The Radical Dumpling Gang Rides Again BY: Boris Ryvkin
Ever since the start of the War on Terror, and particularly Operation Iraqi Freedom, left-wing radicals who understand neither strategy nor the First Amendment, have been spitting in the faces of our brave fighting men and women, the president’s bold new vision for the Middle East, and those among us who understand the threat that Americans face. The way these people continue to attack without giving the other side an equal right to state its case defies the very meaning of the First Amendment. It seems that some people continue to believe that “unalienable rights” are unalienable only if real aliens inhabit the planet. Such was the case on January 20th, 2005 at Seattle Community College in Washington State.
A group calling itself “Students Against the War” decided to stage a walkout protesting the President’s inauguration. At the appointed time on January 20th, the students swarmed the hallways and began chanting anti-Bush and anti-war slogans, urging more timid students to join them. All people could hear initially was a loud banging of chairs, lockers, and vending machines, but the organizers had a special target in mind. It just so happened that a group of army recruiters, headed by Sgt. 1st class Douglas Washington and Sgt. Jeffrey Due, were distributing military paperwork to interested students. All of a sudden, as Sgt. Due reported, a “crowd of 500” was around the table. Soon bottles of water and newspaper were being flung at the soldiers. The students, lacking any concept of orderly and peaceful behavior, began ripping the recruitment paperwork apart and throwing verbal slurs at the soldiers. If that wasn’t enough, the organizers the urges their followers to assault the troops with “anything they could get their hands on.” Chairs, magazines, and balls were thrown at the outnumbered troops, who, while being yelled at to leave, held their ground and maintained they had a right to be there.
Although the troops had been warned that a protest was scheduled for that day, as Sgt. Due later stated, they didn’t think it would be that disorderly and violent. After 10 minutes of conflict, college security and local police were summoned to take charge of the situation. While it was clearly the student radicals who had violated the ability of the troops to express their First Amendment rights of speech and assembly by physically attacking them and thus creating a general disturbance, the police detachment asked the soldiers to leave the building to end the incident. What is wrong with this picture? Honorable men, who represent our brave troops oversees fighting for freedom and democracy, are assaulted by a bunch of extremists I wouldn’t trust with a beebee gun. The troops were harmlessly handing out literature to all interested parties and were assaulted by a violent student mob. The troops were told to leave when they did nothing wrong and the radicals achieved a media victory. Why is our military subject to this double standard? What is more troubling is that this is not an isolated incident. Since federal courts began repealing laws such as the Solomon Amendment, which requires colleges receiving federal aid to allow recruiters on campus, schools such as Harvard Law and other universities have been quick to ban the military from campus. We must make a stand and tell our opponents in a clear voice that their attacks on our courageous citizens in uniform will be met with strong opposition at home and abroad.
Contact the author: bryvkin@republicanvoices.org