Ilya Shapiro is a well-respected legal scholar and libertarian commentator. He was to begin his new job today as a senior lecturer and executive administrator at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution.
Instead, Shapiro has been placed on administrative leave by the law school pending an investigation into tweets he made regarding Joe Biden’s promise to nominate a black woman to the Supreme Court.
Although the tweets were not elegantly written, should not be afraid to use them as a platform for pitchforks.
Shapiro responded to the tweet by writing, “Because Biden stated he would only consider [sic] black females for SCOTUS,” and that his nominee would always be marked with an asterisk. It is fitting that the Court will take up affirmative action in its next term.
Shapiro’s argument that a Supreme Court selection’s fitness for office should not be determined solely based on their skin color and gender is a valid criticism.
There’s also the “lesser black women” part. This was meant to highlight Srinivasan’s excellence, and not to denigrate any other black woman.
Shapiro actually left the door open for an attack, and the left happily pounced.
Responding to Shapiro’s dishonest attempt to bring down the earth, Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor released a statement stating that “the tweets were antithetical to our work here every day to build inclusive belonging and respect for all diversity” and promising to keep Shapiro off-campus while an investigation is conducted to determine if he had violated policies and expectations regarding professional conduct, nondiscrimination, and anti-harassment. Stern, however, claimed that he did not have ever done anything.
It would be great if our mistakes in phrasing were not used against us. This kind of world requires empathy, understanding, and maybe even humor.
It would require left-wing radicals not to be merely humorless and emotionally-stunted infants.
Friday Shapiro offered an apology for his “poor choices of words” tweet.
Shapiro also tweeted Monday, stating that he was “optimistic” Georgetown’s investigation would be “impartial” as well as that he was “confident” his tweet was within university policies.
Shapiro didn’t grovel before the mob and they will continue to howl at his scalp.
Shapiro, by accepting a job at Georgetown, has allowed himself to enter the inner sanctuary sanctorum of liberal Orthodoxy. It’s not surprising that the inmates were upset. He must have realized that, even if he didn’t slip up, radicals would eventually find something to hang him with.
