If practitioners of any profession would be expected to understand and honor the notion of Free Speech it would be lawyers. In years past this would be a reasonable conclusion. However, in so many ways traditional American values have been turned upside down and inside out!
Consider that on March 17, 2022 Fox News reported, Liberal Yale Law students derail bipartisan ‘free speech’ event in chaotic protest; police called to scene.
The report began with the following:
A bipartisan panel on civil liberties at Yale Law School was disrupted last week when more than 100 law students tried to drown out and intimidate the speakers, who eventually needed police to escort them out of the building, according to reports.
The school’s Federalist Society hosted the March 10 panel, which featured Monica Miller, of the progressive American Humanist Association, and Kristen Waggoner, of the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). About 120 student protesters showed up with signs attacking the ADF to shout down the speakers, with one reportedly recorded on audio telling a member of the conservative group that she would “literally fight you, b——.”
“It was disturbing to witness law students whipped into a mindless frenzy. I did not feel it was safe to get out of the room without security,” Waggoner told the Washington Free Beacon.
The Fox News report also included this important observation by Waggoner:
Waggoner later tweeted: “My hot take: Good lawyers win with civility & persuasion, not physical intimidation and threats of violence. We aren’t afraid to engage with people and ideas we disagree with. Apparently many of the students missed this lesson.”
It is beyond disturbing that law students at one of America’s most prestigious and influential law schools would witness the sort of madness that occurred at the event described in the Fox News report.
Many of those Yale law students will not only go on to successful careers as attorneys but become judges, leaders in major corporations and law professors.
About a dozen years ago I was invited by the Federalist Society at Yale Law School to participate in a debate about Comprehensive Immigration Reform.
The debate was spirited and fair and all who attended were courteous and respectful. But that was then.
Open debate is at the heart of a free society and is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution.
Indeed, you can think of debate as an example of intellectual capitalism. Competing concepts are provided to the audience who then decide which concept they are willing to “buy.”
On a personal note, I have a degree in Communications Arts and Sciences and had planned teaching speech and debate on the college level when I had the opportunity to make a career change and became a federal agent.
You never understand your side of an argument more than when you have to defend it against an opponent- in fact, one of my debate coaches would have us prepare to argue both sides of a debate and then not tell us which side we would take until 30 minutes before the debate!
The Radical Left however, knows that they cannot win a fair debate so they now seek to shut down debate as they sought to do in that debate at Yale Law School in February.
Laws can be thought of as the rulebook by which society functions. Laws control human conduct and behavior and regulate the way that corporations function.
Without laws or law enforcement anarchy follows. However, overbearing laws and law enforcement can create a dictatorship that strips the citizens of their freedoms.
It is clear that those who write the laws, along with those practice law and those who enforce our laws are at the foundation of our society and government.
For decades radicals and globalists have sought to wrest control over our government to gain control over America and Americans and strip our nation of its sovereignty.
In point of fact, Radical Democrats Have Become ‘Adversaries of Freedom’.
When Obama was elected President, in his victory speech Obama declared, “Change has come to America!’
It would appear that today, Lawfare is being waged against America and Americans.
Lawfare has been defined as:
Legal action undertaken as part of a hostile campaign against a country or group.
We will explore how this is being implemented shortly, but first, consider that in the wake of the death of George Floyd riots broke out across the United States in which innocent people were killed and buildings were reduced to rubble and ashes in so-called “peaceful demonstrations” as reported on by supposed “news organizations.” These supposed news organizations were thinly veiled propaganda machines that could have been part of Orwell’s “Ministry of Truth” straight out of the pages of his novel, 1984.
The Radical Left began demanding “Criminal Justice Reform” and the defunding of police.”
Anarchistic enclaves sprung up in cities such as Seattle, Washington. In short order Americans rejected this lunacy, so the Left distanced themselves from the Defund Police movement, but their goals did not change.
Radical Leftists have simply taken a different approach to achieve the same anarchistic goals.
“Bail Reform” was implemented in many cities controlled by the Leftists under the guise that this would only involve those charged with non-violent crimes. It quickly became apparent, however, that many violent thugs were released without bail and went on to commit more violent crimes that injured or killed more innocent victims including children.
New York City, which had been the safest big city in the United States, quickly descended into violence and chaos as the newly-elected Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, implemented new bail policies and established prosecutorial discretion policies that encouraged not deterred violent crimes.
Effective law enforcement is a system with a number of important elements. When dedicated laws enforcement officers make arrests and conduct criminal investigations, they must be supported by dedicated prosecutors who are on the same page, seeking the effective prosecution of criminals.
Today, unfortunately, in many jurisdictions, prosecutors who are supposed to work in close coordination with law enforcement officers are now acting as though they are criminal defense attorneys.
George Gascon, the infamous Los Angeles District Attorney became the veritable “poster child” of such prosecutors who sought to protect criminals and not their victims.
It has become clear that the vast majority of Americans reject the lunacy of defunding the police and many politicians who had advocated for this policy are now denying that they support this madness. However, their goals of creating anarchy, likely in order to subsequently fill the void created by anarchy with their notion of control over government and hence society.
Now we come to the issue of “Lawfare” I raised earlier in my commentary.
A news release that was issued by Yale Law School on February 21, 2022 announced: Yale Law School Announces Tuition-Free Scholarships for Highest Need Students.
The idea of providing free college education for American students is a concept I personally approve of. Children growing up in poverty are not likely to be able to afford tuition for college or to attend graduate schools and therefore scholarship for such students of appropriate academic standing could be a way to help combat endemic poverty.
Yale Law School is not, however being altruistic in this case- it is clear that their actual goal is to enlist an army of lawyers who will practice Lawfare.
Consider this final paragraph in that Yale news release:
“At Yale Law School, we prepare lawyers and leaders to face the most critical challenges of the future and effect change across every sector of society,” said Gerken. “We are committed to ensuring every student can fully immerse themselves in our vibrant intellectual experience and has the tools and resources they need to leave their mark on the world. The Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program cements our commitment to access and equity for all.”
The motivation is clear- Yale Law School is not as benevolent it may may appear to be. Yale Law School is clearly determined to create an army of lawyers who are literally indebted to Yale who will engage in “Lawfare”
In his famous Iron Curtain Speech Winston Churchill delivered on March 5, 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri Churchill spoke of:
“…communist fifth columns that were operating throughout western and southern Europe. Drawing parallels with the disastrous appeasement of Hitler prior to World War II, Churchill advised that in dealing with the Soviets there was “nothing which they admire so much as strength, and there is nothing for which they have less respect than for military weakness.”
That concern voiced by Churchill about “communist fifth columns” (and other adversaries of freedom), should also have included the United States.
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