I Just Can’t Get Excited About the Campus Protests
For most Americans, they are only likely to inspire ambivalence.
A week or so ago, I arrived home from work shortly after 10 PM looking forward to watching Stephen Colbert’s monologue while grabbing a bite to eat before going to bed. The Trump trial, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s threats to topple yet another Speaker of the House, and a certain governor’s gravel pit puppy execution meant Colbert had a lot of material to work with that night.
Shortly into his monologue, the show was interpreted by breaking news. The protests that had been roiling university campuses across the country had arrived in my state. Police were preparing to clear out an encampment that had gone up earlier that day at the University of Utah.
I felt a twinge of guilt for feeling annoyed. It had been a long day and watching officers in the Salt Lake Police Department advance slowly across a lawn removing tents while protesters yelled at them wasn’t my idea of relaxation, but such is life in a pluralistic society.
Furthermore, I too would like to see a ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Yet I lack any sympathy for Hamas, an organization that has brutalized and disregarded the needs of its own people as well as carrying out the vicious attack against…
