I have often said in one form or another that to be a leftist requires one to abandon any sense of proportion or precision when making comparisons between two subjects. That’s definitely evident in the left wing response to AG Jeff Sessions’ statements about free speech being under attack on college campuses by violent extremist groups. Grasping for anything to deflect from the real problem posed by masked neo-communist thugs assaulting people and destroying property in response to mainstream political thought, the media wing of the Democrat party is calling Sessions a hypocrite because NFL players were criticized for protesting the national anthem.
No sense of proportion, no concern for reality or truth, but the Democrat talking points have been issued.
Jeff Sessions Warns Free Speech Under Attack, Criticizes NFL Players’ Protests
Decrying what he sees as political correctness run amok on college campuses, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Tuesday the Justice Department will ramp up its support for students who sue universities claiming their free-speech rights have been violated.
The complexity of the free-speech issue was on display as Sessions spoke to an invitation-only crowd at Georgetown University’s law school. About 200 protesters gathered outside in university-designated “free speech zones” and some students complained they were excluded from the Sessions event. But even as he lamented what he sees as a lack of tolerance for unpopular views on campus, Sessions condemned the NFL players who have been exercising their own freedom of expression by kneeling silently during the national anthem before games.
Anyone with a few ounces of working grey matter should recognize that acts of violence intended to silence someone with whom you disagree bears virtually no resemblance to publicly voicing your disagreement. Other than both situations being about a disagreement there is no similarity between them.
This morning on Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer had guests Mark Thiessen from the American Enterprise Institute and former Hillary Clinton flack Zack Petkanas debate the issue. The Democrat Petkanas cited the administration’s treatment of NFL players as a sign of hypocrisy. I agree that Trump was out of line in saying players should be fired for kneeling during the anthem. That’s an internal NFL policy decision in which he has no say. But imagine if leftists applied that reasoning consistently. How many times have they sought to destroy the careers, businesses, or reputation of people for saying things they disagree with?
Immunity to embarrassment or shame is another quality required to be a leftist. Many on both sides suffer from that affliction, but it is absolutely necessary for anyone spouting progressive talking points.
No one tried to physically prevent NFL players from kneeling during the national anthem. No one put on masks and beat them or set fire to stadiums. No one heaved a garbage can through the front of a concession stand selling $12 Bud Lights and $9 hot dogs. In short, no one literally attacked anyone for having a different point of view. Hence any comparison to the actions of Antifa is utter drivel.
Free expression does not mean immunity from criticism. It also doesn’t mean that you’re allowed to freely disrupt public events as the following nonsense suggests.
Protesters Banned At Jeff Sessions Lecture On Free Speech
Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III visited the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. today in order to give a lecture on Freedom of Speech.
The attorney general–or perhaps the law school administration–has a somewhat picayune concept of that notion, however, as over 100 student protesters were barred from attending the event. Those students had initially signed up for the event, and then received invites, only to later have those invitations revoked.
…
Lauren Phillips, one of the student organizers of the protest, took her criticism even further, telling NPR, “It’s incredibly ironic that the attorney general wants to come here to talk about free speech but is excluding dissenting voices and potentially dissenting questions from his speech.”
As Sessions read prepared remarks about plans to “defend free speech,” as attorney general, some students managed to silently protest him inside the auditorium by duct-taping their mouths shut.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students and dozens of law professors protested the speech as well–standing outside the building with signs and chanting through bullhorns as Sessions spoke.
First, the headline is completely false as evidenced by the fact that students silently protested inside and loudly protested outside the speech. The rest is nonsense suggesting that freedom of speech is the right to simply shout someone down so they can’t be heard.
The Huffington Post published this clownish piece which suggests that a crazy person disrupting an official congressional hearing is protected speech.
Jeff Sessions Decries ‘Fragile Egos’ At Colleges As DOJ Moves To Re-Try Woman Who Laughed At Him
Free speech on college campuses is “under attack” as universities transform into shelters “for fragile egos,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who leads a Justice Department prosecuting a woman for laughing at him during a congressional hearing, said in a Tuesday speech.
“The American university was once the center of academic freedom ― a place of robust debate, a forum for the competition of ideas,” Sessions told an invite-only audience at Georgetown University’s law school. “But it is transforming into an echo chamber of political correctness and homogenous thought, a shelter for fragile egos.”
Sessions delivered his speech as the Justice Department prepares to retry a woman who laughed at him during his Senate confirmation hearing in January. The department’s continued prosecution of Desiree Fairooz was mentioned in an open letter signed by several members of the Georgetown law school faculty that said Sessions was a poor spokesman for the values of free speech.
Here is the “free speech” of Desiree Fairooz.
She and others from Code Pink were there to intentionally disrupt Jeff Sessions’ confirmation hearing. They should be thankful they were even allowed into the gallery dressed as they were like escapees from an asylum.
Disconnection from any logic, reason, or sense of proportion is a hallmark of left wing progressivism. It is why rational debate with progressives is next to impossible. Sadly, these are the kind of tactics some on the right now advocate for use against the left.
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