Daily News: College Republicans Denied Free Speech Rights

Doug Bauer wrote in today's Moscow-Pullman Daily News:

OUR VIEW: Protesters should keep things in perspective

The words of Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her 1906 work “The Friends of Voltaire,” should ring as true today as they have at any point over the past 100 years:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

That’s not the case at Washington State University.

Members of the WSU College Republicans were vilified for expressing their views on illegal immigration during a campus demonstration Thursday.

The College Republicans constructed a chain-link fence to demonstrate their support for plans by President Bush and Congress to build a fence or wall along part of the U.S./Mexico border.

The chain-link fence on WSU’s Glenn Terrell Mall bore red, white and blue signs with slogans such as “We are a nation of laws,” and “There’s a legal way to immigrate.”

Even if those statements weren’t true, the College Republicans — like every American — have a Constitutional right to free speech.

That right wasn’t freely given.

Instead, counter-protesters branded them with epithets. The College Republicans were called racists, Nazis and fascists.

The fact that counter-protesters put any labels on their fellow students over a topic that has spurred nationwide debate is especially disconcerting.

One college professor allegedly went so far as to call one of the College Republicans a “white s--tbag.”

Now that qualifies as a racial slur. Simply voicing support for plans to build the fence certainly don’t.

Another College Republican was allegedly assaulted because he planned to take part in the demonstration, which had to be postponed for a day as a result.

Such incidents underscore a serious problem at WSU. Perhaps the counter-protesters — and a certain professor — need to retake their freshman-level history and government courses.

In the process, they’ll learn that discourse and debate are among the hallmarks of our society.

The same can’t be said of assault and character assassination.

Now we'll see if Cougster1 demands the Daily Newsretract those allegations. Sorry YD's. You can spin it anyway you want. This has been a loser for WSU liberals.