By Michael Torgerson
Recently both sides of the political aisle have taken a stand on the first amendment and free speech. They are completely against it. Milo Yiannopoulos' upcoming visit to the Cal Poly on Jan. 31 has only further proved the fact that neither major party in the US wants people to have the right to free speech.
Yiannopoulos is an outspoken conservative, who happens to be gay, and is often labeled as a white supremacist. Often times violent protests follow him wherever he goes, which has led locals who normally don't care too much about the political leanings of the speakers at Cal Poly to become quite concerned. Well to those people I can only promise you one thing. If the students at Cal Poly believe, at all in the freedom of speech then there will be no violence. The problem is, we all know they don't. Modern "progressives" have been on a rampage recently, attacking anything they see as hate speech, whereas the modern "conservatives" have gone on an equally frightening rampage against anything they deem disrespectful to the flag, or to the state.
Both sides don't seem to understand that they are completely wrong. Under the first amendment Yiannopoulos is allowed to speak AND the people are allowed to peacefully protest. The key word in there being peacefully. The first amendment allows people the right to "peaceably assemble." It's that peaceably part that people across the country seem to have forgotten. That same amendment, however, grants Mr. Yiannopoulos the right to speak at Cal Poly, which, it is important to note, a public institution, therefore under the control of the government. Modern "progressives" see him as the creator of all of this hate and violence when in reality it's them who are pushing the chaos. Conservatives, quotation marks implied, however, aren't immune to this over dramatization of their own of their own hurt feelings. Seemingly every time someone protests against the government, or the flag, in the US conservatives, I shouldn't have to put the quotation marks here anymore, cry out about how offensive it is to our troops to our troops or even to themselves.
Every person needs their own pocket Constitution and Bill of Rights. I have mine massive and framed on my wall. Every morning I get up knowing my freedom of speech should be protected and loved, yet it's dying at the hands of those it protects.
Yiannopoulos is an outspoken conservative, who happens to be gay, and is often labeled as a white supremacist. Often times violent protests follow him wherever he goes, which has led locals who normally don't care too much about the political leanings of the speakers at Cal Poly to become quite concerned. Well to those people I can only promise you one thing. If the students at Cal Poly believe, at all in the freedom of speech then there will be no violence. The problem is, we all know they don't. Modern "progressives" have been on a rampage recently, attacking anything they see as hate speech, whereas the modern "conservatives" have gone on an equally frightening rampage against anything they deem disrespectful to the flag, or to the state.
Both sides don't seem to understand that they are completely wrong. Under the first amendment Yiannopoulos is allowed to speak AND the people are allowed to peacefully protest. The key word in there being peacefully. The first amendment allows people the right to "peaceably assemble." It's that peaceably part that people across the country seem to have forgotten. That same amendment, however, grants Mr. Yiannopoulos the right to speak at Cal Poly, which, it is important to note, a public institution, therefore under the control of the government. Modern "progressives" see him as the creator of all of this hate and violence when in reality it's them who are pushing the chaos. Conservatives, quotation marks implied, however, aren't immune to this over dramatization of their own of their own hurt feelings. Seemingly every time someone protests against the government, or the flag, in the US conservatives, I shouldn't have to put the quotation marks here anymore, cry out about how offensive it is to our troops to our troops or even to themselves.
Every person needs their own pocket Constitution and Bill of Rights. I have mine massive and framed on my wall. Every morning I get up knowing my freedom of speech should be protected and loved, yet it's dying at the hands of those it protects.