Tom and Cecil discuss The Atlantic’s article about the alt-right event that took place in Washington DC. The guys also discuss how –surprisingly– slap therapy may not work and how going to the chiropractor may be more harmful than it seems.
Stories covered in this episode:
- KING: The alt-right movement goes full Nazi as Steve Bannon prepares to enter the White House
- ‘Hail Trump!’: White Nationalists Salute the President Elect
- Facebook’s Fight Against Fake News Was Undercut by Fear of Conservative Backlash
- Mystery solved: Chiropractic manipulation of the neck did cause Katie May’s death from stroke
- Police investigate grandmother’s death at Chinese slap therapy course
- Mary Colbert: Trump’s Border Wall Is OK Because Heaven Has Gates
- Pat Robertson: Black Families Were Better Off In The 1930s –
- Curt Schilling Gripes About Liberal ‘Wussified’ ‘Ebonics,’ Defends Use Of Torture
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Episode 407: Lost Connections with Johann Hari
Episode 244: Love Potion Number Nine
Episode 85: Fine Imported Goblin
I’m terribly disappointment with your opinion in this show. To me, it mirrors the attitude of Christian fundamentalists that reminisce about the good old days when they didn’t have to listen to “them queer folk” complain because they could be shamed into silence. The idea that one must hide his opinion because society will act against you through shaming, denial of platforms to speak or even through denial of employment, is as horrendous now as it ever was in the past.
This kind of attitude has always caused great harm and I am saddened to see the left embrace it now that their ideas have become the mainstream. Using the mantra: “Free speech exists only to prevent the Government from legislating speech” to justify their attempts at actively blocking certain opinions from being voiced. This is wrong: free speech is a moral imperative that we should all embrace. It is of such importance, that the most freedom loving countries in the world have made a point to make sure that government cannot infringe upon it.
This, of course, does not mean that you must provide a platform or that you must listen in way. But the instant you actively try to shut someone up so that no one else can listen you are acting immorally (And yes, that’s exactly what those people at Milo’s speech were trying to do. I’ll at least give them props for not using the fire alarm trick).
I think that lately the left has become lazy and seems unable to defend its ideas without calling its opposition racist, sexist, homophobic or “hateful”. As much as I hate to admit it, the alt-right might just be the shot in the arm we need to start defending our ideas properly: through better speech and not through casual censorship. And having to defend those ideas is the best way for us to take a good hard look at them. And boy do we need this right now.