Pied

Several conservatives have been hit with food - three in the last month. Ann Coulter, herself a victim, recently wrote a column about this trend.

Meanwhile, over at Newsweek, Gersh Kuntzman thinks that it is a great trend.

Throwing a pie at someone who deserves it is one of the most celebrated traditions in our so-called culture.

The operative phrase here is someone who deserves it. This is important enough that he quotes two other people saying it.

So, only conservatives deserve becoming part of a slapstick routine?

David Horowitz, a recent pie recipient has a different take on the subject.

Horowitz, predictably, disagreed. "These attacks are sinister," he told me. "The person who throws a pie is saying, ‘I hate you. I don’t want you to speak.’

More recently, students have moved on from pie throwing to other tactics:

"Protesters chose to disrupt Mr. Horowitz's lecture by moving threateningly toward the stage, shouting at the speaker and blowing foghorns and other noise-making devices,"

It's hard to give a speech after someone has attacked you, even if it only amounted to a pie in the face. It also spoils your authority.

Horowitz used an old World War II cliché to describe his pie-ing: "I never saw it coming," he said. "And it took away my dignity. When you’re lecturing, you’re supposed to have an authority. But a pie turns it into a food fight."

That's the whole point. Things are so polarized that liberals don't want conservatives to have a chance to speak. The Horowitz incidents are triply ironic. Horowitz in giving speeches on the Academic Bill of Rights. This would remove political speech from the classroom. Many liberals see this as a violation of their First Amendment rights so Horowitz's freedom of speech would abridge theirs. But, by disrupting Horowitz, his freedom of speech has been trampled. But the protestors see their protests (aimed at disrupting Horowitz's speech) as a First Amendment issue.

In the name of free speech, they are basically calling the police on protesters.

Whatever happened to the principal "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it?" The current ideology says, "I disapprove of what you say so I will prevent you from saying it."

This is outright censorship. Newsweek's Kuntzman may not see it but it's there. Possibly Kuntzman would think differently if people he sympathizes with were being disrupted.

The same thing happened during the election. Kerry supporters complained about yard signs being stolen but it was Republican headquarters that were broken into, Republican vans that had their tires slashed, etc. The left is turning mean.