Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
Milo Uninvited to CPAC
Well, that was quick. A message from ACU Chairman Matt Schlapp:
Due to the revelation of an offensive video in the past 24 hours condoning pedophilia, the American Conservative Union has decided to rescind the invitation of Milo Yiannopoulos to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
We realize that Mr. Yiannopoulos has responded on Facebook, but it is insufficient. It is up to him to answer the tough questions and we urge him to immediately further address these disturbing comments.
We initially extended the invitation knowing that the free speech issue on college campuses is a battlefield where we need brave, conservative standard-bearers.
Conservative social media exploded over the weekend concerning the invitation of Milo, a right-leaning provocateur who has been met with protests and banning from college campuses. As people registered their opinions, pro and con, The Reagan Battalion released a recording of Milo defending pedophilia on the popular Joe Rogan podcast.
Published in General
Im just wondering where you draw the line. Is there anything Milo could do or say that would make him unpalatable to you?
Wow! That is a thin sheet you are using for cover. CPAC isn’t obligated under the constitution to let Milo speak. That isn’t the issue. The issue is what does CPAC’s actions say about how we are to understand the constitutional principles at risk. Giving aid and comfort to the “anti-fascists” does not seem smart to me.
Jamie, can you please help define alt-right for us? Sometimes it seems a negative barb, sometimes it’s confusing, but all the time it seems to be too much shorthand. Maybe we could begin by saying exactly why Bannon and Miller are in that class?
And, apropos of nothing, good job by CPAC in beclowning itself by a joining the disinvite club. Maroons.
Dumb move. CPAC should have either not invited him, or stayed with the invite. The disinvitation is a blockhead move. They could have moved him out of the keynote spot, but now they look like unprincipled ametuers.
All he has done in regards to Gamergate is talk about it and how the SJWs were wrong to begin with, hardly an achievement. The actual gaming community is responsible for fighting back the leftists (in particular SJWs) in what happened.
Just as an aside do you think gaming companies or gaming consumers would tolerate what the leftists were pushing for in games? No way in Hell. Anyone who thinks the left would triumph over gaming does not understanding the gaming community.
This is a well known sheet that is central to conservative understanding of the 1st amendment. It is, for examples, the reasoning behind conservative insistence that private Christian bakers should not be forced to bake cakes for gay weddings.
This has been well defined by numerous outlets including Milo himself. I suggest google.
They’ve featured Trump as their keynote speaker more than once.
I have heard Milo on the Joe Rogan show each time he appeared. What he jokingly referred to was his own experience as a young late adolescent gay man who had a relationship with an older man. In the UK he was within the age of consent (key fact). He used edgy gay humor throughout the interview which is being taken as an endorsement of pedophilia. For those not familiar with Joe Rogan (who believes pedophiles should be executed or locked up forever), he is the type of person who would immediately clamp down on that type of advocacy and personally shove Milo out of his studio. I find it disheartening that so many on Ricochet especially those who aren’t too keen on him are unequivocally accepting these allegations without truly listening to the entirety of the interview and see the context of his comments. The one person who is effectively reaching disaffected center left and left leaning libertarians is despised because he isn’t what “acceptable & respectable” in the right leaning circles. You want to ask yourselves why the conservative movement is fading, this is why.
That was the impression I got – he draped the anti-SJW template over gaming. Wasn’t exactly a gamer himself. Not that it matters; it can be nice to have allies who don’t share your cause but see a common enemy.
They don’t always stick around when the lights swing in another direction, though.
Don’t look at me. I wanted Milo as Trump’s White House press secretary.
Save your breath, this is Jamie’s goto position.
I saw it. I take your point and you made it well, but I disagree rather strongly.
You have a right to speak. You don’t have a right to an audience, and you don’t have a right to have any organization provide you with a forum.
If CPAC decides that, after all, Milo isn’t a good fit for their forum and their audience, that’s fully legitimate and not a free speech issue at all. Just as it wouldn’t have been a free speech issue if the Campus Republicans had taken a second look at Milo and decided they weren’t interested after all.
Free speech is not without consequence.
Milo has not been silenced by CPAC, and he has opportunity to speak freely, somewhere other than CPAC.
I’m almost certain that Ann Coulter and Hannity have spoken there.
It has the virtue of being true.
I’m curious how many of those defending Milo would criticize a left wing “diversity” conference that featured a NAMBLA speaker? I’m trying to understand the difference.
I googled (at probably some risk of a federal investigation) to find out if there was an age below which NAMBLA objected to sexual relations and didn’t find one, so there’s maybe one difference (although maybe I just didn’t find it, didn’t want to look too hard). Milo says 13 is ok, NAMBLA might be ok with 4 for all I know (though I don’t think the arguments I found from NAMBLA could reasonably apply to kids that young).
Is that it? Is it that 13 is old enough?
Has Milo just done enough work for the cause that you’re willing to overlook this eccentricity?
Help me out here. I really don’t understand. As a gay man married to a fully grown adult man I’ve found Ricochet a rough place at times. I don’t usually think of it as a supportive place for men advocating sex with boys.
Was Milo talking about minors? Is there a transcript of the offensive quote?
I’d be interested to know who is behind The Reagan Battalion, the anonymous Twitter handle that broke this story about Milo. My money’s on the people behind Evan McMullin (AKA, The Never Trump movement).
Yes, click the link under “recording” in the OP and the audio file will pop up. He’s very clearly talking about minors. It goes on for 2 minutes and couldn’t be more clear.
You may have noticed that a couple of the folks who gave you a hard time last time around have actually left Ricochet because of the way social conservative issues were dropped like a hot potato with the nomination of a twice divorced man who supports gay marriage, transgender bathrooms, and brags about his daughter being so hot he’d date her if she wasn’t his daughter.
Here’s pretty much every discussion you engage in: “should X do Y” “X is a private organization, they have the constitutional right.” Correct but never to the point.
@catorand Just to make sure the same information is referenced. What you are referring to, is it in written transcripts or full contextual spoken words? What I recall is gallows humor about young boys being acceptable. The key was that it was outrageous and hyperbolic to connote the joke. Hyperbolic gallows humor is common among male gay men that I know. Hence my defense of the interviews I have listened to.
I wish I had the powers to simply read into other people’s minds and speculate whatever I want.
I’ve noticed Merina and Jennifer’s absence. I didn’t connect it to the Trump nomination but honestly, was just glad to be free of them so I didn’t ask.
Huh?
I have to agree Cato. And I’ll add, adults, men or women, should not prey upon or take advantage of children, in any way, and that is not just limited to the sexual arena.
As a culture, in general, we expect adults agree to protect children, not take advantage of them. We reject and punish those who do.
Whatever benefits Milo has to offer the Conservative movement may just have to be shared through other avenues than CPAC.
Has Milo “complained” about being disinvited? Or does this kerfuffle just open other avenues for him to engage in discourse in various arenas?
Here you go, courtesy of their website. And you’re right, looks like some of the usual suspects!
Indeed! I’ve specifically forbidden my own mother from joining for the sake of those poor souls who would make the intemperate choice of disagreeing with me.
SJWs are like Vikings, they show up out of no where, wreck everything, and move on to the next target. GamerGate (2013), Matt Taylor and his shirt (2014), and Sir Tim Hunt (2015) were all targets of the SJW horde. Matt Taylor was the European Space Agency scientist who wore a shirt that offended SJWs when he was landing a space craft on an asteroid. Tim Hunt is a noble prize winning biochemist who offended SJWs. Milo spoke up in all of those occasions and gave a voice to people who were outraged by the outrage.
I think people my age (27) and younger understand instinctively based upon our experiences in college and high school that everyone can be a target of SJW outrage. Milo didn’t equivocate when he was defending a person or groups of people and that was refreshing. Milo wasn’t a gamer, but who cares? It wasn’t right to watch people get disparaged and bullied. He gave them a platform to fight back.