More Liberal Perspectives On Free Speech

The hits just keep on comin'!

From: Weapons of class instruction

The myth of the university as a neutral ground on which armed fascists should be welcomed as distinguished guests, though the people they terrorize are coded as good enough only to clean floors or serve hamburgers lies at the center of many of the loud condemnations of the protesters that have thus far circulated - and the video embedded on the site linked to above shows one young republican referrign to his fellow students in a manner which is, frankly, racist -- as "animals" inapable of the sort of rational dialogue we all know that conservatives are so quick to engage in.

From comments at The Gothamist...

The rushing of the stage was seemingly spontaneous, and quite fast. Seeing the republicans up there with ugly faces trying to rip the banners out of the activists hands was fun. Glad it happened early cause we were sick of hearing stupidity.

Why would anyone want to be a college republican in a liberal college? It's like being a nazi at a hasidic village. It's like you are just being there to piss other people off and not only that but being around liberals would probably just piss you off more. so you have this sado masoschistic relationship with your ideology. sad.

This protest seems more like an opposition to the College Republicans who invited the Minuteman - than to the Minutemen themselves. These Republicans enable the corporate agenda in this country - and allow Bush and Co. to devour the planet...they actually help them to do it (while chanting God Bless America). So it is with them that we start our revolt. Then we move up the ladder.
Their policies are violent - the least we can do as human beings is rush the stage eh?
Bravo Columbia! Wish I was there.

rushing a stage is a hell of a lot better than rushing a border armed to the teeth intent on shooting to kill!!! free speech? at least gilchrist got 3 minutes. that is a lot more time that he and his band of thugs will allow any so-called "illegal" to live.....

however i dont care who started the altercation, as long as the minutemen are taken down

I agree that the students were aggressive, or the aggressors or whatever. That's a very positive thing. Aggression is the only way to get anything done. Just ask Karl Rove, just ask the Minutemen. They are all heavily armed and patrolling the border down south - that seems pretty aggressive to me? And they made international headlines and now they are getting their precious 700 mile fence.  Be Aggressive. Scare them. Force their hands. When are people going to learn that when you want something - you do not take NO for an answer.

The People are idiots on the average, and the concept of nuance does not exist in their concrete world. I'm fine with that and I still love em for it. But that changes my approach to hammering some of my thoughts through their thick little skulls.

gilchrist is no freakin' academic, lawyer or politician with tons of experience or anything, but some gun toting idiot. he is a freakin' racist, bigotted moron who has no authority in what he says.

From Chris From Limb...

I just saw on Lou Dobbs Tonight, a story about some Columbia University students who bum-rushed a stage where Jim Gilchrist (founder of the border patrol group "The Minutemen Project") was about to start his speach in front of a young Republicans group. They jumped on stage with a banner and signs and he ran like a little girl!! What a bitch! I was so proud...

From Boycott Disney...

jim gilchrist, founder of the minuteman project, took his hateful show on the road yesterday to new york city, where he was scheduled to speak at colombia university. as soon as he started his "show", students and activists stormed the stage and shut him down!! kudos to them all.

From comments at Bwog...

FUCK THE MINUTEMEN!

To hell with that. The protest wasn't about how awesome the law is, or how awesome the Constitution is -- it's when a group (and, on a greater scale, an entire society) is behaving in a way that's unacceptable to a large and generally silenced element of society. The Q&A... pfft. Would you hold a Q&A with ACTUAL fascists? Or would you take action? There's a time and a place.

If nothing else, this is the one day of the year where people can't draw tragic comparisons to '68 -- culture of protest is back! Kind of refreshing to see one where people actually gave a shit and did something.

Does anyone here understand that being a Columbia student or even being a fucking HUMAN BEING means thinking about a little bit more than your CC homework? When the Republicans take it on themselves to invite barely coherent, gun-toting fascists to campus, that represent nobody and that stand against the values of the vast majority of the campus and the city, they should expect aggressive protest. I am overjoyed that this hate-mongering was drowned out.

The comparison some posters make between Minutemen and Nazis, while quite a stretch, is in many ways apt. And if Nazis has a large following and significant campus interest, theyh should be invited to speak.

Sorry, but the voice of reason precludes letting Nazis speak, just as it does letting Ahmenijad speak.

It's about time we had a good fight. Sometimes...it's what feels good. Shame I didn't see it.

We had the right to speak for the powerless against the powerful. You can't have a legitimate debate with people who terrorize immigrants. If the CUCR had invited somebody from the other side of the spectrum, then it would have been called a "debate". But they didn't. Did The Minutement think they were just going to come to Columbia (knowing CU is mostly liberal) and not be challenge? ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION IS ONE THING, HUNTING PEOPLE AND THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IS AN ATROCITY.

It almost made me feel sorry for the Minutemen - until I remembered the content of the speeches themselves. Invite right-wing fascists to speak, expect left-wing fascists to respond in kind.

As a person who (thankfully) didn't attend an institution of higher drinking, wow! One used to think there was some sort of (nominal) intellectual standard involved in college admissions. Clearly not.

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