Ann Althouse discovers that political discourse is a multidimensional thing, as smiling leftist protesters ask her a question the equivalent of “nice face you’ve got there, pity if it changed for the worse”. The menacette looks as neat as a pin, but one of her male associates is a dead ringer for the guy who played Scorpio in Dirty Harry. At any moment I expected him to yell, “I’ve got my rights! I’ve got my rights!”
But Althouse shouldn’t take it personally. Nobody is exempt any more from the fury of the Left . University of Rochester economics professor Steven Landsburg got the treatment. Landsburg, a tenured professor who argued that Rush Limbaugh had a point in the Fluke controversy, was public rebuked by university president Joel Seligman, and ‘protesters’ physically blocked off Landsburg from his students in the presence of campus security to boot.
Protesting students entered Landsburg’s room at the beginning of his mid-afternoon class.
“They formed a line between him and the class. And he continued to lecture,” said UR spokeswoman Sharon Dickman.
She noted that a couple of University Security officers were on the scene, but they didn’t need to take any action.
Perhaps this is as bad as things are ever going to get. Or perhaps as is more likely, we ain’t seen nothing yet. Limbaugh himself has concluded that the campaign to oust him has backfired. His boycotters have been boycotted and they do not like being paid in their own coin. Limbaugh is jubilant.
He might be correct about the reversal of fortune and the Left may in fact agree with his assessment. But their conclusion will only be that they haven’t tried hard enough. They’ll try harder. And if that doesn’t work, they’ll try harder still. See, they know they’re going to win if only they mash down on the buttons with enough force.
Not too long ago these roughhouse tactics would have been wholly unnecessary. But it is a measure of how far the narrative has fallen that these cheesy but nevertheless menacing tactics had to be adopted. The Voice of Command has cracked, and in place of the magisterial instruction which nobody would have formerly dared question, are heard the real voices of our betters, sounding not unlike shrill imps chattering in some cave.
It will not inspire respect. So the next thing they will try is whatever they will try. They looked so much better with the mask on. But the makeup has melted under the light of day and facts being what what they are, one might as well get used to the new look. The faster the Hope and Change meme slips, the livelier things may become.
But one thing should be borne in mind as things stumble towards a murky frontier. Once the old civilities are trashed what lies beyond is terra incognita. Developments take on a life of their own. Groups which think they are in control going over soon discover that no man is a complete master of emergent events.
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