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05/27/2025

Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

High crimes and misdemeanors 

This phrase comes from our Constitution, Article II, Section 4. It refers to the removal of all civil officers of the United States for treason, bribery, or other “high crimes”. Apparently it is a sentence that has come under scrutiny because it does not specifically name the egregious acts. 

Of course, I am not a legal scholar, but I know bad behavior when I see it. This weekend, 47 gave two speeches in which he rambled off script. At the West Point Graduation he somehow got on to the subject of “trophy wives”, and at a Memorial Day speech he went off on immigration with false statistics about murderers and rapists pouring into the United States. 

What caught my attention more than anything that came out of his disordered brain was yet another threat aimed at Harvard University. This time he’s thinking he might take 3 Billion dollars of grant money away from this institution. It must infuriate him that Harvard does not appear to be shaken by his ridiculous and possibly illegal moves. An emeritus professor of law from Harvard, Lawrence Tribe, commented on 47’s deranged words from this weekend. He said if a family member got facts confused as much as 47 does, there would be plans made for an intervention. I think I remember him saying at the end, “We’ll see you in court!”.

A post on Sunday in 47’s truth social account he says he wants the names and countries of every international student enrolled at Harvard. This after he tried to bar the university from enrolling anyone in the United States on a student visa. To get this information, all he has to do is turn to his crooked Secretary of State. The State Department vets, and collects fees, from foreign students applying for student visas. All their information is readily available and from what I can tell, Marco Rubio has drunk the Kool-Aid and won’t hesitate to publish this information.

Both of my children are involved in education, so I tend to follow the news about these topics: all the way from the hilarious statement from the secretary of education, madame WWE, that A1 is a lovely addition to our classrooms, to the infuriating news about Harvard.

The fact that there is a campaign against granting students from other countries the ability to come here to study is not a subtle move against higher education institutions. Instead, it is a direct attempt to hurt them in their pocketbooks. Foreign students make up about 6% of college student bodies. Getting a student visa is not necessarily easy. It is not really expensive, but meeting the conditions is challenging. There must be proof that the student will be able to support him or her self and they must have the intention to return home upon graduation. Upon admission to an approved education provider there is an interview process to determine the applicant’s character, financial situation, and intentions for entering the United States.

I think the real point behind 47’s crack down on foreign students has to do with money. As I have come to believe, often the answer to most questions can be found by following the money. Foreign students usually pay full tuition, and room and board. In the 2023-24 academic year, international students contributed substantial amounts on tuition, fees, and other expenses. Colleges and Universities depend on this money. And, international students contributed $44 billion to the US economy that same year. 

In my opinion, this campaign against students from other countries is yet another way to attack our education system. The man who is vice president in 2021 gave a speech titled “The Universities are the Enemy”. He laid out a plan to “aggressively attack the universities in this country.” There is nothing subtle about this. Consider the fact that 25% of 47’s cabinet people graduated from Ivy League schools, including 7 from Harvard. Go figure.