Summary: The recent win by the Left in Chicago shows why the Left so often loses, and how we might lose so much along with them. Their speech suppression protests — and Trump’s retaliation at their events — will degrade US politics, and might put Trump in the White House.
Can you image 100s of Trump supporters swarming a Sanders rally, engaging in mass violence & being referred to by the MSM as “protestors”?
โ Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 12, 2016
Creating a disastrous win
One reason given last summer for Trump’s certain defeat was he lack of political skills. This week Trump again proved them wrong with a masterstroke: scheduling an event at U of Illinois at Chicago. The Left took the bait and did one of their signature moves (perfected on countless college campuses during the past 20 years): suppressing the speech of their political foes.ย MoveOn got 52 thousand signatures on their petition to “Cancel Trump’s Rally at UIC Pavilion“. In response UIC Chancellor Michael D. Amiridis released a statement sayingโฆ
“UICโs core values of freedom, equality and social justice for all, regardless of race, religion, national origin, disability status or sexual orientation, are deeply rooted in our diverse community and not endangered by the presence of any political candidate on campus. We encourage public and civic engagement by all members of our University and we endorse the idea that the answer to speech that one does not like or finds offensive is more speech and not censorship.”
Despite the Chancellor’s words, the Trump Rally Protest – Chicago page on Facebook said that 11 thousand attended. They successfully shouted down the event while America watched on TV. Soon polls will show the effect on public opinion. But either way I believe that America will be the loser.
Minutes after Mr. Trump was to have taken to a podium on the campus of a large, diverse public university just west of downtown, an announcer suddenly pronounced the event over before it had begun. Hundreds of protesters, who had promised to be a visible presence here and filled several sections of the arena, let out an elated, unstopping cheer. Mr. Trumpโs supporters, many of whom had waited hours to see the Republican front-runner, seemed stunned and slowly filed out in anger.
Around the country, protesters have interrupted virtually every Trump rally, but his planned appearance here โ in a city run for decades by Democrats and populated by nearly equal thirds of blacks, Latinos and whites โ had drawn some particularly incensed responses since it was announced days ago. โฆ protesters were jubilant, and celebrated along the intersections on the cityโs Near West Side. Some protesters shut down lanes of a nearby expressway. {NY Times.}
The truth @ “violence” at Trump rallies is that the left thinks it’s their prerogative to disrupt the public appearances of conservatives.
โ Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) March 11, 2016
Effects of the Left’s “win”
Bernie Sanders is lying when he says his disruptors aren’t told to go to my events. Be careful Bernie, or my supporters will go to yours!
โ Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2016
Bizarrely, the Left does not see that their foes also can stage protests to disrupt their foes’ events — tit-for-tat is the optimum game strategy — and that retaliation and escalation are the inevitable result of such tactics. The obvious effect: a degradation of US politics.
There might be a second, ironic effect. I suspect that many or most Americans are sick of riots in the street for “causes.” It’s just another form of violence, even if only implicit. Worse, I believe most Americans consider as illegitimate protests to stop your foes’ political speech. If the Left keeps shutting down Trump’s events, they might put Trump in the White House.
The bottom line of the protests to suppress Trump’s speech
Widely seen as an illegitimate tactic, these protests have further divided America and weakened the reputation of the Left with large segments of the American public — and in exchange accomplished nothing.
Now is the time to brandish your liberal credentials, by:
a) celebrating censorship,
b) blaming the censored for the censorship.#TrumpRallyโ Zero Anthropology (@ZeroAnthro) March 12, 2016
For More Information
Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter. See all posts about Trump and Campaign 2016, especially these about protestsโฆ
- How to stage effective protests in the 21st century.
- Occupy Wall Street, another futile peasantsโย protest.
- Why donโt political protests work? What are the larger lessons from our repeated failures?
- Why America has militarized its police and crushes protests.
- The protests in NYC repeat those in Ferguson, and probably will end the same โ as wins for the 1%.
But itโs so much more fun to protest. Plus, thatโs how you show your bona fides on the Left.
As Tom Lehrer wrote in “Folk Song Army“,
I just marvel at the destructiveness of the State.
It’s ‘Farcism’.
http://finemrespice.com/
iseeitfx
How does anything mentioned in this post show “destructiveness of the State”?