1/13
I have watched every presidential inauguration that I can remember, since I was a little boy, and long before I ever imagined I would live in America. But I had never watched one the way I watched the inauguration of Joe Biden. #velshi

2/13
I’d never considered the details leading up to an inauguration. I watched this one like a nervous parent, making sure everything went as planned. #velshi
3/13
Thanks to the last four years, everything is different, now. Our demons are on full display, our Union is certifiably imperfect. Our nation is divided. #velshi
4/13
After a year that takes first place in our history for death, destruction, fear and injustice, normalcy is struggling to regain its place. One thing with which we will struggle in this new day for America is the death of shame. #velshi
5/13
In addition to the other norms the former president destroyed, he turned lying - deliberate, casual and often with the force of law - into an art form and, with that, contributed to the death of shame. #velshi
6/13
I’ve been a business journalist for most of my career. When I’d interview a CEO and they’d tell me something that wasn’t true, and I’d have the evidence that it wasn’t true, it would make for an awkward moment. #velshi
7/13
The CEOs tried to explain it away. Their people would offer clarifications and maybe, there’d be a statement of clarification. Maybe even an apology. #velshi
8/13
If the lie - or any kind of wrongdoing pointed out by the press, was significant, someone might resign, a red letter of sorts on their chest. A mark of shame. #velshi
9/13
For some people - some liars – there’s no shame now. One reason I haven’t had Trump officials or allies on @VelshiMSNBC for the last several months is that confronting them with the truth stopped mattering. When caught lying or distorting the facts, they lied more. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 10/13
To wear a red letter - TWO red letters, in the former president's case - both capitals for impeachment. It means little to him; there is no contrition. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 11/13
He explains it away as partisan or calls it a hoax or a witch hunt. A source of shame once again somehow morphed into to a badge of honor. The death of shame - is the real catastrophe. #velshi
@VelshiMSNBC 12/13
If we as humans do not feel shame in doing something wrong, or in getting caught doing something wrong, what guardrails exist? #velshi
13/13
When the powerful can’t be embarrassed by the bad choices they make, people suffer, democracy erodes, institutions crumble & lies proliferate. This time, people died. If we allow what we’ve witnessed the past 4 years to go on then shame on us all. #velshi

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I just finished Eric Adler's The Battle of the Classics, and wanted to say something about Joel Christiansen's review linked below. I am not sure what motivates the review (I speculate a bit below), but it gives a very misleading impression of the book. 1/x


The meat of the criticism is that the history Adler gives is insufficiently critical. Adler describes a few figures who had a great influence on how the modern US university was formed. It's certainly critical: it focuses on the social Darwinism of these figures. 2/x

Other insinuations and suggestions in the review seem wildly off the mark, distorted, or inappropriate-- for example, that the book is clickbaity (it is scholarly) or conservative (hardly) or connected to the events at the Capitol (give me a break). 3/x

The core question: in what sense is classics inherently racist? Classics is old. On Adler's account, it begins in ancient Rome and is revived in the Renaissance. Slavery (Christiansen's primary concern) is also very old. Let's say classics is an education for slaveowners. 4/x

It's worth remembering that literacy itself is elite throughout most of this history. Literacy is, then, also the education of slaveowners. We can honor oral and musical traditions without denying that literacy is, generally, good. 5/x