This is a good point - that there is an unfortunate reality that a lot of hatred is defended by cries of "thought police", "I'm being shouted down", "first amen

This is a good point - that there is an unfortunate reality that a lot of hatred is defended by cries of "thought police", "I'm being shouted down", "first amendment", etc. I.e. playing maliciously to the very real concern the article illustrates. However, I think these cases fall into the category of "numerical minority with outsized impact", and we need to be prudent in addressing such issues while at the same time not letting them overshadow legitimate grievances the sufferers of which they feign commiseration with. We should always keep the signal in mind when we are lamenting the noise.