Academic Freedom

I believe in "Academic Freedom", but sometimes it gets passed over for what might seem like political reasons, as is the case with UCLA Professor James Enstrom.  The link is to a comment by Law Professor Glenn Reynolds (the Instapundit), who links to a posting by Blogger Ed Morrissey.

Being a Whistle Blower helps all of us, but is at great risk of getting in trouble due to retribution from the agency that was ripping off the rest of us.  We need to stand up for Whistle Blowers.  Although, I will admit that some of them can be a little difficult personality wise, but still, they are an important part of our process and help the rest of us when the promised transparency fails.

Here is the Instapundit's punch line:

A cynic might suggest, of course, that notions of academic freedom were developed in the first half of the 20th century largely in order to protect communists from being fired, and that since Enstrom isn’t a communist, academic freedom shouldn’t apply . . . .

Regards  —  Cliff