Radio hosts Gregg “Opie” Hughes, Anthony Cumia and comedian Jim Norton, of the popular “Opie and Anthony Show” on SiriusXM, went on a fiery tirade Tuesday against “trigger warnings” and the current culture on college campuses, which they argue is producing childish adults unprepared to deal with the “real world.”
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 17: Anthony Cumia, Greg 'Opie' Hughes and Ron Bennington SiriusXM's O&A20: Unmasked With Opie & Anthony Special Celebrates 20 Years Of Opie & Anthony at Carolines On Broadway on April 17, 2014 in New York City. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Norton also scolded the progressive left for becoming “exactly what you hated.”
“You have become exactly [like] the conservative, religious book burners of the 40s and the 50s and the 60s. You are it!” he said. “You are the speech repressors, you are the hypersensitive ones, you are the ones who want people fired immediately, you are the ones calling for people’s jobs. You have become what you hated.”
The discussion that preluded his rant got heated after Norton brought up a recent story out of Wellesley College where “hundreds” of outraged college students objected after a lifelike sculpture of a sleepwalking man in his underwear was erected on campus. Students ended up creating a petition to have it removed.
“Oh my god,” Hughes responded. “We are raising a nation of pu***es, we’ve been saying it for years.”
In another example, Oberlin College in Ohio and other colleges have considered putting “trigger warnings” in college reading materials so that students don’t get upset or offended about controversial material. The New York Times recently reported that the warnings have “ideological roots in feminist thought.”
The warnings seek to shield students who may take offense from any racism, sexism, ableism, classism and other forms of potential discrimination or oppression.
“It’s really embarrassing this place the culture is in — there’s just no honesty in it,” Norton said.
“These little f***ing children are so afraid of reading about something unpleasant because it may trigger unpleasant feelings,” the comedian added. “They are coddled, hair-patted little babies.”
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 17: Jim Norton speaks at SiriusXM's O&A20: Unmasked With Opie & Anthony Special Celebrates 20 Years Of Opie & Anthony at Carolines On Broadway on April 17, 2014 in New York City. Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM
Hughes cringed thinking about what would have happened when he was a student if he had raised his hand and said, “I can’t read this, it’s triggering some emotions.”
“The teacher would tell you to shut your f***ing mouth, sit down and listen — and then you’d get home and get smacked,” Cumia joked.
Listen to the segment via "The Opie and Anthony Show" below ([trigger] Warning! Very strong language):
