Republicans turning University of Wisconsin into Swill Hole for Right Wing Politics.

What's wrong with this statement about the UW free speech bill:

Opponents to the bill argue the changes would violate the free speech rights of students who want to protest campus speakers. 

What's wrong? The answer if pretty simple: This is unconstitutional, and violates the First Amendment, not just the rights of students on campus. Framing is everything. Anytime you mention "regulation" in the same sentence with "free speech," free speech is already a goner.

It's funny how the simplest most common sense regulation on handguns is a violation of our Second Amendment rights. But with speech, Republicans have no sense of guilt or hypocrisy. What follows is so broad that it defies logic:

Under the proposal, students who disrupt campus events at UW System schools could be expelled ... new rules for free speech and expression on system campuses. That includes penalties for people who disrupt free expression on campus by engaging in, "violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, obscene, unreasonably loud or other disorderly conduct ... establish a special council in charge of disciplinary hearings when a student is accused of preventing someone from speaking or restricting their free expression. Anyone can report a student at one of the system's four-year or two-year colleges for violating the policies and a student would automatically be sent to a disciplinary hearing if reported twice.

This mind blowing ironic part...:

New students would be informed of the system's free expression policies and receive First Amendment training.

I know, stunning isn't it?

Have university officials threatened to challenge the law in court? Has anyone? Let me know in the comments section if anyone has stepped forward to challenge this state law.

Off Campus Speech as well: Check out this amazing Scott Walker explanation from Upfront with Mike Gousha from back in April of 2017:

Walker: "Whether it's against me or somebody else say, "I disagree," but disagreeing and even protesting is one thing ... But the minute you shut down a speaker, no matter whether they're liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between, I just think that's wrong." To me a university...anywhere free speech should be upheld...but disrupting and shutting down as we've seen here in Wisconsin, but elsewhere across the country, shutting down the ability for someone to actually be heard is not free speech."

Where does it say that in the Constitution?

The right to be "heard" is not protected by the Constitution. But Walker wants to go beyond the Constitution, with "I just think that's wrong" as a standard, which is pretty much all it takes under an oppressive government. And who knew we could specifically select "anywhere free speech should be upheld?" Where are those other areas? I found a few in a previous post, here.

Republican Attack on the Left: Pure and simple, this is a politically motivated attack. The absolute arrogance of power allowed for this slip-up by the author of this bill:

Rep. Jesse Kremer, of Kewaskum, said ... the "elitist media" of "losing their minds over someone with a different opinion." Kremer said the "left's unhinged attacks" on his perspective — which he said included death threats and profanity-laden messages — demonstrated the need for his legislation. 

Associate Professor Dave Vanness tweeted:

Conservative Guest Speaker Con Game: As I've mentioned before, here, here, and more recently here, speaker controversies and protests are the best way to bolster that persons reputation and fees, so it's in their best interest to play it up and to feed their legend.

Plus with this bill, Republicans are conning us again, this time seeking taxpayer cash funding for conservative whack jobs via frivolous lawsuits brought by these "offended" speakers:

"Speakers who believe free speech rights are violated by UW could take school to court under Assembly bill."

Turning the University of Wisconsin into a Swill Hole for Right Wing Politics: The Journal Sentinel offered this incredibly insightful look at why this is happening in the first place, and it has nothing to do with free speech or their current rules for dealing with disruptive behavior:

Conservative foundations that for years have quietly given money to help student groups bring speakers to college campuses recently have been under scrutiny in the wake of speaker protests, suggesting the push for conservative views is from off-campus.

The Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation in recent years has given Young America's Foundation tens of thousands of dollars for such activities as increasing the number of conservative-leaning campus events it sponsors, including in Wisconsin ... Young America's Foundation was making efforts to reach more students in the Midwest."

"This is balancing of the scales," said Donald Downs, who in the fall of 2006 co-founded the UW-Madison Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy.

"Liberal Democracy?" Here's a thought, see if you find anything "liberal" in the following description of Downs Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy:

The second mission relates specifically to the University of Wisconsin. It is to advance intellectual diversity at the University by taking ideas seriously that we believe have not always enjoyed sufficient respect on campus. Such ideas include the various strands of conservative political thought and libertarian thought, in addition to thought addressing religious liberty, foreign policy, and the role of the military in American society and on campus.

Wow, the role of the military in society and on campus, really?

I'll give this Democratic press release the final word:

State Representative Melissa Sargent (D-Madison) blasted Assembly Republicans Unconstitutional Bill Addressing Republican-Manufactured Crisis: 

“Once again, Republicans are making it abundantly clear that they only care about what’s happening on University of Wisconsin campuses when it suits them: when they’re a sounding board for what Republicans want to do, when they teach students what Republicans want to have taught, and when they promote values Republicans want to have promoted.”