Ithaca is run like a giant liberal cult.
Ithaca is host to two colleges, Cornell U (aptly nick-named "the Big Red") and Ithaca College (which flies the gay flag over its campus), the two major employers in the area. They insure that a disproportionate amount of "ivory tower liberals" dominate the city.
Here are few typical Ithacans:
Locating copies of National Review or the American Spectator requires a trip out of the City, while Ithaca magazine racks remain well-stocked with copies of The Progressive, and The Nation. Readers interested in exposing themselves to a full range of national opinion are simply out of luck.
As a result of this dominiance, politics in Ithaca runs the gamet from "liberal" to "communist."
For years, the town had an openly socialist mayor. They later elected him to the school board.
Even today, the City and County governments are dominated by democrats and Green party members. Ithaca is so "Green" that Ralph Nader got more votes in Ithaca than George W. Bush, and the NYS Green Party held its 2002 nominating convention there. The current Chair of the County Legislature is a radical former anti-war protester, self-described hippie, who says "My values haven't changed, just my tactics."
As a result, we get lunacy like spending $500,000 to install solar panels on the new library (in cold, dark, upstate NY).
Even law enforcement is subject to political correctness. The outgoing police chief's major concern was "pushing for departmental diversity." The acting chief was chosen simply because they wanted a woman, and now spends her time attending topless protests .
To make matters worse, the liberals who dominate Ithaca work overtime to impose their ultra liberal agenda on the area children. As the local newspaper recently put it, “In most places, youngsters spend their summers camping, or at the mountains or the beach. In Ithaca, they learn how to become social activists.”
The School District has mandated that elementary school students in the first and second grades be graded on how well they "respect others of varying cultures, genders, experiences, and abilities." It's even listed on the schools' report card. Despite this alleged tolerance, a student who was found reading the bible on her lunch hour was chatised for doing so. Another was directed not to bring a book about Christmas to school.
These schools churn out "educated idiots," who are so liberal, they write editorials that argue "Bin Laden is Human too."
Need more proof? Do a search for "Ithaca" here at FR. You'll see a near daily dose of institutionalized, unfettered, liberal idiocy.