There are 3 comments.

1. Inactive
   dicentra

   @dicentra

   9:59 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 25, 2017

   Objecting to political statements on the football field is not an apt parallel to free speech on campus.

   Sporting events have the capacity to be a unifying ritual where Americans of all stripes can get together in close quarters and have a good time, politics be damned. The act of rising for the national anthem is likewise a unifying ritual where players and spectators alike honor our common citizenship.

   College campuses are NOT supposed to bring us together — they’re supposed to be bastions of individuality where the youth learn about themselves and the world, and afterwards each person pursues his own individual path.

   Flip the polarity on the situation: Imagine a player taking a knee to support the repeal of Obamacare — would conservatives be copacetic with the anthem being thus exploited? I think not. Most would find the gesture inappropriate, even if they agreed with the message.

   Conversely, if a campus group invited someone from BLM to give a speech on police brutality, it would be such an unremarkable event that conservatives wouldn’t bother taking notice, much less call for a deplatforming of the speaker.

   So no, it’s not the message; it’s the venue.

2. Inactive
   Daniel Brass

   @DanielBrass

   12:47 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 26, 2017

   I am slowly losing the desire to listen to this podcast. I enjoy these three gentleman’s writings, but their strong dislike of President Trump is clouding their judgement (especially Mr. Podhoretz) and causing them to make foolish arguments on their show..  Today, I heard Mr. Podhoretz claim that those of us who oppose the tactics of the left to shutdown free speech on college campuses but do not support the kneeling protests during NFL games are hypocrites.

   This is dumb.  Campuses are a place for learning, being challenged and growing intellectually.  All require free speech.  Pro football games are an amusement and an escape from everyday stresses, politics, etc.  They are not the same.  Wanting to let anyone speak on college campus so the kids there today will learn something is not the same from just wanting to enjoy a football game without politics being forced upon us.

   C’mon John, you are better than this.

3. Member
   Grendel

   @Grendel

   

   6:24 PM EDT ⋅ Sep 28, 2017

   A “secular religion”? Politics everywhere?  We do not live in a Fascist state or society, but the Left owns the culture and we live in a fascistic culture.  Consider Jonah Goldberg’s definition of Fascism in Liberal Fascism:

   Fascism is a religion of the state. It assumes the organic unity of the body politic and longs for a national leader attuned to the will of the people. It is totalitarian in that it views everything as political and holds that any action by the state is justified to achieve the common good. It takes responsibility for all aspects of life, including our health and well-being, and seeks to impose uniformity of thought and action, whether by force or through regulation and social pressure. Everything, including the economy and religion, must be aligned with its objectives. Any rival identity is part of the “problem” and therefore defined as the enemy. I will argue that contemporary American liberalism embodies all of these aspects of fascism. p.23