Since he began Doonesbury in the late 1960s, Garry Trudeau has always been a hard Leftist, and he here shows his dark little authoritarian heart. “Hate speech” is a subjective judgment. If it becomes criminalized, then those who are in power can use it to silence the powerless. Leftists like Trudeau generally assume that their positions are so self-evident that those whom they excoriate as “right-wing” are fully aware that they’re trafficking in “hate speech” — I remember Ground Zero Mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal’s obvious surprise when I answered “Of course” to his question, “Do you really believe that what you are doing is right?” In reality, I think much of what not I, but Trudeau (and El-Gamal) says is hateful, but I would never want them forcibly silenced. The same cannot be said the other way around.
It is also particularly shameful for someone who has preened for over forty years over being “controversial” (although actually he has just reflected standard Leftist establishment opinions) would not stand up for the freedom of speech against violent thuggery, and realize that “controversial” voices need protection if any free society is going to remain free. “Charlie Hebdo ‘Wandered Into The Realm Of Hate Speech,’ Says Doonesbury Cartoonist Garry Trudeau,” by Gabriel Arana, Huffington Post, April 10, 2015:
Famed Doonesbury cartoonist Garry Trudeau slammed his counterparts at Charlie Hebdo — the French satirical newspaper that was attacked by terrorists in January — at the George Polk journalism awards on Friday, saying their work “wandered into the realm of hate speech.” The attack on the publication, which has mocked Islam and other faiths in its pages, ignited a fierce international debate over free speech and racism.
“Free speech … becomes its own kind of fanaticism,” Trudeau said as he accepted a lifetime achievement award from the organization, adding that cartoonists’ role is to “punch up” rather than down.