{"id":21452,"date":"2018-02-14T09:18:39","date_gmt":"2018-02-14T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=21452"},"modified":"2018-02-14T09:18:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-14T16:18:39","slug":"hecklers-ejected-during-firebrands-um-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2018\/02\/hecklers-ejected-during-firebrands-um-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Hecklers ejected during firebrand’s UM speech"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Adams\"<\/a>

Martin Kidston\/Missoula Current<\/p>

Mike Adams, a conservative firebrand and columnist, attacks the institution of higher education using racial and social minorities to make his argument that the First Amendment is under attack, mainly by college administrators.<\/p><\/div>\n

Shortly after Mike Adams took the stage at the University of Montana, he posed a single question, asking if those in attendance were truly dedicated to defending the First Amendment.<\/p>\n

Adams, a conservative firebrand, spent the next hour of his Tuesday night talk using the Ku Klux Klan, Muslims, gays and the abortion of African-American babies to build his argument \u2013 often to laughter and applause \u2013 that free speech can be uncomfortable for liberals when it runs counter to their beliefs.<\/p>\n

Even so, Adams admitted that the title of his talk, \u201cThe Death of Liberal Bias in Higher Education,\u201d was somewhat misleading, suggesting that conservatives miss the point when they argue that liberalism is \u201cwhat\u2019s wrong\u201d with higher education.<\/p>\n

The problem, he said, runs much deeper.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

\u201cConservatives are always worried about sending their kids and grandkids off to university because they\u2019ll be exposed to liberal bias in higher education,\u201d said Adams. \u201cThat\u2019s absolutely false. Liberal bias in higher education has been replaced by something far more dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

That, he said, was liberal discrimination.<\/p>\n

Adams, who was interrupted several times throughout his talk by protesters \u2014 each quickly escorted from the venue by private security \u2014 chastised the University of Montana for attempting to prevent his speech.<\/p>\n

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div>Yet the night\u2019s biggest attack came from Sen. Steve Daines, in a video message, who lauded Adams for speaking with \u201cfaith and conscience.\u201d The Republican lawmaker also praised Maria Cole, who funded much of the event as part of the annual Jeff Cole Distinguished Lecture series.<\/p>\n

Some left the venue when Daines blamed the university for causing the contentiousness around Adams\u2019 talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cLux et Veritas (Light and Truth),\u201d Daines said in the message. \u201cBelieve it or not, that\u2019s the University of Montana\u2019s motto. But by seeking to stop Mike Adams from coming to speak at this campus because of his faith and politics, I don\u2019t see a lot of light, or dedication to truth, coming from the journalism school leaders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Daines didn\u2019t mention that University of Montana president Seth Bodnar had actually\u00a0defended Adams\u2019 right to speak<\/a>\u00a0on campus, nor did he raise concern over the tone and content of Adams\u2019 past social media posts.<\/p>\n

Rather, Daines played solely to the evening\u2019s conservative audience. The night opened with a Christian prayer \u2014 no other prayers were offered \u2014 and several laughed as protesters were taken from the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy gathering here this evening, you\u2019re sending a strong message that our freedom of speech is worth fighting for,\u201d Daines said. \u201cYou\u2019re challenging leaders of our state\u2019s academic institutions that faith and conscience can be swept aside when people walk through university gates.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was late last year when the School of Journalism first raised objections to Adam\u2019s talk, fearing it was giving an accused bigot a free platform on which to spread his message of intolerance, hate and discrimination.<\/p>\n

And while Cole, as the evening\u2019s sponsor, introduced Adams as a popular professor among his students, she neglected to mention the several petitions circulated on the University of North Carolina campus, where Adams works, seeking his removal.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpeech can be provocative and challenging,\u201d Cole told the audience. \u201cIt can produce discomfort and unrest. I believe we have a responsibility to encourage the kind of dialogue that produces some discomfort. Without it, we inhibit our own growth and learning. Our society needs open debate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams said it was liberal bias that brought him into the profession of teaching in a college setting. He thanked a left-leaning professor who staunchly supported former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his \u201cNew Deal\u201d politics for opening his eyes to the ills of the college setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiberalism presupposes tolerance, tolerance presupposes moral judgment, and the existence of moral judgment guarantees that you\u2019ll be offended from time to time,\u201d Adams said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s OK, because that\u2019s the price of living in a free society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adams suggested that higher education is faced with three primary threats, many coming from college administrators, not the pipe-smoking professor of his past.<\/p>\n

Rather, he said, it\u2019s the \u201csystematic policies\u201d of college administrators that pose the greatest threat to the First Amendment and its constitutional guarantees.<\/p>\n

Adams, who has been championed by some and criticized by others for his divisive language and blunt statements, blamed campus administrators for pulling funding from student groups that they don\u2019t agree with, and he suggested they were threatening the \u201cfreedom of association.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to have an effective way of exercising your freedom of association to advance a belief, you have to advance that belief with people who share your belief,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s a necessary part of freedom of association, working together with people who share those values.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bulk of the night\u2019s protesters were kept outside, and those who did get a ticket were quickly silenced when they raised objection to Adams\u2019 opinions. Some had their signs torn away by security guards and all were quickly escorted from the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no heckler\u2019s veto,\u201d Adams shouted at one point. \u201cI will speak this evening and if you shout and try to interrupt me, you\u2019ll cut into your own free speech rights in Q&A. I assure you, if you continue, we\u2019ll arrest the right person.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those people was Rose Rogers, who interrupted Adams\u2019 presentation by calling him a \u201cbigot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI came out tonight because I think he creates a safe space for bigots, and he uses the First Amendment as a guise for transphobic, racist, sexist, xenophobic statements,\u201d said Rogers. \u201cThat\u2019s not OK and I wanted to make sure that point was made.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cHe stopped to address me and threatened to take away everyone else in the crowd\u2019s free speech due to me saying something.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on\u00a0Missoula Current<\/a>, an independent online newspaper, of which\u00a0Martin Kidston is the founding editor.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shortly after Mike Adams took the stage at the University of Montana, he posed a single question, asking if those in attendance were truly dedicated to defending the First Amendment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":21453,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[6760,528,63],"class_list":["post-21452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","category-news","tag-mike-adams","tag-steve-daines","tag-university-of-montana","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21452"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21456,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21452\/revisions\/21456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}