Thanks for writing this piece, and showing just how unlawful and draconian this kidnapping and disappearance are - where will this end?! Not in a good place, and likely not just for international students, either.
You answer yourself in the article (though you knew that). The "free speech warriors" were never about free speech. It was about the privilege to be suppress speech they didn't like without consequences. They have that now, so what is there to comment on? This was all so transparently obvious at the time (as it is now) that I have to believe the traditional media was concluding with the right as anybody with a quarter-brain saw right through their act.
There is nothing in this piece addressing the university's governing body that in any way is supportive of the actions of Hamas. It is also signed/endorsed by a number of other members of the student body so why was this person singled out for deportation to a black site in Columbia?
Rubio said she supported groups which were "vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus" without showing that SHE did any of those things. Nor, for that matter, that most of the protestors in those groups did. Guilt by Association. In my lifetime, we discovered to our horror that that can kill 6 million people.
We are one tossed rock away from Kent State.
The judge wants to know more about the specific times. Anyone want to join a pool on how fast the DOJ will cite "state secrets privilege?"
"Everything in their power? Really? Because I'm not seeing statements from the university explicitly denouncing this detention as a violation of academic freedom and free speech. I'm not seeing university lawyers being dispatched to Louisiana."
During Trump's first term, MIT helped get some lawyers for a custodian whom ICE detained. Universities' responses in recent cases could be an example of how some institutions are less willing to put a fight this time around.
At this point, putting the words "Republicans" and "believe in" in the same sentence must result in a matter-antimatter explosion. They don't believe in anything except whatever it takes to expand their power and control. "Believe" in a thing one minute, "believe" in its opposite ten minutes later, whatever The Party Demands.
Look at Mike Johnson threatening to close the federal courts if they don't snap into line. If you believe in "law and order", then you believe in the law even when it rules against you. If you believe in democracy, then you believe in elections even when your team doesn't win. That's the only way to know whether you have actual principles or if it's just words. Ha ha, Republicans having "actual principles"? Don't make me laugh.
I followed the link to the YouTube video of this happening, and the comment section is full of accounts that express approval for this woman being snatched off the street, and almost all raise one of two talking points -- 1. that Turkey is authoritarian with no free speech protections so this isn't worse than that, and 2. that any speech related to protest is a visa violation. The uniformity of these (stupid) talking points, the weird account names, and the question of why a bunch of conservatives (who normally prefer to imagine ICE crackdowns as being on violent druglords and put on blinders for anyone else) would seek this YouTube video out, leads me to suspect that this is someone's influence operation. I just wanted to point that out.
This one really gets me -- I am a PhD student and I have friends who could very easily have been the ones dragged off the street into an unmarked vehicle.
Thanks for writing this piece, and showing just how unlawful and draconian this kidnapping and disappearance are - where will this end?! Not in a good place, and likely not just for international students, either.
You answer yourself in the article (though you knew that). The "free speech warriors" were never about free speech. It was about the privilege to be suppress speech they didn't like without consequences. They have that now, so what is there to comment on? This was all so transparently obvious at the time (as it is now) that I have to believe the traditional media was concluding with the right as anybody with a quarter-brain saw right through their act.
There is nothing in this piece addressing the university's governing body that in any way is supportive of the actions of Hamas. It is also signed/endorsed by a number of other members of the student body so why was this person singled out for deportation to a black site in Columbia?
Rubio said she supported groups which were "vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus" without showing that SHE did any of those things. Nor, for that matter, that most of the protestors in those groups did. Guilt by Association. In my lifetime, we discovered to our horror that that can kill 6 million people.
We are one tossed rock away from Kent State.
The judge wants to know more about the specific times. Anyone want to join a pool on how fast the DOJ will cite "state secrets privilege?"
"Everything in their power? Really? Because I'm not seeing statements from the university explicitly denouncing this detention as a violation of academic freedom and free speech. I'm not seeing university lawyers being dispatched to Louisiana."
During Trump's first term, MIT helped get some lawyers for a custodian whom ICE detained. Universities' responses in recent cases could be an example of how some institutions are less willing to put a fight this time around.
At this point, putting the words "Republicans" and "believe in" in the same sentence must result in a matter-antimatter explosion. They don't believe in anything except whatever it takes to expand their power and control. "Believe" in a thing one minute, "believe" in its opposite ten minutes later, whatever The Party Demands.
Look at Mike Johnson threatening to close the federal courts if they don't snap into line. If you believe in "law and order", then you believe in the law even when it rules against you. If you believe in democracy, then you believe in elections even when your team doesn't win. That's the only way to know whether you have actual principles or if it's just words. Ha ha, Republicans having "actual principles"? Don't make me laugh.
I thought they wanted to ban masks - weird that the cops have started wearing them. Really makes ya think
I followed the link to the YouTube video of this happening, and the comment section is full of accounts that express approval for this woman being snatched off the street, and almost all raise one of two talking points -- 1. that Turkey is authoritarian with no free speech protections so this isn't worse than that, and 2. that any speech related to protest is a visa violation. The uniformity of these (stupid) talking points, the weird account names, and the question of why a bunch of conservatives (who normally prefer to imagine ICE crackdowns as being on violent druglords and put on blinders for anyone else) would seek this YouTube video out, leads me to suspect that this is someone's influence operation. I just wanted to point that out.
This one really gets me -- I am a PhD student and I have friends who could very easily have been the ones dragged off the street into an unmarked vehicle.