Critical Mass

The New York Daily News reports that many New Yorkers, including Congressman Charles Rangel, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Governor George Pataki have all denounced Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's ludicrous statements at the United Nations and elsewhere earlier this week.  However, the story also mentions a number of celebrities who flocked to support Chavez’s speech at Mount Olivet Baptist Church in Harlem:

But the crowd of hundreds of cheering Chavez supporters - including actor Danny Glover, City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) and celebrity Princeton Prof. Cornel West - waved Venezuelan flags and cheered as he made fun of Bush.

Added to that list is Tom Harkin, the illustrious Democratic senator from Iowa, who said the remarks were "incendiary" but understandable given President Bush's squandering of American goodwill following 9/11.  (Though in Mr. Harkin's defense, he did offer a second statement in which he said "While I understand the frustrations of many in the international community because of George W. Bush’s policies, I do not believe that gives them the right to come to our country and personally insult and attack the President of the United States."  Quite the apology.)  It is an interesting mix of people, for sure. 

There is one positive about it all though: Princeton is apparently returning to its religious roots.  After all, wasn't its founding riding on the ideological coattails of the Ole Deluder Satan Act, intended to prevent the devil's nefarious schemes from taking hold in America?  At least one professor still supports this notion.