> what was clear to me, though, was that it was more connerly's national
> strategy than ours. his entire talk was pure schtick. much like the
> horowitz talk that was reported, connerly requested several cops and guards,
> who lined the aisles of the auditorium with handfuls of plastic handcuffs.
> as he talked, students would chuckle or yell something at him, and he would
> stop and ask the police to arrest the hecklers, which they didnt do. after
> maybe five minutes he decided to stop speaking and said if the police didnt
> arrest everyone he would leave. they didnt so he left. the papers the next
> day all carried the story of how connerly was harrassed and his first
> amendment rights were trampled.
>
> connerly became a martyr for his cause and didnt even have to write a
> speech.
>
> this is what i think horowitz is up to. why is he placing his ads in
> university papers instead of mainstream dailies? he wants to be met with
> protest. he wants to posture himself as a victim of the left's hypocrisy.
> this has always been horowitz's schtick... that the left is riddled with
> hypocrisy. but he's been slow to the punch with this particular strategy.
> connerly was the pioneer.
The problem is that the students don't have enough political savvy to understand how they are being manipulated. I remember similar things happening on campus back in the 80s when I was at the University of Kansas.
Sometimes you have to make a fuss about speakers, but there are plenty of times that ignoring them will effectively keep them out of the spotlight. Horowitz wouldn't be in the news if it weren't for these protests.
Political experience means that you have discovered that every problem shouldn't be solved with a hammer. Use the wrench and the screwdriver once in a while. And don't forget to use your sense of humor (always in short supply among deadly earnest college student activists).
<< Chuck0 >>
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