Someone very close to me attended Harvard Law so I asked him about the charges of rampant antisemitism that are the excuse for Trump’s vendettas. Btw, this person is not Jewish. He said that the school was a bastion of and for Jews, the best students & faculty were Jewish. Other students actually felt disadvantaged. Just another big lie & I have to wonder why Harvard hasn’t stood up to the accusations.
Trump, Bondi and Habba are of course breaking the law by going on a fishing expedition with the Murphy investigation, but as a NJ resident very familiar with Murphy's actions and lack of actions as governor it is hard to feel sorry for him.
Every university and every law firm in the country should form NATO-type alliances and protect one for the good of all. And every country on Earth (including China, excluding Russia, Iran, and North Korea) should stand together and ban both imports and exports from the US. These are all games of chicken of course, but I would think the unions would stand a better chance of outlasting a single bully, no matter how big the US is. Most likely, pressure from within our borders would get Trump to back down first.
Law firms don't work that way. They don't form "alliances"; they are predatory animals. Don't shed any tears for them. Any one of them could have politely, or not politely, refused the blackmail and fought it in court, which they make everyone else do.
As for "universities," most of them already have "alliances." Columbia is in something called the "Ivy League." If they had any integrity and if they truly thought that permitting Jewish students to be physically intimidated and having their campuses taken over was within their academic interests, they too could fight any "penalties." Better still, tell the government to stick their funding and either take it from their multi-$billion endowment or do without. And since tRump, and all Republicans, know that they will never get the University Intelligencia vote, they couldn't care less about what a bunch of hippies do.
"His aide Stephen Miller said firms have agreed to nearly $700 million in free work for Trump to avoid punitive proclamations. Some law firms, notably Jenner & Block, sued over Trump’s efforts to punish them. A judge said the orders were likely unconstitutional, but many other firms are bending the knee and agreeing to do free work on Trump’s behalf instead."
Obviously the "orders" have no legal standing and hopefully that law firm will pursue it in court until either SCOTUS confirms their illegality or tRump loses interest and declines to appeal at lower levels. As to that $700 million "free" work, that's probably also illegal, depending on who the work is actually performed for. Obviously, those firms agreeing to it consider it simply business as usual. Typical for a profession that has virtually no ethical and absolutely ZERO moral standards.
You have seen mo of trump has never changed he does not care if you helped him he loves the thrill of hurting you this is new game show now and if don’t totally get rid of him he will you
I don't think Julie ever stopped punching back at a bully.
I don't understand why law firms, media, tech, etc. did not seek support from fellow institutions. They cooperate in lobbying and other issues of mutual interest.. They participate in trade associations. Speaking of the latter, where are the trade associations of private universities, law schools, media, etc? It would help if they spoke out against bullying.
Not to disparage Julie, but you apparently do not know, or have forgotten, the entire circumstances behind her involvement in Phil Murphy's first campaign. Another female staffer was assaulted by a male staffer, who was subsequently given a high position in the administration. Due to a "Non-disclosure Agreement," neither Julie nor other staffer members said much of anything.
I didn’t say anything? With all due respect, I fought it legally, legislatively and in the media. I changed both NJ and federal law to make sure this would not happen to anyone else again.
Thanks for this post, Julie. I was just talking about the consent decree yesterday. That would be an absolute travesty if it occurs. And the right's cover of "anti-Semitism" as the reason for the crackdown on higher ed is as ludicrous as the phrase "there are some very fine people on both sides."
All so true. There are a whole lot of people willing to obey in advance. This situation is a true test of character and what a person is made of. One thing this nightmare has shown me is how many of the people I know are not ones I’d want to be stranded on a desert island with. They have no grit and would sit back and wait for someone else to rescue us or be in denial about how dire the situation is. I also have been shown clearly why the country is in the mess it is in now. Too soft, too weak to stand up, too much denial. Our Republican lawmakers are perfect examples. I get that no one wants to face the wrath of the insane Trump cult. Ask Paul Pelosi. Some of them are violent and crazy but for God’s sake there is strength in numbers. Can they not band together and say they won’t take this anymore? The weakness is staggering. You’re absolutely right. A bully needs to be punched in the nose. They back off because they are actually weaklings. Trump is a weakling despite the Rambo act. Needy, insecure, and forever trying to project phony strength to cover it up. He folds if he’s fought back against. 80 year old ladies carrying their homemade signs in a protest rally are showing their grit while the people who are in power are showing none. Pathetic
"Ask Paul Pelosi." Would you include Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in that? Or, did he deserve it? Oh right, MAGA loves health insurance companies...just not health insurance!
Yes the CEO is another one who belongs on a list of some kind. The shooter has turned into a female heartthrob with his own following. Love letters pouring into him. Just another example of the sick society we’re living in.
Columbia "capitulated" to bullies in 1968; this time it's just a bully with a different agenda. Perhaps Columbia should renounce its status as a private Ivy League university and place itself in CUNY. At least Mayor Adams is beloved of the tRump administration...for now!
PS: The little girl who defended her right to her place in lunch line would not have been intimidated by vague threats against her journalistic endeavors, nor would she have caved to the bullying of a Goldman Sachs rich-boy bully. What happened?
In 6th grade I hit a boy over the head with a couple of books because he called me Nazi -- imagine! I am so over these nasty little boys with their threats. And Julie, you are right that $trump does not care at all about the Jewish students, he only cares about controlling the intellectual space. I am so angry; there are so many issues to fight, but we can't let up. Thank you for your honesty and integrity!
I’m a Columbia alumnus (CC’70), and I’ve been writing and speaking about the university’s craven capitulation to blackmail. (And they haven’t stood up for Mahmoud Khalil at all, of course.) Three “presidents” in one year, and each one has taken the university further into the darkness. Sixty other universities under attack. All of this is meant to appeal to the anti-“elite,” non-college Trump base, where it plays well. Thanks, Julie.
Today we have a scathing content piece coming out about the comparison to the current administration as opposed to the Warren Harding administration, on https://thistleandmoss.com , which should teach a variety of you some things that you probably did not know
Someone very close to me attended Harvard Law so I asked him about the charges of rampant antisemitism that are the excuse for Trump’s vendettas. Btw, this person is not Jewish. He said that the school was a bastion of and for Jews, the best students & faculty were Jewish. Other students actually felt disadvantaged. Just another big lie & I have to wonder why Harvard hasn’t stood up to the accusations.
Trump, Bondi and Habba are of course breaking the law by going on a fishing expedition with the Murphy investigation, but as a NJ resident very familiar with Murphy's actions and lack of actions as governor it is hard to feel sorry for him.
Every university and every law firm in the country should form NATO-type alliances and protect one for the good of all. And every country on Earth (including China, excluding Russia, Iran, and North Korea) should stand together and ban both imports and exports from the US. These are all games of chicken of course, but I would think the unions would stand a better chance of outlasting a single bully, no matter how big the US is. Most likely, pressure from within our borders would get Trump to back down first.
Law firms don't work that way. They don't form "alliances"; they are predatory animals. Don't shed any tears for them. Any one of them could have politely, or not politely, refused the blackmail and fought it in court, which they make everyone else do.
As for "universities," most of them already have "alliances." Columbia is in something called the "Ivy League." If they had any integrity and if they truly thought that permitting Jewish students to be physically intimidated and having their campuses taken over was within their academic interests, they too could fight any "penalties." Better still, tell the government to stick their funding and either take it from their multi-$billion endowment or do without. And since tRump, and all Republicans, know that they will never get the University Intelligencia vote, they couldn't care less about what a bunch of hippies do.
An article on CNN discusses the law firm issue (https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/12/politics/trump-krebs-khalil-taylor-crackdown-dissent-what-matters/index.html)
"His aide Stephen Miller said firms have agreed to nearly $700 million in free work for Trump to avoid punitive proclamations. Some law firms, notably Jenner & Block, sued over Trump’s efforts to punish them. A judge said the orders were likely unconstitutional, but many other firms are bending the knee and agreeing to do free work on Trump’s behalf instead."
Obviously the "orders" have no legal standing and hopefully that law firm will pursue it in court until either SCOTUS confirms their illegality or tRump loses interest and declines to appeal at lower levels. As to that $700 million "free" work, that's probably also illegal, depending on who the work is actually performed for. Obviously, those firms agreeing to it consider it simply business as usual. Typical for a profession that has virtually no ethical and absolutely ZERO moral standards.
You have seen mo of trump has never changed he does not care if you helped him he loves the thrill of hurting you this is new game show now and if don’t totally get rid of him he will you
CNN did interview with 3 dems retiring I would recommend checking it out explains a lot more
I don't think Julie ever stopped punching back at a bully.
I don't understand why law firms, media, tech, etc. did not seek support from fellow institutions. They cooperate in lobbying and other issues of mutual interest.. They participate in trade associations. Speaking of the latter, where are the trade associations of private universities, law schools, media, etc? It would help if they spoke out against bullying.
Not to disparage Julie, but you apparently do not know, or have forgotten, the entire circumstances behind her involvement in Phil Murphy's first campaign. Another female staffer was assaulted by a male staffer, who was subsequently given a high position in the administration. Due to a "Non-disclosure Agreement," neither Julie nor other staffer members said much of anything.
I guess a bully with a lawyer is different?
I didn’t say anything? With all due respect, I fought it legally, legislatively and in the media. I changed both NJ and federal law to make sure this would not happen to anyone else again.
Sorry, my oversight. It was a while ago, and all I recall was a lot of concern about the NDA's.
Thanks for this post, Julie. I was just talking about the consent decree yesterday. That would be an absolute travesty if it occurs. And the right's cover of "anti-Semitism" as the reason for the crackdown on higher ed is as ludicrous as the phrase "there are some very fine people on both sides."
All so true. There are a whole lot of people willing to obey in advance. This situation is a true test of character and what a person is made of. One thing this nightmare has shown me is how many of the people I know are not ones I’d want to be stranded on a desert island with. They have no grit and would sit back and wait for someone else to rescue us or be in denial about how dire the situation is. I also have been shown clearly why the country is in the mess it is in now. Too soft, too weak to stand up, too much denial. Our Republican lawmakers are perfect examples. I get that no one wants to face the wrath of the insane Trump cult. Ask Paul Pelosi. Some of them are violent and crazy but for God’s sake there is strength in numbers. Can they not band together and say they won’t take this anymore? The weakness is staggering. You’re absolutely right. A bully needs to be punched in the nose. They back off because they are actually weaklings. Trump is a weakling despite the Rambo act. Needy, insecure, and forever trying to project phony strength to cover it up. He folds if he’s fought back against. 80 year old ladies carrying their homemade signs in a protest rally are showing their grit while the people who are in power are showing none. Pathetic
"Ask Paul Pelosi." Would you include Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in that? Or, did he deserve it? Oh right, MAGA loves health insurance companies...just not health insurance!
Yes the CEO is another one who belongs on a list of some kind. The shooter has turned into a female heartthrob with his own following. Love letters pouring into him. Just another example of the sick society we’re living in.
Columbia "capitulated" to bullies in 1968; this time it's just a bully with a different agenda. Perhaps Columbia should renounce its status as a private Ivy League university and place itself in CUNY. At least Mayor Adams is beloved of the tRump administration...for now!
PS: The little girl who defended her right to her place in lunch line would not have been intimidated by vague threats against her journalistic endeavors, nor would she have caved to the bullying of a Goldman Sachs rich-boy bully. What happened?
In 6th grade I hit a boy over the head with a couple of books because he called me Nazi -- imagine! I am so over these nasty little boys with their threats. And Julie, you are right that $trump does not care at all about the Jewish students, he only cares about controlling the intellectual space. I am so angry; there are so many issues to fight, but we can't let up. Thank you for your honesty and integrity!
I’m a Columbia alumnus (CC’70), and I’ve been writing and speaking about the university’s craven capitulation to blackmail. (And they haven’t stood up for Mahmoud Khalil at all, of course.) Three “presidents” in one year, and each one has taken the university further into the darkness. Sixty other universities under attack. All of this is meant to appeal to the anti-“elite,” non-college Trump base, where it plays well. Thanks, Julie.
Today we have a scathing content piece coming out about the comparison to the current administration as opposed to the Warren Harding administration, on https://thistleandmoss.com , which should teach a variety of you some things that you probably did not know