Dick Robinson: A conniption fit

One of the more colorful expressions embedded in our Southern argot is “conniption fit,” a redundancy used to describe an over-the-top tantrum. In his May 4 Point of View “For backlash politics, thank progressives,” Michael Jacobs seems to be in the grip of just such an emotional seizure.

What has set him off is the “progressive,” “politically correct” atmosphere pervading the town of Chapel Hill and its university campus.

Given Jacobs’ professional role, perhaps his most ostensibly relevant complaint concerns the “indoctrination of our students by leftist faculties,” for which he claims former UNC President Tom Ross is somehow responsible. That’s a mighty interesting charge, since the university president has absolutely nothing to do with hiring faculty members.

For that matter, unless Jacobs either has been personally monitoring the classes of a broad and representative sampling of his fellow faculty members or somehow acquiring access to the party affiliations and voting records of his peers, it’s a little hard to buy his charge that they’re all leftist flunkies.

It’s all just more than rational “Christians, moderates and conservatives” should have to put up with, and so, in high dudgeon, he is fleeing with is family to the more felicitous environment afforded by Wilmington. We’ll miss having a resident common scold.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 5:16 PM with the headline "Dick Robinson: A conniption fit."