We concluded our exchange with nods of mutual respect, largely because I was able to control my impulses.

*On another occasion, I was giving a speech at (yet another) leftist university in the northeast. A male student wearing a pink dress got up and said that he had logged on to my website and seen me pictured with a gun in front of an American flag. He said he thought it was “weird.” I thought to myself:

“I’m sorry but you’re a dude in a pink dress. You don’t really have a right to call anyone weird (and be taken seriously). And, don’t worry, that’s not a gun in my pocket. I’m just really happy to see you.”

But I didn’t say it. I actually gave him a serious answer about why I use provocative language in my columns. I also explained that one of my previous assertions - that homosexuality is a mental illness – is used merely to expose the hypocrisy of those who think opposition to homosexuality is a “phobia.”

We concluded our exchange with nods of mutual respect, largely because I was able to control my impulses.

*Finally, I give the example of an abortion provider who characterized my columns as “mean-spirited anti-liberal propaganda.” After he said that, I thought to myself:

“I’m sorry but I’ve never drilled a hole in a baby’s head and pulled his brains out with a suction tube. That would be ‘mean-spirited.’”

But I didn’t say it. I did, however, remind him that in some ways I am a liberal. Liberals fend for people who cannot fend for themselves. I asked him what would happen if a fireman went down into a mine shaft and found a helpless miner (as opposed to minor). What would he think if the fireman crushed his skull with a jackhammer and pulled him out successfully, though only after ripping him limb from limb? Would that be liberating? Would it be liberal?

I concluded my message by telling him I would respect his answer so long as he gave it serious thought.

And, so, by now you get my point (hopefully). We all have thoughts we need to keep from blurting out immediately. Next week in class, we’ll see whether you’ve taken today’s lesson to heart. If you blurt out another thought while I am trying to speak, I will think to myself “You really need to get the hell out of this class.”

And then I’ll say, simultaneously, “You really need to get the hell out of this class.”