Condoleezza Rice bows out: Left wins another victory over free speech

Let's start by just putting this on the record: When colleges and universities give the line about how much they value the free exchange of ideas, it can now be said without the slightest doubt that this is a total load of crap. They value no such thing. If they're committed to any principle whatsoever, it's that the activists who call their campuses home must never be challenged with the prospect of having to deal with someone who expresses an idea contrary to their own.

I'm not so sure college administrators are liberals. I think they're simply cowards. And these days, with the left on the march in an effort to purge the nation of any opinion contrary to their own, you know what cowards are going to do. So should we be disappointed in Condoleezza Rice for succumbing to the pressure and bowing out of her scheduled commencement address at Rutgers?

"Commencement should be a time of joyous celebration for the graduates and their families," Rice wrote. "Rutgers' invitation to me to speak has become a distraction for the university community at this very special time."

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In an open letter to the president of the school, printed in the student paper The Daily Targum on April 30th, "Rutgers Student Protestors" cited "destruction" in Iraq "at the hands of the Bush administration." "Rice signed off to give the CIA authority to conduct their torture tactics for gathering information from detainees as well," the letter continues. "These are clearly human rights issues. By inviting her to speak and awarding her an honorary degree, we are encouraging and perpetuating a world that justifies torture and debases humanity."

This is not a totally new phenomenon on college campuses. I can remember when I was a student at Western Michigan University 30 years ago, liberal groups shrieking whenever a speaker they didn't like was booked - whether by a student group or by the university itself. But back then, they usually didn't demand that the speech be cancelled. They usually just held a demonstration, made some noise and maybe demanded the chance to make some sort of statement. This is a different time. Left-wing fascists are ascendant in America. They can force you to photograph a gay wedding even if your Christian faith compels you not to. They can take your job away if you supported traditional marriage six years ago. And if you once helped execute the war that John Kerry and Hillary Clinton both voted for as U.S. senators, you will not be allowed to speak. Too bad. Secretary Rice is a compelling figure who could have taught these students a lot about how to handle themselves in the real world. She is educated. She is accomplished. She is unafraid to cut against the grain. All things you'd think would provide for some useful insight for young people just getting started. But never mind. They already know everything and they don't want to hear from anyone with a perspective different from their own. On the one hand, it's hard to blame Rice for not wanting to waste her time speaking to such a closed-minded audience, even though it would have been a victory for real freedom of expression if she had gone. Oh well. I have a suggestion for employers: Don't hire any Rutgers graduates. If they're not willing to listen to a person as accomplished as Condoleeza Rice, they're sure as hell not going to listen to anything you say.