But

Michelle Goldberg spent the runup to the Iraq war writing pieces for Salon about how the anti-war movement had been hijacked by ANSWER because a dodgy commie group adding its name to parade permits was the really important thing at the time.

She's still focused on the really important things.

Some readers might object to dwelling on one instance of misguided sensitivity at one small college when the country is in the midst of a nationwide frenzy of right-wing book bans, public school speech restrictions, and wild attempts to curtail drag performances. But

Can just leave off after the "but."  Actually the whole column could have been jettisoned after this:

Ultimately, Macalester handled the student complaints better than Hamline did. No one was fired, and after being closed for a few days, “Taravat” reopened. But the administration’s response was still distinctly apologetic, demonstrating the anxious philistinism that can result when bureaucratic cowardice meets maximalist ideas about safety.

It doesn't even matter what this is about. There were complaints, nervous college administrators who are not "liberal" but are instead "ass coverers" paused for an investigation, then everything went on as planned.

I am more acquainted with higher education than most and I have never even heard of either Macalester or Hamline.

Of course college administrators don't always handle things perfectly (who does?) but all of the elite college discourse neglects to acknowledge that residential colleges are, in fact, residential colleges, and they have a larger set of issues to deal with than narrow misinterpreted concepts of "FREE SPEECH" or "ACADEMIC FREEDOM."   There are many things to balance and it's difficult!

A big thing they have to worry about is bad PR (on all sides) and lawsuits!  But even a more charitable view of their concerns involves trying to manage a community and stop it from boiling over.

Ridiculous 19-year-olds (I am not even saying they are ridiculous here, I just don't even care enough to argue) are not representative of THE LEFT, college administrators anywhere are not representative of THE LEFT, and what happens at small colleges you have never heard of - especially when, by her own admission, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED AT THIS ONE - are not representative of anything at all.

She was hired to write these pieces, because hectoring The Left supposedly from within is what her brand is, so she will keep writing them.