Once upon a time folks on the liberal left on both sides of the Atlantic used to believe in free speech. In the McCarthyite era they were able to claim the moral high ground but somewhere in the last fifty years it has all gone horribly wrong. For the left now seems to think that free speech means that you can say whatever you want as long as you are a liberal, a lefty. The left misses the point: if you believe in free speech you fight for the right of your opponents to say what they want not just the rights of your supporters.
The left has closed down discussions as it denied free speech. And so for years it has been impossible to discuss immigration without the debate being closed down amid screams of racism. It has been impossible to discuss reform of the NHS becuase if you do not regard doctors as saints and the only solution to any problem to be to chuck ever more money down the bottomless pit you are a heartless fascist, a wicked Tory. The discussion is unable to progress.
There is a interesting debate about how affirmative action may actually adersely affect the career progression of capable female and ethnic candidates. But if you try to open up that discussion you are a sexist or a racist or both. So there is no debate. The left just closed it down.
And yesterday the left closed down Donald Trump. carrying banners marked "Make America Hate Again" the strormtroopers of the left forced the front runner for the GOP nomination to cancel a rally in Chicago. The only winner....Trump.
The college kids and middle class activists may see this as a victory. They are mistaken. They were never going to vote for him anyway. Among Republicans and "Reagan Democrats," the sort of folks who dont get a privileged start in life and an education at the sort of college where they no platform wicked capitalists and accept only one point of view, the shouting down of Trump will only make him more popular.
When did liberals stop supporting the idea of free speech? And when did they just become so stupid?