Out of Patience

I was talking to my BF last night about recent events in Berkeley, and in the process, I discovered - or rediscovered, rather - my capacity for bloody-mindedness. 

I must confess: When I saw people actually fighting back against those black-masked wannabe revolutionaries, I was initially pleased. I understand on an intellectual level that egging on a series of ever-escalating street battles will probably not end well for our society as a whole. But I also can't help thinking that Moldylocks and her ilk absolutely deserved to get the crap kicked out of them -- that such a humiliating defeat couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of folks. 

I want to be thoughtful. I want to listen. I want to be civil. But there are certain ideological stances I refuse to countenance because they violate bedrock principles of our liberal constitutional system. To put it frankly, there is a line in the sand that you cannot cross without arousing my desire to utterly destroy you -- and these Antifa thugs definitely crossed that line some time ago.

I want them punished -- and upon reflection, I think there are nonviolent ways to do that. 

I think, for example, that every non-converged legislature needs to draft bills that demand that all educational institutions receiving public funding institute codes of conduct that fully restore First Amendment rights for students and faculty and establish expulsion procedures to handle malefactors who try to shut down speech through violence and intimidation. You don't have a right to a college education if you refuse to appreciate its purpose.

I also believe Congress should withdraw federal aid from any municipality that fails to arrest and criminally charge rioters. Peaceful demonstrations are one thing, but if you are setting fire to public property, breaking windows, throwing bricks, or lighting M80's, your ass belongs in jail -- and if we have to use what essentially amounts to blackmail to get you there, then so be it.

Lastly, each school's alumni should pressure administrators to put on their big-girl panties and stop giving in to their campus cry-bullies or else risk losing their jobs. If you can't stand up to the few who are throwing tantrums and defend the many, many other students and instructors at your school who are genuinely interested in the truth, then you don't deserve your position as president, dean, etc.

My BF remarked that the usual suspects would probably pitch fits if a program like the above were successfully enacted, but I say let them scream. They've already proven their incompetence; there's no reason we need to take them seriously now.