Well ... those are certainly interesting comments.

As for this:

The professors now have so many secret handles -- often shifting -- on Twitter that I forget which one's the pirate, which one's the bird, etc. Those who go by their own names often lock down their accounts.

They need to grow a pair. Period. It's hard for them to complain about students being coddled when it seems that those who toil in the groves of academe feel they need to be coddled as well.

And, please, whatever you do: if you're fired for your statements, acknowledge you worked in a rotten place and move on to more congenial work. We don't need another 5,000 windy words on Quillette on your mistreatment.

Um, how do you know they won't run out of places to move to?

Much in the same way that 60 years ago, minorities and women got angry and fed up with having to put up with harassment and unfair wages, pretty much EVERYWHERE they worked?

Hint: Just because conservatives might SEEM more polite than liberals about the need for political/religious diversity and free speech doesn't mean they'll put their money where their mouth is. E.g., they can look for subtle excuses not to promote you, to lay you off, etc. So unless you're already an extremist on one end or the other, you could easily be out of luck.

Poor Richard and Publius would like word, Kevin.

Let me in on a little secret, that I discovered in law school. Libertarian or quasi libertarian thoughts are even less popular with academics than being a full on dogmatic Christian. They understand religion because the socialists themselves are dogmatic, inflexible, and far from rational. The thought processes are the same. Just different beliefs.

Rational inquiry, and people who practice it are the enemy in this country.

There are good reasons that academics are scared to use their real names. In the university, you are typically hired as an assistant prof, get promoted and then tenure. If you get fired at age 45 or 50 before tenure (or even after) it is very very hard to get another university job because the assistant profs are cheaper. Many are lecturers with no tenure protection. The halls of the uni are filled with rabid leftists who will happily ruin your life. Admins are spineless jerks who will give in to the mob.

It's certainly going to get worse before it gets better, and better may require a division of the country that enables people to get away from the Progressives. Because they're certainly not showing any signs of stopping now that Trump's out of office. If anything they're doubling down.

> If anything they're doubling down.

Yeah, but Progressives are not that bright. The only close race that went well for the Dems was the White House… Harris is a problem, but she's nowhere near as smart as Obama, and (even!) less enthused by political principle. At this hour, the tight House races are lost or still being counted. No statehouses turned blue. No Senate takeover. Warren & Bernie are apparently excluded from cabinet appointment. AOC still gets on teevee because she's a cute kid who looks good in a tight sweater, but nothing in November 2020 has affirmed popular support for your 'double-downers.'

yeah, I agree that neither the public nor even the majority of the Dem's base really endorses what's happening.

My hope is that when the broader base of Democratic voters see that these tactics aren't just an over-reaction to Trump, they'll start crying foul as well. I know a few people personally who've started to turn the corner since the election, simply because the media and platforms have become so blatantly propagandistic - it's creeping them out.

"No Senate takeover."

We do not know yet who will control the Senate. We will find out after January 5th.

"Rational inquiry, and people who practice it are the enemy in this country."

Very true... part of the problem however is that very irrational people are utterly convinced they are the people engaging in rational inquiry.

A good clue to whether or not one is on the side of rational inquiry is how often they find themselves at odds with various science experts.

If one finds themselves frequently railing against the expertise of professional scientists they are likely not the ones on the side of rational inquiry.