The danger of political correctness — in the words of an FCC commissioner

The Federal Communications Commission is the closest thing to a political correctness police force. It dictates what kind of material is acceptable on American airwaves and what is “obscene, indecent and profane.” So you might not expect to hear an FCC commissioner suggest that the country is growing too politically correct for its own good. Yet that’s the exact problem described by FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai in an interview with the Washington Examiner.

Commissioner Pai lamented that free speech is being squelched by a culture that is too quick to take offense and too slow to promote debate. “Largely what we're seeing, especially on college campuses, is that if my view is in the majority and I don't agree with your view, then I have the right to shout you down, disrupt your events, or otherwise suppress your ability to get your voice heard,” he said. His dim view of widespread political correctness echoes a refrain sung over and over during the presidential race by leading Republican candidates like Donald Trump, Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL). “I think it's dangerous, frankly, that we don't see more often people espousing the First Amendment view that we should have a robust marketplace of ideas where everybody should be willing and able to participate,” he said.