Berkeley must be disappointed. On Thursday night, astonishing numbers of armed police officers stood guard, at an estimated cost of $600,000. “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!” chanted 1,000 protesters, along with, “Nazi scum get off our streets!” However, it seems faintly embarrassing to admit that all of this was over a speech by Ben Shapiro, the popular conservative commentator.

That’s because Shapiro ultimately revealed himself to be … a conservative. A rather animated and engaging one, to be sure, but still just your regular right-winger, the sort of person with whom an encounter does not usually demand taking to the streets or signing up for counseling.