The Silencing : Mike Adams

[Fay Dickson-- AKA doofs]

Kirsten Powers gets it. There is an assault on free speech in this country that is coming from the political left. But the people responsible for it are not liberals. They aren’t worthy of the title of liberal, which presupposes a degree of tolerance for opposing opinions. They are illiberal leftists and they are crushing the free exchange of ideas in this country. To make matters worse, they know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it. In other words, they are not ignorant of, or merely indifferent to, constitutional principles. They are at war with them.

You can see it on our nation’s campuses. Between 1987 and 2008, protests geared towards “disinviting” speakers with unpopular views resulted in 62 campus event cancellations. Between 2009 and 2014, there were another 62 campus event cancellations. In other words, over the last few years, campus protestors have become increasingly committed to silencing dissenting opinions. And the pattern is not random. According to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), conservative speakers are targeted for “dis-invitation” twice as often as liberal speakers.

It is no wonder that students are beginning to protest actively against the free exchange of unpopular opinions on campus. They are learning it from their professors. University of Pennsylvania professor Mary Frances Berry once admitted “There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans.” After the admission, she went on to defend making false accusations of racism as a means of quashing debate. She stated, “Having one’s opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness.”

That’s sums up the mindset of the illiberal left. Attack your opponents as a means of limiting political discourse. Next, declare victory. Finally, don’t forget to reaffirm your commitment to tolerance and diversity.

Predictably, the profound disrespect for free speech that is modeled by college professors like Berry eventually ends up bleeding into the larger society. In the 2013 annual First Amendment Center survey there was a significant increase in the number of people saying that the First Amendment goes too far in protecting individual rights. Less than one-fourth of those over sixty say the First Amendment goes too far. But nearly half of those between the ages of eighteen and thirty think it goes too far. This does not bode well for the future.                  http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2015/06/09/the-silencing-n...                   http://townhall.com/columnists/mikeadams/2015/06/09/the-silencing-n...;