Fight! Fight! We have a blue-on-blue fight going on and it’s over free speech and, tangentially, Israel.
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You should know I am something of an absolutist when it comes to the First Amendment and believe more speech is the answer to “offensive” speech. I am also a Zionist. That I can be both may seem impossible in this one very specific scenario which I am about to lay out for you so I wanted you to be absolutely clear where I stand up front.
With that, we begin.
This blue-on-blue kerfuffle began when Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) posted the below statement on X over an article in the Seattle Times about hard-left activist Hasan Piker getting a talk of his canceled at the University of Washington. She didn’t like it. Mr. Piker alleges he was canceled due to his very negative views on Israel. (Which are, in fact, noxious in the extreme.) In other words, Mr. Piker is blaming the jooos for getting him canceled. How very on-brand of him.
Here is Jayapal’s X post:
As a Member of the Judiciary Committee, I have been absolutely clear that free speech is a Constitutional right that we must all stand up and protect. I have been communicating my concerns about the cancellation of the Hasan Piker event directly to the University, and they have…
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) August 13, 2026
It’s all very nice that the university promises the congresswoman that it will “never happen again” but if they were actually sincere they would… what? Exactly: re-invite Hasan Piker to give his talk. That would be where the rubber meets the road. Anything less is lip service.
We must also address Congresswoman Jayapal’s rather juvenile understanding of the First Amendment. One does not have a First Amendment right to speak anywhere anytime under any circumstances. There are rules, spoken and unspoken, in a civil society. We are not anarchists. We are possessed of reason. Flawed though it is on this occasion.
While I am glad Ms. Jayapal is standing on the side of free speech, let’s be clear: she’s wrapping herself in the cloak of the First Amendment to hide her true intent, which is to use Mr. Piker as an avatar of her own filthy antisemitism. She also, presumably, endorses any number of his other extraordinarily toxic views and is perfectly happy to have him advocate for them.
Representative Jayapal is no hero. In fact, she’s taken the opposite position on free speech in the not too distant past. But here? This time? She’s simply, in my view, correct on this one very narrow matter of free expression: Let. Him. Speak. Though we want him to speak for very different reasons.
I say: let him hang himself with his own words. His positions are indefensible. Subjected to the littlest bit of light, they will singe into ash, and sometimes at these things there is a student or two carrying a torch. Let him risk it. It will be good and healthy for everyone involved. Even if there is no student confrontation, it is good and healthy to let him speak because the kids will later talk amongst themselves and there his ideas will be pushed and pulled and tested. And if not there, then with their parents or other family. Ideas, especially ideas like his, crackle with energy. That they will go forth and bounce among humans is inevitable. You can’t stop it. Ideas have energy, good or bad, one way or another, and the “another” is usually when it’s too late for words.
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On the other side of the argument we have the totalitarian tendencies of one of Congress’s most thoroughly detestable members, Democrat Dan Goldman, who also happens to be (happily) an openly pro-Israel Jew. Unlike his antisemitic colleague Congresswoman Jayapal, he supports the university’s decision to cancel Mr. Piker. Rep. Goldman is wrong, and I’ll explain why in a moment.
In response to Jaypal, Goldman said this:
As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I too believe in the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. But a university has obligations under Title VI to ensure that its own sanctioned events do not create a hostile environment for any student, including Jewish students. Given… https://t.co/YW7bZh38vH
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) August 13, 2026
Now, to be absolutely clear: the raging, violent antisemitism we have seen on college campuses nationwide is truly frightening and must be condemned in the harshest possible terms. There are ways to stop it if only the schools are willing. It’s simply a matter of choice, and thus far, too many schools have chosen not to do it. Because… reasons. All of them woke and cowardly. It appears the University of Washington wasn’t willing to take those measures here, and I suppose there is the most minuscule, microscopic credit to be given them for acknowledging their utter impotence before the event even took place.
But what of the nature of Rep. Goldman’s reply?
“Federally funded” is the key phrase here. Congressman Goldman appears to be of the opinion that since they receive federal dollars, the federal government should have a say in the content of their free speech. Nothing could be further from the truth, the spirit of the First Amendment, or the original intent of the First Amendment. The First Amendment is there for exactly this kind of speech — the really offensive kind. Otherwise, why have it? What purpose is it? Why make it First among all the other amendments unless it is oxygen to a free people? It is there our country breathes. It is there where we are able to reason things out rather than shoot them out.
Let. Him. Speak.
For all the reasons previously stated.
And, crucially, let those who oppose him speak. Representatives Jayapal and Goldman would do well to support them, but I shan’t hold my breath.
It seems worth a mention that the late Charlie Kirk’s outfit, Turning Point USA, along with a few other “right wing” groups, support my position. You can read more about Hasan Piker and the kerfuffle at UW here.
M. Walter blogs at www.mwalterwriter.com where you can find The Lunatic Left Series, a daily snapshot of Democrat words and deeds so you can see what they’re up to without having to go hip-deep in their toxic brew. You’re welcome 😉
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