Your Opinion is not Appreciated
Free Speech is allowed until you disagree
Our society is built on the individual freedoms ensconced in the Bill of Rights. These are individual freedoms our Government cannot take away. Period. Only we the people can give them up. I have written about George Mason before and his demand to include a Bill of Rights in the Constitution. We owe him a giant debt of gratitude for recognizing at some point, the government would look to silence those who did not agree with the people in power. Especially now that Orwell’s 1984 is becoming a reality in more and more countries.
It was inevitable. George Washington ran unopposed for two terms and then set the precedent of peaceful transfer. From that point on, with the Father of the Country, our great unifier gone, the children immediately began to bicker and divide.
It may be hard to imagine given our divisive times and an out of control American Pravda media clearly favoring one side, but the election of 1800 was THE nastiest the country has ever seen. If you don’t believe me, pick up a book about it.
Yes we have lies and mud being slung today, but it pales compared to the outright fabricated stories published by the newspapers of the day in 1800.
Today we are more likely to get selectively edited versions of the truth than actual fabrications. The sin is one of omission or lack of allowing the viewer to see the entire context and judge for themselves. Or to allow them to form their own conclusions.
The primary difference between now and then was those newspapers were unabashedly for either Adams or Jefferson. Unlike today where, our media outlets claim to be impartial while nearly all clearly support liberal or progressive causes and candidates. There is nothing wrong with this if they would drop the facade of claiming to be impartial.
Too many viewers who are easily manipulated believe they are getting all sides of an argument when they are instead being fed only one side of a story, policy, or solution. It is a classic case of buyer beware. Or rather, be AWARE.
John Adams was also infamous for going after his foes in the media and passing laws to make it a crime to print news and statements critical of his administration. The so-called Alien and Sedition acts. This ultimately cost him the subsequent election in 1800. This attempt to silence difference of opinion led to Jefferson winning.
This should sound familiar. It is exactly what is happening in Brazil, where a single judge is banning a social media company from operating simply because it is giving a voice to the party not in power in Brazil. Their leftist government cannot allow dissent. It is of course cloaked in the rhetoric of ‘safety’ for the citizens rather than the truth of, ‘we don’t want you to hear any counterargument to our ruling’.
Let’s be honest, if they thought they could get away with it, our current administration would issue the same edict to ban both X and Fox News among others. Thankfully, we still have a Bill of Rights, even if they don’t like it. To the left, when in power, dissent and difference of opinion is always hate.
Sadly, but not surprising, in our own socialist mecca of Minnesota, the Attorney General of the state, praised this crackdown on the free expression of opinion on X in Brazil. Old posts from the Democratic candidate show she is in favor of censoring and shutting down social media sites and users who do not comply with her view of the truth. This just reinforces my earlier statement.
And finally, we even have social media moguls finally admitting they censored at the behest of the Government. After saying they did not do this. For years. And in front of Congressional committees? Where is the outrage? The contempt of court demands. Crickets. Because they are already running the same playbook for this election. Just ask Alexa.
Their counter argument is they claim to be impartial and to only be banning speech and information deemed inappropriate, hateful or harmful. To whom? By whom? Who is the virtuous soul who can see all and know what is and is not harmful, true or necessary? Or simply a different opinion. Perhaps a valid one, worthy of discussion?
History is full of examples of heinous regimes suppressing civil and human rights. Preventing free discussion and clearly seeking to protect their power by preventing dissent. We claim to be on the side of the little guy. To want to help them overthrow the despot. Perhaps it is time to turn around and recognize the glass house we reside within.
Freedom of Speech must go hand in hand with tolerance. This tolerance must allow others to spew what we find reprehensible, stupid and farcical. This can include privileged Ivy league students standing and shouting Hamas slogans for which they have no understanding.
Or supporters at conventions who cannot name a single accomplishment of their candidate, but still claim they are best for America.
Or Alexa directing us to vote for a candidate simply based on race and gender.
It can include pundits on TV claiming someone who did not pull the trigger killing six hostages is still somehow responsible for this action.
Censorship is a slippery slope. Freedom of speech must rely on the listener to a) ignore it, b) stop watching, reading or listening, and c) rely on common sense and education to know when what they are hearing is a lie or false claim. We cannot police this in a way where it does not infringe on someone’s right to exercise free speech.
Now we spend time parsing and warring over context and specific words. We should be spending time educating people on outcomes. What is the consequence of the actions being discussed. It is not the words, it is the deeds. This is why we need to allow folks to say what they want and to let all of us judge for ourselves whether we agree or disagree with the stated goal.
We have choice. We can choose to no longer shop at that store, quit buying their beer, stop buying their cars or tractors, and elect the person we trust to implement what they SAY. It is up to us. Not some nameless set of bureaucrats or AI programs to decide what we should or should not hear. Give us the information and let us choose. If we choose poorly, WE must live with the result. In America, we get the chance to fix these errors. We can stop buying or using a product or service. We also get to throw the bums out in the next election. Peacefully.
As Josef Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda maestro once said, ‘a lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times, becomes truth’. Today we have lies being told by American Pravda media channels and reinforced by endless social media channels. With this many outlets, an audience who is incapable of critical and abstract thought, who has not been taught to think for themselves, does not need a lie to be repeated a thousand times for it to be believed as truth.
We are constantly being told, they do all of this for our own good. This is the promise of tyrants. It is always for your own good, until you have no choice but to do as they say. Venezuela is a prime example. Brazil is just the latest. And don’t you dare make a joke or criticize the UK policies or they will now come arrest you in America, so says their hate speech enforcement leaders.
The solution is not to shut down speech, rather it MUST be to keep it free and open. To debate ideas. To force candidates to stand and tell us what they stand for. What they will do if elected. To make them earn our vote by proving to us, in their own words what they stand for. No teleprompters. No prerecorded ‘interviews’. No prescreened questions. No filter of American Pravda to selectively edit comments or ask softball questions of one candidate.
Elon Musk went from being the darling of the left, revolutionizing electric vehicles. Making them both cool and mostly affordable. Then he did the unconscionable. He dared to demand unfettered access to the public square. To allow ALL to have the ability to share their opinion. To ensure equal access and an equal opportunity for all to voice their constitutional right to an opinion.
When he paid an absurd amount for Twitter and preceded to breakdown all the controls the prior owners had put in too repress true free speech, he became an enemy. He dared to rip aside the curtain. To show the ignorant masses they were being lied too. Manipulated. Gaslighted if you prefer their darling term.
For this, he has become public enemy number two after you know who. What in the hell are they so afraid of? Anyone who thinks for themselves, already knows this answer.
When everyone is shouting at the top of their lungs about something you are saying or doing, especially if it is the opposite of their stance, you know you are over the target. Me thinks they doth protest too much.
When a candidate is willing to stand and answer unscripted question after question. Who sits for these impromptu conversations day after day. Who can discuss and defend why they espouse the polices they do,. This is someone trying to show the voters the what and why of their policies. What campaigns are supposed to be about.
The candidate who is unwilling (or unable) to do this. Who cannot articulate, explain or be willing to defend against tough questions on their policies is not seeking to win an election. Instead they are counting on a coronation.
Relying on their allies to mislead the voting public. It is a strategy of, ‘better to keep my mouth shut and let them think I am competent, than open it and prove I am NOT’. It worked before. It will probably work again.
This candidate is desperately trying to run from any concrete policy or statement she has ever made. At least the ones not polling well in the swing states. She is able to do this because our guardians of ‘truth’ want her to be successful. Because if she is not, the stopper will be pulled from the swamp drain again, if only for a little while.
We are already in a civil war. Either we will return to civility and lively debate of ideas, choosing the ones that make the most sense and achieve a modicum of consensus, or we will succumb to the siren song of free and easy. The servitude of progressive ideology. America is hard. It requires you allow people you have no respect for, to present their ideas without persecution.
It requires you to trust that enough people with intelligence, common sense, and pragmatic views will review and choose what is in the best interests of their family, community, and country.
One side and one party trusts Americans to make this choice. The other is too afraid they can’t achieve a majority if they let the chips fall. They know a majority of citizens are not ready for what they want to implement. So they control the narrative and keep hiding behind the curtain. Disguising their true policies. This is done with their willing partners in the media, Hollywood, schools and universities, and increasingly DEI controlled corporations.
If we do not allow this free and informed choice for our citizens, we are no better than Venezuela, Brazil, the EU, UK, and Canada where you are increasingly restricted in your ability to stand up and say, ‘I do not agree’.
Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, China and other countries have passed this point. To stand up and say ‘I disagree’ is a ticket to extermination. In Brazil, it will now cost you a year’s salary if you dare to try to look at information privately using a VPN. In Venezuela, they willingly gave away their right to choose and we see how that is working. In the UK, you dare not dissent, or even pray outside an abortion clinic (even in your own mind) lest you be deemed subversive. Canada loves to freeze the assets and bank accounts of those who dare to protest. You can sense the trend. Do as we say, or else.
When the minority rules, it cannot allow the silent majority to organize. It cannot allow them to gain traction or to join together to overthrow their oppressors. Look at China. A country of 1.5 Billion ruled by at best a few million hard core communist party members. You can only do this through repression, coercion, and threat. It is coming.
It is time for us to break free from the propaganda of a thousand lying polls. Glowing stories of fabulous policies without specifics and impossible to achieve. Ultimately, we scratch our head at how so many people are so willing to look the other way as every democratic process for choosing candidates is conveniently skipped to anoint a candidate.
This is the epitome of election fraud. There was no election. Or rather there was an election, but the primary results were ignored when it became clear Weekend at Bernie’s, Part Two would not work. Anyone see the parallels with the Venezuelan election…A party willing to do this, is also willing to do anything to win.
(Nick Turner book four, now available wherever books are sold online)
It can only happen when the populace is ignorant, easily manipulated, and fearful.
Wake up, Stand up, and Think for Yourself.
One side is against all three. Only they know what is best for you and none of those three are it. Make sure you do your own research and Vote!
WST4Y