Peaceful Protests Or Insurrections?
By Steve Hunley
America is wearing its crown of thorns following a decade of restorative practices and the absence of consequences rampant for so long, and most especially in the last four years. During the summer of the antifa riots, there were 574 riots, billions of dollars in property damage, which every productive citizen has had to pay through higher insurance premiums and the like. Federal buildings were defaced, set on fire and worse. More than a dozen people were killed and hundreds, if not thousands, of police officers were injured or maimed. Of course, the only police officers the Left cares about are those injured on January 6. How many of the rioters or insurrectionists considering the assault on the property of the federal government, were prosecuted? Virtually none, less than 5% of those arrested and fewer were arrested than should have been the case. Was there any attempt to identify the rioters/insurrectionists? Of course not.
The violence on the campuses of this country’s elite and elitist campuses has erupted on both coasts. The pro-Hamas protesters are here in Knoxville as well, disrupting the city council meetings. Mayor Indya Kincannon did the right thing by having protestors removed. People have the right to protest peacefully and by that I do not mean while buildings are burning in the background. Yet they do NOT have the right to disrupt public business or intrude upon the lives of others without repercussions and there should be serious consequences.
The serious moral failure of the administration of colleges and universities in the United States is on display for all to see and it is disgusting. The rioters occupied a building on Columbia University’s campus and barricaded themselves inside, which in other circumstances have been labeled insurrections. The most shameful aspect of the rioting is the fact there is so little difference between the rioters and the Hitler Youth.
This has been going on too long. The blatant antisemitism is unlike anything seen since the rise of the Nazis in Germany. The civil rights of Jewish students have been violated repeatedly and the Left in this country doesn’t care. College and university administrators have not stood up for the rights of Jewish students. Tenured professors have described the slaughter of innocent Israeli citizens as awesome. As pointed out in a previous editorial, the question posed by a Jewish professor, how long would an instructor be tenured if he/she suggested lynching Blacks or burning gay people? Not very long, and they should be removed. So, too, should the antisemites who are violating the rights of Jewish students and threatening their well-being and lives. It is exactly what Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana said about these people who believe in diversity, inclusion, equity and killing Jews.
The “demonstration,” supposedly for a ceasefire in Gaza, after innocent civilians were slaughtered, families murdered, women and young girls raped, babies burned alive and beheaded, but these people cry for the people of Gaza by supporting the very terrorist organization who make them hostages and targets. The only lives the rioters care about are Palestinian lives and frankly, why anyone should take any of them seriously is beyond me.
The hypocrisy involved is on an epic scale. Spewing antisemitic hatred and slogans, the students, as well as handfuls of paid protesters, claim theirs is protected speech, free speech. Free speech has not been allowed on college and university campuses for years and we all know it. Any conservative voice has been regularly denounced as “hate speech” and stifled immediately. Conservative voices could never be heard and violated the “safe spaces” of students, so we were told. Now they claim the right of free speech to spew what really is hate speech.
The moral decay of the administrations of our college and university campuses is abundantly clear in the length of time it has taken to bring the rioting under control. It’s still going on a month later. Tent encampments are being set up on campuses, supposed in solidarity with Gaza, and have been tolerated as administrators seem not to know what to do and how can that come as a surprise to anyone? After all, these are the very same administrators who cannot bring themselves to say chanting “Death to Israel” is hate speech. These are the same administrators who mealy mouth about “context.” A person can be expelled or fired for using the wrong pronoun but “Death to Israel,” and “Death to America” is just peachy keen. I wonder how long it will be before these people revise history and polish up Adolf Hitler’s image and claim he was merely terribly misunderstood in the context of his time?
America’s most elite and elitist colleges and universities have been losing their luster for quite some time now and Forbes magazine has already begun a new list of Ivy League schools. One of those was the University of Florida which declared it was not a daycare and would not tolerate rioting.
Someone is supplying money for many of these rioters to come together and the NYPD has released a video of a professional “protest consultant” telling the pro-Hamas rioters what to do. New York City Mayor Eric Adams claims the rioting/protesting has been co-opted by professional agitators. Somebody is paying for that. One Washington Post columnist has rushed to condemn a writer for the New York Post for piecing together groups who have been the beneficiaries of money from Leftist billionaire George Soros.
When Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and several GOP congressmen from New York visited Columbia University, they were told they could not move about the campus freely. Yet there were two darlings of the mainstream news media, Alexandria O’Crazy Cortez and Ilhan Omar moving freely amongst the rioters.
The very same people who believe they can alter reality by simply denying it or changing the meaning of a particular word, have chosen to believe October 7 never happened. Hamas never killed innocent civilians, never raped women and girls, never burned babies alive or beheaded them. Insisting a giraffe is a mule doesn’t make it one and never will. Their chant should be “Death to Facts.” That could be the slogan for progressives in this country who are less progressive than they are delusional, socialists who don’t believe Jews are human beings. Election denying, at least those Republicans who deny election results, has become more horrific than denying the Holocaust or the October 7 massacre of Israeli citizens.
The Soros-elected district attorneys in this country have caused rioters to expect if they are arrested, they will be released hours later. Violence and disruptions are treated as no big deal in such jurisdictions. Naturally, that leads to more violence and disruptions.
It is way past time to get off the Merry-Go-Round of Crazy. It is time to stop petting criminals and making excuses for people who haven’t the slightest shred of human compassion for anyone but whomever and whatever they think is appropriately woke. The rioting on campuses could be ended in less than an hour. Give the protestors, not rioters, a designated space, and a time limit. Any violation of any code of behavior or university rules will result in students being expelled, student loans must be paid, and subject to staying in jail for 11/29.
There are consequences to raising a generation with no consequences and we are reaping the whirlwind of what our generation has sown.
