Should The Liberty Bell Leave Philadelphia?

(Town Hall) When most Americans think of Philadelphia -- although probably fewer today than ever before given the low level of history education in American schools -- they probably think of the founding of the United States the Liberty Bell and the citys nickname the City of Brotherly Love. Having been to Philadelphia at least 20 times I am among the many Americans who have warm feelings toward Americas founding city. My daily radio show has a large and enthusiastic listener base there and I have a son who lives nearby. So it is with no joy that I write about the transformation of Philadelphia into something far removed from the principles of the country it helped birth. Philadelphias leading institutions -- such as the University of Pennsylvania the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Flyers -- provide depressing evidence. Well begin with the Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania one of the countrys Ivy League colleges. When Harvard Professor Steven Pinker a liberal and an atheist recently described American universities as a laughingstock he could have been referring specifically to the University of Pennsylvania which among other Philadelphia institutions is committed to dismantling American and Western civilization.