Scott Tibbs
blog post
April 9th, 2005

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 The Horowitz speech

As I expected, Leftist zealots disrupted a speech by David Horowitz on Thursday night. After unfurling a banner and chanting, the protesters were removed by security. (See my preview of the speech from early last week.) While I do not think the Leftists who disrupted the speech should be expelled from IU, as Horowitz demanded, they certainly should have been arrested. Indiana University needs to make it clear that they will not tolerate attempts to stifle free speech by brute force.

What exactly do these Leftists have against the free exchange of ideas? Why must they attempt to shout down a voice that does not agree with their own views? If conservative students were sufficiently disruptive that they needed to be removed from a speech, these very same Leftists would be screeching and squealing about free speech. Horowitz infringed on no one's right to free speech by simply presenting his views in a confrontational manner. The same cannot be said for his critics.

Of course, I'm sure this was the plan all along. Once again, Horowitz was able to bait the extremist fringe into attempted censorship, exposing themselves as enemies of freedom. The biggest contribution Horowitz has made over the years to conservative causes is to expose just how enamored the Left is with censorship. At least no one physically attacked Horowitz, which has happened before.

Horowitz, however, should do his research before making a speech. Horowitz accused IU of not having any conservative professors, according to the Indiana Daily Student. Apparently Horowitz does not know about Eric Rasmusen, who stirred up the Left in the fall of 2003 and was even denounced by the Chancellor of Indiana University. (By the way, the Chancellor, Sharon Brehm, is gone and Rasmusen is still here.) By making such an outlandish and easily refutable claim, Horowitz damaged his credibility and detracted from his overall message.

I wish I could have attended the speech, but I was out of town. Perhaps if Horowitz returns to Bloomington, I will be able to see him in person.