The American Spectator

Estrich revels in her ability to intimidate others and so prides herself on how many enemies she has made one looks for them on her c.v. Describing a previously successful project to dictate the content of the Times, she recalls, like an old mafia don describing his favorite union shakedown, “…a number of us got together and launched a successful campaign to pressure them; while we (me especially) probably didn’t win any friends, it is better to be feared than liked, and we won.” [Emphases added.] She is likewise proud that “there are some inside the Gore campaign who still hate me.”

Having found an enemy in Kinsley she then threatened Kinsley’s job and his livelihood. “Usually, it takes an insult — a tough one — to provoke us” she wrote on her website. “But when provoked, watch out. Just ask Harvard President Larry Summers. His days are numbered. The opinion editor of the Los Angeles Times would do well to consult with his fellow Harvard man on the topics of women and the cost of arrogance. His are, too.” And when Kinsley called her demands “blackmail” she announced on her website that she hired celebrity attorney Bert Fields to represent her in a libel suit. As a law professor she knows better than anyone else that Kinsley’s statement is protected speech. She also knows, indeed relies upon the fact, that a libel suit can be as draining and expensive for the defendant as well as the plaintiff. (Truth, of course, would be Kinsley’s best defense.) Estrich dedicated her early career to the powerless. Now that she has power, she has forgotten why she studied it in the first place.

I don’t know Kinsley but I feel confident that he’ll make it past this sorry episode with his job, bank account and self-respect intact. Throughout he has handled himself with impressive restraint and composure. Estrich, on the other hand, has not. She created false choices and blackmailed Kinsley when he refused to choose. She threatened his job and insulted his dignity. She made me ashamed to be associated with USC Law. She made a mockery of true feminism. And she shut the door on what was once a respectable career. I, for one, am glad of it.