Inside the Beltway

Georgetown trauma

A student is lauded and given course credit for his thesis “Gay Men of Color in Porn,” while a campus is incensed after a Catholic cardinal cites church doctrine on sexual ethics during a commencement speech at Georgetown University.

“Outrageous politicization and double standards continue to abound in higher education,” observes the Collegiate Network, chronicling the worst abuse with its annual Polly Awards. A pair of the more outrageous awards:

• “Conservatives are too Stupid for Duke” — or at least Robert Brandon, chairman of the philosophy department at Duke University, claims when justifying the 17-1 Democrat-Republican ratio among Duke’s professors. Conservatives, he says, are generally not smart enough to teach at Duke.

“We try to hire the best, smartest people available,” states Mr. Brandon. “If, as John Stuart Mill said, stupid people are generally conservative, then there are lots of conservatives we will never hire.”

• “God Forbid!” — or such was the case when Nigeria’s Catholic Cardinal Francis Arinze got chastised for taking church positions at Georgetown University.

Many students and faculty were shocked when the commencement speaker reiterated the church’s teaching on sexual ethics. His assertion that the family is “mocked by homosexuality” led some students and faculty to walk off stage, and prompted Georgetown Dean Jane McAuliffe to write an apology to the campus. She even offered counseling to students who suffered psychological trauma as a result of the cardinal’s speech.

“What’s the next step for Georgetown — throwing all the priests off campus?” the Collegiate Network wonders.

Who’s Monica?

Now the entire nation will hear from Ed Henry, “Heard on the Hill’ columnist for Capitol Hill’s Roll Call newspaper, who joins CNN as a congressional correspondent.

Mr. Henry scored one exclusive in January 1998 when he was interviewing President Clinton on the same day the Monica Lewinsky story broke. He began his career as an investigative reporter, working with columnist Jack Anderson for five years.

Senior break

Americans age 65 and over who found life only got harder when it came time to paying Uncle Sam could finally be filing federal taxes with a short form.

Georgia Republican Rep. Max Burns, a former college professor, introduced the “Simple Tax for Seniors Act” yesterday. Under current Internal Revenue Service rules, more than 35 million Americans are prohibited from using the short form simply because they are over 65.

“It is a bizarre oversight that the IRS discriminates against American seniors using the 1040-EZ due to nothing other than age,” says Mr. Burns.

Knows no borders

Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert C. Bonner, his homeland security agency charged with protecting U.S. borders, never thought he’d be presenting awards for heroism along the Chinese border.

A pair of U.S. Border Patrol senior agents are being recognized for their “heroic efforts” in helping to rescue 22 persons from a Soviet-made helicopter that crashed deep in the Kyrgyzstan mountains near China.

Agents James E. Bunner Jr., of Spokane, Wash., and Raymond M. Overholt, of Tucson, Ariz., were providing training last month as part of CBP’s Export Control and Border Security (EXBS) program when the crash occurred. Two persons, including the pilot, were killed.

When not rescuing crash victims, the EXBS program, which operates in more than 40 countries, helps foreign governments prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

• John McCaslin, whose column is nationally syndicated, can be reached at 202/636-3284 or jmccaslin@washingtontimes.com.