Yesterday, in the middle of a serious case of writer's block, I stared at a picture of Abe Lincoln on a five dollar bill. I wondered what he'd say about the growing opposition to free speech on this campus.

Then I pulled out a single and looked at George Washington. He didn't have any answers either, just a hint of a smirk. Maybe he's smirking at us, and our attitude about free speech at Marquette.

This weekend the business manager of the new student publication The Warrior had his home egged and vandalized. It may not be related to The Warrior. It could just be some bad luck for Brandon Henak. But I seriously doubt it.

A few weeks ago I read a Viewpoint in the Tribune that condemned the march of the National Socialist Movement in Toledo. The march resulted in serious rioting. Taverns were burned, people were stoned and tear gas was common as a result of that march through LaGrange, Ohio.

The Viewpoint contended that the National Socialist Movement should have been prevented from marching due to the organization's ideology. I hope that in a few months I can look back and call these incidents "isolated." But, again, I doubt it. By and large it seems we have given up on the ideals of free speech.

I am not asking everybody to like The Warrior. It definitely has a conservative slant on a campus that is a sea of liberals. That is certainly going to ruffle a few feathers here and there. But that is not a reason to vandalize a person's property. The Warrior staff has every right to create a publication espousing conservative ideologies and covering campus news the way they see fit.

Likewise, I am not saying that we should all grab swastika armbands out of the drawer and lead a rising of the Fourth Reich. I find anyone affiliated with the National Socialist Movement to be particularly repulsive. However, the First Amendment gives those 14 racist clowns the right to march from here to Oregon screaming whatever they want.

We are lucky to live in a place where students can start a magazine.

We're lucky to be part of a country that lets Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members march down the street screaming whatever it is racist boobs scream.

I know that sounds a bit radical, but think of the alternative. Imagine a government that could punish you for criticizing it. Imagine a government that didn't allow dissent when it went to war, or a government that suppressed conservative media. It's the type of government George Orwell saw creeping up on society.

In a society such as ours, people are going to have disagreements about things as benign as tariffs and things as heated as race relations.

That doesn't mean that one view should be silenced and one view should be glorified. It means that free speech is alive and well.

But here, we'd rather egg a house than see another point of view. Here, we'd rather stop marches for the sake of not offending others. That's not what free speech is about. It's about letting someone whose words make your blood boil speak. Only then have we achieved free speech.

Quite honestly, I'll take being insulted over being silenced any day of the week. I'm just not sure that's how most people here feel anymore.

It's enough to wipe that smirk off George Washington's face.