EXCERPTSFROM

TheSilencing:HowtheLeftIsKillingFreeSpeech
ByKirstenPowers

ALiberalUpbringing
Igrewupduringthe1970swithafeministmotherwhowastrailblazingherwayacrossAlaska
as one of the countrys few female archaeologists.My political education occurred at the
dinnertable.Whetheratmymotherorfathershouse,thetopicinvariablywouldbepolitics.It
was there I was also taught how to defend my views. We viewed this as a necessary survival
skill, as our family was surrounded by people who believed liberalism was the root of all
evil.Despite this background, I cant remember anyone ever suggesting that conservative
viewswereillegitimateandunworthyofdebate.IfirstencounteredthatattitudewhenImovedto
New York City much later, where bumping into a conservative was less likely than spotting a
unicorn.Thatunfamiliarityultimatelybredcontempt.(pp.xixii)
DelegitimizingandSilencingTacticsbyIlliberals
Withnosenseofironyorshame,theilliberalleftwillengageinracist,sexist,misogynist,and
homophobic attacks of their own in an effort to delegitimize people who dissent from the
already decided worldview. Nonwhite conservatives are called sellouts and race traitors.
Conservative women are treated as dimwitted, selfloathing puppets of the patriarchy, or
nefarious gender traitors. Men who express the wrong political or ideological view are
demonized as hostile interlopers into the public debate. The illiberal left sees its bullying and
squelchingoffreespeechasarighteousact
Theilliberalleftknowsthatdelegitimizationworks.Itstheirstrongestweaponinacountrywith
unparalleledfreespeechprotections.Ifyoucantsuppressviewsyoudontlikewithrepressive
laws,thendelegitimizethepeopleexpressingthem
Adialoguewiththeilliberalleftisoneinwhichtheyinformyouoftherightwaytothink.
Resistance to their demands will result in your being stuck with labels like bigot, misogynist,
homophobe, racist, sexist, or some other toxic moniker thats alienating to the rest of society.
(pp.5,8,58)

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McCarthyismHasComeFullCircle
SenatorJosephMcCarthysruthlesscampaigntorootoutthosehebelievedtobedisloyaltothe
United States spawned the term McCarthyism to refer to the practice of making false
accusationsagainstpoliticalorideologicalenemiesinanefforttodelegitimizeandsilencethem.
In addition to his antiCommunist crusades, McCarthy worked to expel from government
positions people whom he accused, or threatened to publicly accuse, of homosexuality. How
ironic that today there is a leftwing crusade to expel from positions of authority anyone who
opposessamesexmarriage.TheMcCarthyiteimpulsehascomefullcircle.
The more success the illiberal left has in terrorizing people who express dissenting views, the
fewerobjectionstherewillbe.Mostpeopleunderstandablyjustwanttodotheirjobsandsupport
theirfamilies.Giventhechoicebetweenbeingshunnedbytheirpeersorlosingtheirjobfora
personal view, they will almost always choose silence over confrontationDebate and
persuasionshouldbethereflexiveresponsetodisagreementandevenharmfulpropositions,not
an authoritarian impulse to silence. It should be so not only because it is just, but because no
societycanflourishwithouttheclashofideas.(p.1013)
DeployingIlliberalTacticstoIntimidateandBullyChristians
Theilliberalleftreservesaspecialstrainofstridentwrathformanifestationsorprotectionsof
ChristianbeliefinAmerica.Resistancetosamesexmarriageisarguablythebelieftheilliberal
leftfindsmostoffensive.Itscertainlyoneoftheprimarybattlefieldsonwhichthewaronfree
speechisbeingwaged.TheilliberallefthasworkedhardtoconvinceAmericansthatopposing
samesexmarriageissoinherentlyimmoralthattheoppositionmustbebrutallysuppressed.
WhiletheilliberalleftseemstoholdaspecialanimositytoChristianity,itisstrangelyprotective
ofIslam,despitethefactthatorthodoxMuslimsalsoopposesamesexmarriage.(pp.52,60)
SpeechCodesandFreeSpeechZones
[O]n todays campuses, leftleaning administrators, professors, and students are working
overtime in their campaign of silencing dissent, and their unofficial tactics of ostracizing,
smearing, and humiliation are highly effective. But what is even more chillingand more far
reachingis the official power they abuse to ensure the silencing of views they dont like.
Theyveinventedalabyrinthofantifreespeechtoolsthatincludespeechcodes,freespeech
zones,censorship,investigationsbycampusdiversityandtoleranceoffices,anddenialofdue
process.Theycraftantiharassmentpoliciesandantiviolencepoliciesthatarespeechcodes
indisguise.
Weneedtoabandonthechildishandilliberalideathatuniversitiesaremeanttobeemotionally
safe places where students are never offended, never have to defend their beliefs, or never
havetoencounteravieworideaorfacttheydislike.Thegoalofacollegeoruniversityshould
bedevelopingintellectualrigorthatcomesfromthefreeclashingofideas.(pp.79,88)

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TheIlliberalLeftsWaronFoxNewsandFoxWomen
[T]heilliberalleftcondemnsFoxNews,whichhasplentyofstraightnewsprogramming,purely
becauseithashostswhoareconservative,evenifthosehostsgiveairtimetoliberals.Imoften
challengedbyliberalsaboutworkingforthechannel.Sometimesthechallengeisalittlelessthan
friendly.In2011IwasseatednearGloriaSteinemataluncheon.Atonepoint,sheturnedtome
andasked,WhydoyougoonFox?Shesaidmyappearancescameatsuchagreatcost.I
wasshocked,butsaidwhatIassumedeveryrealliberalwouldsay:itsimportanttodebate
ideas.
Oneoftheworstaspectsoftheilliberalleftisitsheinoussexismagainstwomenwithwhomthey
disagreetotheilliberalleft,MegynKellyisnotareporteroracommentatororawomantobe
respectedforherachievements.SheisaFoxbabetobecharacterizedbyherlooks.
WhatmighthavebeenmoreelevatingwasrecognizingtheachievementsofFoxNewsfemale
anchors, reporters, and commentatorsBut acknowledging the talent and achievements of the
people who work at Fox News contradicts the illiberal lefts propaganda that Fox News is
somehowillegitimate.Itisonlyillegitimatebecausetheilliberalleftwantstosilencedissent
and seeks to do so not through besting its opponents in argument and debate but through the
lowestformofscurriloussexismorsimplerefusaltotolerateotherpointsofview.(pp.117123)
TheWaragainsttheFourthEstate

Itssadthatithastobeexplainedtoliberalsthatengagingwithideasoropinionstheydontlike
isacriticalandexpectedpartoflifeinthepublicsquare.Butthisiswherewearewiththe
illiberalleft.Theirintoleranceissounboundthattheoverwhelmingdominanceofleftyandpro
Democraticviewpointsinthemediadoesntsatethem.Whenitcomestoviewsthatdissentfrom
theirworldview,onlyoneresultisacceptable:totalsilence.(pp.147148)
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ToscheduleaninterviewwithKirstenPowers,pleasecontactElizabethRay
ateray@crcpublicrelations.com(ext.130)orStephanieKundertat
skundert@crcpublicrelations.com(ext.136)at7036835004.

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