“Kirk’s politics,” Coates demonstrates, “amounted to little more than a loathing of those whose mere existence provoked his ire. For those unfamiliar with Professor Watchlist, its listing of alleged lefitst professors was based largely on rumor and innuendo. “So much so, in fact, that he put me and many of my friends and colleagues on his Professor Watchlist. Remarkably, in the New York Times‘ extensive obituary for Kirk, Clay Risen failed even to mention the Professor Watchlist. It came from money, right-wing money, lots of it, which, in turn, came in response to the “success” of the Professor Watchlist.