The Next Executive Order

At some point in Star Wars Episode VI (really number three, but let's not get into mixed-up ways of telling a saga), General Akbar utters the line "It's a trap" to the Jedi military staff, and then all hell breaks out.  You could have predicted the trap angle five minutes prior in the movie, but it had to climax in some way with Akbar's brilliant moment of deduction.

I sat and watched the 2-hour speech by President Trump from yesterday, and there was the moment where he's talking over issuing an executive order.....that would be laid upon public colleges (not the private ones) to actively support freedom of speech....or face consequences.  At that moment, I uttered in my mind: "Its a trap".

Yes, it's the most brilliant trap ever devised by President Trump.

First, it's basically guaranteed anyway....via the Constitution.  But a number of anti-Trump folks are going to get ballistic, and go anti-free speech.....getting the general public in red-states to get further annoyed by the negative chatter.  Imagine Senators having to stand there, and suggest that freedom of speech is guaranteed, yet you must fight it. 

Second, on every occasion that anyone is affected by the failure of freedom of speech on a public campus.....the President can turn to the AG and ask for a full-scale investigation.  Punishment?  They could drag you into a court, and it gets fairly messy with the Chancellor having to explain to some judge why he can't allow freedom of speech.  But it gets even more interesting.....the federal guys could deny research funding into science and technology projects that the university might be highly attached to.  Imagine four science professors showing up at your door, and angry over a twenty-million-dollar project now stalled because of speech issues and the feds withholding funding.

Third, imagine CNN trying to explain the good things about banning or holding back freedom of speech.

Fourth, more security?  Well, if you were a California campus, and realizing the impact....you'd have to go and hire up at least sixty additional campus cops, and add an additional 25-million onto the operational cost of providing adequate security for the college.  Yes, within a year or two, you'd have to bump the tuition up ten-percent....just because of security.

Fifth, more court fines?  Well, again.....as a California campus....imagine having listen to some federal judge lecture about being at fault, and assessing a $10-million dollar fine for allowing four punks on your campus (maybe not even students there), and them beating up on some freshman student.  Just two or three of those per year, and you'd be talking about another 10-percent rise in tuition. 

Yes, Trump has rigged up a five-star trap, and basically letting the university crowd know that their cash flow system is about to be marginalized.  Imagine five more years of Trump and this freedom of speech angle, with a behavioral problem that has to be repaired by the campus intellectuals.