In the rest of the world a speedo is just called a “swimsuit”. I’m personally not a fan of the style, but let’s be clear that the taboo surrounding the speedo exists only in the US due to our archaically puritan culture.
By the way, the midshipman who vigorously pursued the charges against Fleming has publicly admitted that he had beef with him from the get-go, because he earned a C in the class but felt he deserved an A. That’s enough to make me question whether he was actually offended by the professor.
Having heard and read some anecdotes, I’d say he’s certainly an eccentric fellow who occasionally breaches the professional line by a little. I wonder how many times, if any, his bosses attempted to correct whatever they considered inappropriate. If he did display a pattern of inappropriate behavior and did not stop when told he went too far, then that is bad. It doesn’t look like that happened though. Also, with 30+ years at the Academy, I wonder why no one has attributed these things to him until the past year. Did his personality or teaching style change dramatically? I doubt it. Are college students nationwide way more sensitive and afraid of hearing ideas that they don’t like? Absolutely, and perhaps that’s a factor in all of this too. By most accounts he’s actually a very good teacher, and whether you agree with his writings on the Academy, none of the facts he reports are uncontroversial. However I do think he does a disservice to his own view by delivering it in such a pompous and cynical tone.
