I’m all for sticking it to universities whenever they fail allow for diversity of views and robust debate; this is, after all, one of their central social functions in a free society. That said, it is particularly difficult to take a pro-free speech message seriously when it comes from the Republican Party, of all places.
Sessions at Georgetown will say campuses are "echo chamber of political correctness" and "shelter for fragile egos"https://t.co/6nYVPZzu2D
— Axios (@axios) September 24, 2017
This is the same Jeff Sessions who was so distraught about the violation of his own safe space that he sought to convict a Code Pink activist merely for laughing at him during a public hearing:
https://twitter.com/silverbough/status/886377487625801728
This is the same Republican Party who have quite recently focused their rhetoric on making American football stadiums into patriotic safe spaces, free from those who would offend delicate sensibilities by refusing to enact a mass ritual in the most politically correct manner possible:
Sports fans should never condone players that do not stand proud for their National Anthem or their Country. NFL should change policy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 24, 2017
This is the same White House who recently attempted to have a reporter fired for expressing a dissenting political opinion on her own personal Twitter account:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: ESPN anchor's comments on Trump a 'fireable offense' https://t.co/plfTnncuQg
— david farrell (@dfarrell_ucd) September 14, 2017
This is the same Republican Party who have engaged in a sustained assault on press freedoms in an effort to shield themselves from criticism and dissent, culminating in the election of a congressman who literally, physically attacked a reporter for daring to ask him a question. It is difficult to think of anyone in America less qualified to preach to us about the dangers of a political echo chamber than the Republican Party. Once they stop demanding shelter from criticism for their precarious ideology and fragile egos, they may yet become qualified to give free-speech advice to university administrators. Until they show us through their deeds that freedom of speech is for everyone—left, right, and center—we cannot be expected to believe their intentions are pure or their words sincere.
