In the days since Charlie Kirk's shooting, a level of performative concern about limiting speech critical of the slain conservative has spread far and wide. It's led to normally critical liberal pundits, like Ezra Klein, celebrating Kirk's life and work, while others have been fired for merely bringing attention to things Kirk has said via direct quote. This hypervigilant policing of speech critical of Kirk reveals hypocrisy on all sides.
Christopher Rufo took six months to contradict his own advice. In February, the conservative activist wrote that social-media posts "should no longer be grounds for automatic social and professional annihilation." This view won't come as a surprise to anyone who has followed Rufo's long crusade against left-wing cancel culture. By August, however, he had emulated his enemies, arousing outrage over a journalist's old tweets. The episode demonstrates not just his own hypocrisy but also why campaigns against unwelcome speech should always be resisted.
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It's as if we're currently living in a late night commercial for ambulance chasers: did you do something odious or antisocial that has terrible real world consequences? You may be entitled to compensation from your fellow believers.