Dom Giordano Column: Berkeley Rage Also Lives Here
PHILADLEPHIA (CBS) -- As the clock ticks toward the big showdown this week between Ann Coulter and Berkeley, I have a local question in mind. Could Ann Coulter speak on a college campus in Philadelphia? For that matter, could Ann speak at any place in Philadelphia? My answers are no to a college campus and very doubtful to any other space.
Philadelphia is not Berkeley, yet. However, it is well on its way. It's not just that Philadelphia like Berkeley has howling mobs of snowflakes but like Berkeley has a police force that does not protect the rights of speakers to be heard. When I had a station event for listeners at the Philadelphia Museum of
Art a few years back, a mob of snowflakes got into the event and proceeded to shout down the governor. I got into a confrontation with the head of the Philadelphia Civil Affairs Police who told that to fulfill the first amendment he was going to allow each one of the 50 protesters a minute each to say whatever they wanted. In Berkeley, the police stand by as people riot.
However, in Philadelphia we are getting closer to the Berkeley rioters. When Trump supporters recently wanted to march from Independence Hall to the Art Museum and got the required permits, they were still stopped by the
Philadelphia Police because of attacks by the same "anti-fascist" groups that we have seen in Berkeley. They were told they couldn't continue because their presence was putting public safety at risk.
This last argument is the same one that Berkeley has been making to stop Coulter from speaking. The idea that saying authorities can't ensure the safety of a speaker is the new way to say shut up.
Berkeley is the only other American city that has the sugary drinks tax. Let's hope Philadelphia does not continue their suppression of free speech.
