3.29.2005

From the mouths of babes

... or, more precisely, from the mouths of game show hosts who look like Dan Quayle.

Pat Sajak, of all people, has a post that brilliantly and concisely captures the feelings many of us have when trying to have a political conversation with our left-wing friends.


The moral superiority they bring to the table allows them to alter the playing field and the rules in their favor. They can say and do things the other side can’t because, after all, they have the greater good on their side. If a Conservative—one of the bad guys—complains about the content of music, films or television shows aimed at children, he is being a prude who wants to tell other people what to read or listen to or watch; he is a censor determined to legislate morality. If, however, a Liberal complains about speech and, in fact, supports laws against certain kinds of speech, it is right and good because we must be protected from this “hate speech” or “politically incorrect” speech. (Of course, they—being the good guys—will decide exactly what that is.)

Protests about Ward Churchill, the University of Colorado professor and self-proclaimed Native American, who, among other things, likened some Sept. 11
victims to Adolf Eichmann (there go those pesky Nazis again), were characterized by much of the Left as an effort to stifle academic freedom. But, when Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers’ job is put in jeopardy over a caveat-filled musing about science and gender, it’s okay, because what he said was sooo wrong (even if it has to be mis-characterized to make the point).

When Liberals want to legislate what you’re allowed to drive or what you should eat or how much support you can give to a political candidate or what you can or can’t say, they are doing it for altruistic reasons. The excesses of the Left are to be excused because these folks operate from the higher moral ground and the benefit of the greater wisdom and intelligence gained from that perspective.


Read the whole thing. This points out the hypocrisy of those on the left, but there's an obvious parallel hypocrisy of those on the right who usually favor free speech -- except when they don't. This all highlights the honesty, intellectual integrity, logistical consistency and, of course, moral superiority, of the libertarian position: free speech means just that, free speech!

HT: Ace of Spades, who is quite a Sajak fan.

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