Adam:

I would agree with you that "Drawing political conclusions from scholarship is an essential part of legal academia... and is in marked contrast to the intense navel gazing of Summersgate" if I saw a little more emphasis among academics on drawing political conclusions, rather than supporting pre-determined political conclusions. I certainly don't mean that only as an attack on liberal academics, either.

It's just a different form of navel-gazing to dedicate one's academic scholarship (especially empirical scholarship) to dressing up one's own political beliefs. It's like Hollywood actors and filmmakers pretending to be "engaged with the world" by campaigning for their favorite politician -- coating the statement "see how right I am" with a veneer of legitimacy.

My impression is that many of President Summers' enemies on the faculty think they're fighting the battles of the world outside the Ivory Tower: that sexism is rampant, that women, minorities, and a host of special-interest groups are oppressed, and that by fighting for what they believe at Harvard and on the front pages of newspapers worldwide, they're on the front lines of a conflict more important than the war on terror.