House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) gave new evidence yesterday of having “found his voice” in defense of Western values against the threats from both international and domestic bullies and mobs.
Johnson spoke at Columbia University, which has cowered and covered itself with shame by going to a “hybrid,” mostly online, model of classes rather than crack down on threatening antisemitic mobs. When members of mobs keep their ID badges but a Jewish professor loses the use of his and thus loses access to his own campus because the school administration says it can’t guarantee his safety, that’s an abomination.
Johnson went to the lion’s den to denounce Columbia’s pusillanimity.
“Today I’m here to proclaim to all those who gnash their teeth and demand to wipe the state of Israel off the map and attack our innocent Jewish students, this simple truth,” Johnson said: “Neither Israel, nor these Jewish students on this campus, will ever stand alone.”
Noting that the Hamas terrorist organization officially endorsed the protests, Johnson called them “detestable” and said “the cherished traditions of this university are being overtaken right now by radical and extreme ideologies. They place a target on the backs of Jewish students in the United States, and here on this campus, a growing number of students have chanted in support of terrorists. They have chased down Jewish students. They have mocked them and reviled them. They have shouted racial epithets. They have screamed at those who bear the star of David.”
Moreover, he said, “The madness has to stop. We just left a meeting with Jewish students who told us of the heinous acts of bigotry that they have experienced simply because of their faith. Their bravery is inspiring, much more inspiring than some of the activities we’re seeing here. They should never have to confront such hate on an American college campus at such a revered institution.”
Finally, said the speaker, “We just can’t allow this kind of hatred and any antisemitism to flourish on our campuses, and it must be stopped in its tracks. Those who are perpetrating this violence should be arrested. [My emphasis added.] And I’m here today joining my colleagues in calling on [university] President [Minouche] Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos. As speaker of the House, I’m committing today that the Congress will not be silent.”
It is important that the nation’s top elected officials say these things. Vice President Kamala Harris has been silent. President Joe Biden babbled something nearly incoherent about being against antisemitism but then immediately undercut the message by muttering complaints against “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
That left Johnson, whose position puts him next in line for the presidency, to speak with clarity and moral purpose. To his credit, he did, even as some of the protesters audibly booed in the background.
This is the second time in a week that Johnson, who had seemed to be flailing in his role as Accidental Speaker, stepped forward to show what American leadership and values should mean. The first was when he finally brokered a deal to secure stupendously overwhelming votes in Congress to support Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine while undercutting China and Iran.
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For someone who heretofore had seemed overmatched, Johnson certainly seems to be hitting his stride. And he is entirely correct: In the United States, we don’t bow down to bullies and mobs. We stand for ordered liberty under the rule of law. And, in the words of George Washington, written specifically to a Jewish congregation, we “give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.”
Exactly.