Last week the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom, on my behalf and that of two other complainants, filed a Charter challenge against the University of Lethbridge for cancelling a talk I had organised by Frances Widdowson on the effects of wokeism on the academy. One would think I’d have learned from the events surrounding that cancellation back in February not to underestimate public interest in these matters. But once again the media went viral with the filing. And once again I’ve been asked to be interviewed on the matter by several media outlets, to which my response has been, “I’m sorry, but I don’t give interviews.” But, I add, “I know that the other two complainants do, and I have no reason to doubt that they would more than adequately represent my views.”

To be clear, when I say I don’t give interviews, I don’t mean on this particular subject. I don’t give interviews period. Why not? Because it’s been my experience – and this has been without exception – that reporters report what they heard, not what I said. And this misreporting has been – and this has been without exception – incorrigible. So if they’re going to make shit up, they don’t need any assistance from me. To be fair, they don’t think they’re making shit up. They are reporting on what they’ve heard. They’re just not trained to listen carefully.

Which is not to say I’m averse to publicity. Quite the contrary. But I want to be quoted. And at that, by people who understand that the unit of meaning is not the word, nor the sentence, nor even the paragraph, nor, in some cases, even the text in its entirety. Some people – and I hate to say it – are just too obtuse to understand satire. Or, in some cases, like university administrators, willingly obtuse.

Without exception, I stand by what I’ve written. But when it comes to being interviewed, I subscribe to Abraham Lincoln’s admonition that, “‘Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool than open your mouth and remove all doubt!”

Categories: Everything You Wanted to Know About What's Going On in the World But Were Afraid to Ask, Social and Political Philosophy

Tags: Frances Widdowson, Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedom, media, University of Lethbridge, wokeism