Defecating on Free Speech: Not a good day for free speech nor civil discourse yesterday when officials of Brown University were forced to cancel a speech (including a planned Q&A session) by New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, when he was continuously booed and heckled by a boorish, rude and intolerant group of students. Personally, I have zero (less than zero if this is possible) sympathy or tolerance for groups of people that trample on the exercise of free speech by others. Shouting down a speaker at a public event is not only offensive, but is an intellectually cowardly act. Our society affords individuals and groups a myriad of opportunities to protest, and noisily so, issues of concern and this being the case, there is no need for the type of display that took place at Brown. There is simply no room in polite and civil society for the level of intolerance shown by the students and other audience members there. They should be ashamed of their childish and impolite behavior -- however, they are likely too immature and self-centered to realize this. Again, shame on them.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 14:10:06 +0000
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