It’s very seldom that I say Whoopi Goldberg on The View has the voice of reason. But alas, this segment of The View was the exception:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pkAa9aT3o

“You can protest any speaker you want to. But the minute you get violent …you say you’re protesting because you want to protect people and stuff and then you go and burn people’s stuff? What the hell, man?”-Whoopi Goldberg

Of course, Joy Behar throws her two cents in because what would an episode of The View be without her senseless yammering? Whoopi is right. Did the students have a right to protest? Sure. Did they have a right to not attend Milo Yiannopoulos’ event? Sure. Did they have a right to have their voices heard? Absolutely. Did they have a right to shut down the event so that Milo’s opinion was silenced and others could not attend? No. Did they have a right to riot and destroy other people’s property and university property? No, they did not.

Behar’s “reason” and further “justification” for the protestors getting so riled up? Milo Yiannopoulos is a “sexist, racist”. Yes, she said it:

“I’m just saying I’m the first First Amendment person here. I really believe in it, but this guy. Why did they invite this guy? He’s been banned from Twitter.

The definition of hate speech is speech that offends, threatens or insults groups based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability. So he’s a sexist. He’s a racist.”-Joy Behar

A sexist gay, Jewish man who prefers to date black men. Okay, Joy. Whatever you say.

Behar’s reaction got me thinking about some of the reactions of those out in social media land. You know the ones. “Tolerant” liberals who talk about doing things to Milo Yiannopoulos that I won’t even go into on here. “Tolerant” liberals who are calling for taking up arms (which I find to be quite amusing) and picking off our President. I thought about my days as a college liberal. Although it seems like another lifetime, I forced myself to go back there for a few moments. They were cringe-worthy but I came to a staunch realization.

Although I was unaware of this at the time, I was a true Conservative trapped in a liberal think tank-surrounded by “free-spirited” (dare I say) hippie-types who came to Tucson to mellow-out. You know you’re “in” when your professor passes you the joint at a party (I did not take it, for the record). There were no timelines. There was this almost lackadaisical attitude towards pretty much everything. Hard limits were for “stick-in-the-mud” Conservatives who went into the military, went to church on Sundays, wore Levis and ate nothing but Iceberg lettuce at the salad bar of Golden Corral. Nope, the peeps I hung with were clearly above that. They were extraordinarily above judgement, rejecting of the mainstream and yes, even God. They engaged in deep, philosophical banter that enamored me so much to a point that I wanted to emulate them. Yes,we were the Mesclun to the Iceberg.

What sticks out in my mind the most is some of my past mistakes (read: dating relationships). As a young woman, I could not hide my desire to be in love with one person for the rest of my life and procreate (despite my attempts to suppress these “boring little mainstream fairytale fantasies” of a girl who watched too many Disney princess movies). The answers I would always get when I initiated the “what are we” conversation ranged from “Whatever” to “Why are you so black and white? We’re in a grey area.” Suffice to say it came as a shock when my Marine husband (then boyfriend) firmly wanted to establish where we were in our relationship and stated that he wanted to continue it despite his upcoming PCS. It was only just after I said I was committed that he asked me to help pick out the kitchen counter tops in our (would be) new home!

So my question now is, why are then “grey” liberals now so black and white? Whatever happened to abhorring the black and white, detesting judgement and not slapping labels on every one and every thing you didn’t understand or disagreed with? Whatever happened to intellectual discourse and healthy debate? Whatever happened to the dislike for violence and “mean people suck”? And mostly, whatever happened to thinking?

“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster… for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”-Friedrich Nietzsche

The vile, hateful rhetoric that has surrounded social media over the past few weeks is utterly disgusting. Hearing a straight, white woman call a gay, Jewish man who prefers black guys sexist and racist blew my mind. Make no mistake, they are the rigid ones; these new, name-calling black and white philosophers and thinkers. They have the script and are following it mindlessly even though sometimes the script doesn’t make any sense! They have finally become what they have abhorred for years.