As a point of law, the 1st Amendment does in fact protect the liberal idiot professors from the ramifications of their speech -- not because they are liberal idiot professors -- but because one of them is employed by the City of New York and the other is employed by the State of Texas. If they were employed by private colleges or universities, they could be fired for the content of their speech (or for any other reason) without running afoul of the 1st Amendment, which would not even come into play, subject only to the terms and conditions of their private contracts with their employer.