Argus Flap Foolish: Be Careful What You Wish For

, by David I. Block,

The attempt to defund the Argus is reprehensible, and may come back to bite its supporters.

I was and still am an activist. I do not agree with the editorial in question, but I will defend to the death, as the famous quote asserts, the author’s right to publish it.

I could take a paragraph or two to establish my bona fides here, but they are irrelevant. I could take a paragraph or two to defend the “Black Lives Matter” movement, or link to my blogs on Daily Kos that do the same, but that, too, would be irrelevant.

What IS relevant is that those who petition to defund the Argus are clueless as to the logical -and clearly unintended – consequences of their actions.

Suppose, for example, they are successful. Let’s then say that an incoming class, for whatever reasons, is more conservative and much less, say “enlightened.” And, further, a mass of these unenlightened students decides that the “Black Lives Matter” movement – oh, I don’t know – perhaps decides that the BLM Movement engages in “Reverse Discrimination,” or some nonsensical claim like that, and decides to defund YOUR group. What then?

What then happens is that you have no leg to stand on. What happens is that they use YOUR precedent to defund YOU. And there is nothing you can do about it.

As a card-carrying member of the ACLU, I can promise you that the only way to assure free speech, and freedom of the press, for ANYONE – including you – is to assure free speech, and freedom of the press for EVERYONE.

Including those with whom you disagree.

And, if someone writes an editorial with which you disagree, feel free to do what I, and thousands of alumni have done before you:

WRITE A REBUTTAL!

Block is a member of the Class of 1981.

  • Abdul Keddou

    “Black Lives Matter” is a bunch of cop-hating, racist thugs who cares NOTHING about black-on-black murders, but only gets upset when a black thug or criminal gets justifiably shot by a cop. Michael Brown is a perfect example of the kind of black thug that BLM makes excuses for. The world is a better place now that Brown is dead.

    • Anonymous

      Before anyone responds – This is actually one of the least angry and crazy of “Abdul Keddou”‘s posts.

      • Anonymous

        Well that’s pretty scary….

  • Jeff Dwyer

    Im glad to see that everyone at Wesleyan is not a wacko off the wall , non thinking liberal , some actually go to classes . The BLM movement may have had enough ammunition to make the point that police brutality does exist but using Michael brown as the poster child is what destroys their credibility , mainly because it was based on a lie to begin with . Do I hear a “Hands Up” ???

  • Anonymous

    Well said. But I don’t believe BLM is really the issue here. The demands of the petition are so extreme and antithetical to actual justice that I have to believe it’s more for the self-indulgent power projection of the organizers than anything about justice.

  • John

    I am proud to see that at least ONE “leftist” gets it. As a conservative, I agree with you completely. You are a rarity.

    However, I find it particularly interesting that the ACLU consistently does NOT support the Second Amendment to the Constitution.

    • Anonymous

      The ACLU is not even any longer willing to maintain support of the 1st amendment, if it’s not politically progressive enough. Whatever integrity it once possessed is now gone.
      The ACLU doesn’t even understand the 2nd Amendment.

  • Natalie Dormer

    Not only did they promise to defund the Argus, but they also promised to “recycle” all the copies they find on campus. This means they will go find the papers, and throw them all in the trash can.

    Yeah, Black Lives Matters are not nice people. At all.

    • Anonymous

      These people are not necessarily BLM. I’m not sure whether they’re nice or not but they certainly seem misguided.

    • Anonymous

      Black lives DON’T matter when the killers are black.

  • Anonymous

    Thank you, Mr. Block, for this rational and well written essay. I and many others across the political spectrum have ridiculed the students who would suppress free speech. The truth is, book burning or banning are as blasphemous as defunding the student newspaper.

    It’s still disappointing to me that some of the editors of Argus support those who would silence free speech. I hope you and other like-minded liberals replace them with a no confidence campaign.

    We probably don’t agree on much, but I respect you for taking the time to express your opinion. On this we will ALWAYS agree.

    Respect.

  • Anonymous

    written by a 21 year old, this letter would have shown eventual potential promise.
    Written as it is by a 55 year old, it’s an indictment of the American College system. Quite simply you are an example of grade inflation. Year 11 in High School should have been your very outer limits.

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