It seemed like a good idea at the time. Milo Yiannopoulos, the gay right-wing provocateur, has made a good living for himself driving the left insane, which some might think is a short trip for many. The most extreme example took place on the Berkeley campus where a mob showed up and tried to burn the university down rather than allow Milo to speak. This incident instead made Milo even stronger, upping orders of his new book, and causing President Trump to suggest that universities that don’t respect free speech might lose their federal funding.
So, it seemed only natural that the Conservative Political Action Committee should invite Milo to its annual convention. The theory was the attendees would hear him speak, engage in at the most polite debate, and show how tolerant the right is as opposed to the left.
Then things started to go sideways.
A tape has surfaced that recorded Milo seemingly justifying sex between adults and 13-year-old children. To be fair, he has hotly denied that was his intent, claiming that he was trying to attack the idea with humor. He has even labeled child sexual abuse as a vile and despicable act and claims that he was a victim of it while young. He suggested that the tape had been deceptively edited to make the remarks seem worse than what they were/
Cpac wanted to be tolerant, but having Milo over to speak had started to smack of a little too much tolerance.
According to the Hill, the organization has disinvited the right-wing provocateur, terming his explanation of the tape to be inadequate. Milo, for his part, has taken partial responsibility for the dust-up, which does him credit.
What lessons should be derived from the incident? The first is that due diligence should be done for anyone speaking at an event.
It would have been worse had the tape surfaced during or soon after Milo had made his speech. Also, for an organization like CPAC, speakers who can explain how the conservative agenda can be advanced rather than how to drive the left nuts should be given preference. Along those lines, CPAC will hear the remarks of one Donald Trump, president of the United States.
