I'm trying to come up with a joke about the above comments argument. This is humor! (or at least, an attempt at it). Something *like* - not final form - this:
"ACLU is principled liberals who are willing to defend the free-speech rights of [Nazis|Fascists|far-right|right-wingers|conservatives]"
"FIRE is principled [Nazis|Fascists|far-right|right-wingers|conservatives] who are willing to defend the free-speech rights of liberals"
The problem is that the joke needs the same word in both slots to work, for parallelism. But something like "principled [Nazis]" is way too harsh. While "free-speech rights of [conservatives]" doesn't pack the necessary punch. I can't come up with the correct word with enough bite, but not insulting. Maybe there's a way to use "Nazi" but make it clear the second use is meant as a parody of the tendency to use it as a slur? That seems difficult, as parody doesn't work well on the Internet.
Anyway, consider this "workshopping", I do think there's a good joke somewhere in there.
Must be nice to be a right winger and the only speech you have to worry about is being opposed to land acknowledgments. And Greg says I'm wrong in saying that free speech is a right wing ideology! The Trump Administration is doing a lot worse than land acknowledgments but priorities I guess
Perhaps it has. When my obsession with FIRE reaches the level of your obsession with a made up right wing moral panic (so called "cancel culture") let me know. I'll definitely be seeking help at that point
He's right though. For example, there's a reason Trump isn't locking up people who insult him or advocate for trans rights, and it is not because he doesn't want to.
Free speech is right-wing if you think that reality leans right (in relation to wokeism it does! But in relation to , say, immigration, it leans left!).
If you are agnostic, free speech is the bedrock upon which left and right, not to mention democracy itself, can coexist.
The Trump Administration and Congress as well as Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature in that state (to name but one state) have made it functionally illegal for students to criticize Israel. There are massive campaigns dedicated to seeking out people in the private sector who criticize Israel and mob their employer until the person is fired. FIRE and Lukianoff have close ties to one of these campaigns through their associate Marc Randazza. The Trump Administration oversaw the murder of two people in the streets by masked government agents acting with impunity simply because they were exercising their expressive 1A rights. The anti-woke free speech movement has embraced the Trump Administration and these actions. FIRE gives their platform to these people who want to snuff out leftist speech rights and works hand in hand with them while they do so. That is a right wing bias no matter how many hairs you try to split. But God forbid a MAGA professor just ignore the land acknowledgement like everyone else. Nope, he had to have one last culture war victory
Many, I'd argue most, free speech absolutists of the last decade have shown that they are more than willing to support the suppression of leftist speech. At least two of these people, Ilya Shapiro and Marc Randazza, have deep personal and institutional ties to FIRE. Lukianoff has written that Trump is better on speech issues than Democrats or the left. Every chance they get they give credit to this Administration. Lukianoff posted an essay from Nate Honeycutt just recently in which Honeycutt praised Linda McMahon and the Department of Education
Saying that Trump is better on free speech than the contemporary left is not exactly a ringing endorsement. In some ways he clearly was, but that's partly because he was coming up against a very low bar!
By this standard all US presidents, except perhaps Trump in his first term, are murderers. Obama droned US citizens in Syria. Who knows what the death toll from Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan was? Etc etc
I'm trying to come up with a joke about the above comments argument. This is humor! (or at least, an attempt at it). Something *like* - not final form - this:
"ACLU is principled liberals who are willing to defend the free-speech rights of [Nazis|Fascists|far-right|right-wingers|conservatives]"
"FIRE is principled [Nazis|Fascists|far-right|right-wingers|conservatives] who are willing to defend the free-speech rights of liberals"
The problem is that the joke needs the same word in both slots to work, for parallelism. But something like "principled [Nazis]" is way too harsh. While "free-speech rights of [conservatives]" doesn't pack the necessary punch. I can't come up with the correct word with enough bite, but not insulting. Maybe there's a way to use "Nazi" but make it clear the second use is meant as a parody of the tendency to use it as a slur? That seems difficult, as parody doesn't work well on the Internet.
Anyway, consider this "workshopping", I do think there's a good joke somewhere in there.
Must be nice to be a right winger and the only speech you have to worry about is being opposed to land acknowledgments. And Greg says I'm wrong in saying that free speech is a right wing ideology! The Trump Administration is doing a lot worse than land acknowledgments but priorities I guess
You’re making up stuff, Ryan. Your unhealthy obsession with me has led you to lie a lot.
Perhaps it has. When my obsession with FIRE reaches the level of your obsession with a made up right wing moral panic (so called "cancel culture") let me know. I'll definitely be seeking help at that point
He's right though. For example, there's a reason Trump isn't locking up people who insult him or advocate for trans rights, and it is not because he doesn't want to.
Free speech is right-wing if you think that reality leans right (in relation to wokeism it does! But in relation to , say, immigration, it leans left!).
If you are agnostic, free speech is the bedrock upon which left and right, not to mention democracy itself, can coexist.
The Trump Administration and Congress as well as Greg Abbott and the Texas legislature in that state (to name but one state) have made it functionally illegal for students to criticize Israel. There are massive campaigns dedicated to seeking out people in the private sector who criticize Israel and mob their employer until the person is fired. FIRE and Lukianoff have close ties to one of these campaigns through their associate Marc Randazza. The Trump Administration oversaw the murder of two people in the streets by masked government agents acting with impunity simply because they were exercising their expressive 1A rights. The anti-woke free speech movement has embraced the Trump Administration and these actions. FIRE gives their platform to these people who want to snuff out leftist speech rights and works hand in hand with them while they do so. That is a right wing bias no matter how many hairs you try to split. But God forbid a MAGA professor just ignore the land acknowledgement like everyone else. Nope, he had to have one last culture war victory
Wait, which free speech movement embraced Trump?? Did FIRE ever endorse or support Trump (apart from guilt by association!)?
Many, I'd argue most, free speech absolutists of the last decade have shown that they are more than willing to support the suppression of leftist speech. At least two of these people, Ilya Shapiro and Marc Randazza, have deep personal and institutional ties to FIRE. Lukianoff has written that Trump is better on speech issues than Democrats or the left. Every chance they get they give credit to this Administration. Lukianoff posted an essay from Nate Honeycutt just recently in which Honeycutt praised Linda McMahon and the Department of Education
OK Ryan, this has a lot of lies in it. Your obsession is clouding your reading.
There are no lies
Saying that Trump is better on free speech than the contemporary left is not exactly a ringing endorsement. In some ways he clearly was, but that's partly because he was coming up against a very low bar!
Accusing President Trump of murder means we cannot consider you a rational interlocutor. Post what you will, but you'll change no serious readers.
And as if by design to prove my point about the intended audience of FIRE and Lukianoff here come MAGA to defend the murders
By this standard all US presidents, except perhaps Trump in his first term, are murderers. Obama droned US citizens in Syria. Who knows what the death toll from Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan was? Etc etc
Mere repetition of lies is characteristic of progressive trolls.
Facts or crawl away.