The “resistance” across America is putting to use tactics campus leftists have favored for years, exhibiting behavior indistinguishable from that of a toddler in the throes of a temper-tantrum. The root of the Left’s utter intolerance against conservatives—Trump appointee or conservative freshman—is the same.
The Left sees conservatives not as people with differing ideas or visions for the future of our country, but as threatening their way of life. This is certainly a ludicrous (and frankly horrible) way to live, but liberals’ own behavior proves this mindset.
Before it was hip for liberal lawmakers, such as Maxine Waters, to rally their base to harass supporters of President Trump’s conservative agenda, it was liberal professors, such as Melina Abdullah, at California State University, Los Angeles, who issued calls to block doors, pull fire alarms, and attempt to shut down conservative speakers.
Recently New York Times bestselling author Ben Shapiro, Townhall.com Editor Katie Pavlich, and Super Bowl champion Burgess Owens have all faced down unhinged leftist mobs while delivering speeches on behalf of Young America’s Foundation at colleges and universities.
Campus leftists at UC-Berkeley set up safe spaces, offered counseling, cancelled classes, and rioted in the streets due to Ben Shapiro’s presence. Liberal students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison attempted to hurl sex toys at Katie Pavlich because she arrived on campus to speak about the importance of the Second Amendment. Burgess Owens was called “Uncle Tom” because he delivered an inspiring lecture at Hobart and William Smith Colleges on the importance of personal responsibility. The Left’s disproportionate, sexist, and racist responses were justified in their own minds as necessary to keep conservative ideas from being heard.
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The same intolerance is seen in the Left’s treatment of President Trump’s allies. It’s not a matter of disagreeing with someone. To liberals, it’s unpalatable to even serve a conservative a meal or allow them to get into their vehicle or safely enter their home because they are somehow complicit in some leftist-concocted nonexistent crime against humanity.
In 2018, getting “Red Hen’d” has become the latest unfortunate addition to the lexicon of leftist intolerance, and sadly it appears that the Left’s shameless behavior knows no limit. Elaine Chao, Stephen Miller, Mitch McConnell, Kirstjen Nielsen, and anyone connected to the Trump administration has been declared fair game for the same sort of harassment regularly launched at conservative student activists and speakers.
The result of this leftist intolerance on college campuses is clear: Students experience a chilling of free expression thanks to administrative censorship; a roster of liberal professors mean intellectual diversity is rare if it exists at all; and the free and open exchange of ideas that ought to be the trademark of higher education is lost.
In the public square, leftist intolerance is having a similar effect. If liberals don’t reign in their own and stop calling for physical violence in their opposition of conservatives and their ideas, we’re in for much worse. Look no further than last week’s protests on the steps of the United States Supreme Court to see where things are headed. A peaceful demonstration devolved into a Berkeley-esque near-riot in response to President Trump’s nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. Journalists fled for their safety because of the Left’s violent and unhinged response to Kavanaugh’s nomination.
On campus or in public, the ability to share one’s ideas is critical. It’s so critical that our Founders enshrined it as the First Amendment to the Constitution. When people speak and argue freely, the best ideas are further improved and rise to the top, and the flawed, debunked ideas are pushed away. By flipping the table rather than taking a seat at the table, leftists continue their march toward complete inanity.
It’s possible to renew ideological diversity on campus and restore basic respect for those we disagree with, if the Left wanted to do so. Unfortunately, their actions betray a desire to drag higher learning and public progress down into the depths of their intolerance.
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