I can remember the days when liberals were strongly in favor of free speech. They would quote with pride the line attributed to Voltaire (but really made by English writer Beatrice Evelyn Hall) "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

Instead, you're much more likely to find "liberals" alleging that the First Amendment doesn't protect "hate speech" or, if it does, then it shouldn't.

I noted last month that Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton had promised to have a litmus test for judges that the public wouldn't be allowed to criticize her.

Last Friday, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse took to the pages of The Washington Post to advocate that laws designed to put mobsters and drug dealers in prison be used against Americans who disagree with the (faux-)consensus that the Earth is warming at an alarming rate and humans are to blame for it.

Today, news broke that the Obama Justice Department has awarded more than half a million dollars to Michigan State to study "far-right" groups on the internet for "violent extremism." To date, there have been no reports of the Obama administration offering grants to study left-wing groups like those who riot regularly in Seattle.

The word from the political left in America is clear: Shut up.