Oregon Daily hypocrites: I understand that the Daily Emerald is a liberal publication, and that’s why I was surprised to see the blatant contradiction of the “tolerance” of free speech in your “Smacks and Quacks: Year in Review” (ODE, June 12). ODE editors smacked the Genocide Awareness Project and the Evangelists saying, “Extremists who stand in the EMU with the sole purpose of angering students are furthering neither their own causes nor the respectful educational environment of the University.”
Just one paragraph later you smacked those who advocated shutting down The Insurgent saying, “Regardless of religious beliefs or affiliations, we should all be able to agree on the value of free speech and maintaining a marketplace of ideas at this University.”
What?! You advocate free speech for The Insurgent, a publication that desecrated a holy symbol and offered no rational “ideas,” but in fact was trying to “piss people off” in the words of Insurgent editor Jessica Brown. And on the same page you lecture your readers on how we should be tolerant, then you chastise the supporters of the Genocide Awareness Project and evangelists at the EMU. The Insurgent’s purpose was to anger the population; at least the Genocide Awareness Project and evangelists gave us some new perspectives on society, extremist or not. If you are going to fight for free speech
rights then make sure you do it on both sides.
Nik Antovich
University political science major