Thread: A Eulogy to Free Speech, Satire and College Culture

Your answer was right there in the story.

"When you operate on state and federal dollars, you ought to be sensitive to those type of politically specific products," Armstrong said. "If it was a private entity or corporation or store, (that's different), but this is a state university."

Rule #1 - Thou shalt not cast aspersions upon the hand that feeds you.



For those of you who are in college or contemplating college in the near future.....sorry, but you are totally fucked.

Originally Posted by lutherf

Your answer was right there in the story.



Rule #1 - Thou shalt not cast aspersions upon the hand that feeds you.



For those of you who are in college or contemplating college in the near future.....sorry, but you are totally fucked.

I know I date myself, but I recall the campus days of the 60's and the liberties we took with satire as a generation came to learn, love and respect the United States constitution. And although we risked our freedom and sometimes our lives to protest the likes of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, I never thought I would see a day when I would honestly say I hold them both in higher esteem than this bunch of thugs who run things now. You see, Nixon and Agnew and the hooligans behind Watergate at least had the grace to accept our satires which were admittedly far more cruel than this thin soup being served up now.

The real irony is that while we stood against the war, we stood for civil rights, for all, men, women, blacks, browns, Hispanics, Jews gays and lesbians...

We dared to dream that a black man might one day inhabit the White House. We never thought for a second, though, that should we actually live to see that miracle, that we would also witness those civil rights for which we so valiantly fought trampled like someone's cast off dirty laundry by slithering misfits; thin-skinned miscreants who can't begin to conceive a simple notion like "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to my death your right to say it."

Shame. Shame on you all. A can of breath mints is such a small thing, but a massive statement about where we have come.

Originally Posted by FearandLoathing

I know I date myself, but I recall the campus days of the 60's and the liberties we took with satire as a generation came to learn, love and respect the United States constitution. And although we risked our freedom and sometimes our lives to protest the likes of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew, I never thought I would see a day when I would honestly say I hold them both in higher esteem than this bunch of thugs who run things now. You see, Nixon and Agnew and the hooligans behind Watergate at least had the grace to accept our satires which were admittedly far more cruel than this thin soup being served up now.

The real irony is that while we stood against the war, we stood for civil rights, for all, men, women, blacks, browns, Hispanics, Jews gays and lesbians...

We dared to dream that a black man might one day inhabit the White House. We never thought for a second, though, that should we actually live to see that miracle, that we would also witness those civil rights for which we so valiantly fought trampled like someone's cast off dirty laundry by slithering misfits; thin-skinned miscreants who can't begin to conceive a simple notion like "I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to my death your right to say it."

Liberals got in bed with the leftists imagining they were of the same ilk and the liberals were co-opted by those who cared nothing for liberty and all about taking control for their own ends.

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will fight to my death your right to say it." has turned into "Everyone has a right to their opinion, as long as they don't exercise wrong-thought and express it with bad-speech, if you don't' denounce bad-speech we'll crush you in the press and the courts unless of course it gives us political power."

Here students readily and gleefully abandon the principle of free speech:

Students Who "Support" Free Speech Want to Ban Conservatives From Radio & TV - YouTube

Originally Posted by FearandLoathing

Universities, once the bastion of civil liberties, progressive ideas and really good drugs have become censors of opinion and free speech.

Where administrators once cowered behind National Guard Troops, they now cower in the face of adversity over, wait for it, candy. Satirical candy, but candy just the same.

The University of Tennessee has ordered removed from its student bookstore a novelty product called Disappointmints....a candy with a cover critical of Barak Obama's policies. The box in which come the mints have a picture of Barak Obama with the words "This is change?"

Democrat state representative Joe Armstrong, who initiated the product removal said that since the product was not educational material there was no breach of the first amendment. And his opinion on the United States constitution should count because.....well maybe not.

Armstrong said the satirical mints "defamed" president Barak Obama. He claims he went to the university book store when he received a complaint and then spent $2.99 of his own money on the mints, presumably to obtain proof of this violation of, well exactly what its a violation of it is is still not clear other than Armstrong's claim that it "defamed" the person of Barak Obama. Make note, that neither Armstrong nor the college administration nor the cowardly book store manager have even suggested that the mints "defamed" the *office* of the president, which could be considered an offense if this were still the 18th century.

It is not recorded whether anyone asked Armstrong his opinion on his colleagues calling Tea Party Members "terrorists" because they took a hard line stance on the debt ceiling issue or whether he felt that "defamed" anyone.

It is not known either whether congressman Armstrong's vocabulary includes the word "satire" or "humor".

The company that sells the mints is called the Unemployed Philosopher's Guild and sells several lines of products including ones that poke fun of Sarah Palin and George Bush.





Satirical mints poking fun at Obama pulled from UT bookstore Knoxville News Sentinel

No free speech is alive and well at Universities so long as it's liberal speech.