New York Times’ anonymous op-ed writer might have Hillsdale College ties, here’s why
By SAM FRY
With Washington still in a frenzy about the New York Times’ anonymous op-ed from a “senior Trump administration official,” and journalists scrambling to uncover the author’s identity, I’m going to posit a theory about who could be behind the anonymous op-ed. It stems from two clues embedded in its text: the word “lodestar” and the phrase “first principles.”
Hear me out.
Several individuals have pointed to the word “lodestar” as one possible clue that may help identify the individual behind the op-ed. It’s a relatively uncommon word, and it frequently crops up in speeches that Vice President Mike Pence has made dating back to 2001(?).
Interestingly enough, while many journalists latched onto that term, a second phrase in the op-ed caused me to remember something that I leads me to hazard a guess as to the author’s identity (well, two guesses actually).
The phrase “first principles” appears in the op-eds eighth paragraph, where the author laments the president’s “amorality” and concludes that the president is unmoored by any “discernible first principles.”
As soon as I came across that phrase, I paused. While not an uncommon conservative refrain, talking about “first principles” is something I’m acutely familiar with as a lifelong resident of Hillsdale — home to *gasp* Hillsdale College — a small liberal arts college that is a venerable bastion of conservatism, but also — wait for it — produced Stephen Ford, a 2010 graduate and Vice President Mike Pence’s speechwriter.
In fact, Ford started writing speeches for Pence in 2017, long after the word “lodestar” first appeared in a Pence speech.
But Ford, almost certainly knows and emulates the vice president’s style and verbiage when writing his speeches, as all good speechwriters do.
In fact, Ford wrote the commencement address Pence gave at Hillsdale College in May 2018, where Pence referred to Hillsdale College’s president, Larry Arnn, his “mentor.” As anybody familiar with Arnn knows, he’s always talking about first principles (see here for one of many examples).
Also, a May 12, 2018 article titled “The college that wants to take over Washington,” references the many Hillsdale College graduates that have taken positions in the Trump White House or administration.
So this leads me to believe that Hillsdale College, and it’s core focus on “first principles” may be a key piece to this puzzle.
Stephen Miller and other Trump acolytes obviously have no comprehension of first principles, and I think they can quite easily be eliminated from possible suspects.
In my judgement, all of the evidence points to Stephen Ford, who as a Hillsdale College graduate is keenly aware of the phrase “first principles,” and has incorporated the word “lodestar” in many of Pence speeches since he began working as a speechwriter.
I’m certain Ford is part of the puzzle, but the real question remains, did Ford author the piece himself, because as a principled conservative he opposes Trump? Or did he do it in his capacity as a speechwriter for Pence, who has lamented the lack of morality in our society before, and has preferred to stay out of the spotlight, praising Trump when need be, but otherwise not fully embracing the president’s more unpopular decisions.
Anyways, this is just a theory.
