The hard left is always complaining about having their feelings hurt, I mean their views allegedly “censored.” Among the more preposterous aspects of Wesley Clark’s campaign slogan of a “new patriotism” is his pledge to create America where people are not afraid to voice dissent. Give me a break. This spring, I was almost deafened by the chants of the pro-Saddam or anti-war left. Walking the beagle tonight in my neighborhood in DC I saw three posters portraying vicious hatred of the United States. And that’s fine by me. Furthermore, I have yet to see a single example of government censorship in this country since 9/11. (The worrying exception is the way in which the Secret Service seems to be quarantining legitimate demonstrations against the president. But this blog – and many others written by non-lefties – have been foremost in complaining about that). So where are the real blacklists, the real attempts to police thought, censor opposing views and ruthlessly promoote people on the basis of ideology, not merit? On campus, of course, one of the few places in America where the hard left still exercizes as much control as it can. David Brooks’ column yesterday, when you think about it, is shocking. And its shock comes primarily from the fact that we all know it already.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “The Church has got it wrong in the past – there’s no doubt about it. For most of Christian history, for instance, it was assumed that Jews had no place in the providence of God. I think you can take the view that, just as the Church eventually abolished slavery, so they ended up in favour of votes for women, so they voted for the ordination of women, and this is just one more issue where the Church has got it wrong,” – Anglican bishop, the Rt Rev Richard Harries, on the question of how Christianity will eventually see gay and lesbian human beings.
The Dish 