WEST-SUMMERS WRAPUP: Ken Layne has a big post on the subject, where he compares Cornel West to George Hamilton. I think Hamilton knows he's a goof, though. I am reminded of older comments by Virginia Postrel on a similar subject; I include a large portion of her paragraph to provide context:

Writing in The Daily Princetonian, a former editor of the conservative Princeton Tory explains why David Horowitz would have gotten little p.r. from his anti-reparations ads there: "We're not apathetic. We simply believe in reasoned debate. When the Tory ran an article a few years ago on ex-gays, the LGBA took out an ad in the 'Prince' countering it. End of story. No burned papers, no problems." Some things don't change, and Princeton's civil, somewhat dull, political life is one of them. (This culture is one reason Peter Singer, whose academic freedom I staunchly defend, was a stupid hire. He's a glib, Harvard-style headline getter, not a Princeton-style serious scholar; not surprisingly, the philosophy department, which some rank best in the world, wouldn't have him.)

Cornel West sounds like the ultimate "Harvard-style headline getter." Why would Princeton want him?