Peak Irony

It seems as if we have reached a situation where the most visible parts of both the left and right of politics (in the US) could not become more ironic. Ironic may be the wrong word, completely lacking any common sense might be a better description.

Today saw students at Berkeley, supposedly progressive, violently riot in reaction to the speaker Milo Yiannopoulos http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38837142 . A defining characteristic of the most abhorrent regimes in history has been the limiting of free speech. It is not a coincidence. By limiting free speech you gain control by limiting opposing ideas. If by publicly voicing ideas contrary to the status quo you risk violence or death effective opposition becomes very difficult to build. In this way would be groups that could overthrow a regime never have the chance to form.

Berkeley students' response of violence to a speaker who's views they dislike is an attempt to limit discourse and free speech. I have little doubt that they see Milo as tantamount to a fascist but in behaving this way they are emulating many of the great fascists. They are fighting something they view as bad (rhetoric) with something worse (violence).

Protest organiser Yvette Felarca defended the demonstration, describing the actions of students as "self-defence".
"We have the right to defend ourselves," she said, adding: "This shutting down Milo Yiannopoulos, and doing whatever's necessary to do that, is our right to self-defence."

The event organiser, while she may or may not condone the violence, displays this obviously warped view that it is ok to try and silence people you disagree with. The phrase “doing whatever’s necessary” suggests she does in fact agree with the violence that occurred.

Moving to the inconsistency on the right of US politics. Trump has decided to ban refugees from 7 Muslim countries https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-30/trump-s-refugee-ban-and-the-legal-landscape-ahead-quicktake-q-a . He sights protecting US citizens as the reason for his ban. As the many shared graphic shows there has been not a single life taken by people entering from those countries while the US has one of the toughest immigration processes in the world. If protecting US lives was the priority then there are a great many things he could do better. A focus on mental health the 10^th largest killer in the US is an obvious one but there are many more things which would do a lot more to improve the safety of its citizens - http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-leading-causes-of-death-in-the-us/