LETTERS

Yoga pants protest: Bullying and intimidation

Posted 10/27/16

To the Editor: To all those who may consider writing a letter to the editor: beware! No longer is free speech met with responding free speech; it is now commonly met with thinly veiled attempts to physically intimidate those who exercise the rights

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LETTERS

Yoga pants protest: Bullying and intimidation

Posted

To the Editor:

To all those who may consider writing a letter to the editor: beware! No longer is free speech met with responding free speech; it is now commonly met with thinly veiled attempts to physically intimidate those who exercise the rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.

The 300-strong "protest" march past the home of the man who wrote a silly letter to the editor of the Barrington Times about his disgust with yoga pants was a prime example of those who disagree with peaceful speech attempting to intimidate the speaker. For the protest organizer to have even looked up the home address of the letter writer is disturbing. I can imagine the thought process: "Let's see where this [expletive] lives!" It's the same thought process that in the past led to "Crystal Night" violence against Jews in pre-war Nazi Germany and the firebombing of black family's homes in the American south.   

It started on our exalted Ivy League college campuses with speakers being hounded off the podium by "enlightened" students and professors who want the college experience to be about living in cocoons of narrow, preconceived notions rather than about expanding knowledge through the exploration of diverse ideas. It went on to the demand for "safe spaces" where students can flee from "trigger words" and "micro-aggressions.”

Now it's gone public in Barrington. Had the yoga pants protesters voiced their opposition to this "micro-aggression" by marching anywhere other than the front door of the letter writer's home, perhaps the anti-free speech message might not have been so egregious. But the targeting of the letter writer's home was bullying and intimidation, pure and simple, and went far beyond the pale of what the Constitution's founders intended as responsive "free speech.”

Lonnie Barham

Warwick   

Comments

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  • Bob_Cushman

    And Lonnie, take caution speaking before the Warwick City Council, as a Union Thug President may contact your employer and threaten a state and national wide boycott of their stores unless they fire you.

    Thursday, October 27, 2016 Report this

  • jfraser

    The organizer didn't look up the letter writer's address, it was printed with the letter. But I guess facts don't matter...

    Thursday, October 27, 2016 Report this

  • ThatGuyInRI

    Bullying? Intimidation?

    Good God, get a life and some perspective.

    Friday, October 28, 2016 Report this

  • The Berg

    That Lonnie Barham compared a yoga pants protest to Kristallnacht is beyond understanding. Disturbing.

    Friday, October 28, 2016 Report this

  • Erynn

    Very important to note that the Barrington Times printed the letter writer's name and address at the bottom of the letter when it ran last week. The entire letter above is predicated upon the fact that the parade organizer acted with malice and her intent was on the same level as pre-war Nazis. Perhaps a rewrite or apology is in order for the lack of research and knee-jerk reaction?

    Friday, October 28, 2016 Report this

  • davebarry109

    Time to fight back. Who would be 'intimidated' by a bunch of fat chicks in yoga pants? Let them blather and march. We must not let free speech die. 1984 is coming true in this country. The writer is correct...this began on college campuses like Brown where conservatives, if they even get in the door, are hounded off the stage. Let's bring real men back and stop this nonsense. I for one, refuse to be intimidated. Bring it on.

    Saturday, October 29, 2016 Report this

  • DillonYork

    It is my opinion that man people do not know how to dress property. There was even a show called "How not to dress" certain clothes are designed for a specific purpose. sweatpants for the gym, hiking boots for hiking, suits for work, Tuxes for formal wear. swim suit for the beach. etc.

    .

    But when you attack a person for their opinion you are attacking not only their first amendment right in this circumstance but you are setting a precedent that others can attack when they do not agree with someone else's opinon

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    It was a women's opinion that a women should have the right to vote.

    It was someone's opinion that a white man can marry a black women.

    It was another's opinion that blacks should have the same rights as whites.

    It is many peoples opinion that women should be paid the same pay for the same work as men

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    I do not recall in history where a group has marched on the individual's personal residence because the group does not agree with that person's opinon. How intimidating was that!.

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    Would Martin Luther King have marched on one white man's private personal residence because Dr King did not agree with his opinion? I do not think he would have stooped that low.

    Monday, October 31, 2016 Report this

  • RISchadenfreude

    This intimidation masquerading as a "protest" is yet another example of the "tolerant" and "accepting" behavior for which liberals are allegedly so well known.

    300 (mostly) unattractive women in yoga pants in one place- things you can't unsee...

    Rhetorical question: how many of them actually do yoga?

    Thursday, November 3, 2016 Report this