The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web” at WSJ written by the editor, James Taranto.
Out on a Limb
“Is the 2016 Election Truly Unprecedented? Sort Of.”—headline, Washington Post website, Nov. 25
Question and Answer—I
- “Here’s the Crazy Story About Thanksgiving You’ve Never Heard”—headline, Huffington Post, Nov. 25
- “Obama Compares Syrian Refugees to Pilgrims on the Mayflower”—headline, TheHill, Nov. 26
Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space
Western Washington University in Bellingham canceled classes yesterday because “there were multiple posts seen on social media that were threatening the safety of students of color on campus,” reports the student newspaper, the Western Front. Details of the purported threats are a closely held secret:
Whether or not those who issued the threats are from Western or not has not been released.
Specific posts have not been disclosed and are currently still under investigation, though the University has confirmed they were sourced from the anonymous social media website YikYak.
What instigated these threats are still to be determined.
The situation at WWU is maybe the most bizarre example of campus madness we’ve seen in a very strange month. The university has been engaged in a debate over its mascot, the Vikings, the Western Front reported last week:
Ramos and AS President Belina Seare received a letter from communications studies professor Michael Karlberg regarding the mascot.
“I think this mascot also reflects a sort of hyper masculine, hyper violent sort of image which is doubly problematic. I think we really ought to reconsider,” Karlberg said. . . .
Senior Josie Ellison, who identifies by they/them/their pronouns, is in favor of changing the mascot. Ellison currently works in the AS Representation and Engagement Programs as the legislative advocacy coordinator, but is representing their personal views in this article.
“I’m a big fan of the Western ferns because [they’re] plants and also non-violent,” they said.
A newspaper accedes to somebody’s demand to be identified by plural pronouns? We’ve never heard of anything so crazy.
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
