by Jack Hellner
If professors are bad on free speech, so is the political class that succors them.
The Washington Post reports that a "chilling new study' shows that large numbers of college students are hostile to free speech. They believe that shouting down speakers they don't like and committing violence against them is acceptable. They fail to recognize that 'hate speech' is protected by the First Amendment."
According to columnist Catherine Rampell:
I chalk it up to the political atmosphere. If professors are bad on free speech, so is the political class that succors them.
President Obama's attorney general, Loretta Lynch, and her fellow Democrat state attorneys general threatened legal action against those who disagree with the government on climate change. Now, that is dangerous.
The IRS blocked political opponents of the president through tax regulations in order to infringe on their free speech. Our government stifled the groups' ability to raise money and spread their message before the elections by failing to approve their tax-free status. That is not only extremely dangerous; it is illegal.
The article about the state of things, how the assault on free speech has filtered down from the top, is useful. The First Amendment is extremely important for our freedom and future. I am glad that the press, even on the left side, in this Washington Post column, recognize that. It is a shame they didn't come down hard on Obama when he and his agencies stifled diverse thought.
According to columnist Catherine Rampell:
A fifth of undergrads now say it's acceptable to use physical force to silence a speaker who makes "offensive and hurtful statements."I believe that the professors are the ones teaching the students to be against free speech. Look how many share the views of the student body with their "I need some muscle over here" kind of talk in front of the students. Melissa Click of the University of Missouri got fired after public exposure of that remark, but the fact remains that she would have kept on teaching this sort of thinking had she not been caught on camera. And she is not alone. The latest practitioner of incitement to violence is one Professor Stephen Isaacson of John Jay College, who said he was privileged to teach "future dead cops."
That's one finding from a disturbing new survey of students conducted by John Villasenor, a Brookings Institution senior fellow and University of California at Los Angeles professor.
I chalk it up to the political atmosphere. If professors are bad on free speech, so is the political class that succors them.
President Obama's attorney general, Loretta Lynch, and her fellow Democrat state attorneys general threatened legal action against those who disagree with the government on climate change. Now, that is dangerous.
The IRS blocked political opponents of the president through tax regulations in order to infringe on their free speech. Our government stifled the groups' ability to raise money and spread their message before the elections by failing to approve their tax-free status. That is not only extremely dangerous; it is illegal.
The article about the state of things, how the assault on free speech has filtered down from the top, is useful. The First Amendment is extremely important for our freedom and future. I am glad that the press, even on the left side, in this Washington Post column, recognize that. It is a shame they didn't come down hard on Obama when he and his agencies stifled diverse thought.
Jack Hellner
Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/09/students_idiots_on_free_speech_look_to_their_professors_and_politicians.html
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