[MD] Free Speech

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt had asked]
Has your college ever banned a group from campus?

[Arlo replied]
If they would, I'd protest it. Are you trying to do a "guilt by 
association" maneuver here?

[Platt]
Nice dodge. I didn't ask "would they?" I asked "have they." Anything in 
your college rulebook about "approved" organizations on campus?

[Arlo]
They have not, as far as I am aware. And I am not familiar with a "college 
rulebook" of "approved organizations". Can I be any more straightforward 
than that? Should there be college rulebooks containing approved 
organizations? Would YOU forbid an organization from coming onto campus? 
Can you answer that, or will you just keep evading? (Arlo thinks he knows)

[Platt]
Another dodge. Academe boasts of its tolerance. King would be welcomed with 
open arms on campuses. But, Coulter, Horowitz and other conservatives 
require armed guards to fend off physical attacks. Why?

[Arlo]
Not a dodge, unless you are referring to yourself. I answered your 
question. You just tweaked it to make it look like I did not. Sure, immoral 
restrictions on free speech happen on college campuses. Just like they 
happen in public squares on downtown streets. Although I disagree with the 
reaction to these people, you want my honest opinion as to why it happens. 
Because they present no intellectual argument whatsoever. They pander to 
social emotions and fears. They commit egregious errors of research, 
citation and logical progression. In short, among a community that has 
fairly high standards for what passes as intellectual discourse, these 
people try to pass off not only unintellectual, but a-intellectual, 
nonsense as intellectual. So it rouses feathers. My personal stance, let 
them speak, they only prove themselves to be fools when they open their 
mouths. By reacting as they do, the university population gives a false 
"legitimate opposition" they do not deserve.

[Platt]
Yet another dodge. Does your college have a speech code? If so, what have 
you done about it since you "take free speech quite seriously?" Wrote a 
letter to the school paper? Circulated a petition? Anything?

[Arlo]
Despite your insinuations, yes, indeed I have. Recent example, our "college 
preacher", a fundamentalist buffoon who lambasts the kids with insipid 
right-wing inspired rhetoric was asked to "move" to a "free speech zone" 
(conveniently placed far away from the passing hordes). I not only wrote 
letters, but attended a public meeting and voiced opposition to the 
University President. Now, what have YOU done to support the speech of 
people you think are wrong?

Finally, it appears you answered some questions.

Do you believe there should be any restrictions on who and how groups 
rally, either on or off campus? "No"

Would you support a neo-nazi, or communist, rally in your town square? (I 
mean support as in allowing it to legally occur). "Yes"

Should the American Marxist Organization hold a rally in downtown 
Plattsville, would you protest? "No"

And let me be more specific, if you were the University President of Holden 
University, would there be _any_ group you would ban from campus? "Yes"

Finally, when the AMO holds a rally and is heckled by right-wing ideologues 
unable to see that they are supporting a system that is exploiting them, do 
you vocally condemn this? Or is it only when right-wing groups (whether the 
KKK or Miss Coulter) get heckled that it bothers you? "No"

To the second to last one, unless I misapplied your answers, what group(s) 
would you ban from campus?