Michael Knowles is not just a conservative talking head， he is an intellectual in his own right with a thorough understanding of the classical political tradition。 In Speechless， Knowles attacks "squish" conservatives who have ceded the political arena to cultural Marxists out of cowardice and an adherence to self-defeating libertarian principles。 Political correctness， cancel culture， and big tech censorship continue to chip away at the American free speech tradition and conservatives who love Michael Knowles is not just a conservative talking head， he is an intellectual in his own right with a thorough understanding of the classical political tradition。 In Speechless， Knowles attacks "squish" conservatives who have ceded the political arena to cultural Marxists out of cowardice and an adherence to self-defeating libertarian principles。 Political correctness， cancel culture， and big tech censorship continue to chip away at the American free speech tradition and conservatives who love "to lose with dignity" have been impotent to stop it。 This is because， Knowles argues， the right still labors under the illusion of a neutral public square。 It's not a question of whether standards of speech， action， and decency will be enforced， but which standards， and enforced by whom。 The loss of a substantive vision of the common good on the right has allowed the Marxists free rein to deconstruct our culture and impose their agenda upon us; Knowles thus argues for a return to the preliberal distinction between liberty and license to recapture a conception of the good。 This book is valuable because Knowles is introducing so-called "illiberal" ideas that are popular in traditionalist Catholic circles to a wider audience that has been accustomed to repeating free speech absolutist talking points that are incoherent and play into the hands of the radicals。 。。。more