The First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees freedom of expression by prohibiting the government from restricting the press or the rights of individuals to speak freely.

And that’s all it does.

The University of Berkeley is prohibited by law from cancelling an event at their venue solely because they disagree with the speaker’s point of view. It’s as simple as that.

The most lucid part of your prose is this:

We have the right to free speech, but that right is somewhat limited. We are by no means entitled to “free speech without criticism or consequences,” nor are we entitled to an audience.

The rest of your article is an interesting intellectual exercise, but that’s all it really is. The Berkeley students were dead wrong on this one. Perhaps a class on first-amendment law should be a part of their curriculum.

The problem with leftist organizations like Berkeley is not their ignorance of the law; it is their intolerance. They have no interest whatsoever in any viewpoint but their own, and they are so insecure about their position that they have to attack anyone that doesn’t agree with them.

In any event, the line is clear. You can protest all you want, but when you start destroying property or physically attacking people, that’s when it crosses the line.