[tomder55]

This is a sobering survey .3700 students were polled at 159 different colleges . The survey found that almost a quarter of them think that violence against unwanted speech is justified . 66% said shoutdowns are justified .

The 2021 College Free Speech Rankings (thefire.org)

Fire maintains an extensive database examining free speech issues The group has found that it’s becoming more common for students to try censoring, canceling or protesting campus speakers.

More than 80% of students report self-censoring their viewpoints at their colleges at least some of the time, with 21% saying they censor themselves often.

The rational course for a speaker would be to disengage and not express themselves in such a hostile environment . Some more courageous speakers have survived such intimidation by the woke mobs. Some have been injured in the process.

Allison Stanger, a professor of politics and economics at Middlebury College was hospitalized in 2017 after such an incident , She was moderating an event at Middlebury College that featured Charles Murray, the author of 'The Bell Curve' and 'Coming Apart.'

She is a Dem who does not agree with Murray . But she agreed to moderate anyway. Murray wrote of the incident .

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.

Reflections on the Revolution in Middlebury | American Enterprise Institute - AEI


Now that was 6 years ago. In that time campus' have become more intolerable .

March 14 , Charlie Kirk had an event at U Cal Davis . This was hosted by the student group 'Turning Point USA' that Kirk founded .
Before the event UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May inflamed the mob by condemning Kirk .
UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May Comments on March 14 Student-led Event - YouTube
Not surprising then that event dissolved into mob violence by the fascist Antifa . Protesters smashed windows and used pepper spray in an attempt to prevent the audience from attending . A police officer was injured . Kirk still made his address.

A week before this Judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down during his remarks to Stanford Law’s Federalist Society. When the dean of the school Jenny Martinez apologized to the judge ,she was cornered by Antifa protesters .

The University of Pittsburgh has three events featuring speakers who students claim are transphobic. 11,000 people signed a petition to cancel . So far the school is holding firm .

But the continued intimidation tactics of the left threatens to turn universities ;where the free and open exchange of ideas should be paramount ,into echo chambers .

[tomder55]

Charlie Kirk was assassinated today at an event at Utah Valley University . Agree or disagree with him ;he was a free speech advocate and was always willing to go into the lion's den of censorship ;the American university to have a free and open exchange of ideas. For engaging in such a manner he paid for it by taking a bullet to the neck .


My thoughts on the course that we are heading to can be found in these postings

People's Will reborn The left rediscovers an appreciation for assassination

The anarchist left is celebrating today

[tomder55]

[tomder55]

The killer has been identified and taken into custody. He wrote antfa messages on the casings of his bullets . One of the messages stood out as one I have referenced a couple of times on these pages . It is one that was used by the Italian resistance against the fascists .

His using it is warped because in now way was Charlie Kirk a fascists . He was for open debate on the merits of ideas ;something the left is willing to kill to suppress .

Bella ciao, Iran

Bella Ciao - La Casa De Papel (Money Heist) [4K]

[tomder55]

We as a generation remember the JFK assassination and how it changed the nation. We remember 9-11 for the same reason.
All over X there are similar comments posted about how people can't sleep over the assassination of Charlie Kirk. This may be one of those pivotal moments in American history .

I have spent some time detailing how the attempt has been made to silence conservative thought. There was a full scale effort in the Obama-Biden era . It is still going on in Europe. The left thought they had it done. Then Musk overpaid for Twitter and made it a free speech platform . In desperation they attempted to assassinate Trump twice. (a millimeter makes all the difference )
What they couldn't achieve in lawfare they have instead resorted to political violence to achieve political aims
(The Trump attempts ;the attempt on Kavanaugh ;the attempt on Shapiro; the arson attacks on Tesla ;the attacks on Federal Agents in Portland Texas and Chicago etc)

They think that in killing Kirk they have taken away his voice.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine"

Star Wars - I Shall Become More Powerful Than You Can Possibly Imagine (Obi-Wan Kenobi)

As Erika Kirk said yesterday ;they don't know what they have unleashed .

"To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die .It won't. I refuse to let that happen. … No one will ever forget my husband's name. And I will make sure of it. It will become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever. My husband's mission will not end. Not even for a moment. My husband's voice will remain, and it will ring out louder and more clearly than ever. And his wisdom will endure."
FULL: Erika Kirk speaks for the first time since husband Charlie Kirk's assassination
I also pray his assassination will be a pivotal moment for the nation .

Tom MacDonald - CHARLIE - YouTube