Episode 191: Charlottesville / Eliminating Downs Syndrome / The Right to Serve

I’ve got 3 topics to discuss this week, one of which was suggested by a listener. (Yes, you can influence the topics covered!)

The violent extremes on both sides need to be condemned. But one side is more consistently doing that.

There’s a country out there taking the lead in the eradication of Downs Syndrome. It sounds like a medical breakthrough! But dig a little deeper, and it’s not that what you think it is.

A study came out regarding the transgendered in the military. The problem was, it studied the effects of a policy that no one is proposing. Well, at least they’re wasting their own money.

Mentioned links:

Charlottesville: far-right crowd with torches encircles counter-protest group

Driver Who Plowed Into Charlottesville Protester Is Nazi Supporter

Republicans — and Democrats — call for Trump to denounce white supremacists after Charlottesville death

“What kind of society do you want to live in?”: Inside the country where Down syndrome is disappearing

Study: Transgender troops ban could cost $960M

Transgender U.S. soldier felt “fired” by Trump’s tweet

Trump Announces Ban on Transgender Military Service

Show transcript

On August 12th, 2017, alt-right, neo-Nazi protesters descended on Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the taking down of statues of Confederacy icons. There were counter protesters there as well, but one of the neo-Nazis ran them down with a car, killing 1 and injuring 19. There was other violence as well with Antifa there.

The condemnations came swiftly from all quarters. It wasn’t as swiftly or as targeted by the White House, but in general both sides made it clear that violence, and especially violence in support of racism, was not going to be tolerated.

I want to start out by saying that I agree with these condemnations. Freedom of speech is allowed equally for viewpoints that we disagree with, and so with my freedom I want to vehemently disagree with the viewpoints of the protesters. Even though they have the right to speak it, I believe those views have no place in civil society. They should be shamed, but not banned. Further, violence is not protected, so all of those involved must be accountable for their actions.

This is just like the condemnations that came from those same quarters when the Antifa rioters used violence and property damage to deny the First Amendment rights of conservative speakers, especially at the Berkeley campus, but elsewhere as well. Welll…actually not so much.

The Charlottesville incident happened on Saturday. When I started writing up what I was going to say for this episode, it was Tuesday, and it was still dominating the news cycle. The CNN website as of late in the day was dominated by stories on the protest, the violence, and the aftermath. Stories that happened on the same day, like North Korea backing off its threat of nuclear holocaust? A footnote. When Antifa used violence to deny First Amendment rights, the story was lucky to survive a single news cycle, except perhaps on conservative websites.