Below is my column in the Hill on the government and media campaign against the Canadian truckers. The Canadian government has now cleared the Ambassador Bridge. However, there was lasting damage done to the rights of free speech and association after an alliance of the government, corporations, and the media sought to isolate the protesters politically and financially. The most disturbing element was the freezing of donations by companies and the courts. Most recently, the TD Bank joined in blocking support from thousands of citizens. The organized effort to cut off access to donations is alarming, particularly in conjunction with efforts to curtail social media and other informational avenues for the protesters.
Here is the column:
Canada appears to be facing its greatest threat since Benedict Arnold came close to seizing Ottawa in 1775. The source of this “insurrection” and “attack on democracy,” however, is not a foreign government but Canadians who have descended on their own capital to protest continuing COVID-19 mandates.
The protest has been peaceful — and highly successful in cutting off key highways. But the most alarming development has not come from the convoy but from the commentary about it, including calls for mass arrests and even vigilantism. The Ottawa Police Services Board chairman has called it a “nationwide insurrection,” adding, “Our city is under siege.”
CNN analyst and Harvard professor Juliette Kayyem was apoplectic at the thought of truckers shutting down roads and interfering with trade. She tweeted out a call to “slash the tires, empty gas tanks, arrest the drivers, and move the trucks.” CNN correspondent Paula Newton said this act of civil disobedience was nothing less than a “threat to democracy. An insurrection, sedition.”
Blocking streets, occupying buildings and shutting down bridges have long been tactics of protesters. Yet what constitutes a protest or an insurrection often seems to depend on the cause involved. When rioters caused billions of dollars in damages, burned police stations and occupied sections of American cities in the summer of 2020, for example, few in the media declared them to be terrorists or a threat to democracy. But CNN’s Kayyem once called conservative protesters occupying a state capital “domestic terrorists.” GoFundMe, which previously helped in the funding of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters, froze more than $10 million raised for Canadian truckers to prevent it from being used to support them.
After the money was frozen by GoFundMe, supporters switched to GiveSendGo to “adopt a trucker.” The Canadian government then moved successfully to freeze millions of donations to the truckers, and the Supreme Court of Canada approved the freeze in a major blow to free speech and associational rights in Canada.
In the meantime, the government has demonized the convoy. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who praised truckers just two years ago as heroes, has denounced them as “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy.”
This is the same Trudeau who praised BLM protesters and stressed that “I have attended protests and rallies in the past when I agreed with the goals, when I supported the people expressing their concerns and their issues, Black Lives Matter is an excellent example of that.”
Protesters are routinely arrested for blocking roads, of course, and Canada certainly can enforce its public safety laws. But government responses, in the U.S. and now in Canada, seem heavily dependent on protesters’ viewpoints — just as much of the media coverage of Canada’s trucker movement could not contrast more strikingly with how protests across the U.S. in 2020 were often reported. Back then, many of these same journalists praised the civil disobedience legacy of the late congressman and civil rights icon John Lewis, who charged the next generation to go out and make “good trouble.”
In cities such as Washington, D.C., police allowed BLM protesters to take over streets and stood by as some protesters toppled historic statues. When House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked about the destruction, she shrugged and said, “People will do what they will do.” In Seattle, the seizing of a police station and the occupation of an entire section of the city was tolerated by the Democratic mayor, who likened it to a “summer of love.” And when BLM protesters flouted COVID-19 mandates, health experts lined up to declare they should be exempted from pandemic rules because racism is a health crisis too.
What is most concerning now is the unwillingness to consider Canadian truckers as anything other than knuckle-dragging, racist insurrectionists. Like so much in our age of rage, our political opponents cannot be anything but caricatures or cutouts, because reason no longer has a place in our national discourse. Yet it is precisely the isolation of dissenting voices and groups that leads to such acts of disruption and disobedience.
Canada’s truckers obviously feel marginalized and dismissed by their government. That feeling was magnified when Trudeau fled to a secure location and refused to meet with them. Officials then threatened anyone giving aid or gas to the truckers.
There is a worldwide movement against COVID-19 mandates and rising complaints over the censorship of those with opposing views of these policies. Many of those objections are now being treated as mainstream questions, from the efficacy of masks to the value of lockdowns, from the origins of the virus to the protection of natural antibodies.
Once again, an alliance of government, social media companies and the mainstream media is fueling public divisions, even as such condemnation of the truckers appears to be having less and less impact. Rage gives a license to treat opposing views as unworthy of expression or tolerance. But people who feel marginalized tend to get mad and find their own outlets for speech.
I believe the truckers are wrong to continue the blockade unless the government yields to their demands. But the government also is wrong in how it has dismissed the truckers and cracked down on fundraising and other support for the movement.
The freezing of funds supporting the truckers laid bare the anti-free speech trend sweeping across the world, including in the U.S. There is no principled basis for cutting off the ability of citizens to support other citizens in a campaign of civil disobedience. Although ignored by most in the media, the same claim used by the Trudeau government today could have been used to freeze support for the civil rights era’s freedom marchers or for BLM protesters in 2020.
Ottawa is not under siege; the roads can be cleared. However, our politics and media have become bunkered and blockaded. Free speech is being curtailed through government actions, including the freezing of these funds, or through corporate censorship now embraced by the left. And lost in all this is an outlet for our political tensions and channels for dialogue.
Acts of civil disobedience like these will remain part of political movements. However, if we want to reduce the impulse to take to the highways to protest, then we need to open up the information superhighway for full political expression and dissent.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University. You can find his updates on Twitter @JonathanTurley.
It is ironic that republicans and conservatives alike support the truckers blocking roads to protest, BUT when BLM does it it’s wrong.
If this happened in Florida literally people protesting on the road with the truckers would have been able to be run over without legal consequences due to new laws passed by republicans against such protests blocking roads.
I don’t recall Turley criticizing republicans for making laws prohibiting protesters from blocking highways as an attack on free speech.
The objection was to the, wait for it….
Wait for it……
VIOLENCE. In Florida, mobs had started pulling people from their cars.
In Portland, property was taken in a true insurrection. The holders of the occupied area announce their independence from the authority of the United States.
In Minneapolis, whole blocks were burned, including a police station.
The mostly peaceful demonstrations of 2020 resulted in between 24 and 30 murders.
These truckers, like the freedom riders and lunch counter sit in participants, broke the law but did it as an act of civil disobedience. They are subject to arrest and civil penalties.
If you could read and comprehend you would gather that what Prof. Turley was calling an attack on free speech was the shutting down of contributions, but if you were able, you likely would not espouse he position you do.
Unless you think that VP Harris and other Democrat insurrectionists should not have been able to contribute money to bail out their street thugs?
ti317 – some attorney has posited that the RCMP stealing fuel is a
War Crime
in violation of the Geneva Convention.
I do not know enough about either to have an opinion, however I find it interesting that this attorney could find it. 😉
Ti3-7,
The law itself prohibits blocking highways. Just as the truckers are doing in Canada. Just the act of blocking them constitutes a felony in the Florida law. BLM protests involved blocking highways peacefully. Florida never experienced that, but they did pass a law that made it illegal to block them.
According to Turley it’s a legitimate form of protest and making laws prohibiting it by making it a felony is an attack on free speech.
Shutting down contributions by corporations is completely legal, wrong ethically, but not unconstitutional. People don’t have to contribute thru a company like go-fund me or something similar. It’s not the only means of sending money. Truckers can create their own fund and solicit contributions directly.
The law itself prohibits blocking highways. Just as the truckers are doing in Canada
Jenny “Summer of Love” Durkan, is that you?
Svelaz: You said, “According to Turley it’s a legitimate form of protest and making laws prohibiting it by making it a felony is an attack on free speech.”
I think S. Meyer is correct in criticizing your/your anonymous alter-ego’s frequent misrepresentations, but I also note it appears that few people agree with you…. That is encouraging….
THIS is what the professor said: “I believe the truckers are wrong to continue the blockade unless the government yields to their demands. But the government also is wrong in how it has dismissed the truckers and cracked down on fundraising and other support for the movement.” (I agree with that.)
The professor further stated:”…there was lasting damage done to the rights of free speech and association after an alliance of the government, corporations, and the media sought to isolate the protesters politically and financially.”
Svelaz, THIS is what this blog/article is about. Please go back and reread it, then try again to contribute more honestly.
(I forgot to highlight Turley’s words, “sought to isolate…POLITICALLY AND FINANCIALLY,” emphasis mine.)
Lin, Turley clearly did implying that blocking bridges, highways or roads has been a legitimate method of protest. A successful one at that.
“ Blocking streets, occupying buildings and shutting down bridges have long been tactics of protesters.”. Florida making laws prohibiting such actions and them being a felony is an attack on free speech. Turley doesn’t exactly condemn the blocking of traffic itself. He only stated it is wrong to *continue* to block traffic.
I was making a point about the hypocrisy of republicans supporting something that is illegal in Florida because BLM also blocked highways (traffic) to protest. If truckers tried that in Florida they would be charged with a felony violation.
S. Meyer doesn’t engage in any real arguments of substance. Just personal attacks. Even you have found yourself criticizing him over his own poor arguments before.
Corporations and the media are free to do what they want in regard to covering or not covering the trucker’s views. They are not really obligated to disseminate opposing views. That’s just a basic reality often championed by Fox News which does its own version of what Turley complains about. The network he is employed by has an extensive history of doing exactly what he bemoans is a problem.
“ Svelaz, THIS is what this blog/article is about. Please go back and reread it, then try again to contribute more honestly.”
I can contribute anything I wish. It’s still a honest contribution despite it being a slightly different angle than what Turley is focusing on, but still within the aspects of his column.
There are others who constantly go way off topic and are perfectly fine to do so.
Svelaz, you are illiterate.
“S. Meyer doesn’t engage in any real arguments of substance. Just personal attacks.”
I just sent you a copy of my response to you correcting a similar claim of yours. I provided only two links because that was the maximum. It proved you were lying. That is what happens in every discussion we have. Anyone can go to the archives, look up your name and read what you and others say. It is always the same. Seldom do you have any idea of what you are talking about.
S. Meyer,
“ I just sent you a copy of my response to you correcting a similar claim of yours. I provided only two links because that was the maximum.”
Nobody cares. Clearly you’re obsessing over an argument you lost. Trying to salvage it by reliving it isn’t going to change it. Clearly you have issues. Seek help S. Meyer.
Clearly, Svelaz, you proved yourself a fool. That is why I can copy the written word from the discussion, and you cannot.
I agree. Nobody cares because most have written you off. They think it is nuts to even discuss things with you. Every discussion is the same thing, and you look more like a fool each time.
Go ahead, Svelaz, copy what I wrote and when we put together the posts, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that you lack the necessary mental equipment.
Anonymous (S. Meyer),
“ I agree. Nobody cares because most have written you off. They think it is nuts to even discuss things with you. Every discussion is the same thing, and you look more like a fool each time.”
No S. Meyer, most have written your lame attempts at reliving a lost argument that only YOU keep obsessing over. What IS nuts is that you are still stuck on the quaint notion that others would care whether you post cherry-picked “ copies of a discussion you lost a long time ago. It just makes you look desperate. Seek help S. Meyer.
The issue at the time was the approval of vaccines. You were wrong.
You insisted you were right. But you were wrong.
You insisted that I never produced the addresses quotes or the quotes. You lied
You were proven a liar through multiple posts. You continued to lie.
I sent a post with the blog maximum of 2 addresses that showed I had posted the addresses and the quotes. You lied
I reposted them here once. You lied
I posted them again. You lied again.
Conclusion: You are dumb and a liar.
Do all liberals look alike to you?
It’s funny that you introduce one of the same typos as Meyer. I doubt you’re one of his alter egos though.
Svelaz says: “If this happened in Florida literally people protesting on the road with the truckers would have been able to be run over without legal consequences due to new laws passed by republicans against such protests blocking roads.”
And that Svelaz is exactly why people are leaving the lawless Democrat run states to relocate in Florida. It’s not truckers they enacted such laws as you well know. You spin like a Dervish.
Svelaz never gets anything right. He says what he wants to be true. Truth bypasses his brain. Many non-leftists will tell what the truckers did wasn’t proper. But why stop the truckers (which is legal) when they don’t stop similar or worse actions by BLM and Antifa?
S. Meyer is oblivious to context as usual. He’s too dense to get the irony of supporting truckers blocking highways and roads when it was republicans who claimed such protests were wrong. The only difference is BLM being the protesters vs. truckers. Both are protests that use the blocking of roadways.
“ But why stop the truckers (which is legal) when they don’t stop similar or worse actions by BLM and Antifa?”
Florida declared such actions illegal S. Meyer. What the truckers are doing is illegal. Intentionally blocking roadways is illegal in any state or country. It’s a traffic offense. You say it’s legal for truckers to do it because it’s similar to what BLM does. So BLM’s actions are legal too? Not in Florida which republicans made it illegal. Just pointing out that truckers wanting to do a similar protest in Florida would be charged with a felony.
Svelaz, you always accuse others of ignorance. Let me provide an example. You said I didn’t provide citations or quotes for my argument on vaccines, to which I responded with the maximum of two places I had already done so. See the post below. Others shouldn’t waste their time. Svelaz rarely, if ever, gets anything right.
—–
Svelaz writes: “Again, you provided no documentation at all. You still haven’t. You “don’t feel obligated” because you never provided them in the first place and you can’t find it. You’re just covering for your BS claim.”
Here are a couple of locations where I mentioned the address of the FDA report. This proves you don’t know what you are talking about.
In the first one, I copied your statement, which is what is being argued about and is completely wrong,
You said: “All the current vaccines have been granted full approval. ”
Below is one of the many FDA postings I made. I believe others have posted FDA sites as well
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/03/new-york-announces-that-scarce-covid-19-treatments-will-be-prioritized-for-non-white-patients/comment-page-1/#comment-2148321
In the second of the posts, I showed one of the reasons Pfizer might like this legal distinction.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/03/new-york-announces-that-scarce-covid-19-treatments-will-be-prioritized-for-non-white-patients/comment-page-3/#comment-2148317
I posted other things from the FDA with their addresses, and much of what I said was pure quotes from the FDA.
This proves you to be what everyone knows you to be. You were wrong again, and it isn’t just about Covid. You have been proven wrong repeatedly on a multiplicity of subjects where proof has been provided. You deny the truth and the proof provided even when it is on the same official papers you have posted.
Anonymous (S. Meyer). Boy you do love reliving bad arguments when you are bent on proving something you were disingenuous with. Projection is always your strongest position and it shows. What’s funny is you keep changing the reasons you made an argument on a response I made. All you’re doing is picking a different, and still bad, angle on how to beat that dead horse some more. Nobody really cares how many ways you can keep beating that dead horse.
“bad arguments”
Here is what you said Svelaz: “Again, you provided no documentation at all. You still haven’t. You “don’t feel obligated” because you never provided them in the first place and you can’t find it. You’re just covering for your BS claim.”
Then I provided the proof that you were a liar, dumb or both. I provided other examples in the past getting the same responses. You do’t learn.
“Here are a couple of locations where I mentioned the address of the FDA report. This proves you don’t know what you are talking about.
In the first one, I copied your statement, which is what is being argued about and is completely wrong,
You said: “All the current vaccines have been granted full approval. ”
Below is one of the many FDA postings I made. I believe others have posted FDA sites as well
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/03/new-york-announces-that-scarce-covid-19-treatments-will-be-prioritized-for-non-white-patients/comment-page-1/#comment-2148321
In the second of the posts, I showed one of the reasons Pfizer might like this legal distinction.
https://jonathanturley.org/2022/01/03/new-york-announces-that-scarce-covid-19-treatments-will-be-prioritized-for-non-white-patients/comment-page-3/#comment-2148317
I posted other things from the FDA with their addresses, and much of what I said was pure quotes from the FDA.
This proves you to be what everyone knows you to be. You were wrong again, and it isn’t just about Covid. You have been proven wrong repeatedly on a multiplicity of subjects where proof has been provided. You deny the truth and the proof provided even when it is on the same official papers you have posted.”
“He’s too dense to get the irony of supporting truckers blocking highways and roads when it was republicans who claimed such protests were wrong. ”
Svelaz, you are stupider than is imaginable. I’m one of the so-called “right-wingers,” and though I support the trucker’s mission, I don’t support their blockade of that bridge though I am not sure of the exact details. I didn’t support BLM and Antifa when they blocked critical roadways. What I find amusing is your stupidity of being so upset over the truckers when you weren’t upset over Antifa and BLM. Critical issues occur when roadways are blocked. We even have laws about how long a train can be if it passes by and closes off a road.
I never claimed any legality for the truckers, but sometimes reasonable people will break the law. They have to be prepared to pay for their actions. BLM and Antifa did not promptly pay to prevent such a thing from happening again, but that suited the leftists in power.
I don’t know how you graduated elementary school or how you survived in life based on your lack of critical thinking. Fortunately, one can be dumb and can still live.
Anonymous (S. Meyer),
“ What I find amusing is your stupidity of being so upset over the truckers when you weren’t upset over Antifa and BLM.”
BWAHAHAH!!!! I’m not upset. Far from it. You seem to be assuming quite a lot as you usually do. I just pointed out a glaring inconsistency of republicans supporting bridge, highway, or road blockades. It wasn’t even directed at you personally but obviously you got triggered by the notion. Then you go off on some nonsensical rant trying to show off the wall examples such as “ We even have laws about how long a train can be if it passes by and closes off a road.”. Didn’t know trains were part of a protest, especially when they are owned by a very large company. Train engineers trying to blockade roads would be fired. Big difference between independent truckers.
Then this gem, “ They have to be prepared to pay for their actions. BLM and Antifa did not promptly pay to prevent such a thing from happening again, but that suited the leftists in power.”
They were arrested and prosecuted. The certainly “paid” for their actions. What exactly what they would “pay to prevent”? That makes no sense whatsoever. I wouldn’t go around accusing others about their education. Yours seems to be pretty bad. Especially when projecting on others your own shortcomings seems to be the norm.
“I’m not upset.”
Svelaz, I’m glad, but can I trust what you say? You discussed your comment was directed to me, but you used a very broad brush that included me and at least one other who already said he didn’t like the method used.
I know you are too dumb to understand my comment about trains. It removed the emotional focus on the politics behind the protest and demonstrated the problem faced and solved by law to prevent identical problems. The train example permits one to use critical thinking skills. That fails with you because you have none.
Anonymous (S. Meyer),
“ Svelaz, I’m glad, but can I trust what you say? You discussed your comment was directed to me, but you used a very broad brush that included me and at least one other who already said he didn’t like the method used.”
It was not directed at you. Just because it’s a response doesn’t mean it’s personally an accusation against you. You use a very broad brush all the time when you bunch “leftists” with a lot of people including me. I don’t get upset like you do.
Nobody can trust what you say given how you tend to change the subject or move the goal posts as quickly as your are losing an argument.
“ I know you are too dumb to understand my comment about trains. It removed the emotional focus on the politics behind the protest and demonstrated the problem faced and solved by law to prevent identical problems. The train example permits one to use critical thinking skills. That fails with you because you have none.”
LOL!!!!!BWAHAHAHA!!!
S. Meyer, your trains “example” was nothing more than a nonsensical attempt at equivalency. It was not only really useless, but just plain horrible. You talk a lot a about “critical thinking skills” yet you seem to be really intent on showing everyone how you’re not using them. You really need help man.
Svelalz, you have said and done nothing except double down on your Stupidity. You don’t understand the analogy. That is understandable when you function without cognition. Florida passed a law to prevent trains from obstructing traffic for more than a certain length of time long before DeSantis was in office. DeSantis passed another law to do the same thing that involved the obstruction of highways. This law was for all citizens’ safety and well-being, even the dumb ones like you.
Margot,
“ And that Svelaz is exactly why people are leaving the lawless Democrat run states to relocate in Florida.”
It was Florida who enacted such a law. If protesters block a road or highway people can run them “if” they feel threatened. Just pointing out the obvious hypocrisy of republicans supporting blocking roads as a form of protest when republicans themselves created laws making it a felony in Florida. Whether it’s trucks or people both are illegal according to Florida’s law passed by republicans.
“It was Florida who enacted such a law.”
That is a law the people of Florida wanted. I think it is a good law. There is no hypocrisy involved. You have no critical thinking skills.
Anonymous (S. Meyer),
“ It was Florida who enacted such a law.”
That is a law the people of Florida wanted. I think it is a good law. There is no hypocrisy involved. You have no critical thinking skills.”
Umm no. It was a law that the Republican Governor wanted and pushed for. Not the people of Florida.
There is hypocrisy involved if the very same people in Florida supporting the truckers blocking bridges are also those who supported the governor’s law making it a felony.
“Umm no. It was a law that the Republican Governor wanted and pushed for. Not the people of Florida”
Svelaz, the people of Florida didn’t want your type of cr-p on their doorstep. Florida has mostly been spared the onslaughts of Covid regulation and rioting. When problems occur it is generally in Democrat controlled areas. Florida is now hosting the Democrat elites who want a bit more freedom than where they come from.
Look at the worst cities in America with regard to killing and theft. Mostly Democrat strongholds. I want you guys to stay away.
The truckers weren’t looting and burning down federal buildings and businesses. Maybe that could be a clue as to why?? Why do you support hate and violence??
No man could buy or sell lest he take the mark
Truck Yeah! It’s the ‘Winter of Love’ protest by a ‘small fringe minority’ with ‘unacceptable views’….who raised millions and had it taken away….then raised millions more….and had it taken away….and now are raising millions more…why? because there is a LOT of popular, grassroots support for these truckers and what they are fighting for.
Civil disobedience is required now and these truckers and farmers have my full support.
Don’t worry Justin Trudeau, it’s only going to be two weeks more of this….you know, to ‘flatten the curve’…..
“Civil disobedience is required now and these truckers and farmers have my full support.”
Hear, hear!
Hey Anny, don’t forget Mom’s they are the group who kicked this off. Thank God for Mom! Now let’s get Dad up and running.
CNN correspondent Paula Newton said this act of civil disobedience was nothing less than a “threat to democracy. An insurrection, sedition.”
Now do you blind leftist understand why you come across as such idiots when you toss about words like “threat to democracy” “insurrection” “sedition”? You so corrupt the language, it is impossible to take you seriously, about anything.
Speaking out and protesting against government overreach is now called, “insurrection”….and “spreading hate”….
Threat to “democracy” means threat to “progressivism” and “leftism”….
Actually allowing dissent and protest is the safest route for any government that represents itself as a democracy. If dissent is crushed or suppressed then people seek other means. There are 400 million + guns in the United States and I suspect many “unofficial” guns in Canada. Remember diplomacy is just war by other means, and vice versa. I hope it does not come to that but the attitude of many democratic governments is not encouraging. If substantial violence occurs then it will get out of hand quickly and I really don’t think any of us want to see that.
Deplorables with guns in pickup trucks are the totalitarians worst nightmare.
After living through the past two years under ‘Covid tyranny,’ we can safely predict: they will never succeed in taking our guns away.
Now do thugs in NYC and Chicago killing blacks, pushing Asians into the subway, stabbing people in broad daylight. Maybe turn off CNN and see what is happening all around you instead of wearing your “white supremacists are hiding behind every bush” glasses.
You misunderstood my comment. I am pro Second Amendment. I am pro Trump. I am a smelly Walmart shopper.
Trudeau has gone full fascist. Oh Canada, if only you had a Second Amendment like we do.
Some more roadkill?
“Date Issued: February 07, 2022 02:00 pm ET
View as PDF: National Terrorism Advisory System Bulletin – February 07, 2022 02:00 pm (pdf, 2 pages, 1.86 MB)
Summary of Terrorism Threat to the U.S. Homeland
The United States remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors, including an online environment filled with false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors. These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence. Mass casualty attacks and other acts of targeted violence conducted by lone offenders and small groups acting in furtherance of ideological beliefs and/or personal grievances pose an ongoing threat to the nation. While the conditions underlying the heightened threat landscape have not significantly changed over the last year, the convergence of the following factors has increased the volatility, unpredictability, and complexity of the threat environment: (1) the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions”
https://www.dhs.gov/ntas/advisory/national-terrorism-advisory-system-bulletin-february-07-2022
An ironic bulletin.
People trust the institutions and frameworks; it’s the people running them that are garnering the distrust.
The ‘Build Back Better’ NWO gang knew there would be an uprising against their ‘vaccine passports’ Covid-tyranny-agenda….and they planned for it.
This HHS bulletin equating free speech with domestic terrorism is just part of their plan.
The crackdowns will continue until we submit.
To which we say: TRUCK No! Mother Truckers!
Anonymous,
This is a concerning bulletin, no doubt. It does not quite equate free speech with domestic terrorism, though. It skates rather too close for comfort, I will grant you.
“These threat actors seek to exacerbate societal friction to sow discord and undermine public trust in government institutions to encourage unrest, which could potentially inspire acts of violence.”
“Potentially” gives them wiggle room. However, it certainly pushes the envelope with the additional notations regarding “false or misleading narratives and conspiracy theories, and other forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by foreign and domestic threat actors”, as well as “(1) the proliferation of false or misleading narratives, which sow discord or undermine public trust in U.S. government institutions””.
The emphasis on “societal friction” also gives me pause. It echoes a CCP emphasis on ‘social harmony’. I think some degree of social harmony is beneficial–it is how it is achieved that matters–at the tip of a sword or through civil discourse arising from free choice.
I did wonder, snarkily, whether the CIA/NSA/FBIetc were whistling innocence when this was typed: “forms of mis- dis- and mal-information (MDM) introduced and/or amplified by … domestic threat actors”.
What can our elected representatives do to rein in this excess by the Executive branch?
Rose asks:
“What can our elected representatives do to rein in this excess by the Executive branch?”
For starters, make sure that Trump faces accountability for his “excesses” as the Chief Executive. Nothing breeds excess like impunity. I know you well enough to know that you, unlike a Trumpist, will accept the outcome of any criminal prosecution of Trump. You will not call it a “witch-hunt.”
I just hope that there are many more of you than there are Trumpists because a conviction of Trump could be the final straw for some. Trump has already foreshadowed that day by calling upon his followers to take to the streets if anything should befall him. I know you won’t be there, but unfortunately the vast majority of Turley’s followers will be yelling in the streets, “Witch-hunt,” “Deep State,” and “Fake News.”
You’re not paying attention to what Durham is uncovering, are you?
You haven’t actually read Durham’s filings, have you?
Every word. You?
I am always interested in facts. No one is above the law. Will you accept a guilty verdict for Trump should it come to that?
I won’t expect you to answer.
Name these “excesses” as the Chief Executive that you seem to think will result in criminal convictions?
Because we know what was done TO Trump, TO Trump’s campaign, TO Trump’s White House, TO Trump’s servers, TO the Executive Office servers —BY Hillary and her paid operatives. These are actual crimes far worse than anything Watergate.
Let the prosecutions begin! The profound and irreconcilable difference between me and a lying Trumpist is that I WILL accept ANY verdict of a jury against ANYONE!!
BUT you will NEVER accept a jury verdict against Trump. You will howl “ Witch-hunt!”
You did not answer my question. Name these “excesses” that you seem to believe will result in criminal convictions of Trump?
After you commit to accepting a jury’s verdict on Trump. I will not waste my time arguing with a lying Trumpist.
Would you accept one for Hilary?
Independent Bob asks:
“Would you accept one [a conviction] for Hilary?”
GLADLY. Why wouldn’t I? I didn’t vote for her. I have always had my suspicions of her going back to Whitewater. I’ll accept ANY criminal convictions.
On the other hand, when Trumpists are willing to lie that the election was stolen, they will have no compunction whatsoever lying that a Trump trial was “rigged.”
I don’t expect your reply.
Jeff — Like you, I am always interested in facts. Is it possible for you to present some here?
After you commit to accepting a jury’s verdict on Trump.
Sure I will. Now what crimes you expect Trump to be duly tried and convicted of, specifically?
It’s not my job to prosecute Trump. I am not investigating him. I WILL accept his innocence if he is NOT prosecuted, but I will NOT deny it if he IS convicted.
Jeff,
It does depend upon how it is managed. If it is an honest-to-goodness fair and impartial trial, then yes.
“Nothing breeds excess like impunity”
Yes, and that is part of the reason we are where we are.
“Deep State,” and “Fake News.” is not to be discounted because, as you said, nothing breeds excess like impunity.
Rose says:
“If it is an honest-to-goodness fair and impartial trial, then yes.”
So you don’t trust our legal system? Even if Trump’s possible conviction is upheld on appeal all the way to the Supreme Court, you may still question whether the trial was “honest-to-goodness fair”?
You would trust Trump’s claim that it was a “rigged trial”? Will you believe Turley if he raises no objections to Trump’s conviction?
What are these crimes you believe Trump will be convicted of?
I generally trust our legal system. The blind judge isn’t gonna look at the 27 8×10 colored glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence. 😉
A typical case of American
Blind justice, and there wasn’t nothing [we] could do about it…
Jeff,
“A typical case of American
Blind justice, and there wasn’t nothing [we] could do about it…”
An interesting twist. What do you mean? I’m sorry to be obtuse.
It’s the line that followed your quoted lyric from Alice’s Restaurant!
No, I meant the meaning of putting [we] in place of Obie. I know it follows the lines I wrote from Alice’s Restaurant.
Obie was going to try to steer the judge with official and dire-looking color glossy photos. Who is the [we] you mean?
I am glad Lady Justice will continue to render blind justice, in spite of a [we].
“Will you believe Turley if he raises no objections to Trump’s conviction?”
Will you accept a ‘Not guilty’ verdict? It rather sounds like you have already decided his guilt.
Nope. I’m just posing a hypothetical question. I ABSOLUTELY WILL accept a not guilty verdict. I swear!
Will YOU accept a guilty one?
No! We will call for mass protests in the streets, burning, looting, destroying because we did not get what we wanted. That’s what will happen.
Oh wait, that’s what BLM Antifa did and Biden, Kamala, all the Dems cheered and bailed them out to do MORE destruction….I mean “peaceful protesting.”
We have seen the record of your friends, and you mimic them.
You will not accept a not guilty verdict or settlement. Each time, based on lies, you and your ilk have tried to convince us Trump was guilty of something and each time you lost, you try again and again, including impeachment number one and impeachment number two. It has been nonstop, so your question is a distraction, and your answer is a lie, for you will not accept any decision until Trump is found guilty of something.
Ukraine wishes bidet and his minions, would stop the stupid $#i+. The US gov is all about the public becoming the servants. Comply or die???
Rose,
Trumpists/Q-Anon followers do NOT trust our institutions. Have you not heard of their paranoid delusion called the “Deep State”?
You can claim that it’s the “people at the top,” but the people at the top generally rise from the people at the bottom who are presumptively good. I’m afraid that this deviant and insidious notion of a “Deep State” will be our country’s undoing unless the rage provocateurs stop fueling this hatred. Turley is right in condemning our “age of rage.”
Jeff,
“You can claim that it’s the “people at the top,” but the people at the top generally rise from the people at the bottom who are presumptively good.”
Power corrupts. And, ‘nothing breeds excess like impunity.’
People can justify and rationalize all sorts of horrid things for the lesser of two weevils, for the greater good, even for their own advancement.
Rose says:
“People can justify and rationalize all sorts of horrid things for the lesser of two weevils, for the greater good, even for their own advancement.”
So, it is your opinion that anyone who rises to the top must no longer be good or they would not have advanced so far?
Jeff,
“So, it is your opinion that anyone who rises to the top must no longer be good or they would not have advanced so far?”
Of course not, that would be an absurd blanket conclusion. Unfair to individuals.
Rose,,
Why can’t you *presume* that the people at the top are just as honorable as the people at the bottom? It’s too facile to claim that power always corrupts. The people at the top are public servants who have dedicated their lives to serving this country. They have risen to the top because of meritorious service.
This Trumpian idea of a “Deep State” will be this country’s undoing if it continues to fester. There is no stopping this irrational paranoia and rampant suspicion. We must place our faith in our legal system and institutions of accountability. If we don’t, the polarization will deepen and widen.
“This Trumpian idea of a “Deep State”
Why do you assume this is only a ‘Trumpian idea’?
The impeachments, the Russia Hoax, IRS targeting of conservatives, Covid tyranny, etc, were carried out by unelected bureaucrats (ie deep state or administrative state) like Lois Lerner at IRS, James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Strzok, Page at FBI, Susan Rice, Jake Sullivan, James Clapper, John Brennan and their acolytes carried out these crimes and they lied under oath about it, too, and so far, zero accountability. Dr. Fauci and his acolytes at FDA and CDC are also unelected bureaucrats doing their deeds with NO accountability.
Meyer,
You don’t fool me.
Who dat?
Any comment on the “deep state”?
MEYER!
Again, you may assume it is me if you like, but that is not a good sign. Tertiary TDS is not subsiding. Drink more.
SM
I’m not sure what you mean, but it seems you wish to label me with the above comment. That is fine, as a quick read doesn’t create any problems for me. My only hope is that the anonymous that posted that comment post even more to you. That way, I don’t have to waste my time on a person with tertiary TDS.
I suggest you take up drinking hard liquor in large quantities to clear your mind of all thoughts of Trump and now me.
SM
“You don’t fool me.”
Obviously I do.
Have a margarita Jeffrey!
Look up what Mark Felt (deep throat) did to bring down Nixon. That was an inside “deep state” hit job, not because of stealth reporting by Woodward and Bernstein.
Meyer,
I’m on to you.
I’m not “Meyer.”
Kinda obvi if you ask me.
Who are you? Identify yourself.
“Who are you? Identify yourself.”
Have a margartia Jeffrey.
Tomar una margarita Jeffrey!
“The people at the top are public servants who have dedicated their lives to serving this country. They have risen to the top because of meritorious service.”
That is a lovely ideal too few achieve. One only needs to read a bit of history to know the ideal is, unfortunately, not the norm.
There are always exceptions to any rule. However, if people can put their faith in gods, why shouldn’t they place their faith in their creation?
Jeff,
We know, all too keenly, our own failings and temptations and we have witnessed and experienced commensurate and even worse failures on the part of others, including those in whom we have put our faith and trust.
God did not make people infallible. He gave us free will. We are only made in His image. Mere echoes of Him.
God gave us ‘free won’t’ as well.
As in, we won’t allow tyrannical dictators to take away our freedoms and civil liberties at their whim.
#Mooselini
Justin Trudeau did not rise to the top because of ‘meritorious service.’ He was a lazy, entitled drama teacher, snowboard instructor, soyboy, sissyboy.,
Now he is a petty tyrant.
Mooselini is destroying Canada.
#Mooselini
Free speech is fine. I’ll defend it to the end. Blocking a major international trade route because you don’t like a job requirement is BS.
Job requirement? That takes the cake for oversimplification. Where the heck have you been the past two years? I can assure you that where I am the vaccine is just the tip of the iceberg with these governing dem fools, and I use the term ‘governing’ (*cough*ruling*cough*) with the lightest touch possible.
You don’t seem to have read the article. Professor Turley didn’t object to the clearing of the bridge (nor do I).
William says:
“You don’t seem to have read the article. Professor Turley didn’t object to the clearing of the bridge (nor do I).”
That makes 3 of us. We both agree that Turley was right in approving the clearing of the lawbreakers from the bridge. Seems that the vast majority of the Trumpists here ignored his point that there is a time and place for all protests but not when it degenerates into hooliganism.
Wally, You have a legitimate beef.
But it is with Trudeau. This event played out for a month before it reached Ottawa. Trudeau, ran off and hid for the first week or so about the time the big rigs started to appear in Ottawa. Canada is now a full 6 weeks into this, and still not a soul in the govt has thought maybe sitting down for a chat would be worth the small effort.
Wally, if you know your history, you will find that free speech (which has been under attack in recent years by social media companies and most of the big networks) is often shoved to the side. It has happened numbers of times in the past with the earliest example probably being the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. It would be a lovely thing if free speech were encouraged and permitted. But it is not. The Canadian truckers had no recourse but to do exactly what MLK told us in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” which I highly recommend that you read because apparently you have not. King explained that where unjust laws exist they must be disobeyed by creating a tension in the community. The purpose of the tension (a peaceful one, mind you, which is precisely what the truckers are engaged in) is to force negotiation. Now, it turns out that no one was listening to what the truckers and millions of other Canadians wanted, just as officials are not listening to Americans today). The only rational response is to create that tension by going out into the streets by whatever means and doing so peacefully to disturb ordinary public life. Do yourself an intellectual favor and read King’s letter. It is widely available online and is one of the most profound pieces of American literature to have ever been written. And by the way, the vaccines are much more than just a “job requirement.” Your ignorance of the Nuremberg Code is simply stunning; something else you might want to bone up on.
Some of the people arguing against government mandates, were in the Armed Forces, the people arguing for forced or coerced mandates, have never sworn to defend the US constitution. When I joined the Army, I gave up my rights to protest getting jabs in both arms, or be discharged. Not one truck driver ever gave up their rights to protest. MLK had amazing insight on how to change the world, I wish he was still here, today.
No offense meant but sorry for your ignorance the rules the US Military is supposed to be using now in regards to “Experimental use of Vaccines on Troops” like in the past Anthrax Vax.
ie: Con Law Prof. Dr Francis Boyle. Plus the Latest rulings from different counts.
Further proof, as if any was needed, that libs and their willing apparatchiks in the media are the new existential threat to freedom. Death to tyrants and their ivy “educated” flunkies, too.
Mespo says:
“Death to tyrants and their ivy “educated” flunkies, too.”
Now, now, be civil or Darren will block you.
I don’t remember if Turley pointed out the same alarming financial suppression tactics used here when they were used against Wikileaks, but he should have mentioned it here.
Minneapolis black bloc Antifa graffitied numerous businesses and set barricades in the streets for nearly two hours tonight all down Lake Sreet from 35W and in Uptown.
No police ever showed up or were seen except for a helicopter hovering overhead the entire time.
From power line. Extemporaneous account of official Government response to traffic disruption and destruction of private property.( spoiler: ZERO. not even a visual police presence)
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/02/inside-the-bizarre-hellworld-of-minneapolis.php
Iowan2 – That’s pretty sad only one person stood up to the rabble, not even one news agency. Thanks for the link.
Margot, Kyle Rittenhouse was a message from the totalitarian Government Goons. While a full acquittal was the result. The lies invented and spread by the propaganda media, was always the punishment, and, future deterrent to any person that has the mistaken notion, there is a constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms. The Government message is clear. Citizens have no right to protect their own property. While years down the road you may be cleared, none the less, you will be severely punished.
The Government treats us as the enemy.
There was more outrage againat Rittenhouse tgan the McMichaels.
iowan2,
I am amazed the MPD hides behind Fences and such and have done so since 2020 as noted in the linked Information you provided.
What does that tell you about the situation in that Democrat Utopia?
Seems to me a lot of folks up there need a “We will show you Lesson” by the Police!
If they cannot defend their own building and have to make like a Yankee version of the Alamo…..then they should hand in their badges and seek alternative employment.
The Police are the very ones that are to provide Law and Order within Society…..and if they cannot or will not….then nothing good is going to come of that situation.
Lefties have stopped caring about working people; they are now the party of the rich, (some) minorities, the welfare classes, the media, and big tech.
The Republicans now represent the working poor and the middle classes.
As I watch the Lefty actions, I am reminded of what ugly people so many of them are.
And Illegals. Don’t forget their favorite class now.
Let’s get to the meat of the argument being made by Professor Turley shall we.
What we see happen to the Truckers and their supporters….that being the seizure of private funds by corporations and the government is the method that shall be used to kill free speech and political opposition to the Leftists.
The Left is intent upon stopping dead in its tracks any and all opposition no matter what….the ends justifies the. means to the Left.
They want their money and their ability to receive the support of their contributors but shall do anything required to prevent their opposition from such benefits.
The Truckers as those Anti-Segregatonists led by MLK had a just cause to protest about and we saw how a corrupt Government reacted just as we saw the Democrats in Old Dixie do.
The Left is wrong….dead wrong…and no matter what they say…or how they lie….that fact shall remain.
At some point….the divide shall get too great and when it does there shall be a Day of Reckoning none of us want to see happen.
John Durham’s latest filing in Court points out quite clearly what happens when corrupt persons seek power using whatever means they think will work….with complete disregard for the Rule of Law.
The Democrat Party is on the road to Perdition…..and hopefully they shall stay in the Express Lane and get there in a most expeditious manner so we can get on with life in a new found Just Society.
Ralph says:
“At some point….the divide shall get too great and when it does there shall be a Day of Reckoning none of us want to see happen.”
The Day of Reckoning is coming for Trump as well, like it or not. Unlike you, I want that day to come sooner than later.
This might interest you Jeff:
“Mazars has effectively fired the Trump Organization, citing a non-waivable conflict, and determined that Trump’s financial statements from 2011-20 should not be relied on, per a letter to Alan Garten filed in court today.”
twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/status/1493323649272664070 (a copy of the letter is attached here and also embedded in the discussion linked below)
A longer discussion by the lawyer who posted the above tweet: https://www.nycsouthpaw.com/p/mazars-noisily-fires-trump
“The determination by Mazars that Trump’s financial statements over a full decade are not reliable through no fault of its own amounts to a declaration that it has been repeatedly misled by its client. (Readers can come to their own conclusions about how credible it is for Mazars to purport to have only now discovered Trump’s pattern of deception and whether this might amount to a more knowing collaborator belatedly seeking distance from the scheme.)”
Anonymous,
Thanks for the link.
I heard this news this morning because I was not watching Fox News! Soon enough we will hear the lying Trumpists screaming “witch-hunt!” It’s only a matter of time. The only question is how soon will they turn on Turley because he will NOT add his voice to theirs.
Has Turley voiced any objections to the 1/6 House committee investigating Trump? His silence is a good indication where he stands.
As the walls close in on Trump, Turley’s silence will become deafening. His Trumpists will lose their faith in him and will quit this blog on their own volition. Happy days!
Ottawa is not under siege; the roads can be cleared. However, our politics and media have become bunkered and blockaded.
Trudeau fears the people he governs…That’s a good thing.
If Canada thinks this is an emergency, it is self made. This was a slow rolling, ~month to reach Ottawa, Weeks of miles long convoys. Not just trucks, but all manner of conveyance. Driven, not by celebrities or paid agitators like BLM/antifa. Common working class people that are petitioning their govt for redress. For their efforts, Trudeau first ignored them, then smeared them as racists. Resorted to name calling, attempting to ‘other’ the people he claims to serve.
If it wouldn’t be so bad, if not for the facts. Covid is over. What is not over, is the totalitarians need to control crush the masses. They cannot unwrap their fingers from the absolute power to control the masses.
It would have been simple. Meet with the truckers, negotiate in good faith, eliminate the forced jab that does not prevent contracting covid, nor slow the spread of covid, set a staged elimination of all mandates. Truckers can claim a win, and Trudeau comes out level headed Statesman. But the power he wielded, overruled rational thought.
For me its like watching a movie of pure fiction. Iowa has been fully open for 16 months or more. Even schools could choose to follow the science and not require masks, and lots of them did. To listen to the left make unfounded claims of death and disability is insane. Lots of real life experiments have been played out in real time, and the people, with proper information are fully capable of taking care of themselves.
Trudeau joined in the BLM protests and even bent a knee with them, but these truckers are beneath him. Trudeau has nothing but contempt and disdain for the white working class. These truckers are not his ‘peoplekind’.
Trudeau is despised by the people of Canada and even much of his own party. The end of Dictator Soy Boy’s political career is near. Thanks be to God.
Trudeau thinks these truckers are beneath him, there to serve HIM and do as he commands. He refuses to engage with them and simply tells them to “Go home.”
Some ‘peoplekind’ are more equal than others! said the Pig named Castreaux.
“I believe the truckers are wrong to continue the blockade unless the government yields to their demands.”
What do you suggest they follow the action’s of BLM and ANTIFA, riot, loot, burn, smash and grab. Maybe then Harris will support them monetarily and advise them not to stop? The trolls who infect the site will no doubt condemn the truckers but praised BLM and ANTIFA for their righteous actions?
@Margot
Oh, they did do that at the time, in perfect chorus. It’s pretty clear they were watching the summer destruction from an armchair in an ivory tower where someone else brings them coffee.
Turley says:
“Rage gives a license to treat opposing views as unworthy of expression or tolerance.”
Ain’t that the dying truth! I’m sure Turley speaks for me and the handful of other NeverTrumpers on his blog who are constantly accused of being afflicted with so-called “Trump Derangement Syndrome” for our opposing views to the majority of Trumpists here. Our minority views are regarded as unworthy of expression because of our presumed hatred of Trump.
I don’t hate Trump. I despise his sin of lying, not him personally. I suspect that the man can’t help himself- that he may be sick in the head. Who knows?
Be that as it may, I hope you Trumpists will follow Turley’s advice to tolerate opposing viewpoints and for some of you to stop insisting that NeverTrumpers find a blog elsewhere to express our opinions.
Do Joe Biden’s lies bother you or not so much?
In an article about Canada, you write paragraphs about Trump….to deny you have TDS.
THAT is the epitome of TDS.
None of them brag about what bidet is doing. Or bragging about kumalya handling the border crisis, by visiting El Paso, once.
Just Stoppitt would you?
Jeff, care to discuss Hillary? Clinton makes Nixon look like Cicero.
Jeff – you have full-blown TDS.
Paul says:
“Jeff – you have full-blown TDS”
And you are a hater.
“Our minority views are regarded as unworthy of expression because of our presumed hatred of Trump.”
Jeff, we all appreciate your minority views and accept your TDS. We don’t expect you to provide facts or data behind your claims because a lack of such data is a hallmark of TDS.
Be well. We are all praying for you, though, like with Syphilis, once one reaches the tertiary stage, one generally has to accept the decline mentally as well as physically.
“Free speech is being curtailed through government actions, including the freezing of these funds…”
This is exactly the kind of totalitarian control these governments will use/abuse over the people if we allow a cashless society using skin imbedded microchips and crypto currencies. They will have total control over us based on our ‘social credit score’ and will ‘giveth’ and ‘taketh away’ at their whim.
So very true. We are toast because we will be there in a blink of an eye.
The censorship efforts will not quell the protests, they will be the tinder for the major fire.
Turley says:
“I believe the truckers are wrong to continue the blockade unless the government yields to their demands.”
Precisely. There is a time and place for protests. Blockading vital commercial trucking routes is not one of them. It’s once again reassuring that Turley believes in law and order.
Trudeau is a Globalist and follows the direction of Global Elite such as Davos/World Economic Forum. The truckers have a great deal of support amongst many, Without the truckers Canadian Economy and US Economy will suffer, a lot of cross border trade. Trudeau refused to meet with the Truckers. The protesting is not over, on Sunday the Canadian people blocked the Surry, BC crossing. Trudeau opens open the protestors close another. The Trudeau gov’t, like the Biden/DEM’s are going to pay a heavy price come elections. At some point there may be a vote of no confidence for Trudeau some of the Liberal Party are speaking up against Trudeau action. Yet I suspect things are going to get worse, more blockades more demonstrations. Biden Admn, is very afraid of the Truckers actions/demonstrations coming to the US. PS Trudeau calls the truckers racist, not in Canada, every race participated in the demonstrations/blockades.
“Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the merger of the state and corporate power.” — Benito Mussolini
Smart guy even though he hung by piano wire for it.
Yes, and though at one time some of those people were coal or oil magnates, those days are long gone. You described the Progressive movement globally in your sentence. Though it isn’t remotely new as many of these folks are descended from American aristocrats (pretty much the only people that owned slaves and wanted, as in their private homes, a separate society for ‘the help’, poor people were slaves of a sort, like serfs, to them too regardless of skin color) it was never out in the open like this. Everyone else, regardless of party affiliation (including moderate dems) has been deemed the enemy. Younger, supremely fragile generations, with assistance from oligarchs, have fully warped the ‘official’ dem party into a legitimately fascist one.