Students at the University of California-Santa Barbara reacted with hostility to the news that Donald Trump was sending troops to the border.

Campus Reform:

Critics of the move were vocal in their condemnations, claiming it was excessive and subtly racist in nature.

The decision, while controversial, is not without precedent, as Presidents Obama and Bush each enacted similar measures during their times in office. 

With that in mind, I headed to the University of California, Santa Barbara to find out if outrage at the decision was based more on policy considerations, or merely the personality of the person enacting that policy. 

Students immediately made clear that they would not support any measure that would send troops to protect the border.

One opened by saying "It's not justified...it's a totally uncalled for act of power," while another remarked that "I don't think it's good to send militarized troops to people who are coming in unarmed."

One student said bluntly, "I'm not a huge fan of the military to begin with...I think it would be a huge waste of money."

What would these same students say when they discovered President Obama did the same thing Trump is doing now?  Would they be equally as outraged?

Much hilarity ensues:

Perhaps we're being too hard on the snowflakes.  Is it their fault that their studies are regimented, their minds warped, their worldview limited, and their politics controlled?

Well, yeah.

Independent thinking is a habit of mind, not a given.  Colleges used to nurture this habit, encourage it, demand it.  But ultimately, it is up to the individual student whether to acquiesce in being led around by the nose and told what to think, how to feel.  That students are blissfully unaware of recent history is not surprising – especially history that contradicts the carefully nurtured narrative about an iconic figure like Barack Obama.  It's like students believing 200 years ago that George Washington never told a lie or actually chopped down a cherry tree.  Messing with heroes just isn't done at centers of higher learning where orthodoxy demands fealty.

Confronted with the truth, these students simply don't know how to react.  But don't worry.  They'll be set straight soon enough.  It's far more comforting to have one's worldview continually reinforced rather than questioning the bubble in which most students exist.