Filed Under “W” for WTF?

Look, we all know that since the dawn of the “Progressive Era” that Academia is basically a breeding ground for Leftists. In the hallowed halls of Ivy League and other prestigious universities, the liberal / leftist establishment has had free rein to mold the nation’s future leaders. Luckily some of these future leaders go in knowing about this left-leaning bias and overcome it to become conservative intellectual powerhouses (see George Will, William F. Buckley, et al).

Now don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing technically wrong with these institutions being liberal… as long as they’re transparent about it.  Which brings me to this piece I just read over at one of Andrew Breitbart’s “Bigs”. Read it. Liberty_Chick and her colleagues have done some good work here. It’s one of a series of articles they are doing on what is being called the “Cry Wolf Project“.

Apparently there’s a group of people (professors and think-tank types) who are sending out Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to educational institutions requesting “activist research” (aka PAID research) to counter the Conservative “narrative” on various issues that are being debated today. Think about this for a second. They’re not looking for independent studies / research that back up their viewpoint on these matters. They aren’t seeking papers resulting from a scholarly curiosity about the impacts these issues have on society. They are seeking new research focused on combating an opposing viewpoint. This is Propaganda.

I know what you’re thinking: So what else is new? Which is a good point. This isn’t really “new” except for the part where they’re being a little more blatant about it. All the same, we need to call this stuff out when we see it.  This is what we’re up against. This isn’t just a political fight we’re in anymore. This is an ideological one. If you’re an optimist, I guess you could see this as an act of desperation and that conservatives are winning the messaging war if the Left is resorting to this kind of strategy. All true, but they’re now exploiting the trust people have in these institutions to be at least be somewhat independent and adhere to some kind of ethical boundaries.

The fight is on, folks. They’re pulling out all the stops.

UPDATE: It looks like Kurt Schlichter has some more information about the leader of this Cry Wolf Project, Peter Dreier.

Sidenote: I’d like to thank Brandon for giving me a chance to write on his new site. Bookmark it and visit often. It’s a great resource for following what’s going on.  He’s done a fantastic job putting it together.

If you know me from Twitter(www.twitter.com/diggrbiii) you’re probably wondering “Hey? Where’s the snark?” Don’t worry. There will be plenty of that! Trust me.