The Greatest Threat to Campus Free Speech is Coming From Dianne Feinstein and her Military-Contractor Husband
There is no shortage of American pundits who love to denounce “PC” speech codes thatrestrict and punish the expression of certain ideas on college
campuses. What these self-styled campus-free-speech crusaders typically —
and quite tellingly — fail to mention is that the most potent such
campaigns are often devoted to outlawing or otherwise punishing
criticisms of Israel. The firing by the University of Illinois of Professor Steven Salatia for his “uncivil” denunciations of the Israeli war on Gaza — a termination that was privately condoned by Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin — is merely illustrative of this long–growing trend.
One of the most dangerous threats to campus free speech has been
emerging at the highest levels of the University of California system,
the sprawling collection of 10 campuses that includes UCLA and UC
Berkeley. The university’s governing Board of Regents, with the support of University President Janet Napolitano and egged on by the state’s legislature,
has been attempting to adopt new speech codes that — in the name of
combating “anti-Semitism” — would formally ban various forms of Israel
criticism and anti-Israel activism.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, and her
husband, Richard Blum, in the audience prior to a debate between
California gubernatorial candidates at Dominican University of
California in San Rafael, Calif., Oct. 12, 2010.
husband, Richard Blum, in the audience prior to a debate between
California gubernatorial candidates at Dominican University of
California in San Rafael, Calif., Oct. 12, 2010.
Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP
