Summary: Another example of mob violence by the Left against their political foes. While not fascism, societies’ tolerance for political violence helped bring fascists to power. No volume of screaming “Nazi Nazi” at Trump can hide these simple facts.
“For many of the people who have turned out for the current protests, it has been a kind of group therapy, and already seem to be cementing new, cross-sectional liberal coalitions.”
— New York Times.
Leftists were right! After Trump’s election free speech is under attack as mobs assaulting people for speaking out. The latest was at Middlebury College, Vermont. As usual, it was Leftist mobs suppressing speech of conservatives. This is not fascism, but was a tactic used by Nazis.
“Charles Murray, a political scientist who has been criticized for his views on race and intelligence, was invited to speak on campus by a student group. He was greeted late Thursday afternoon outside McCullough Student Center by hundreds of protesters, and inside Wilson Hall, students turned their backs to him when he got up to speak.
“…As Stanger, Murray and a college administrator left McCullough Student Center last evening following the event, they were ‘physically and violently confronted by a group of protestors,’ according to Bill Burger, the college’s vice president for communications and marketing. Burger said college public safety officers managed to get Stanger and Murray into the administrator’s car.
“’The protestors then violently set upon the car, rocking it, pounding on it, jumping on and try to prevent it from leaving campus,” he said. ‘At one point a large traffic sign was thrown in front of the car. Public Safety officers were able, finally, to clear the way to allow the vehicle to leave campus. During this confrontation outside McCullough, one of the demonstrators pulled Prof. Stanger’s hair and twisted her neck,’ Burger continued. ‘She was attended to at Porter Hospital later and (on Friday) is wearing a neck brace.’” (Addison County Independent.)
A protester also triggered a fire alarm. The Burlington Free Press also reported on the event. Scott Jaschik at Inside Higher Ed gives additional detail on the event (red emphasis added).
Prior to the point when Murray was introduced, several Middlebury officials reminded students that they were allowed to protest but not to disrupt the talk. The students ignored those reminders and faced no visible consequences for doing so.
As soon as Murray took the stage, students stood up, turned their backs to him and started various chants that were loud enough and in unison such that he could not talk over them. Chants included: “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray, go away.” “Your message is hatred. We cannot tolerate it.” “Charles Murray, go away. Middlebury says no way.” “Who is the enemy? White supremacy.” “Hey hey, ho ho. Charles Murray has got to go.” After the students chanted for about 20 minutes, college officials announced that the lecture would not take place…”
Here is the event on YouTube. Murray appears near 19 minutes.
Laurie Patton, President of Middlebury College, posted a vague statement (we have values!) that carefully avoided condemning the violence, saying only “We will be responding in the very near future to the clear violations of Middlebury College policy that occurred inside and outside Wilson Hall.”
The WaPo gave its usual biased “journalism”. Nazis and others seeking to mobilize mob violence first categorize their opponents as the “other” outside the law, without rights. As the WaPo does, not subtly, in the opening two paragraphs.
“A libertarian author who has been called a white nationalist said college students who protested his guest lecture this week were “scary.”
“Middlebury College said a professor was injured by a protester following a demonstration against guest speaker Charles Murray on Thursday. The Southern Poverty Law Center considers Murray a white nationalist who uses ‘racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics to argue that social inequality is caused by the genetic inferiority of the black and Latino communities, women and the poor.’”
About The Bell Curve and white nationalism
See this letter by Charles Murray explains that the Left’s claims about his book are mostly lies. Indifference to the truth is a distinguishing characteristic of the Left and Right in America. Also, it is daft to say Murray is a “white nationalist” who points out that East Asians and Ashkenazi Jews have higher average IQs than White folks.
Conclusions. Or, many questions.
“The irony, I suppose, was necessarily lost on those who were also denouncing, their faces contorted with hatred, the ‘hate’ they attributed to Mr. Trump.”
— James Bowman in the New Criterion.
A defining characteristic of modern America is that both Left and Right have gone bonkers. The major media cover the weirdness of the Right. Since the election the Left has acted out their weirdness. How can they not see that they are doing what they accused Trump of doing? Such as questioning the legitimacy of the election, and mob violence against opponents (not fascism, but tactics used by fascists). Why do the leftists believe that mob violence will reverse the long decline in their political influence?
As for the rapidly sinking major media, they report about the Left’s mobs with respect and sympathy. How would they report right-wing mobs suppressing speech of liberals? Cries of “Nazi Nazi” would deafen millions.
The Right’s rapidly growing power, returning America to the dark days of the Gilded Age, requires the Left to reform and rebuild. So far they are doubling down on their failed tactics. They are a gift to Trump and the 1%.
Update: Charles Murray’s analysis
He gives a detailed description of the events at Middlebury, comparing it to his other experiences at US colleges. He has a darker interpretation of this event. It’s well worth reading: “Reflections on the revolution in Middlebury“. Here is the bottom line.
“If this becomes the new normal, the number of colleges willing to let themselves in for an experience like Middlebury’s will plunge to near zero. Academia is already largely sequestered in an ideological bubble, but at least it’s translucent. That bubble will become opaque.
“Worse yet, the intellectual thugs will take over many campuses. In the mid-1990s, I could count on students who had wanted to listen to start yelling at the protesters after a certain point, “Sit down and shut up, we want to hear what he has to say.” That kind of pushback had an effect. It reminded the protesters that they were a minority. I am assured by people at Middlebury that their protesters are a minority as well. But they are a minority that has intimidated the majority. The people in the audience who wanted to hear me speak were completely cowed. That cannot be allowed to stand. A campus where a majority of students are fearful to speak openly because they know a minority will jump on them is no longer an intellectually free campus in any meaningful sense.
“…What happened last Thursday has the potential to be a disaster for American liberal education.”
For More Information
If you liked this post, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. See all posts about freedom of speech, about protests, and especially these…
- Why don’t political protests work? What are the larger lessons from our repeated failures?
- The Left disrupts Trump’s rally. More of this might put him in the WH.
- The Left attacks US politics by shutting down Trump’s events.
- See free speech crushed at Tufts today. Remember 1964, when we were wild & untamed…
- Edgewood College attacks free speech. We laugh, ignoring its lessons for us all.
There is always a counter-revolution
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police
by Vox Day.
“…{T}his book is not a polemic against the thought police or an indictment of liberal politics. Even if your politics are to the left of Vox Day’s (and whose aren’t?), you’ll learn potentially career-saving information, as SJWs Always Lie is a how-to book. In SJWs Always Lie you’ll learn how to defend yourself against the thought police. Chapter 7 – What to Do When SJWS Attack – was my favorite.” (Review by Mike Cernovich.)
From his Amazon page: “{Vox Day} is a platinum-selling game designer who speaks four languages and a three-time Billboard Top 40 Club Play recording artist. His books have been translated into 10 languages. He maintains a pair of popular blogs, Vox Popoli and Alpha Game {both alt-Right advocacy}, which between them average over 3.2 million pageviews per month. He is an American Indian, the Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil, and the leader of the Rabid Puppies. The Wall Street Journal described him as “the most despised man in science fiction.”
New ideas and advice often originate on the fringes of society.
