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Saturday essay: Food for thought
Blunt-speaking conservatives such as Ms. Coulter, Pat Buchanan, William Kristol, David Horowitz and Richard Pearle recently were targeted for silencing with weapons such as pies, a salad dressing bottle (probably blue cheese, but definitely not chunky style) and a shoe.
A streaker was apprehended before he reached Mr. Horowitz.
Verbal assaults included the usual name-shouting: "fascist," "bigot," and ironically, "McCarthyism." Coulter, a regular Trib columnist, got an earful Tuesday at the University of Texas.
A heckler in Coulter's audience, who disliked her argument supporting the sanctity of conventional marriage, asked a remarkably lewd rhetorical question concerning a physical act that had been banned in many states.
Ouch.
The hard-line hate talk spoken on campuses these days speaks to what liberals largely lack: shame, tolerance for others, respect for the First Amendment, and clever comebacks for Coulter's powerful punch lines.
What does one say about a school that tolerates intolerance? Or its students, when their only debate technique for the negative rebuttal is to start an "Animal House" food fight?
Whatever must be said, be prepared to duck.
-- Dimitri Vassilaros
