Tomfoolery or Thuggery?

It appears that controversial controlversial speakers are placing themselves in dangerous situations. This involves accepting speaking engagements at college campuses.

Pat Buchanan was doused with salad dressing at Western Michigan University, by someone who disapproved of his view on immigration.

Bill Kristol, Weekly Standard editor, was hit in the face with a pie while giving a talk at Earlham College.

David Horowitz was hit in the face with a pie at Butler University in Indiana.

I'm sorry, this surpasses tomfoolery and goes to physical attacks. If I knew these sophomoric antics would stop at pies and salad dressing, I wouldn't give two thoughts about it. But, in our society, a pie can lead to a baseball bat, to a knife, to a gun. We used to be able to laugh when someone got a pie in the face. It's funny until someone gets hurt. I'm usually all for saying, look, it's a prank, it's a pie for Pete's sake! it's no big deal. I can see where this could escalate into a very dangerous situation. Any speaker can anticipate being heckled and should either be able to deal with it or get off the dais. They shouldn't have to wear Kevlar to give a speech on a college campus or anywhere else.

The only way to stop it is to start prosecuting these fools. Don't just give them a slap on the wrist; jail time and a hefty fine will help put it into perspective. And, if the fool is a student at this fine institution of "higher" learning, expulsion would not be going too far.