Controlling the Instinct to Control

By now most everyone has rolled their eyes at the actions of Bergen Community College in New Jersey for stringing up a professor for his "threatening" email of a Game of Thrones tshirt. The really incredible part was the school's security professional saying that the slogan "I will take what is mine with fire and blood" could be taken to mean that someone would imminently show up with an AK-47 and start shooting. God forbid somebody shows up with a Princess Bride tshirt.

Well, Popehat.com has a really great post in response to this fiasco that I encourage everyone to read, and it touches gun rights as well as free speech and every other right that we're tempted to curtail in the aftermath of tragedy.

"We cannot govern every risk, but we must govern our reactions to risks. Here's the question we must ask ourselves: when awful things happen in the world, will we abandon reason and accept any measure urged by officials — petty and great — who invoke those awful things as justifications for action? Or will we think critically and demand that our leaders do so as well? Will we subject cries of "crime" and "drugs" and "terrorism" and "school shootings" to scrutiny? Will we be convinced to turn on each other in an irrational frenzy of suspicion, "for the children?""

 This is just one quote of a great read that I encourage everyone to share.