1. I've been reluctant culture wars controversies because I they are often distractions from bigger things going on -- I mean, people are fucking dying right now, dying in droves. But as Trump reminds us this morning, free speech is under threat.

2. To be clear: the vast majority (like 95%) of contemporary threats to speech come from the revanchist right (often aided by centrist elites, as is the norm in modern history): I mean "enemy of the people," Colin Kaepernick, harassment of activists, etc.

3. But people on the left (save for Jurassic giants like Chomsky) have generally ceded the language of free speech to centrists & right because left thinks (not without reason) that free speech claims often deployed cynically by hypocrites, privileged elitists & defensive bigots

4. Which gets us to ... God help us all ... the Letter. I promise I'll keep this short. Many of the criticisms of the Harper's letters focus on criticizing the signatories and venue. Those criticisms have merit.

5. Is it true that Harper's is a strange venue for a letter on free speech, since it is run by a Richie Rich type plutocrat who capriciously fires editors and staff, sometimes for union busting purposes? Yep.

6. Is it true that signatories like Bari Weiss and Cary Nelson manifestly don't believe in free speech for those who express solidarity with Palestinians or are actually Palestinian? Yep. Is it true Yascha Mounk cheerled an anti-democratic coup in Bolivia? Yep.

7. Is it true that the person who writes those wizard books is an anti-trans bigot who is using free speech as a shield & diversion from criticisms of her horrible views? Yep.

8. Principles are more important than people. The slave-owing Jefferson writing "all men are created equal" doesn't invalidate the words, rather the words are a useful tool for calling attention to Jefferson's hypocrisy and fighting the social system that he stood on top of.

9. More thoughts on the current free speech kerfuffle: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/left-free-speech-harpers/