The idea that what I want overrides what you want has increasingly become part of our thinking, our policies and even our laws. There is literally a federal case before the Supreme Court over the fact that many colleges and universities refuse to allow military recruiters on campus.
Why? Because, as the academics will tell you, they are opposed to the military, either in general or because they think the military are discriminating against homosexuals or for whatever other reasons they have.
These academics have every right to be against the military, for any reason or for no reason.
If they don't like the military, they can stay away from the military, since there is no draft. But what they want is to keep other people away from the military, by preventing students from hearing what the military recruiters have to say, as students hear what recruiters from all sorts of other institutions and movements have to say on campus.
The reason there is a legal issue is that a federal law has been passed, saying that colleges and universities that forbid military recruiters from coming on campus are no longer eligible to receive federal money.
Academics are outraged. They see this law as a violation of their freedom -- including their right to violate their students' freedom. It is classic spoiled brat politics, based on the idea that what I want overrides what you want.
I'm inclined to agree with Sowell on the "spoiled brat" aspect of things. Freedom of speech is a paramount right; an essential freedom for the Left when it involves their right to be irritating, pathetic, revolting, and downright sick. They also get to decide what's offensive and seem to think that what they ban or forbid (on campus or elsewhere) is perfectly legitimate.
But when there are consequences the Left doesn't like that result from their taking a particular political stand (e.g., losing your federal funding for discriminating against a part of the federal government; losing your audience because the public doesn't care for political diatribes disguised as "entertainment") , then "spoiled brat" is precisely and exactly the word to describe their juvenile temper tantrums.
Free speech is great when it issues forth from their ideology; but when it is expressed by someone they don't like; or is something with which they happen to disagree--well, that's another thing entirely.
UPDATE: More "free speech" as interpreted by the Left. Honestly, who let them out of their playpen?
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