How the Left Wing Progressive Attempt to Shut Down Debate

Part I . The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech 2016 Kimberley Strassel, Wall Street Journal columnist, member of the WSJ Editorial Board, and regular panelist on FOX and the WSJ Report with WSJ Editor Paul Gigot.

Kimberley Strassel shows numerous examples of how the Left is orchestrating a coordinated campaign to bully Americans out of challenging so-called progressive ideas and issues by punishing and demonizing and bullying and threatening their critics into being afraid to speak out. The Left does it with name-calling and threats to silence dissent and maintain political, speech and thought control, and their politically correct agenda. Examples: harassment of conservative politicians, writers, commentators, officials and voters. In the last few years the Obama administration has done it through the control of federal agencies.

Tea Party group targeted by the IRS, the politicization of government agencies and the courts, and agency and bureaucratic pressure. An extensive discussion featured how Wisconsin prosecutors, state attorneys general and county attorneys, pressure groups and Congress tried to shut down political activists and businesses, and block the legislation and policies of the Republican state assembly and Gov. Scott Walker. Attempts to control speech and religious freedom and bully people with other views are par for the course Public shaming, calling critics bullies, racists, and purveyors of hate speech are some of the methods in the intolerant of intellectual diversity, so-called "Progressive" arsenal.

Shutting down political debate in public and on college campuses and controlling media outlets are among the methods used by the Left. Using judges to obstruct countervailing policies and legislation add to the mix. Donors to conservative candidates are outed and pressured. President Obama’s executive orders and regulations continued the assault on conservative critics and freedom of thought, speech and religion. Liberal activists have used violence against critics and attempt to get dissidents frightened and fired from their jobs. Strassel writes that the Left uses high tech to isolate political opponents.

The result: Americans know this and are scared and reluctant to speak out and even give to political causes. They get nasty phone calls and emails, demonstrations, disturbances at meetings and town halls, and “get beat up and run out. The intimidation game is working.”