Post by robeiae on Sept 15, 2017 14:56:52 GMT -5
Everyone gets optics, right? Some actions, some statements, some decisions just look wrong, regardless of whether or not they really are. Some look like really big deals, even when they really aren't. And the smart move is usually to avoid the bad optics, because the upside of not doing so is not worth it (unless we're talking about Trump, just to get that out of the way).
So...to Harvard we go!
On Wednesday: www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/institute-politics-harvard-kennedy-school-announces-additional-visiting-fellows
Optics, baby! Who couldn't see what would happen next? Obviously, someone in charge at the Kennedy School...
Predictably: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/15/551151607/harvard-withdraws-fellowship-invitation-to-chelsea-manning
As I understand it, the "visiting fellow" title is largely meaningless, yet it does represent an honor, as it were, insofar as it's something people certainly would see as a feather in their own cap, if they were so designated. Which in my mind makes this statement from the Harvard Dean-In-Charge a little puzzling: www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/statement-dean-elmendorf-regarding-invitation-chelsea-manning-be-visiting-fellow
Lol. Doesn't he work for Harvard? Yet he just proclaimed that being named a visiting fellow at Harvard is no big deal, that it signifies nothing, really. Of course that begs the question: if it's so meaningless, why do they do press releases that name visiting fellows.
Idiotic move, idiotic response to criticism, idiotic justification. And this is the Institute of Politics? Holy crap, are we ever screwed...
So...to Harvard we go!
On Wednesday: www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/institute-politics-harvard-kennedy-school-announces-additional-visiting-fellows
Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School Announces Additional Visiting Fellows:
Class includes first transgender Fellow and former White House Press Secretary
Cambridge, MA – The Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School is pleased to announce additional Visiting Fellows for the 2017-18 academic year at iop.harvard.edu/fellows.
“Broadening the range and depth of opportunity for students to hear from and engage with experts, leaders and policy-shapers is a cornerstone of the Institute of Politics. We welcome the breadth of thought-provoking viewpoints on race, gender, politics and the media,” said Bill Delahunt, IOP Acting Director.
[snip]
Chelsea E. Manning is a Washington D.C. based network security expert and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst. She speaks on the social, technological and economic ramifications of Artificial Intelligence through her op-ed columns for The Guardian and The New York Times. As a trans woman, she advocates for queer and transgender rights as @xychelsea on Twitter. Following her court martial conviction in 2013 for releasing confidential military and State Department documents, President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence, citing it as "disproportionate" to the penalties faced by other whistleblowers. She served seven years in prison.
Class includes first transgender Fellow and former White House Press Secretary
Cambridge, MA – The Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard Kennedy School is pleased to announce additional Visiting Fellows for the 2017-18 academic year at iop.harvard.edu/fellows.
“Broadening the range and depth of opportunity for students to hear from and engage with experts, leaders and policy-shapers is a cornerstone of the Institute of Politics. We welcome the breadth of thought-provoking viewpoints on race, gender, politics and the media,” said Bill Delahunt, IOP Acting Director.
[snip]
Chelsea E. Manning is a Washington D.C. based network security expert and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst. She speaks on the social, technological and economic ramifications of Artificial Intelligence through her op-ed columns for The Guardian and The New York Times. As a trans woman, she advocates for queer and transgender rights as @xychelsea on Twitter. Following her court martial conviction in 2013 for releasing confidential military and State Department documents, President Obama commuted her 35-year sentence, citing it as "disproportionate" to the penalties faced by other whistleblowers. She served seven years in prison.
Predictably: www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/09/15/551151607/harvard-withdraws-fellowship-invitation-to-chelsea-manning
The Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School announced Wednesday that Chelsea Manning would be one of its visiting fellows, but less than two days later, the school's dean withdrew the invitation...
Early Thursday, Michael Morell, former deputy director and acting director of the CIA, resigned his senior fellowship post at Harvard over the school's decision to include Manning as a visiting fellow.
Morell said he could not be part of an organization that "honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information."
A short time later, CIA Director Mike Pompeo canceled an appearance at the school, where he was scheduled to discuss such topics as Russian involvement in the presidential election and the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
Early Thursday, Michael Morell, former deputy director and acting director of the CIA, resigned his senior fellowship post at Harvard over the school's decision to include Manning as a visiting fellow.
Morell said he could not be part of an organization that "honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information."
A short time later, CIA Director Mike Pompeo canceled an appearance at the school, where he was scheduled to discuss such topics as Russian involvement in the presidential election and the nuclear standoff with North Korea.
As I understand it, the "visiting fellow" title is largely meaningless, yet it does represent an honor, as it were, insofar as it's something people certainly would see as a feather in their own cap, if they were so designated. Which in my mind makes this statement from the Harvard Dean-In-Charge a little puzzling: www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/statement-dean-elmendorf-regarding-invitation-chelsea-manning-be-visiting-fellow
In general across the School, we do not view the title of “Fellow” as conveying a special honor; rather, it is a way to describe some people who spend more than a few hours at the School.
Idiotic move, idiotic response to criticism, idiotic justification. And this is the Institute of Politics? Holy crap, are we ever screwed...
