.
Whatever the young lady’s virtues, coherence is not one of them. She also, “accused MSNBC’s Keith Olberman of doing just as much damage as conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, worrying that the tenor of their political discussions will result in a whole generation that will have no desire to get involved with politics,” Morgenstern reported. “Please, Keiths and Rushes of the world, pipe down,” McCain said.
So apparently these two lightning rods do not enjoy the same first amendment rights MM does.
“I am not saying let’s just abandon the core ideals that the Republican Party was built on,” said she. “I am saying make room for all of the Republicans, and let’s start evolving with the times.”
“We must evolve or we’ll die.” Evidently she is also skeptical of intelligent design [3].
Malcolm A. Kline is the Executive Director of Accuracy in Academia [4].