Conservative college student Mitch Hall notes that there is one form of bullying that progressives embrace: Political bullying.

… The frightening implication of this political bullying is the idea that if the general public disapproves of your opinions, then your rights may be taken from you. If you have the “wrong” opinion about a topic like homosexuality, abortion, or global warming, then you must forfeit your freedoms of speech and expression or you could see your career destroyed, your reputation shattered, and your private life subject to public examination.

What’s perhaps even more disturbing than the rise of this “Thought Police” is the liberal media’s hypocrisy and double standard in covering these controversies. Take Donald Sterling as an example. Donald Sterling is a racist who made offensive comments, but he also pays his black players tens of millions of dollars every year. Moreover, for some reason it was these racist thoughts that warranted the termination of his career, and not the housing discrimination lawsuit he settled in 2009, when both the NBA and the media stayed silent even as Sterling purportedly suggested “black tenants smell and attract vermin.”

Black players in the NBA and the NFL are also consistently faced with allegations of domestic abuse and other crimes each year, and behavior much worse than Sterling’s racist comments frequently goes unpunished. For instance, Kobe Bryant called a referee a “faggot” and received only a fine, while Ron Artest physically assaulted fans during a game and just received a suspension. Last year, JJ Redick attempted to force his girlfriend to abort their child, as per terms of their disturbing abortion contract, and he has yet to face any consequences at all. The list of misconduct by these athletes goes on and on, but rather than call attention to it, the media chose to target an old white man for a few (illegally-taped) racist comments. Can you imagine the sort of outrage that might result if these athletes’ private locker-room conversations, most likely featuring some choice words about women and gays, were taped and released to the general public?

….This campaign to control individual thoughts and silence political opposition even extends beyond nongovernmental organizations, as evidenced by the Obama Administration’s record of targeting the press with intrusive regulatory policies. Indeed, just recently the Federal Communications Commission revealed plans to police media newsrooms under the guise of a “research study,” which is supposedly intended to measure bias in the media.

If this political bullying and reckless manipulation continues, we could live in an America that no longer protects the free exchange of ideas. Instead, we could find ourselves in an America where actions just don’t matter as much as words, and individuals are judged by the content of their thoughts rather than the content of their character.