Later this month, Steve Bannon is scheduled to speak at “Berkeley Free Speech Week,” a four-day event at the University of California at Berkeley organized by Milo Yiannopoulos. Any bets on how that’s going to go?
Berkeley has of course earned a reputation this year as a hotbed of violent left-wing reaction. Last month, police arrested more than a dozen masked “Antifa” streetfighters who descended on a canceled anti-Marxism rally and attacked anyone they thought might be a Trump supporter. Earlier this year, pro-Trump marches in Berkeley have degenerated into roving street battles pitting Trump supporters against antifa gangs. Back in February, a planned appearance by Milo at UC-Berkeley prompted violent protests, including Molotov cocktails, smashed windows, and commercial-grade fireworks being fired at campus buildings.
So why stage yet another free speech rally in Berkeley? Why the dogged commitment to free speech in a place that obviously has little use for it, other than as an excuse to attack people in the streets?
The reason is bigger than Berkeley and more important than shock artists like Milo. In the era of Trump, efforts to shut down free speech by force have come almost exclusively from the Left, and are part of a larger project to redefine the boundaries of political discourse in America. Anyone who espouses conservative views or support for the president (or even insufficient opposition to him) can now expect to be labeled a racist, fascist, or...
