How ridiculous is it that Berkeley, the school that once birthed the national free speech movement, can't have a speaker based on threats of violence?



Sure, back in the 1960's, the attempt was to silence students about black civil rights. But everyone's entitled to their say in a free society - even a poisonous harpy like Ann Coulter.



Flip-flopping on whether she can speak, and relegating her to a time when few can attend, is a shameful stifling of unpopular viewpoints.



Berkeley and other schools have also canceled speeches by Milo Yiannopoulos, the former Breitbart editor and professional jerk. Hecklers have tried to drown him out. We've seen the same for white supremacist Richard Spencer.



It gives these shock jocks exactly what they want: Victim status. But even more tiresome are universities with no gumption to stand up to their fascist students.



And if those threatening violence aren't students, why not just arrest them? Or close off the event to outsiders? They can't be allowed to determine who can and cannot speak on campus.



As Robert Reich, a former Clinton official who is now a professor at Berkeley, argues, if schools can't do everything in their power to foster and protect free speech, "they aren't universities. They're playpens."

Exactly.

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