BY JOHN K. WILSON
In a speech yesterday at a Turning Point USA conference, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared: “We are reaching a pivotal and historic moment. After more than two centuries of defending the right to speak freely, a cadre—mostly on the hard left—has openly and systematically justified action to deny Americans the right to speak their mind.”
Is Jeff Sessions delusional? Does he actually believe that America has completely and consistently defended free speech for more than 200 years and now suddenly, for the first time ever, some people are calling for censorship, and they are “on the hard left”? It’s no coincidence that Sessions refuses to intervene (or even mention the existence of the possibility) when conservatives threaten free speech on campus. I won’t bother to list all of the people in American history who have called for limiting the right to speak freely, except to note that it includes almost everyone, especially the members of the Trump Administration, and the group he was speaking to, Turning Point USA, which created the Professor Watchlist.
Sessions announced: “We have to stand up to this challenge—and we will do so resolutely. This is truly a mainstream defense against a radical, ahistorical, and unconstitutional threat that must be defeated. It is time to put a stake in its heart.”
I have no idea what Sessions means by an “ahistorical” threat, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know, either. Perhaps he means “unprecedented in history” which is, as I’ve noted, a very dumb argument (and also not what “ahistorical” is). I do worry that instead of seeking to persuade those who disagree with him, Sessions wants to “put a stake in its heart.” That’s the sort of radical attitude that leads to people denying others the right to speak their mind.
Sessions announced the dire threats on campus:
Through “trigger warnings” about “microaggressions,” cry closets, “safe spaces,” optional exams, therapy goats, and grade inflation, too many schools are coddling our young people and actively preventing them from scrutinizing the validity of their beliefs.
This list shows an incredible amount of ignorance about colleges, like some idiot stringing together random things that outrage Tucker Carlson. Trigger warnings are not “about” microaggressions, those are two separate topics, neither of which are imposed at any campuses I’m aware of. I don’t know what Sessions means by “optional exams” (the only reference to that I can find are private colleges like the University of Chicago choosing to allow students to apply without taking the SATs), grade inflation has been happening for decades, and “safe spaces” (like religious group houses) have always existed on campuses. The “cry closet” was a student art project during finals at one place, the University of Utah library. I don’t know why Sessions hates cute goats, but colleges have been holding stress-relieving study breaks during finals for decades and decades, and adorable animals are not preventing students from having their beliefs scrutinized.
Sessions declared, “Rather than molding a generation of mature and well-informed adults, some schools are doing everything they can to create a generation of sanctimonious, sensitive, supercilious snowflakes.”
Oh, look, someone’s trying to win the Trump Cabinet alliteration contest. I’m not sure why Sessions, in a sanctimonious and supercilious speech, thinks he can be taken seriously to make a tirade against moralizing and arrogance. More importantly, no matter how flawed you think this generation is, they can’t come close to matching Donald Trump, who is the sanctimonious, sensitive, supercilious snowflake-in-chief.
