Leftist attempts to shut me down backfired. President Trump himself intervened, tweeting that if UC Berkeley could not defend free speech, he might consider withdrawing federal funding. I was invited on both The Today Show and Tucker Carlson Tonight (I went with Tucker, obviously), and my media profile soared. Once again, the Left had tried to strike me down, and once again, they had made me more powerful—and more fabulous—than they could possibly have imagined.
But that does not mean we should celebrate the Left’s dark turn. Under the banner of “anti-fascism,” the Left is bringing the actual tactics of fascists—armed political violence—to America’s streets. Some on the Left have realized how much this hurts their cause, which is why former Labor Secretary and current Berkeley professor Robert Reich pushed the ludicrous conspiracy that the riots were part of a plot by Steve Bannon, Breitbart and me to discredit the Left. With BAMN’s Yvette Felarca boasting to the media about the riot’s “stunning success” in shutting me down,237 this was a difficult argument to maintain, and even The Washington Post scorned the theory.238
It was bad enough when the radical Left was clowning itself by running to safe spaces and therapy sessions whenever a conservative speaker arrived on campus. Now it was shocking America in another way, by bringing armed political thuggery to the nation’s streets in response to respectable, mainstream conservative and libertarian opinion.
My visit to Berkeley sent a clear signal to conservatives, libertarians, and other free-speech defenders: it was in this California college town where the Left’s rabid, violent contempt for freedom of thought and expression could be exposed. At the time of this writing, I am planning a week-long rally at Berkeley. Myself, Ann Coulter, and other heroes of the Right will be in attendance, defending free speech. I’ll also be handing out the first ever Mario Savio Award, in honor of Berkeley’s famous free speech defender.
For free speech to have any true meaning, it must be practiced where it is most unwanted. One day, perhaps, the Left will realize that the only way to claw back toward credibility is to meet their opponents with calm, reasoned debate. But if Berkeley, Seattle, and UC Davis were any guide, that day is still a few generations off.
HAPPY WARRIORS
Despite the hellraising, my campus tour was about more than just causing a ruckus. There was method to my madness. For too long, the American campus has been the preserve of leftists, who channel funding into crackpot gender studies courses and radicalize students against political tolerance, openness to opposing ideas, and ultimately against reason itself. For too long, they’ve gone unchallenged.
So how do we fight back against an American educational system that provides coloring books, warm cookies and emotional support puppies to students who can’t handle the kind of classy, unthreatening feminism of Christina Hoff Sommers?
Three things separate my brand of conservatism from the tired “suit and tie conservatives” American college students are so familiar with: humor, mischief, and sex appeal. Conservatives typically don’t have fun. When I think of an American conservative, I think of stuffy bores like Ted Cruz, who, while brilliant, puts me to sleep. I’ve injected these three things into right-wing politics, and thus during my tour I’ve developed a new and growing coalition of young conservatives and libertarians.
The Dangerous Faggot Tour made great strides in the battle being waged on American college campuses. Despite the setbacks and punishments laid out by regressive administrators, we earned several significant victories. After my visit to Rutgers, university president Robert Bachi released a statement in which he reaffirmed the institution’s commitment to free speech and academic freedom:
Both academic freedom and our First Amendment rights are at the core of what we do. Our University policy on speech is clear. All members of our community enjoy the rights of free expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. Faculty members, as private citizens, enjoy the same freedoms of speech and expression as any private citizen and shall be free from institutional discipline in the exercise of these rights. In addition, they also enjoy academic freedom of expression when functioning in their roles as faculty members…While I will not defend the content of every opinion expressed by every member of our academic community, or of speakers who we invite to our campus, I will defend their right to speak freely. That freedom is fundamental to our University, our society, and our nation.239
At Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, students protested and rallied outside the office of the president after campus sidewalks were chalked with pro-Trump sentiments. The special snowflakes at Emory told reporters they felt threatened by the pro-Trump students, and the campus was no longer a safe space for them.
I knew immediately I had to make a trip to Atlanta. When I finally made it to Emory, there was anxiety from students concerned over my impending arrival. Although they spent time preparing signs and chants, their protest efforts were largely ignored. The event was so well attended that students filled the hall around the venue, listening to the event and hoping to get a chance to peek in. At the end of my lecture, I led the Emory students out onto a center quad, and encouraged them all to express themselves on the sidewalk.
With students surrounding me, I took a piece of chalk and wrote “Dangerous Faggot” in the middle of the quad. After I finished, I took the bucket of chalk and passed it around to the students in attendance. Students wrote everything from “Fuck Milo” to “Build the Wall.” It was a glorious example of what an American university should be.
Shortly after my visit, Emory’s president James W. Wagner took a piece of chalk himself to the sidewalk right next to where I had laid down my own message, and wrote in big letters “EMORY STANDS FOR FREE EXPRESSION.”
It turns out Wagner attended Emory for his undergraduate studies. “It was always [a] great, friendly, challenging discussion that really taught you to critically think,” Wagner said, noting these discussions helped to hone his political opinions and prepare him for his career as an attorney. “I took that with me to law school where I was challenged more on my viewpoints. It’s really important to understand the opposing side and their arguments, where they’re coming from, and to form your own opinions. It’s formative. And it’s absolutely required, in my opinion, at the university level.”
So there you have it. With a few pieces of chalk, what started off as a light-hearted prank to trigger leftists on campus gradually morphed into a symbol of political free speech. We started off having fun, and we ended up winning a major ideological victory. That’s the beauty of being a happy warrior: you achieve victories without even realizing you’ve been fighting.
ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHICAGO