BARONE: The coming liberal thugocracy

If this trend continues, before we know it, the ACLU will be a conservative organization. That is, if they have the guts to actually fight ALL efforts to quash freedom of speech, thought, and conscience, and not just the ones leftist lawyers disagree with.

Mr. Barone, can you provide us with some examples of "college and university campuses, armed with speech codes...disciplining and subjecting to sensitivity training any students who dare utter thoughts that liberals find offensive?"

The anger that has been demonstrated in recent McCain rallies is an indicator of a greater underlying frustration that exists in a large portion of Americans. This group, is largely those who are the lubricant of our economy. They feel that their voices are ignored except in elections when the politicians, yes like McCain, who will throw them a bone to shut them up, like in the debate over illegal immigration. The 'Silence our Opponents' approach that the liberals are using is really going to ignite that fire. The politicans had better listen up!

Mr. Barone I agree with you, and say that these attempts to create a fascist state in the United States is the reason for the anger shown at the McCain rally's. The left has no idea about the anger that has been created by the decades of ignoring the traditional values in their programs. The ordinary people are getting fed.

And the MSM writes that McCain supporters are being incited against BHO. What does get in their faces incite. Disgusting.

Thank God someone had the guts to write this article. It needs to be re-printed in every major newspaper. Of course it won't be, and the writer will be on the receiving end of some of this intimidation as well. When traditional Americans have had to endure years and years of fraudulent claims that the Bush administration has somehow curtailed their rights---without citing any evidence--it is refreshing to get some attention paid to the climate of intimidation and suppression of traditional voices that has example after example in our society. No,don't wait for the ACLU to jump to the defense of those who refuse to tow the Political Correctness or left-wing line. The ACLU only defends extremists, almost exclusively from the left. If you are a university professor coming up through the ranks and you refuse to conform to the liberal, even radical, agenda of your academic department, quite simply YOU WILL NEVER GET TENURE in the university. You will be out on the street. The people out there know exactly what I am talking about. Obama and his ilk (such as Acorn, Bill Ayers, etc.) are very good at finding where you live or work and showing up to make sure you "get the message".

"The coming liberal thugocracy" This statement, although accurate will undoubtedly spur Obamite thugs to silence Michael Barone because of his racist use of the word thug in conjunction with their candidate. They will not address the points made in the article, they will make Barone's point in their reactions.

Great article, but one correction is needed. The SNL skit that was edited and reposted kept the parts about Barney Frank and the Sandlers. But it removed the caption "People who should be shot" for the Sandlers due to legal concerns. You can see it at http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/c-span-bailout/727521/

Now here we go again. Why, Mr. Barone, are you going negative on us? We have all learned over the past weeks that passing around any information about Obama is going negative. Obama and his handlers have made this crystal clear. Didn't you get the memo? Maybe you're just racist?

LCJ at 10:35 a.m.: Thanks for asking about campus speech codes. Here's proof: http://www.thefire.org/ The prospect of Barry, Harry and Nancy running the country is truly frightening. Just look at how the liberal thugs have been behaving for the last 8 years.

Sorry guys, time for a taste of your own medicine. Now you know how the rational majority of Americans feels about being held hostage by a vocal minority of loony right-wing kooks. James Dobson loves to whip his army of nutty Christian cultists into a frenzy of phone calling, letter writing, and boycotts to try and force people to comply with their Bible-thumping.

Mr. Barone, like so many "conservatives", you seem to be nothing but a giant crybaby. Your bizarre sense of victimhood would be funny were it not so pathetic. I always thought you right-wing types were all about meritocracy, yet you seem unable to recognize that people in universities are highly critical of your ideas because they are without merit. You actually want to *force* educators to find your bankrupt ideas worthwhile. There's not a university around that sends right-wing students to sensitivity training. Stop making up bizarre lies that feed your victimhood, man up, and accept that people dislike your ideas because they are worthless.

As usual, Michael Barone is spot on. I come from a family of "moderate" academics and I can tell you there is no room for any view other than the far left one. Is this really the road to enlightenment? This attitude is in the public schools as well. My 14-year-old son comes home from school filled with the notion that "only a redneck would support the 2nd amendment," that his Uncle's military service is irrelevant, and that Cuba seems to have a pretty good way of taking care of all the "marginalized" members of society. It's all rather depressing in a 1984 kind of way......

We've had more than enough thuggery from the GOP lately. Sour Grapes, y'all.

Common sense conservative ideas of decency and fair play actually do quite well in the court of public opinion when they aren't shouted down by the liberal-fascist thought police. The Obama campaign has apparently come to the point that they will sacrifice anything to win this election, even the First Amendment. They need to watch some old Frank Capra movies to remind themselves of what the word "liberal" really means. Unlike "progressive," which they seem to prefer, "liberal" implies more than just being on the road to somewhere that the heirs of the 60's radicals want to take us. It carries with it a decent respect for the opinions of others.