The Intolerant Left - Another Example

Two of the most likely places that free speech will be attacked today are on any college campus and in the liberal city of San Francisco. In the most recent display of total contempt for a diversity of thought, leftist abortion advocates are trying to prevent the Oakland Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church from displaying pro-life advertisements on BART trains and in BART stations.

Are the abortion promoters upset by the violent or grotesque nature of the advertisements? No! (see below) Instead, they are disturbed by any diversity of thought and expression because it might cause someone, anyone, to be persuaded to disagree with them. Some leftists have called for outright removal of the signs; others have complained that BART officials did not call to “warn” them about the ads. Removal? I guess censorship by government agencies (BART) is something the loony left openly supports now. Perhaps they will get WalMart ads off the television too. Warn them? I guess BART should call, for example, Chevy and “warn” them next time Ford purchases ad space – of course, then they’d also have to call Dodge, Toyota, etc.; that might not be practical.

Then there are the more action oriented Bay Area liberals who are not content with trying to use government to censor free speech, so they have destroyed the posters. From the San Francisco Chronicle…

“Critics of the ads also seem to be taking matters into their own hands. Hundreds of the ads have been defaced with markers, had stickers placed over them or have been torn down and ripped up, according to Monika Rodman, coordinator of the group that placed the ads.

"The defacement has taken to religious epithets, profanity, everything you can think of,'' she said. A billboard at the MacArthur station in Oakland was torn to shreds, she said, and mini essays were written on others.” ("Anti-abortion ad on BART angers activists," 1/13/06)

Defacing and destroying the property of those who dare to oppose you – they think that’s okay. But, by all means, do not allow free speech or dissention.



The advertisements placed on BART by the Oakland Diocese are both factual and tasteful – I’ve posted both ad posters above and you can see the full size posters here.

Why is the liberal left so violently opposed to free speech or debate on public policy? Could it be that even the liberal left no longer has faith in the power of its’ own ideas?