# The left hates free speech **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 12, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720 "2013-11-12T13:39:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/61 "2013-11-12T22:01:22Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Remember when the Bushies wouldn’t allow people with the wrong type of t-shirt in to hear him speak? They were protecting freedom of speech no doubt - couldn’t let Shrub get shouted down by a loud shirt now, can we? The reason for this is that if you let a leftist in, he will probably shout you down or hurl something at you. There is nothing like this on the right. can anyone find an example of a right-wing person shouting down a leftist speaker or throwing something at him/her? or somehow preventing a leftist speaker from speaking his/her mind? ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/62 "2013-11-12T22:03:49Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > The reason for this is that if you let a leftist in, he will probably shout you down or hurl something at you. There is nothing like this on the right. can anyone find an example of a right-wing person shouting down a leftist speaker or throwing something at him/her? or somehow preventing a leftist speaker from speaking his/her mind? [This went a little further than cream pies.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers'_murders) ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/63 "2013-11-12T22:06:50Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > [This went a little further than cream pies.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_civil_rights_workers'_murders) Haha! interesting. but the KKK was largely supported by democrats. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/64 "2013-11-12T22:08:39Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > Haha! interesting. but the KKK was largely supported by democrats. 🙂 What happened to “the left”? ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/65 "2013-11-12T22:09:05Z")
Let’s not forget that it is the left that supports this the Fairness Doctrine. [FCC fairness doctrine - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairness_Doctrine) It is also the left which supports campaign finance reform which is a huge violation of free speech. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/66 "2013-11-12T22:10:06Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > The reason for this is that if you let a leftist in, he will probably shout you down or hurl something at you. There is nothing like this on the right. can anyone find an example of a right-wing person shouting down a leftist speaker or throwing something at him/her? or somehow preventing a leftist speaker from speaking his/her mind? Corn meet my friend William Orielly. ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/67 "2013-11-12T22:11:46Z")
What’s funny is that leftists will even shout down their own people if they aren’t left enough. Remember the “Don’t tase me bro!!” incident in Florida? [University of Florida student Tasered at Kerry forum - YouTube](http://youtu.be/6bVa6jn4rpE) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/68 "2013-11-12T22:13:38Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > Haha! interesting. but the KKK was largely supported by democrats. 🙂 So you concede that conservatives have gone far, far, FAR further in suppressing free speech than anything you’ve mentioned in this thread so far. I accept your apology. I think you can ask the mods to close this thread now, because your argument is finished. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/69 "2013-11-12T22:15:25Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > What’s funny is that leftists will even shout down their own people if they aren’t left enough. Remember the “Don’t tase me bro!!” incident in Florida? [http://youtu.be/6bVa6jn4rpE](http://youtu.be/6bVa6jn4rpE) What about the business owner who fired the woman in 2004 for having a Kerry for President bumper sticker on her car? What about [Tea Partiers](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25646.html) shouting down speakers during town halls? ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/70 "2013-11-12T22:17:39Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > So you concede that conservatives have gone far, far, FAR further in suppressing free speech than anything you’ve mentioned in this thread so far. > > I accept your apology. I think you can ask the mods to close this thread now, because your argument is finished. uhh…I have a little trouble with your assumption that the KKK is to be identified with the right. Furthermore, I was referring to our own time. not 1964. ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/71 "2013-11-12T22:19:47Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > What about the business owner who fired the woman in 2004 for having a Kerry for President bumper sticker on her car? > > What about [Tea Partiers](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25646.html) shouting down speakers during town halls? I admit some of these tea partiers went too far. still…no tea partier ever blocked an entrance or threw pies at a speaker. leftist speakers do not need bodyguards when they go to speak at a public university. right wingers don’t dare go on a college campus without guards. they certainly can’t rely on the college leadership or security to protect them. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/72 "2013-11-12T22:30:03Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > I admit some of these tea partiers went too far. still…no tea partier ever blocked an entrance or threw pies at a speaker. leftist speakers do not need bodyguards when they go to speak at a public university. right wingers don’t dare go on a college campus without guards. they certainly can’t rely on the college leadership or security to protect them. How about a sitting United States Senator calling someone with a video camera, who wasn’t disrupting anyone, a racial slur? [Cite.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90z0PMnKwI) Clearly, the right hates the freedom of the press. [This guy](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6mCTU4NpRQ) could have used some security because he had the audacity to film what is described as a Tea Party rally in Arizona. Senator Rand Paul went to give a speech at Howard University, and said that the event went much better than the media portrayed. There is no mention of bodyguards protecting him from cream pies – perhaps you can find a cite about all the things thrown at him from what was universally (except for Senator Paul) panned as a really bad speech? ---
**Author:** ![cornopean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cornopean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornopean)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/73 "2013-11-12T22:38:22Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > How about a sitting United States Senator calling someone with a video camera, who wasn’t disrupting anyone, a racial slur? [Cite.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r90z0PMnKwI) Clearly, the right hates the freedom of the press. what was the slur? and calling someone a racial slur is stupid but not a free speech violation. > [@](#): > > Senator Rand Paul went to give a speech at Howard University, and said that the event went much better than the media portrayed. There is no mention of bodyguards protecting him from cream pies – perhaps you can find a cite about all the things thrown at him from what was universally (except for Senator Paul) panned as a really bad speech? what does this prove? one guy goes to a university and isn’t assaulted so…that proves?? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/74 "2013-11-12T22:39:01Z")
How about a sitting President of the United States not even allowing anyone with dissenting views into any event where he would be speaking? That goes a little further than just shouting, to my view. No, wait, let me guess: George W. Bush doesn’t count, because he’s actually a liberal. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/75 "2013-11-12T22:41:36Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > I admit some of these tea partiers went too far. still…no tea partier ever blocked an entrance or threw pies at a speaker. leftist speakers do not need bodyguards when they go to speak at a public university. right wingers don’t dare go on a college campus without guards. they certainly can’t rely on the college leadership or security to protect them. Many of the people on college campuses are “right wingers” generally, about half. You just do not hear from them as often on political issues because they are in business school learning to make money, or busy learning to advance the natural sciences. The people getting shouted down have unpopular opinions and are a victim of mob mentality. It is unfortunate but it is not a left verses right issue. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/76 "2013-11-12T22:48:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How about a sitting President of the United States not even allowing anyone with dissenting views into any event where he would be speaking? That goes a little further than just shouting, to my view. > > No, wait, let me guess: George W. Bush doesn’t count, because he’s actually a liberal. This was not technically an actual violation of anyone’s rights to speech. It does however deny GWB a place in history as a president that had even the tiniest shred of respect for the \*spirit \*of the first amendment. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/77 "2013-11-12T22:48:49Z")
> [@cornopean](#): > > Haha! interesting. but the KKK was largely supported by democrats. 🙂 We donated all those democrats to you guys. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/78 "2013-11-12T22:54:27Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > We donated all those democrats to you guys. Only when it suited your interests. > [@](#): > > [Robert Byrd](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/06/what_does_an_exalted_cyclops_do.html), the longest-serving senator in U.S. history, died Monday at 92. While he was most famous as a master of the Senate’s obscure rules, Byrd wore many hats during his lifetime, including that of Exalted Cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan. What are the job responsibilities of an Exalted Cyclops? > > He presides over the Council of the Centaurs and writes quarterly reports to the Grand Giant. In the Klan hierarchy, each local chapter, or Klavern, is led by an Exalted Cyclops. This member is typically elected by his fellow Klansmen and serves a one-year term. According to the original 1867 Prescript of the Ku Klux Klan, the Exalted Cyclops reports to a Grand Giant, or provincial leader; a Grand Dragon, or state director; and the Grand Wizard, or national chair. Below the Cyclops on the org chart were the Grand Magi, the Grand Monk, the Grand Exchequer, the Grand Turk, and, finally, the rank-and-file members known as Ghouls or Knights. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/79 "2013-11-12T22:55:17Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > Such as? Such as most political speech predating radio and TV. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720/80 "2013-11-12T22:55:54Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Such as most political speech predating radio and TV. Trains cost more than radio transmitters. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-left-hates-free-speech/673720.md?page=5)