We have been discussing the alarming shift in higher education in favor of censorship and speech regulations. These voices have been amplified on media platforms like MSNBC which has championed efforts to censor people and groups on social media and other forums. The most recent example is the interview of University of Michigan Law Professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade by Rachel Maddow. In the interview, McQuade explains how the First Amendment is the “Achilles Heel” of the United States and why the public needs to embrace greater limitations on free speech.
Professor McQuade has published a book entitled Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. Despite my strong disagreements with her views on free speech, I am sure that it will be an important contribution to this debate. My forthcoming book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in the Age of Rage, takes a diametrically opposed view on the meaning and history of free speech in America.
In the interview, McQuade recognizes the importance of free speech while emphasizing its dangers.
“Actually, Rachel, I think we’re more susceptible to it than other countries, and that’s because some of our greatest strengths can also be our Achilles Heel. So, for example, our deep commitment to free speech in our First Amendment. It is a cherished right. It’s an important right in democracy, and nobody wants to get rid of it, but it makes us vulnerable to claims [that] anything we want to do related to speech is censorship.”
Well, the question is what “we want to do related to speech.” If it involves blacklisting, throttling, deplatforming, and bans, it most certainly does raise questions of censorship. Free speech is now portrayed as an existential threat to the country as opposed to the very thing that defines us as a free people.
McQuade captures the theoretical divide over free speech, though she is clearly voicing a view that is increasingly popular among law professors. She advances views of free speech that I have discussed in prior academic writings and the new book as “functionalist.” These views allow for greater trade offs between free speech and overriding social or political priorities.
For some of us, free speech is a human right. In that sense, I am undeniably a free speech dinosaur who believes that the solution for bad speech is better speech. Rather than continue down the slippery slope of censorship under the guise of disinformation, we can allow citizens to reach their own conclusions in an open and robust debate.
The alternative is often to use transparently biased judgments over what is “misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation” (MDM). The government has used this rationale to coordinate censorship in what it has called the “MDM space.”
For example, within DHS, Jen Easterly, who heads the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, extended her agency’s mandate over critical infrastructure to include “our cognitive infrastructure.” The resulting censorship efforts included combating “malinformation” – described as information “based on fact, but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate.” I testified earlier on this effort.
McQuade’s book will certainly add to the scholarship in this area. However, her view is painfully familiar for many of us in academia.
On topic of Free Speech.
The FBI has Arrested and led off in handcuffs a Blaze, Reporter Steven Baker, that was live streaming and Reporting Jan 6 from inside the Capital
Obama/Garland is still using police power to punish news reporters unfavorable to the King.
How did the reporter report from inside the Capitol without trespassing?
He was invited and escorted by Capitol Police, until they summarily withdrew consent, and progressed to assaulting the People present, thereby fomenting a riot.
There are pictures of him with Capitol Police all around him, guiding him through the Capitol, but because Nancy claims she was too scared to call the National Guard like Trump requested, she took advantage and cried “INSURRECTION” for all her Progressive idiots to start crying and stomping their feet in fake fear….
That is a “fake” disingenuous question by a fraudulent communist “intel” agitator who knows full well that the Deep Deep State, “Swamp,” Regime false flag operators on scene opened the gates and escorted the ostensible “rioters” into the Capitol.
Does a “fake disingenuous” question mean that the question is actually a genuine one?
Am I a “fraudulent communist” because I am a capitalist? I suppose that is accurate then.
If I intend to arouse public concern about intelligence, I suppose that would indeed make me an “intel agitator.”
I have no idea who the “Deep Deep State Swamp Regime false flag operators” are but that could very well describe the militias on J6 like the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers, who largely hail from swampy areas of the country and falsely fly the US flag while engaging in an insurrection against the US. They indeed opened the gates and escorted the rioters into the Capitol.
So upon a deep review of your comment, I think I largely agree with the sentiment.
Willful blindness is not an argument.
Nor are false dichotommies.
1). The government can not charge trespass for entering the capitol while congress is in session without violating the first amendment – you know the thing we are debating here. The right to free speech – especially p[olitical speech, the right to assemble, the right to petition government. Government can not restrict access to a public forum for free speech and there is no public forum for free speech more significant than the capitol.
You claim to be a captolist – I am supposed to take you are your word ? You spout left wing nut talking points, and the ignorance you claim is that of those whose only sources are far left.
You can debate the characterization of those who opened the capitol on J6. But the fact is that it was opened – and not by the Proud Boys, but by CP officers. and the vast majority of those passing through the capitol did so through doors opened by the CP and often escorted by the CP. If you are ignorant of that – that further demonstrates your obliviousness to anything outside the left wing nut MSM.
Your rant about militias and the proud boys reflect similar unfamiliarity with reality and only left wing nut sources.
This was not Charlottesville – there was no militia presence. Not that that should matter – do you lose your right to free speech or to protest or petition government if you are part of a disfavored by the left group ?
What of militias, oathkeepers and proud boys ? Should we add Kiwanis and Rotary to the list ?
Contra left wing nuts NONE of these groups advocate for violence – like left wing groups such as Antifa or BLM.
There were no rioters escorted into the capitol. Rioting was pretty much limited to the west tunnel entrance and was started by the CP when they first accidentally tear gassed themselves, and then accidentially – we hope, teargassed the to that moment peaceful crowd.
Again Contra the left – Trump actually wanted the NG at the Capitol and asked for them days in advance and approved their deploment days in advance. But the Capitol is outside the control of the executive and the NG can not deploy to the capitol without the permission of the speaker of the house and the majority leader of the Senate.
Trump wanted the NG present to protect supporters from Pelosi’s private police force. While many of the CP are decent people – and again contrat the left narative there was a great deal of cooperation between protestors and the CP – because a very large portion of the protestors were current and former military or police. They all shared a common bond. Regardless, the CP is under Pelosi;s control. and she did not want the NG and she did not want peaceful protests. And Trump wanted the NG to protect protestors from those within the CP that would give pelosi what she wanted.
Regardless the only rioting was at the west tunnel entrance and it was the consequence of police error.
I would note that protestors/rioters at the WH in may 2020 eventually reach a settlement with the govenrment getting paid for not being teargassed. While the alleged rioters at the capitol languish in jail for actually being teargassed BEFORE any violence started.
Regardless the vast majority of the people protesting arround, and in the capitol were peaceful and entered legally.
If you do not know that – again it is a symptom of being trapped in a left wing nut bubble.
Left wing nuts like to say that government is what we do together – which is actually false. Regardless, it is OUR capitol – it does NOT belong to those we elect.
That’s more like it, Counselor.
Oops. I must have hit a nerve, eh, Anonymous, Esq.
Was that a “work-around” or a strategic deflection, Einstein?
Objection! Evasive and non-responsive.
Your Honor, I would ask the Court to please direct the witness to debate the facts that have been presented.
The same way that everyone else who entered into “the peoples house did – through the doors.”
If you lock the capitol while the house or senate are in session you violate the first amendment right to petition government.
Only left wing lunatics would do something so stupid.
Citation for that?
The Comrade General Secretary
The “Dear Leader”
Here we go again! Jonathan himself protects the integrity of Res Ipsa Loquitur (this website) with employment of a Civility Policy — meaning he cancels incivil comments (per his subjective interpretation of the Civility standard), as well as deplatforming those who show no respect for the policy! Some critic of “free speech” JT is.
Let’s get serious. Do we want to debate reasonable limits of speech freedom (both what private entities are free to do to moderate, as well as what government is allowed to do)?? Or, do we want to have a “performative” showdown with all the trappings of the dichotomization trap (you’re either with A or B, nothing in-between)? It seems JT prefers the latter, as he routinely criticizes overreaches of content moderation (the threat!), but refuses to take responsibility when it comes to proactively defining a well-calibrated moderation of public discourse — necessary for conflict resolution and creative problem-solving.
I’m reminded of Winston Churchill’s famous dig: “Americans will eventually find the solution to a problem — after exhausting every other possibility”. That says something about the low quality (dysfunction) of our public discourse.
How many companies would be successful if they argued unproductively and incessantly, wasting precious time and energy on half-baked solutions championed by the most strident loudmouths? No, they can only compete effectively by keeping the company’s internal dialog in the creative “sweet spot”, which means suppressing negative thinking, demonization, false accusation, ad-hominem attack, and hubristic self-righteousness….so people can think straight and come up with creative ideas. Once the speech veers off into killing the messenger, people freeze up — you get the opposite of free thought and expression. You get defensive thinking and mediocrity. You get failure.
That’s what this “free speech” debate is about. Too much bombast, too much ad-hominem vitriol, too many half-truths spoil the cake. We want (or should want) an environment where truth establishes itself through surviving well-meaning intense scrutiny, and ill-intentioned (cynically motivated) lies and liars are quickly sidelined as a deterrent.
We should want the broadest array of policy options put out on the table for dispassionate consideration.
We’re not going to get all those options if “free speech” includes:
• purposeful intimidation for political gain
• deceitful falsehoods (public frauds) for political gain
• urging illegal actions toward political gain
• defamation (pre-Sullivan standard)
Yes, there is some degree of subjectivity in these — that is unavoidable. But if we could agree in principle that we don’t want public speech used for these purposes, then at least the argument would be over the degree of transgression, and proportionate remedies….just as we now do for defamation lawsuits.
Remember how we fought a futile 8-year war (Iraq) based on fraudulent infowarfare. 4500 lives and trillions wasted.
I invite someone to argue FOR the freedom to 1) intimidate others in the public space to shut them up, 2) deceive the public (dupe them for advantage), 3) foment illegal activities based on political motives. Let’s hear arguments FOR.
BTW, I do NOT want government policing the infospace…period. I see the citizens as the ones empowered to uphold speech moderation and freedom. I would use lawsuits in fast-response Courts. That way government officials can be hauled into court of things like intimidation and public frauds. A good model is the Nick Sandmann case. CNN and WaPo were pushing out a public fraud damaging to Mr. Sandmann. We didn’t prosecute them. They were sued, and had to pay up. Enough large judgments will teach a news org the limits of free speech. Civil torts, not prosecution best way to address these issues consistent with 1A.
this is the third time this week you have used the word “performative.” New word for you?
Wow, Anonymous, that’s deep. Welcome to a serious debate. Hang your jacket up and stay a while.
If only you were not constantly trying to leverage negative connotations of broad words to constraint rights.
your entire argument collapses when you use clear concise and narrow words.
I am free to intimidate you – I am not free to initiate violence against you.
We can be in a state of conflict forever, that is not something that must be overcome.
It is all word games.
I get insulted for long posts.
But PBinCA can not put 3 words together in a sentence without multiple errors and deceptions.
We are supposed to go “oh my gosh no” to words like “conflict” or “intimidate”.
Yet those words cover very broad meanings ranging from perfectly acceptable speech to actual physical violence.
I deliberately use words that are much clearer like FORCE and VIOLENCE.
There are only a few circumstances in which you can legitimate initiate force or violence.
One of those is the overthrow of a government that has become abusive of the rights of the people, or that has lost the trust of the people.
Regardless for the most part the initiation of force is barred by the social contract, which is the foundation for govenrment and criminal law. Criminal law specifies the punishment for various different illegitimate uses of force.
Conflict could be anything from open war to disagreement about the color to paint the kids room.
Intimidate could be anything from Breaking someones arm to glaring at them.
Any discussion of legitimate constraints on speech that involves words like intimidate and conflict already misses the point entirely.
Fog Factor 101
“speech” includes:
• purposeful intimidation for political gain”
PbinCA, who has ended up in jail? Republicans. Who hasn’t? Democrats. You seem not to recognize this even though another recently provided you a comparison easy to prove correct.
“• deceitful falsehoods (public frauds) for political gain”
Most of the deceitful falsehoods come from the left. Look at everything that was censored. Most of the important stuff was true.
“• urging illegal actions toward political gain”
The Democrats don’t urge legal action. They actually do it and they lie. Look at the lies from the left during the impeachment hearings.
“We’re not going to get all those options if “free speech” includes:
• purposeful intimidation for political gain
• deceitful falsehoods (public frauds) for political gain
• urging illegal actions toward political gain
• defamation (pre-Sullivan standard)”
like a typical left wing nut you use words unclearly.
If intimidation means the force or the threat of force – it is not protected – because force and the threat of force are rarely protected.
It is irrelevant whether speech is involved – illegitimate use of force is a crime.
You fixate on political gain – the intent of your speech – so long as that intent is not to incite violence – is irrelevant.
You can advocated for the overthrow of government of for sex in public with children.
Covernment can not restrict speech based on its content – and political content is the most protected form of speech.
Lying is legal, It is legal in public, it is legal in private. Fraud is not legal. Fraud is an intentional lie for the purpose of benefiting yourself and actually harming others. Harm does NOT include hurt feelings. Fraud is when you are told you are buying a Jaguar and what you get is a pinto.
Again political speech is the most protected form of speech their is and it includes political lies.
There is one and only one means by which political lies can be punished – at the ballot box.
Urging illegal actions is itself illegal – regardless of whether the purpose is political.
Telling someone to rob a bank is a crime.
What s it that you actually know about Sullivan – were you even alive ?
“Let’s get serious. Do we want to debate reasonable limits of speech freedom ?”
No, that is already well established – there is no need for further debate.
We have spent centuries working on the law of free speech.
There is nothing some johnny come lately left wing nut is going to come up with that has not already debated and resolve.
“proactively defining a well-calibrated moderation of public discourse — necessary for conflict resolution and creative problem-solving.”
You confuse your own incorrect unproven assertion with a fact.
Public discourse – the speech that occurs at public forums allows for only the most minimal infringements on speech – infringements that are both facially content neutral and as applied content neutral.
Yopu rant about problem solving and conflict resolution as if regulating speech is critical to either of these – it is not.
Problems are solved by intelligent and creative people in the free market. Sometimes the listen to others sometimes they do not.
They are evaluated by the market based on whether their solutions work.
“conflict resolution” is more left word games.
“I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”
Thomas Jefferson
Does not sound like someone seeking conflict resolution.
Lack of conflict is a value, not a right or a principle.
You are free to hate me, and be in conflict with me for the rest of your life.
There is nothing I am entitled to do about that.
What you may not do is initiate violence against me.
She’s a fascist. Pure Michigan
The person who liked this comment lives in Ohio.
Just because American voices are being oppressed and silenced by oppressive tyrants working to “fundamentally change” The United States into a totalitarian state by dissolving The Constitution Amendment by Amendment, doesn’t mean the American People they are attempting to intimidate and overpower by silencing, censoring, abusing and trying to subjugate from within, have lost their ability to adjust for survival, lost their love and commitment to freedom or given up on their resolve to resist and fight their oppressors to regain and keep their Constitutional Rights, Their Freedoms Their Country.
Neither does suppression, censorship and curtailment of speech dampen The silenced American Peoples desire to mete out justice and revenge upon said oppressive tyrants for their crimes against the Constitutional Republic and Her People.
It just means because of the societal lack of free speech they have created, the oppressors, have created their own little world of silence within their own echo chamber, where they never hear the warnings and thus will never hear or see what’s coming.
As pointed out by George below, Sun Tzu was right. So was JFK.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” – John F. Kennedy
We’re almost there.
He didn’t say that violent revolution would makes things better. He wouldn’t be that foolish, knowing history.
After “the revolution”, you face the exact same problems of self-government w/ freedom (unless the revolutionaries are fascists or totalitarians). You still need the skills of collaborative problem-solving, negotiation and mutual trust. Those are very difficult to re-establish after guns are used. In fact, getting your way by brandishing a gun — why would anyone successful at that want to put down their gun? That is the reality of almost all civil wars. Our nation’s beginning was fairly miraculous as revolution’s go, and reflects the high character, broad education and intellect of its leaders.
So you’re saying what?
That saying nothing, doing nothing and surrendering to a fate chosen for The American People by death cult despots is preferable to trying to right the ship and get it back on course because there will be work to do and problems to solve?
No, I’m saying don’t surrender, do the hard work of improving our nation (without violence), because you’ll have to do it anyway after the revolution, so just skip the violence fantasy-ideation, and learn the ropes of meritocratic public discourse. These “death cult despots” aren’t that different from you….they too want to improve their country, just have ideas for how to do it that are different, naive, half-baked. Assume the best in people, not the worst. Because, when you write off people as unreachable and call them “despots” in a public forum, they will reflect back that bad karma onto you, and see you as a wannabe despot. It’s all just giving up on each other, and that is a path to national decline.
When’s the last time you called your Congressman? The White House comment line? I give mine (Swalwell) hell every week over this or that. I write letters in the newspaper. I tell the WH phone ops what I think Biden should be doing about X.
You could do the same, it’s not hard. The main thing is to be participating, not getting alienated and backing away.
Speaking of fantasies, you seem to believe that things like the vicious anti-American Kristallnachesque violent riots and constant media and governmental intimidation and dereliction of duty by the left are only well meaning negotiation tactics designed to convince Americans of the error of their Country loving, law abiding, due process loving Constitutional Rights embracing, freedom loving ways and if they just see the light and wisdom of the violence and lawfare tactics pathway toward the eventual abolition of Constitutional Rights and complete unquestioning submission to and trust in the absolute power of the government to determine their fate, especially the fates of certain political leaning and races of American Citizens, all will be well.
What do you suppose the left has in mind for those Americans who are already branded terrorists and are openly being shown abject hatred by their own government for exercising their Constitutional Rights, being People of faith, having their own counter wokie beliefs or just being born a certain color and who just want to peacefully live their own lives as they see fit, who are not going to embrace and submit to the destruction of societal norms and draconian political changes that must be in place for the fundamental transition of The United States away from A Constitutional Republic to a totalitarian regime to be successful?
What about the ones who want to keep their Rights and American way of life who will object to and defy the anti-Constitutional fundamental changes in laws, policies and American culture and society the left knows are necessary to keep millions of People under absolute control?
Do you really think the leftist within government and outside of government are just going to just sit down together with those Americans, make daisy chains and sing Kumbaya now that they are so close to their goal?
You can avoid violent revolution by heeding the advice of the declaration of independence – which is a justification for violent revolution, an explanation of the requirements for a justifiable violent revolution and an expression of the social contract – the conditions required for legitimate government – that is government that protects our natural rights.
You keep seeking to infringe on those rights and wonder why you inch ever closer to violent revolution.
“After “the revolution”, you face the exact same problems of self-government w/ freedom”
Only to the extent you must rebuild something better. Regardless you have accomplished the destruction of the illegitimate and infringing government. It is greatly preferable to achieve this peacefully.
But violence – revolution, insurrection as a resp[once to government that infringes on individual liberty is justified.
“You still need the skills of collaborative problem-solving, negotiation and mutual trust.”
You constantly confuse values – and specifically your value with principles.
Your words sound nice, but the objective is government that secures our individual rights.
Those in the west and particularly americans like to beleive that self government is the means to legitimate govenrment that protects our rights, that MAY be correct, though it is an assumption not a fact. Regardless, the declaration of independence says NOTHING about the form government must take. Only the ends it must acheive – the protection of liberty and rights in order to be legitimate.
John Stuart Mill in “on Liberty” noted that no form of govenrment was more prone to the infringement on peoples rights more so than democracy. People will tolerate only minimal dictates from a totalitarian leader on their freedom before they revolt.
But when rights are infringed on by the consensus of your neighbors such abuses are harder to get rid of.
“Those are very difficult to re-establish after guns are used.”
You are constantly making statements like this without foundation.
The american revoultion was immensely successful.
As was WWII.
Guns are rarely used until things have gone completely to h311. Though that is where the left is rushing.
Afterwards is difficult – but that does not matter much if what preceded was not tolerable.
“In fact, getting your way by brandishing a gun — why would anyone successful at that want to put down their gun? ”
Off debating another straw man. No one wants to solve our current conflicts with guns. All that is being pointed out to you is the obvious.
That if you keep infringing on other peoples rights, eventually the result will be violence.
I honestly do not expect violence, “Civil war” in the US – the left is too weak, the country too afluent.
What is coming is a course change. Either you will get a Trump in 2024 and he will somewhat successfully clean house.
Or we will have another 4 years of left wing nut abuses before someone the left hates even more than Trump comes along and cleans house.
The longer this left wing nut nonsense holds out the more dravonian the course reversal will be.
You point out tyhat violent revolutions all to often end with authoritarian leaders – and that is true.
The way to avoid that is to capitulate now – quit abusing the rights of those you do not like.
Now, Turley’s going after mild-mannered, dignified, intelligent law professor Barbara McQuade of all people? Barbara is correct, and the rise of pro-Trump, intellectually-dishonest media outlets, paid to distort facts, to pander to prejudices of non college educated whites who resent educated women and minorities as well as migrants and believe that their orange hero will “make America great again”, proves it. Turley claims: “Rather than continue down the slippery slope of censorship under the guise of disinformation, we can allow citizens to reach their own conclusions in an open and robust debate.” Turley knows better. This simplistic statement overlooks the fact that pro-Trump, intellectually-dishonest media, like Turley’s employer, pander to gullible people–people I call “disciples” because they want or need to believe the lies fed to them by such media. AND, those who run these media know their target audience is gullible and refuse to even listen to, much less consider, contrary facts. Not only do they spew anti-Biden, anti-Democratic, anti-“Left” swill, they also proselytize the disciples into believing that mainstream media cannot be trusted. Now, CBS, ABC, NBC, PBS, CNN and MSNBC are part of some “Deep State” out to get their hero, and they cannot be believed. Mainstream media does NOT attack them or point out the endless lies and distortions of fact–like, for example, Mark Levin constantly referring to the “Biden Crime Family”, evidece of which does not exist. And, it doesn’t matter how much time and resources Republicans waste trying to create the illusion of a “Biden Crime Family”, the evidence just isn’t there. Does that dissuade the disciples from believing that Joe Biden is a crook, or is taking bribes? No. Another example: voters in the S. Carolina primary were interviewed, and several of them said that Putin is in the right for invading Ukraine because Ukraine belongs to Russia and it’s just taking back it’s property, and besides, Zelenskyy is a Nazi. In fact, Zelenskyy is Jewish. Why the defense of Russia and Putin–because Trump is beholden to Putin for helping him in 2016, so Tucker Carlson gives Putin air time. Never mind that he murders people who speak out against him–i.e., Navalny and his wife. According to Trump Media, the country is a “diaster” and the economy is in shambles and we are in some kind of economic recession–never mind the fact that the economy is better than it has been in decades, with record low unemployment. Where do you think manure like this comes from? Turley ought to be ashamed for being part of such media, much less defending it..
If you point out that Trump: 1. received help from Russia in 2016 in a targeted campaign to spread lies about HIllary Clinton, calcaulated to win the Electoral College, because he couldn’t win the popular vote, a conclusion not only reached by Mueller but by a Republcan Senate Intelligence Committee, you get called names, accused of being mentally ill and insulted. If you point out that Trump: a. had no power to “declassify” classified documents after leaving the WH; b. didn’t declassify the documents because that is a process that requires a paper trail that doesn’t exist, and there is no such thing as mentally declassification of our most-sensitive secrets; c. was told not to take classified documents but took hundreds of them anyway because no one tells The Donald what to do; d. returned some and lied about returning all of them and moved boxes of classified documents to keep his lawyers and the FBI from finding them; and e. forced the government to seize them, you get similar abuse. Trump’s ego, irresponsibility and flat-out stupidity have put our national security at serious risk–our alllies are worried that sources and methods may have been compromised. These are are just 2 examples of matters that are FACTS, not opinions. Turley knows the gullibles don’t care about facts, so it is intellectually dishonest of him to claim that the answer is to “allow citizens to reach their own conclusions”. He’s just defending his employer and other pro-Trump, intellectually-dishonest media. Barbara is right–such media, lying while waiving the banner of “freedom of speech”, is our Achilles heel.
Nazi troll says wut?
Nobody’s sure what she’s saying. Maybe someone can get the schizophrenic guy shouting on the corner every night about Martians, The KGB and kryptonite to translate.
Exit polling in S. Carolina also revealed that 2/3 of Republican voters still believe The Big Lie. More than 3 years now, and all evidence proves Biden won—there’s still no proof of widespread voter fraud, despite multiple audits and investigations. How or why do so many people who identify as Republican believe a disproven lie like this? THAT’s the “Achilles heel” Professor McQuade is referring to–Trump keeps lying about his glorious “victory” being “stolen by fraud”–and for the disciples, his word is good enough–proof is totally unnecessary; and, in fact, proof to the contrary, no matter the quantum or veracity, will be disbelieved. That’s not citizens making up their own minds–it’s deliberate lying to gullible people, and it’s wrong. The same for the “Biden Crime Family” lie, the same for the “mental declassification” lie, the same for the attacks on E. Jean Carroll as being a liar about being raped, the same for the DOJ is orchestrating the NY and FL prosecutions….the list goes on. Apparently, many of the faithful believe that Russia is entitled to take back Ukraine and kill its people because it somehow “owns” Ukraine and that Zelenskyy is a Jewish Nazi, which is one of the most-egregious of the lies out there. Any lie put out by pro-Trump media will be accepted without question, and that IS scary because these people have been brainwashed to believe lies. The rest of the world sees this happening and can’t believe Trump and Republicans continue to get away with it.
“More than 3 years now, and all evidence proves Biden won…”
No. Way. In. Hell.
Anyone who believes that tripe deserves to live in Biden’s Lawless Banana Republic.
You simply cannot be a real, rational-minded person if you actually believe the total BS you write over and over again.
Here are the options:
You are insane.
You are ‘programmed’
You are brainwashed.
You are paid troll.
All of the above.
There are no other explanations for your absurd “opinions.”
Indulge me just this one question: where is the proof that Trump won in 2020? Include in your response the exact number of votes Trump won, an explanation for why they weren’t counted and how and why 60+ lawsuits failed for lack of evidence.
How’s ’bout dat NUTCHACHACHA?
Turley is Turley, not Professor.
Barbara is Barbara – sweet little “affirmative action” co-beneficiary and colleague.
SISTA!!!
How’s ’bout dat?
In the land of the free and the home of the brave.
What did Karl say, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs?”
Dang! Leeches, parasites, and dependents are insatiable and incorrigible.
The question is: Why, oh, and who did this?
@GiGi
I just saw where you wrote a whole bunch of stuff above. BUT, when I saw it was you, I simply scrolled past your comment without reading a word of it. Know why? Because after reading you here, off and on for a few weeks or so, you have no credibility. I don’t read you, and several other shills, for the same reason I don’t watch MSNBC. You are both like a drug addict client I once had. After dealing with her for months, I told her that I did not believe a word she said. She asked me if I was calling her a liar? I told her no. It was not necessarily that I disbelieved her – I had simply caught her in so many untruths, that I adopted the position that her words meant nothing at all. Her words were like the wind. Just noise.
I do not know if that was the result you expected. Maybe even you have a cogent point to make on occasion. But if it is noise that I am after, there are many good thunderstorm channels I can tune into. Or crickets chirping in a meadow. If that is not a happy thing for you to consider, then maybe you should take some time to reflect on it.
Yes, Floyd, you don’t read what I write, just like you don’t watch MSNBC or any non pro-Trump propaganda outlet. You “don’t believe a word” I say–why? Because you’ve chosen to believe lies. What proof do you have that I’m wrong? Where’s the proof that Trump won in 2020? Why haven’t dozens of recounts, audits and over 60 lawsuits uncover the massive fraud that doesn’t exist? How did Mueller and a Republican Senate Intelligence Committee get it wrong when they reported that Trump’s campaign fed information to Russian hackers who used it to smear Hillary Clinton in 2016 in a specifically-targeted campaign calculated to sway the Electoral College? Where’s the proof of the “Biden Crime Family”, and how dare Mark Levin say this over and over again, without being able to come up with any proof? Why does he keep lying, which is what it is when he doesn’t have any proof? Why do you believe lies and accept the chum shoveled to you without question? Because it meets some need in your psyche, or, possibly, you’re on the payroll. Just like your hero, you can’t engage in fact-based discourse without name-calling or insults. My comments are based on solid facts, and are not opinions. It is a fact that Trump’s campaign coordinated with Russian hackers. It is a fact that Trump lied, and keeps on lying about winning in 2020–he started lying even before all of the votes were tabulated. It’s a fact that there’s no evidence that Joe Biden benefitted from any business dealings of Hunter or his brother. Your beliefs are based on what you heard on Faux, OAN, NewsMax and Breitbart, or even some other ultra right-wing propaganda from online. You Trumpsters keep attacking me by saying I am a liar, or crazy, but I keep asking for proof and only get crickets and name-calling, just like your hero.
“mild mannered, dignified, intelligent law professor Barbara McQuade.”. I think it is fair to say you nothing about Barbara McQuade. You praise her solely to make her seem to be something other than another MSNBC stooge, telling their rabid, frothing-at-the-mouth viewers exactly what they want to hear
It’s clear you’ve never heard Professor McQuade speak. She teaches at the University of Michigan Law School–you know, where Clarence Darrow attended. (I know this because I took a summer course there on trial tactics). U of Mich. Law School is ranked #10; Turley’s law school is ranked #24. She is the author of a new book that explains the danger to our democracy that has resulted from the rise of OAN, NewsMax, Breitbart and other media dedicated to shoveling swill to Trump fans. She also says that it’s important not to insult the disciples for being gullible. She is poised, intelligent and well-respected.
Taking a phrase from Albert Einstein and applying it to the topic of today may not correlate correctly but the phrase may be fitting; “Spooky action”. Einstein wrote in speaking about quantum mechanics, “I cannot seriously believe in it because the theory cannot be reconciled with the idea that physics should represent a reality in time and space, free from spooky action at a distance” which could be interpreted as meaning action at a distance operates instantaneously between pairs of mutual particles, even of opposite side of the Universe. Or maybe looking at [kaons] two electrically charged mesons, which have a quark-anti-quark pair held together by the exchange of gluons, or in terms of today’s topic. democrats/republicans, constitution/bill or rights.
Throughout the history of this great country, we’ve always had differences in opinion to the direction, but have maintained respect for others and have allowed those offering differences to speak and honored our bill of rights. Today we find authoritative tyrants fostering the notion that some speech is counterproductive and should be removed from any dialogue at all costs, without defining what exactly it is they choose to remove just the general slop of anything counter to their Utopian Universe.
This Great Country, The United States of America, is under assault by legion of morons!
George W,
That was a very interesting comment.
Thank you.
Upstate
Thanks!
What other than fear do the Democrats and MSM offer? Using half the population as scapegoats to reconcile their failures; [It’s you not us} who’ve caused the problems of American life. They offer no solutions other than we know better than you and you are damned and cursed, and that alone is the reason you should not be allowed in the conversation. They preach that others are the oppressors and a danger to this republic, all the while taking every avenue to sing from on high “We are the One’s” so shut up and follow us to HELL, of which I say {NOT}.
You let morons vote, you end up with morons in government.
Take a look at Atlanta, N.Y., etc.
The Founder’s first election enjoyed an 11.6% turnout while voter qualifications were male, European, 21, 50 lbs. Sterling/50 acres, and immigrants were to have been “…free white person(s)…” of good character.
To the Founders, the vote was somber and of great import, and was to be perpetuated as such.
George W — What is indisputable is ‘correlation at a distance’, no ‘action at a distance’. Measuring the handedness of a correlated pair establishes, instantly, the opposite handedness of the other particle, whenever measured and irrespective of how far away. There are several experiments but perhaps the first was in France by Alain Aspect.
Whatever, no information is transmitted by this process.
This great country is in danger of being destroyed by a malignant disease called “Donald Trump”, someone who has convinced a legion of followers who believe whatever lies he pumps out. This is someone who has a well deserved reputation for lying and cheating in business and in his 3 marriages . This is someone who pretends to be a self-made boy wonder real estate tycoon who is, in fact, someone who depended on his father to prop up his businesses well into his forties, and who has taken bankruptcy 6 times after his father’s finances were taken over by a conservator due to dementia. This is someone who craves attention, praise, adulation and power and will say and do anything to get these things that his fragile ego requires. This is someone who will lie on financing statements by misrepresenting the value of properties to qualify to borrow more money and at a lower interest rate than if he were honest. This is someone who raped a woman because she jokingly teased him about trying on lingerie. This is someone who stole classified documents, lied about returning all of them and hid some to prevent the FBI from seizing them. He also lied about declassifying such documents by mental telepathy. This is someone who lacks the integrity to accept the fact that he lost a free and fair election and who therefore made up the lie that he really won , all without any evidence and despite all proof to the contrary. Based on this lie, he stirred up his followers to attack the Capitol to try to prevent the election winner from taking office. He keeps on lying and portrays himself as “retribution “ for a nonexistent wrong—- that being the fact that he lost the election in 2020. He plans to push for a total ban on abortions, cutting Social Security, Medicare and entitlements and he openly admires dictators like Putin and Orban that he wants to emulate, including taking revenge on perceived enemies. If someone like this doesn’t describe a existential threat to America then I don’t know what would qualify.
We know the reason these people push for censorship : ““The most recent example is the interview of University of Michigan Law Professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade by Rachel Maddow.”
They control the censorship, they push the lies, so if they continue their implementation, their words will become gods in the minds of all, totalitarian control, the ability to spin anything the demoncrats want into the must be accepted truth, as no opposition to it is allowed.
We saw them pull it off in the covid frauds and lock downs. Millions of people banished, jobs taken, free speech taken, deplatformed, debanked, no givesendgo no patreon no paypal no venmo no website no alternate medications banned by fqauci and his deep state and MIC actors.
So they already know what they can do with this never before achieved power.
“Free speech is now portrayed as an existential threat to the country as opposed to the very thing that defines us as a free people.”
Free speech can certainly be used to undermine a nation if there are not sufficient voices raised to counteract the guile and distemper.
D’Tocqueville saw this, as did, in some ways, Frederick the Great. A Republic can stand firm and strong if the people are sufficiently well-educated, thoughtful, moral, and steadfast to oppose or sidestep ideas and arguments that can erode and undermine and degrade the foundational ideas and values of a nation.
The entire MSM is a clamped down non free speech lies and propaganda spew fest, so of course the lying money grubbing overpaid scoundrels totally support their Intelligence controlled Corporation controlled BS platform CRUSHING all opposition, the only voice ever heard should be The Voice of The Demoncrat Deep Security State Party Apparatus.
A one party rule system is almost locked in, they are trying desperately to complete it. At that point the walking sheep go blank slate sponge mode, and are used as a zombie attack whenever desired.
JT loves to throw out biased reporting when an issue looks like it’s going his way. Then when more facts come out, showing JT may have completely missed the mark, he pretty much ignores the prior reporting. Twitter/X was a favorite of JT for quite some time. Turns out Twitter/X has a problem. Buy why believe me, check out how one of the many lawsuits twitter/X is involved in is going.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/judge-mocks-x-for-vapid-argument-in-musks-hate-speech-lawsuit/
Yeah, the judge is such a dummy it’s unbelievable. He hasn’t heard word one or seen one public national case of advertiser abandonment, lockouts on youtube (demonetizing), larry fink’s blackrock DEI dictates for loans, etc.
The judge is a mum dimbulb who cannot understand how CCDH the lying cherry picking attack artists could have any idea their shrieking nazis are everywhere on X could affect advertising revenue.
THE JUDGE IS A LIAR OR RETARDED. Take your pick.
This is a game we’ve all known FOR MANY YEARS NOW, A DECADE.
“JT loves to throw out biased reporting when an issue looks like it’s going his way.”
Bob lies and intentionally provides misquotes. I am still waiting for Bob’s apology for his misquote of Trump. I provided the transcript but along with the other things Bob is too dishonest to admit his quote was made up.
Keep Bob away from schools. Along with other things we don’t need him around them to teach our young ones how to lie.
Prof. Turley – I am sorry – while Prof. McQuade is free to speak her mind, it is not possible to be both well informed intelligent and support constraints on speech.
It is precisely the speech Prof. McQuade seeks to curtail that provides the means to assess the merits of her own views.
“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion… Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them…he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.”
― John Stuart Mill, On Liberty
Prof. Turley – you are not a dinosaur. The core problem is that idiots have taken over far to much of the structures of power in this country.
They DO NOT make up the majority. They DO NOT reflect any popular view.
Free speech is not the achiles heel of the United States it is the core distinguishing feature that has made us better off than the rest of the world.
Europe has never had the same core commitment to free speech that they US has – as a result Europe despite being our intellectual ancestors and our foundations, lags behind the US in most every important way.
The left in the US prizes diversity – the US is the most diverse nation in the world, Other western nations – while being the only other places on earth where diversity is valued, fall far behind the US. Freedom and particularly free speech is a requirement for that diversity.
The US is a nation of immigrants, it is not far from being a majority minority nation – again Europe lags far behind.
We have far higher legal and illegal immigration than anywhere else in the world.
We take in millions at the economic bottom and yet we continually increase our overall standard of living.
The standard of living in the US is 30% higher than europe as a whole and 20% higher than Germany and France.
The threat of right wing white supremcist racism in the US is long past – despite the fears of the left, While white nationalist racism is resurgent in much of Europe. Fascism was born in Europe not the US. The US leads the world in the advance of science, medicine, knowledge.
Europe what once was an academic giant now has middling academics.
All this is the consequence of greater freedom in the US and particularly free speech.
“KNOW THE ENEMY OR SUCCUMB”
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
– Sun Tzu, 512 BC
____________________
Barbara McQuade, Rachel Maddow, illegal aliens, and the rest of the communists (liberals, progressives, socialists, democrats, RINOs, AINOs) are direct and mortal enemies of nature, God, the American thesis of freedom and self-reliance, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, actual Americans, and America.
George, Can we get beyond the demonization of illegal immigrants ?
I completely support secure borders, and the rule of law, and the enforcement of out immigration laws.
Absolutely there are criminals, drug dealers, terrorists among those entering this country illegally.
But most come here to make their own lives better.
As much as those who were born here – these people are the inheritors of the american dream.
Democrats appear to beleive that these people are future democrats – yet a substantial portion of them are from failed socialist countries – Venezuela, China.
We are in the midst of a major shift in the US hispanic population to conservatism.
This shift was inevitable. While some hispanics came from places like Cuba – and know the failures of socialism first hand.
Most 2nd and 3rd generation US hispanics come from central america. These are people coming from deeply religious cultures, that are not friendly to modern left woke nonsense. It was only a matter of time before they moved right politically.
Much of what we are seeing today – the desparate measures the left is taking to try and hold power are because the writing is on the wall for the left.
As people form families – they shift right.
As they get and hold jobs – they shift right
As they buy homes they shift right
As they have children – they shift right
As their standard of living rises – they shift right.
American Hispanics are rising into the middle class and beyond
and that is separating them from the left.
What we see from the left today – is desparation.
Shall we consult the Founders as to establishment and intent with reference to the nature and character of America?
Their contributions were never legislatively abrogated unless you consider tyranny, despotism, dictatorship, and military force a form thereof.
“WE THE PEOPLE…SECURE THE BLESSINGS OF LIBERTY TO OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Preamble to the Constitution
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
United States Congress, “An act to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” March 26, 1790, 1795, 1798, and 1802
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That any Alien being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen thereof on application to any common law Court of record in any one of the States wherein he shall have resided for the term of one year at least, and making proof to the satisfaction of such Court that he is a person of good character, and taking the oath or affirmation prescribed by law to support the Constitution of the United States, which Oath or Affirmation such Court shall administer, and the Clerk of such Court shall record such Application, and the proceedings thereon; and thereupon such person shall be considered as a Citizen of the United States. And the children of such person so naturalized, dwelling within the United States, being under the age of twenty one years at the time of such naturalization, shall also be considered as citizens of the United States. And the children of citizens of the United States that may be born beyond Sea, or out of the limits of the United States, shall be considered as natural born Citizens: Provided, that the right of citizenship shall not descend to persons whose fathers have never been resident in the United States: Provided also, that no person heretofore proscribed by any States, shall be admitted a citizen as aforesaid, except by an Act of the Legislature of the State in which such person was proscribed.
Workers should be allowed in to make their lives better, then go home when their work is done.
Never should they have been allowed to vote in the American restricted-vote republic.
A symbiotic relationship is viable.
To gift one’s country away is irresponsible; it is treasonous and deleterious to one’s posterity.
You seem inordinately concerned with the “collective.”
60 years and they ain’t stopped yet!
Blacks voted 91% for democrats in 2020.
They don’t vote for the land of the free and the home of the brave, they vote for “free stuff” and “free status.”
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I’ll have those ——- voting Democrat for the next 200 years.”
– Lyndon B. Johnson
_______________________
“[I’ll have 10 million of those Mexicans, Haitians, and other invading flotsam voting democratic for the next 2,000 years].”
– Joe Biden
Good comment John, as usual. But you forgot:
As they get more education, they move left.
Plenty of exceptions to that, as often demonstrated by the commenters on this blog, but just look at the political leanings of the “intelligentsia”, “elites’, and professors in the land. Why is that? My theory is that as they get “educated”, usually by those already on the Left, they develop a sense of superiority, of entitlement, and they think of “the deplorables” as upity riff-raff who should not be allowed free speech, much less to have a vote. “Let them eat cake” falls naturally off their lips, and, of course, sooner or later leads to the guillotine. Prof McQuade is a perfect example.
Oil and water do not mix.
Political emulsifiers are required in yuge quantities to force the mix in America.
Ergo, Karl Marx’s need for a dictatorship to force the mix, in fact, the “dictatorship of the proletariat.”
Political emulsifiers are antithetical in America under its thesis of freedom and self-reliance.
Political emulsifiers are unconstitutional per Article 1, Section 8.
Political emulsifiers are admissions affirmative action, grade-inflation affirmative action, employment affirmative action, quotas, welfare, food stamps, minimum wage, rent control, social services, forced busing, public housing, utility subsidies, WIC, SNAP, TANF, HAMP, HARP, TARP, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency, Agriculture, Education, Labor, Energy, Obamacare, Social Security, Social Security Disability, Social Security Supplemental Income, Medicare, Medicaid, “Fair Housing” laws, “Non-Discrimination” laws, etc.
Free people have choice and are provided the freedom to fully discriminate.
That which is unconstitutional must be stripped away.
It is becoming apparent that you favor the Manifesto.
Garbage. Your response has nothing but hate and god in the same sentence.
Thank you, oh, pious comrade.
Translation of the letter and spirit of the blog’s communist party political officer’s reaction: We leeches, parasites, and dependents want more and evermore “free stuff” and “free status” from your country; we destroyed and annihilated our last host.
Natural and God-given rights and freedoms include work and exclude freeloading.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Luke 16:3
3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg.
Dear Prof Turley,
I don’t think your suits and ties are ever coming back into fashion. .. it’s time to listen to your children and embrace the 21st century.
Free speech is dependent upon free thought. Free thought is dependent upon a Free Press. The Free Press is dependent upon the Free Market (of ideas). The Free Market (of ideas) is dependent upon a free government. A free government is dependent upon free citizens. Free citizens are dependent upon free speech.
Circle of life.
*also, the contingent is dependent upon the absolute.
The operative word is freedom.
Rising standard of living directly corresponds to the level of freedom in society.
Those calling out for more restrictions on speech are calling out for poverty.
That too, John Say.
*the ‘war on poverty’ is America’s longest war. .. and I am ground-zero collateral damage.
Somebody commented whether anything could change the trajectory downward, and whether we were simply too far gone. I agree. Something bad has to happen to change the trajectory. Super-bad financial crisis, major urban rioting by the people who built America and/or pro-Palestinian leftists along the lines of Oct. 7, 2023 in Israel, major natural disaster like a super-volcano or asteroid hit, earthquake, nuclear bomb(s) in a couple of major blue cities.
Or, maybe, none of that. Maybe just one person, the right person, finding Jesus or finding their conscience, however you want to look at it. Rachel Maddow, or Hillary. Imagine this – Hillary Clinton finds out that she has six months to live, at most, and there is nothing that she can do about it. She becomes reflective, and looks inward, and decides that she does not want to leave the World with a load of sin and lies on her. She finds her conscience, and she goes on Tucker Carlson, and says:
“We, the Democrats, have been lying to you. I have been lying to you. We have been lying to you simply to maintain power, and to make money. We have been cheating in elections for years. We probably stole enough votes to elect Biden. I am not sure, but it is certainly possible. We control the precincts in big cities, and we have been creating votes out of thin air for years. That is why we are against VoterID – it makes it more difficult to do this. Minority voter suppression is what we claim, but that is nonsense. That is just an excuse to cover up our crimes. That is why we push early voting, too. The Republicans can put poll watchers in place on one election day, but they can not staff enough people to watch everything in every precinct for 24 hours a day for weeks and months at a time. That is how we stay in power.
We lie to you about wars. We do believe in a strong military, but we way overspend on that. We do it to maintain power, and we create imaginary threats, like Russia, to keep the spending up.
We lie to you about illegal immigration. We are simply pre-stuffing the future ballot box to stay in power. Look at our past speeches, when we railed against it, for lowering wages. But now, we get more votes from minorities that we ever got from union members.
We use black people as pawns. We blame racism and white men, but come on, do you think that we do not know about that 80% out-of-wedlock birth rate? And there is a lot of money, and thus power, in administering the welfare-type funds. Frankly, we could not care less what happens to blacks, as long as they vote for us.
We use Abortion to get votes. Many young women are simply immature, and do not want to raise a baby. We know that, and we use that to get votes. And we don’t care who it hurts. After all, we can simply bring in immigrants to keep the population up.
We lie about Feminism. While we do truly want women to have a choice about working or raising a family, we take it to the excess to get votes from women. And we do not care if they are unhappy, when they turn 35 and are unmarried and unfulfilled. If they are stupid enough to fall for it, then that is on them. If they find themselves poor, depressed, and lonely – well that’s just another voter for us.
Trans-rights? What an absurdity! If you never caught on to the lies we have pushed about that, it almost makes me wonder if my lying has been a bad thing after all. Because you are obviously a stupid people, and not fit to govern yourselves. If you buy into child castration, and double-mastectomies for children, then maybe you deserve the Democrat party.
We try to take America’s guns, because we fear a revolution that will occur and put people like me, and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, where we belong – stretched out on a guillotine. It has nothing to do with “gun violence.” Most murders in this country are done by black gang members, and that is a problem we Democrats have helped create.
Finally, Donald Trump. Yes, I fomented a covert-rebellion against him. Yes, my campaign made up the Russia stuff simply to hamstring him. But I had plenty of help from the Democrat establishment and the FBI and others in government, and Congress. For one thing, I was mad at him, and for another thing, we all hated him for telling the truth about things. Liars hate people who tell the truth. Plus, he cost us money. Saving a billion on a new embassy? No, we can’t have stuff like that going on.
We Democrats, and me personally, have been lying to you, about these things and others, and we have had the Legacy Media as our constant companions. Lying when needed and being quiet when needed. But I am dying now, and I do not want to go out, with this burden. I am not sure that me “fessing up” will change anything. Other people have been pointing this out to you for years, and you have not listened. Within an hour of this, the Democrat spin machine will start up, and you will be told that I am mentally ill, or senile, or bought out. Or that I have suffered a stroke. I have lied so much, and cried Wolf on so many occasions, that I probably deserve that. I will be surprised if I “allowed” to live out the remaining six months, and I probably deserve that too.”
———
We are past peak woke.
The left is NOT ascendant right now, they are desparately fighting to claw onto what power they have left.
I hope and expect this election will reflect the collapse of the leftist wall.
But even if it does not. Even if the Left holds on a bit longer – it is self evident they are finished.
Look at the questions that Republicans debated – how do we dismantle the leftist institutions in govenrment ?
Why is it that the left is talking so apocolyptic about losing this election ?
Because they re losing their grip on power and they know it.
You can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
I think that we are partially past peak-woke. I think gender-affirming nonsense for kids is headed out, particularly with Europeans seeing the light, and I think some of the defund the police stuff is going downhill fast. Illegal immigration might be nearing peak, but I am not sure. But that still leaves the CRT type stuff and the DEI scam. I bet the-Racism-Is-Why-Blacks-Are-Suffering stuff will be the hill that the Left dies on. Or, fights to the bitter end on. That was the main thing to them for so long, predating gay rights, me-too stuff, illegal immigration, etc. It has become a part of their psyche, and their failures there are what have sent them over the edge, sanity wise. The insane part of the Democrats believe it, and the cynical part of the Democrats don’t believe it, but know that it is vital to them to retain the black vote.
But even if peak woke ends, you still have the lingering after-effects. The majority of black community can all become Republicans tomorrow, but that does fix their pitiful educational status, their lack of stable homes for their children, their drug and crime problems – it fixes none of that. In the white community, wokeness ending, does not suddenly make stupid college kids smart, or turn them into hard workers. It does not get them off drugs, pills, and pot. It can not suddenly make the majority of 32 year old white girls into marriage material.
The damage has been done on so many fronts, and the ways that past societies have dealt with these kinds of problems are not doable in a Western democratic society. IMHO. President Xi could fix it pretty quickly, but . . .
“But even if peak woke ends, you still have the lingering after-effects. ”
Floyd, you are correct. They will linger for a long time even if we have good governance. Much of the damage done might be permanent. But we cannot only blame the left. Look at the Republicans that permitted much of this to happen. Trump would have been much more successful, but for Republicans. One can withstand the enemy from without, but not the one from within.
Yes, like Mitt Romney! What did Trump do, make a comment while on the phone with Zelensky?
“The President: “The other thing. There’s a lot of talk about Biden’s son, that Biden stopped the prosecution and a lot of people want to find out about that so whatever you can do with the Attorney General would be great. Biden went around bragging that he stopped the prosecution so if you can look into it … It sounds horrible to me.”
Yep, here comes the first impeachment, and good old brave and stunning Romney votes for it. All the time, the FBI has Hunter’s laptop, unbeknownst to Trump.
Uh, Floyd. Super BAd stuff seems to happen almost every day in my neck of the woods. Worlds are colliding.
Just yesterday, French president Macron (echoed mindlessly by NATO’s Stoltenberg.) suggested they (?) may have to commit troops into the Ukraine conflict to stop the “madman” Putin’s out-of-the-blue “unprovoked” “aggression” against the sovereign nation of Ukraine, all of western Europe, NATO and Freedom and Democracy around the world.
The fate of the free world, apparently, hinges upon the unfettered sovereignty of Ukraine. .. especially at the expense of Russia’s sovereignty.
By all accounts, Putin was pissed and threatened nuclear armaggedon .. . again.
*fwiw, we 3 seconds before midnight on the Atomic Clock.
Putin said “”You won’t even have time to blink your eye when you execute Article 5 (collective defence of NATO members).”
‘Something’s gotta give!’ ~ Son Sue, The Art of War
“Just yesterday, French president Macron (echoed mindlessly by NATO’s Stoltenberg.) suggested they (?) may have to commit troops into the Ukraine conflict to stop the “madman” “
One has to carefully think about what Macron is saying. Is he echoing the voice of the Biden administration. NATO doesn’t stray far from the WH.
Nice fantasy for an easy win.
Somehow I see her screaming and pounding her fists and shrieking ” At this point what difference does it make !? ” then dying suddenly from the covid jab arterial rubber like long clogging snake growths.
https://rumble.com/v1wivik-died-suddenly-documentary.html
Yes, it is fantasy. But I do notice that Hillary has stayed away from riding a donkey, on the road to Damascus.
Just like NY AG Letitsia James avoids investigating real crime like those Leftist Nazis who block NY bridges, highways and roads during Pro-Hamas riots. No telling how many innocents died because 911 rescues were blocked, delayed or hampered medical assistance. ATT should have waved a Hamas flag so that Nazi Letitsia James would have let them off just like she does for Hamas Nazis
“New York AG opens probe into AT&T wireless outage”
The outage impacted some emergency 911 calls, local officials said…..”Nationwide outages are not just an inconvenience, they can be dangerous, and it’s critical that we protect consumers when an outage occurs,” James said.
https://www.reuters.com/technology/new-york-ag-opens-probe-into-att-wireless-outage-2024-02-29/
Floyd, all I can say is… 🙂 🙂 🙂
The ONLY arbiters of mis and dis information are those in the government. And they can take a flying leap if they think my God given rights will EVER come from them.
So she wants to eliminate the right to disagree with the government’s position or whatever it is that her chosen mainstream narrative. When drafting the Constitution, some of our elite founders did not want to give the people the right to directly vote for the House of Representatives bc common people would be fooled into bad beliefs by rumor and erroneous information printed in newspapers. (See the book The Framer’s Coup or read Max Farrund’s notes on the Constitution. Americans have, always been exposed to rumors, lies, and stupid ideas. We know how to deal with it. We call out the rumors, lies, and stupid ideas. Now people wants to take away our power to call out the same. The foundation of Republican democracy did not crumble before. But now it is on shaky ground only after people want to see widespread censorship and curtailing the 1st Amendment. This is about one party wanting to maintain power.
The ability of ordinary people to deal with false inflamatory information – propoganda is dependant on free speech.
I am constantly surprised that ordinary people in agregate constantly get things right far more often that intelligent people, the elites, so called experts.
Jonathan, we, you and the world are witnessing the disgrace that defines our judiciary. What are you willing, what should you do, to save our country as it crumbles on the sandy foundation upon which it is deteriorating ? There are far more dangerous and explosive issues at hand than the sum of all the cases presently before the courts. We are in the midst of a non-violent war on the integrity of our judges (lawyers donning black nightgowns), lawyers on every level or political affiliation, and the system all across our nation.
You know the Judicial Canons and their prophetic declaration about the dissolution of our democracy that is inevitable if this free fall into debauchery continues.
It is past the time to sound the alarm and begin the reconstruction before it’s too late.
Look around – the left is not ascendant – they have peaked, they are desparate and they are losing their grip on power.
Absolutely we should do what it takes to restore freedom, but lets not operate under the delusion we are losing.
The scent of Fear and failure fill the air – the fear and failure of the left.
Lets do a thought experiment.
Imagine if these liberal pundits were held to the same standards which the push.
Some content should be censored.
Ok, so lets start with them.
Imagine if Maddow gets called into MSNBC’s offices and was told… sorry we got a call from the Feds.
Your talk show crossed the line. You’re off the air. And you’ve been black listed from all stations. Please clear out your office.
(Or go home, we’ll pack up your office and ship you your things.)
Then those professors who believe in censorship.
They lose tenure, are fired and have a loss of pension…
They should consider themselves lucky to not be in jail.
Ok, while this is a dark dystopian future… the real question is how will these people react?
Do you think that it will dawn on them that they are the problem and that their idea of
“Censorship for thee none for me!” … doesn’t work especially when they are the target?
Actually I know the answer. They will hem and haw and then say its all about shutting down Trump and that the ends justify the means.
Lucky for us its just a thought experiment… right????
-G
They will hem and haw and then say it’s all about shutting down Trump and that the ends justify the means.
Some on the Left have come out and said exactly that – e.g., Sam Harris:
https://nypost.com/2022/08/19/sam-harris-defends-silencing-the-post-on-hunter-biden/
How the conservative republicans LOSE, by calling a huge WIN, a dark dystopian future…
“Then those professors who believe in censorship.
They lose tenure, are fired and have a loss of pension…
They should consider themselves lucky to not be in jail.
Ok, while this is a dark dystopian future…”
It’s hard to understand how you people snatch defeat from victory every time.
That’s already happening in Florida.
Turley– “The most recent example is the interview of University of Michigan Law Professor and MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade by Rachel Maddow.”
+++
I could have predicted the opposition to free speech and the opposition to truth just by that sentence alone. They have become that predictable.