By Lt Col Eric Vogel, USAF ret, USAFA ’73
STARRS CT State Leader
“The good news here is we did put 235 judges, progressive judges last year on the bench and they are ruling against Trump, time after time after time.”
— Senator Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader
March 21, 2025
Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist philosopher and politician, would be well pleased. His “long march through the institutions” is proceeding very well.
In some some respects, despite pushback after the election of President Trump, the “long march”—while sometimes undercover—is as strong as ever, progressing towards the Marxist goal of destruction of the United States Constitutional Republic.
Yes, with President Trump’s Executive orders, a mandate to eliminate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) in our government has been established.
In particular, through the leadership of Secretary of Defense Hegseth, an attempt is being made to restore the U.S. military to a lethal and ready fighting force, based on ability and meritocracy.
Nevertheless, DEI/CRT training and policies have been deeply embedded in our military and the removal of a handful of generals will not erase 10+ years of indoctrination. (For example, see West Point’s Cult of DEI by John Hughes.)
How about American healthcare? While the media focuses on Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and vaccines, medical schools push for “equity” in treatment and allow—even encourage—classes to draft their own Hippocratic Oath.
There’s nothing like the employment of relativism and subjectivism to override the truth of objective standards.(See also: American Doctor: Coming Home to War by John Hughes.)
Perhaps the most flagrant—and threatening—Marxist attacks on our institutions are directly tied to Attorney (Senator) Charles Schumer’s recent declaration.
Our country’s future as a bastion of justice, fairness and rule of law is in trouble.
Nowhere is this problem more clearly manifested than in the degeneration of discipline, rigor and respect at U.S. law schools.
Conservative guest speakers are shouted down (including liberal speakers during joint appearances), thoughts and viewpoints challenging mainstream narratives are not allowed, and law school administrations fail to enforce tolerance and the opportunity for open discussion.
For contemplation: current law school students are our future judges, prosecutors, mediators, judge advocates, district attorneys, defense attorneys, future law school professors and—in many cases—lawmakers.
One of the most egregious violations of freedom of speech, a twisted display of law school administration ethics, and a stellar example of today’s legal zeitgeist and cancel culture is described in Ilya Shapiro’s Lawless: The Miseducation of America’s Elites.
In 2022, Shapiro, hired by the Georgetown University School of Law, but not yet employed, dared challenge President Biden’s stated criteria for a Supreme Court nominee: Black and female.
Shapiro tweeted that his personal choice would be Sri Srinivasan, but he “doesn’t fit into the latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman.” (Note: Biden had not selected a nominee at that point. Furthermore, as Shapiro immediately explained to Georgetown, Twitter limitations had prevented his intended “lesser-qualified black woman” statement.)
For four months, Shapiro went through “hell” and then “purgatory.” Finally, although still offered employment, there were too many warnings (threats) from both the dean and the IDEAA (Institutional, Diversity, Equity and Affirmative Action) office accompanying the job offer. Shapiro moved on to “heaven”: employment with the Manhattan Institute.
Attorney Derrick Bell, legal scholar, Harvard professor and civil rights activist—along with his fellow leftist Critical Legal Studies (CLS) scholars of the 1970s—would be exuberant in support of the treatment received by Shapiro.
Which brings us back to Chuck Schumer’s “Good News.”
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution states: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”
Clearly, Schumer’s 235 judges, products of the law school education discussed above, form a progressive judicial force created to override executive action and eviscerate the President’s electoral mandates.
DEI and CRT are not dead. Progressives still chant “Long live DEI, CRT… and CLS.”
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Eric Vogel is a distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy’s class of 1973 and retired Lt Col (C-130s, Assistant Air Attaché France), retired Southwest Captain, and STARRS State Leader Connecticut.
First published in Real Clear Defense
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