Still, the strange victimhood complex among conservatives at Harvard persists. It's a shame Harvard Magazine gave credence to the assertion that conservatives are an embattled minority at Harvard in the same sense racial minorities and homosexuals were in the past.

Harvey Mansfield will always take plenty of criticism every time he opens his mouth. But he's a big boy, he can take it. So can the rest of the conservatives at Harvard, who should stop mistaking opposition to their ideas for opposition to their right to speak them. Inventing a vast left-wing conspiracy bent on stifling conservative voices is a pretty weak way to advance real political debate on the Harvard campus.

At some point, conservatives at Harvard need to calm down, get over themselves and realize that no one is out to get them. The Man, safely occupied elsewhere, is not putting them down.

Alan E. Wirzbicki '01 is a history and literature concentrator in Eliot House. His column will appear biweekly.