…and they proved it again last night at Columbia University. Just as Minutemen Project co-founder Jim Gilchrist was being introduced, a bunch of angry liberals rushed the stage, shouting and started fights. (CUTV has video)

They prevented Gilchrist from speaking, yet they’re the ones claiming:

We celebrate free speech: for that reason we allowed the Minutemen to speak, and for that same reason we peacefully occupied the stage and spoke ourselves. Our peaceful protest was violently attacked by members of the College Republicans and their supporters, who are the very same people who invited the Minutemen to our campus in the first place. The Minutemen are not a legitimate voice in the debate on immigration. They are a racist, armed militia who have declared open hunting season on immigrants, causing countless hate crimes and over 3000 deaths on the border. Why should exploitative corporations have free passes between nations, but individual people not? No human being is illegal.

They celebrate free speech by rushing the stage and preventing someone with an opposing viewpoint to speak. Then they claim that the speaker is not a legitimate voice in the debate. So why don’t you let them speak and let the listeners decide for themselves?

I agree with Captain Ed:

It takes very little courage to form a mob, and even less brains, as we see from this example. Gilchrist may be all wet, or he may be a genius, but the students at Columbia didn’t bother to find out either. The mobsters apparently have no ability to respond to Gilchrist with reasoned arguments and contrary data, and so they did what any bully does — use violence to silence their intellectual superiors.

Ed also wonders why the protestors held a banner in English and Arabic. I think I know.

Here’s what passes for “legitimate dialog” by these wacky people:

“Workers of the world unite! Same struggle, same fight!”

“Minutemen, Nazis, KKK! Racists, fascists, go away!”

“You don’t know shit about god! Black white supremacist!” “Go home!”

There’s a nice healthy debate.

And contrast this event with the way conservatives respond to Michael Moore speaking at a college campus:

To counter Moore’s appearance, UA College Republicans have booked conservative columnist Ann Coulter for a campus appearance Oct. 21.

…and another:

California State University at San Marcos cancelled Moore’s campus appearance on the grounds Moore was too partisan a speaker for a university-sponsored event so soon before the election, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.

The San Marcos student government, Associated Students Inc., protested by collecting enough funds to host Moore. Both liberal and conservative students pushed for Moore’s visit, saying speakers visit campuses to provoke discussion.

…and another:

Joe Vogel, one of the student government leaders who withstood criticism for inviting Moore, says he thinks the controversy surrounding Moore’s appearance, which also prompted a counter-appearance by conservative pundit Sean Hannity, motivated many students to vote.

Liberals do actually love free speech… so long as it’s only provided to them.