Foxy,

I wonder why a polemic from a far left socialist activist would clear up anything. You would fail just as spectacularly asking for an honest assessment of Hansen Young from Pauline Hanson.

Even the title "The rise and fall of Milo Yiannopoulos – how a shallow actor played the bad guy for money" is a complete joke as MY's star is still in ascendancy and his talks are sold out in seconds with crowds and a following that drips like Owen Jones and Dorian Lynskey can only dream of.

I doubt that anyone agrees with everything that Milo says, but beyond the showmanship and deliberate provocation, there is much that needs to be discussed and considered where many would simply like to make the topics taboo and ban any discussion of them.

Milo is a gay man in a stable sexual relationship with a black gay man. If he were mouthing the usual rainbow anthems he'd be treated as a demi-God.

But as an articulate voice of the right he creates quite a problem for the left. Normally they can throw around their usual unthinking ad homs like homophobic, racist, etc and shout the devil-speaker into silence. But they can't do that with Milo Y and in any case he has no intention of being silenced. What is more, he speaks from experience and clear-headedly. And he is perfectly prepared to tweak the various mantras of the left to make fun of them and point out their vacuousness.

Soooo...what to do when you can't shout a speaker of the right into silence? Answer....violence. (That's always the left's ultimate answer).
________________________________________________________________

Just a passing observation. Milo Y has been one of the most prominent speakers and thinkers on the right for the past coupla years. Yet some here appear to be utterly ignorant of him, which makes one wonder if they are utterly ignorant in general of the views ofthe right's prominent thinkers. How can such people aspire to be well-informed when they are (deliberately?) uninformed about the views of their opponents?

Here is hoping that the evidence from the fixed and mobile cameras enables more of those serial activist thugs from both sides to be charged and that the Court outcome is considerably more than a slap on the wrist.

Dear Shadow Minister,

People are right to protest. It's not about
stopping free speech, it's about stopping the
kind of speech that stirs up hatred, violence,
and intolerance.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/susie-obrien-yiannopoulos-should-not-have-been-allowed-in-australia-writes-susie-obrien/news-story/73bc47e750de4b59e91eb99507b77cb9

Well, mhaze, I was wondering how long it would take for someone to happily associate themselves with this moron, but, to be honest, I didn’t think it would be you.

Gay people can still be homophobic, just as anyone can still be racist towards their own “race”. This is known to psychologists as 'internalised hatred'. Homophobic gay people do exist. I even know one. I’m not saying that Yiannopoulos is homophobic, of course, just that his being gay doesn't make him immune to the accusation. If he expresses anti-gay sentiments, then he is homophobic, gay or not.

Yiannopoulos is certainly transphobic, though, and given just how false his claims were about trans people (not to mention his claims on any number of other topics), I’m surprised that you would happily refer to him as “one of the most prominent speakers and thinkers on the right for the past coupla years.”

It’s a pity. His disregard for how he is perceived and his disdain for identity politics could have been put to good use had he been far more measured and courteous in his tone and delivery. But, unfortunately, his insults, his deliberately inflammatory remarks, and some of his poorly-researched claims, completely ruin what little good he could have done in bringing to surface some controversial but much-needed discussions.

Dear AJ,

Here is a link that may be of interest:

http://theweek.com/articles/726932/rise-fall-milo-yiannopoulos