I have long been critical of the erosion of free speech in Italy and other Western European countries, including the use of criminal libel laws against critics of the police or government. This week a Milan court has ordered a journalist to pay Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni damages of 5,000 euros ($5,465) for making fun of her in a social media post. Giulia Cortese was also given a suspended fine of 1,200 euros for a joke on X. It is the latest absurd example of the expanding crackdown on free speech.
In my new book, “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage,” I discuss how this anti-free speech wave from Europe has finally reached our shores. The rapid loss of free speech in countries like Italy, France, Germany, and Great Britain should be a wake-up call for all Americans to protect this “indispensable right.”
There are many in the United States, including Hillary Clinton, who want to replicate the anti-free speech laws in the United States.
This is a prototypical example of how vague laws are being used to crack down on everyone from journalists to politicians to even comedians.
Cortese posted a comment on Twitter in Oct. 2021 about Meloni’s height. She objected to the government’s attack on “freedom of expression and journalistic dissent.”
Cortese published a mocked-up photo of Meloni with a picture of the late fascist leader Benito Mussolini in the background. As she clashed with the Prime Minister, she then later added “you don’t scare me, Giorgia Meloni. After all, you’re only 1.2 metres (4 feet) tall. I can’t even see you.”
Notably, Meloni supported the legal action despite the fact that she is part of a party long in the minority and threatened by such laws. She also successfully sued best-selling author Roberto Saviano after he insulted her on television in 2021 over her position on illegal immigration.
They will rue the day that this gets serious traction in these United States of America. Barbara McQuade should be ashamed to have written the book she wrote, and those who want to topple the first Amendment likewise should be ashamed. One thing that’s true in America which is not true in ANY other country on t his planet: there are no less than 300 millions guns of all varieties, likely more than that, in the hands of first amendment believers, and of course criminals as well. Wouldn’t it be something is the criminal element saved America from the anti-free speech movement? I still have trouble understanding the legal logic of holding a manufacturer of a handgun or rifle, both entirely legal to manufacture, liable for the deadly outcome of some ‘user’ using it to kill another human being.
Anthropology, sociology, social psychology playing out.
Charlie Hebdo revisit. France has a long history of culturally and political cartoons are a part. Nations with freedom of speech do. Honore Daumier comes to mind easily.
After publishing cartoons about Mohammed Charlie Hebdo was attacked. Twelve people died and eleven injured. Hebdo said I’d rather die standing than on my knees. There were more bombs. Finally, Charlie Hebdo was silenced.
Meloni and other think by removing free speech violence will stop. No, Ms. Meloni, it’s merely the 1st step in silencing completely.
So goes the much heralded multi-culturalism as old cultures are altered and supplanted. Fight, fight. Fight.
Look now, it’s very simple (even for you). I’ll explain it to you briefly, so that even you, a despised pseudo-alternative to the decadent Left, can understand it:
Great wars are coming. The senile degenerate and all the left-wing scum it represents, quite deliberately overexposed to symbolize everything decadent and weak, cannot wage and participate in a successful war. They are generally good for nothing. They are deliberately overexposed in this way (mainly through the media – right and left), in their brightest perverse colors, and have been placed for four years to dominate the cornered right-wing martyrs for Traditionalism, Normality and Reason.
You dumb right-handers have suffered a lot, a whole “four years in the wilderness”, you have been hungry, thirsty, you have waited and you have prepared, and now the Big Orange Dude will lead you to the promised position of the Great Turnaround, which will put you in the dominant position.
Now, after the Super Event of the last days and the mass denial stance by the stupid leftists that has been widely condemned by the mainstream, they are the “conspiracy theorists”. Only left. (So the event turned out perfectly for the purpose.) This denial of theirs is added to their massive “antisemitic” position on Gaza (one wonders why they were so massively dragged into this film with the protests and took this position).
So the ground is prepared, most likely there will be more addition, sanctioned at the mainstream level, negative image for the leftists, so that you, the stupid right, can gain more advantage, self-confidence and faith, to return triumphantly to a dominant position on the side of the new Right Power and your beloved conservative leader, then already as a Military leader, to be able to lead you to the cherished and cherished (for 4 years) cherished by you goal and meaning of your life: like sacrificial lambs to the battlefields of the coming wars, giving their health and life for the purposes of their masters.
After all, you also have to serve for something useful; At least, unlike the leftists, you can handle weapons. You can’t just write comments on blogs. Come on, prepare yourself mentally. 😉
America first
Liberals are in a deep coma, right-wingers are almost complete zombies. And Professor Turley is a spook.
I like it
Remember the Rom Com movie called “While You Were Sleeping”?
Imagine how chaotic it will be when Joe wakes up this week to find he’s been replaced!
Dr Jill had a price and she got it. She and Hunter cut the deal while Joe was sleeping.
“Kamala received zero delegates in 2020, muscled her way to VP through “insider” machinations, received zero delegates in 2024, now muscling her way to a presidential nomination through “insider” machinations. Owes her entire ascendance to Dem Party elites, as opposed to voters”. @mtracey
So the elites and oligarchs are “selecting” the Dem nominee?
But they say they are Saving “democracy”!????
There wasn’t even a speech ready for Biden to address the nation. What a chaotic mess.
As Turley asked in his article today at The Hill, the question is “How can Biden remain in office when he is incapable of running for the office?”
https://thehill.com/opinion/4784733-biden-withdraws-democratic-party-nominee/
There’s a clear logical disconnect between admitting that one is too enfeebled to run for office while claiming not to be too enfeebled to function in that same office. It suggests that running for president is more demanding than BEING president — which is just plain silly.
ANYBODY could run for president. A hamster could RUN for president. But not any hamster could FUNCTION as president. So clearly functioning as president is FAR more difficult and demanding than running for president.
At the present time, it looks like half of our government (or more) is too STUPID to comprehend the logical disconnect in this ludicrous circumstance. And virtually the ENTIRE democrat party appears to be operating in some parallel universe where any of this makes sense.
Basically, we are all being called stupid by the stupidest people on Earth.
@naomirwolf
“Where is everybody? Under normal conditions members of Congress and Senate would be all over the news, spinning and counterspinning. Crickets! A source worries that they have checked out as they may know something about an action against the population. Where is everybody?
2/ When I say ‘an action against the population’ I don’t necessarily mean anything physical. Detaining or removing a President, which is beginning to look as if it may have happened, is an action against the population. Installing a figurehead without democratic process is an action against the population.”
GOP’s Mitch McConnell is a vegetable.
The rest are spineless, ball-less weaklings shaking in their shoes over the big bad Government doing to them what it did to Trump.
@LauraLoomer
“Did you notice the Biden drop out letter isn’t on official letterhead?
I’m told by a source that Joe Biden didn’t even write this letter.
Source tells me that Steve Ricchetti, the Counselor to @JoeBiden actually wrote the letter and Biden Senior Advisor and campaign chair Mike Donilon was present as a witness while Ricchetti wrote the letter because Biden is too cognitively damaged to write a letter or comprehend what is going on.
This means the signature is likely forged on the letter as well.
Notice it’s not on official campaign or presidential letterhead.
That means it’s not legitimate. @TheDemocrats are pretending to be Joe Biden whose corpse is literally rotting away inside the White House.”
THIS IS A COUP!
If Biden is suffering from Covid, his thinking is even more clouded than usual. No, he did not compose, write, dictate, or even assist in the preparation of this letter.
Interesting, Laura loomer.
@naomirwolf
“Campaign staff and press spokespeople always on duty. When some take a break others step in. And Congresspeople would always call in to networks even from vacation, at a time such as this. The silence is bizarre”
“World, we have bigger problems now than this. 1:45 letter – Biden resigns from campaign. Nine hours later, no live speech, no VP, no press spokeswoman, almost no formal reaction from leadership? What is going on?”
Same with NO press conferences all week from Secret Service or anyone in Gov offering ANY info or details after an ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT on a former and probably future POTUS. Their silence is deafening. And reeks of coverup and guilt.
@DavidSacks
“When LBJ announced that he would not seek reelection in 1968, he gave a 40 minute address from the Oval Office. Biden posted a letter on X and hasn’t been seen or heard from directly. MSM just applauds, doesn’t ask any questions. Very strange.”
THIS IS A COUP!
It’s interesting reading these comments on Kamala. You people are scared sh—less. It’s funny reading your posts, the you all try to belittle her. Trump is toast and your juvenile posts prove it
Try again, fool.
Another juvenile proves my point
Where is Joe? Over 9 hours and NO answers.
You can shut it and sit down, a-hole.
And another one freaking out because Joe is not doing “his” bidding. Yep, the Repos are scared shi-less. Notice how they all turn to name calling when they get scared.
Whose “bidding” is Joe doing?
Joe was paid a visit and threatened. By whom?
Poor Fredo.
Yep, another one freaking out because they “know” someone forced Biden out. Could it possibly Joe passed it onto Kamala because he thought it was best of the country?
Yep, Repos are freaking out all over the place because a black woman will be the next President of the United States, beating their punny man/baby/god the orange wonder baby cult leader.
Quick question, if trump asked you all to drink cyanide laced KoolAide, would you?
“Could it possibly Joe passed it onto Kamala because he thought it was best of the country?”
No. 100% not a chance.
“if trump asked you all to drink cyanide, would you?”
No. We are not in a brainwashed Cult. But YOU Dems actually are.
If Democrats and their propaganda media asked you to believe that Joe Biden “chose to step aside,” would you believe them?
If Democrats ask you to swallow this utter bullsh!t they are shoveling, would YOU swallow it?
“Biden couldn’t endure a single month of the abuse that the media has rained down on Trump for nine straight years.”
Biden caved within weeks.
JOE BIDEN IS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR
“My personal favorite story of Joe Biden’s kindness and decency is how he decided the awful story of his wife and daughter’s tragic death wasn’t enough, so he decided to invent and publicly spread for decades the rumor that the truck driver (who was found faultless) was drunk.
The truck driver’s name was Curtis Dunn, and he died in 1999 still haunted by the crash.
Biden would not admit the truth until 2009, when he apologized to Dunn’s daughter after being publicly called out on the matter by media.” @ArthurBoreman
_____________
*Biden’s wife caused the accident that killed her and her child. Biden told the story that she was killed by a drunk driver. That was a lie. But Biden NEVER corrected the record in public. Biden apologized privately for slandering Dunn, but never publicly. He continues lying about just about everything, to this day.
Many folks here in Delaware state with conviction that Jill and Joe were banging away before the accident that killed Biden’s wife. It is pure speculation, of course, but they also think that his wife suspected (or knew of) it and that is why she was a distracted driver that led to her death.
If Democrats and their propaganda media asked you to believe that Joe Biden “chose to step aside,” would you believe them?
Of course you would. And you do.
How pathetic.
There was an attempted assassination against President Trump only one week ago.
For which we still have no answers, no press conference. Nada, zip, zippo.
It’s almost as if it never happened.
“The “leader of the free world” just announced via PDF he’s surrendering the nomination after winning the primary. Without citing a reason. Does anyone — anyone — know who’s running the country now?”
“First they told us there was nothing wrong with Biden. Then they threatened to destroy him if he didn’t leave the race. Now they’re calling him a “hero.” How can you not be sickened by these people?”
@NicoleShanahan
“I am part of the 43% of INDEPENDENT voices in America. I used to be a Democrat, but I will never go back as long as they refuse to hold accountable the people who corrupted our government, created mass havoc overseas, gutted our nation’s health, betrayed our children, and shredded our constitutional freedoms. Just wanted to make that clear. 😉”
A cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat tried to pose and flex:
It’s funny reading your posts, the you all try to belittle her. Trump is toast and your juvenile posts prove it
Said the coward that hides behind the username “Anonymous” so he can’t be mocked to oblivion. Or the kennel didn’t name you before farming you out to a rescue family?
Couldn’t think of anything positive to post about VP Cackle Hoe? The Border Czar?
Dog, the character you’re playing here is getting pretty played out.
Who the hell is the real President right now!?
Keeping in mind that they just tried to assassinate Trump ONE week ago.
“One would think that a letter to the American people from the president announcing his decision to step aside would not be signed using a digital signature and would be accompanied by a photo op and a scheduled conference in the morning that followed.
Instead we have a digitally signed letter released on the president’s @Xaccount, an account we know that is run by a staffer, no photo, and no live scheduled address to the American people.
If I were China, I would invade Taiwan tomorrow.” @BillAckman
THIS IS A COUP.
When you resign from your attempt at running for a second term, do it your way. Biden chose to do it his way. Why is that so hard to believe?
“Biden chose to do it his way. Why is that so hard to believe?”
Yes, “his way.” Really? Does he owe the country NOTHING?
At this point, most of the country may as well believe that Joe Biden has been eaten by Cannibals.
And accept it!
Why would that be so hard to believe?
And another Repo demands that Joe do things his way.
Scarred much. Rest assured, President Kamala will not ask her minions to ransack the Capitol Building, that is a trump thing. You have nothing to fear but good governance. Go ahead, put your big boy pants on now.
It’s been over 9 hours. Where is President Biden? He has yet to show his face.
A cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat Marxist Useful Idiot tried to memory hole The Election Year Of Mostly Peaceful Rioting, Pillaging, Looting, Burning and Murder:
resident Kamala will not ask her minions to ransack the Capitol Building, that is a trump thing.
Let’s correct that lie. Then Senator Cackle Hoe, as she watched the Soviet Democrat street thugs in Antifa and Black Liars & Marxists assault the White House on 1 June 2020 was doing her best to get the ones arrested bailed out ASAP so they could get back to assaulting Secret Service and Capitol Police. Hope America has forgotten you street scum attempting to assault the White House to kill Trump? Just wanted a selfie with Trump and his wife?
Where Trump said “peacefully and patriotically protest”, Senator Cackle Hoe told the USA:
They’re not gonna stop before election day in November, and they’re not gonna stop after election day … They’re not gonna let up, and they should not.”
Should we start a Gofundme to buy you a four year supply of Midol to treat that dripping Birthing Person vagina that you have on display?
What’s next? With the Cackle Hoe being the “Border Czar”, you going to do a Mayorkas and tell us that she kept “the border is secure” for the last three years?
Biden didn’t drop out of the race until after the attempts to imprison and assassinate Donald Trump failed.
Do you think that is coincidence?
No, it’s not a coincidence.
Another cowardly Anonymous Soviet Democrat tried pimping for Bribery Biden:
Biden chose to do it his way. Why is that so hard to believe?
The Russia Dossier
51 Intelligence Agency experts
The Big Guy is sharp as a tack and staff can’t keep up with him
Why would you think you have any shred of credibility? Especially when your feeble, cowardly ass hides behind the username “Anonymous”?
“Biden chose to do it his way. Why is that so hard to believe?”
Because it is a lie.
Biden “chose to drop out.”
Why is that so hard to believe?
Because it is a coup.
“They didn’t even snap a photo of Biden signing his resignation letter. They just tweeted it out with a digital signature lol. No video expected until “later in the week.”
Full clown world. We have no idea if Biden authorized any of this.” @JordanSchachtel
THIS IS A COUP!
Who wrote the letter?
Why was all of his top staff and his whole cabinet caught off guard?
Who posted the letter to X?
Why was no evidence released to establish that Joe Biden himself signed the letter?
Very rudimentary journalistic inquiries here.
@JordanSchachtel
Obama. And he has been since January 2021.
“Margaret Brennan: Sources say it would be ‘political suicide’ for another Democrat to challenge Harris”
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4785256-margaret-brennan-sources-say-it-would-be-political-suicide-for-another-democrat-to-challenge-harris/
LOL — What a coincidence. That’s EXACTLY how “democracy” works in North Korea and Russia, except that they substract the word “political” from the expression “political suicide.”
Political suicide or actual?
Very, very odd that we haven’t seen or heard from Joe or Jill or even Hunter.
Has that fuzzy head, lesbian spokes critter said anything?
Shouldn’t we actually see and hear from those with the duty to tell us?
Have all of them got Covid?
What’s really happening?
The next announcement you hear will probably be that Joetard is “resting comfortably” — then “his family is gathered by his bedside.”
But how could he possibly have Covid? He was vaccinated and boosted and boosted and all the best people said it was safe and effective, effective, effective….
When he croaks, they’ll probably have a dozen doctors swear that it wasn’t COVID.
All loaned by Pfizer.
Man Who Just Admitted He Is Unfit To Be President Assures Nation He Will Continue Being President
https://babylonbee.com/news/man-who-admitted-he-is-unfit-to-be-president-assures-nation-he-will-continue-being-president
“I have to face reality. My mind isn’t what it used to be,” President Biden announced Sunday. “I forget things. Sometimes I don’t know where I am. Yesterday I mistook a houseplant for Janet Yellen. It’s something about her face. So, with a heavy heart, I am announcing that I am no longer fit to be President and will cease campaigning. Still, you can sleep easy knowing I will continue running the country for the next six months as President. End of quote.”
“Janet Napolitano joining review of Secret Service response to Trump shooting”
https://thehill.com/elections/4785188-mayorkas-panel-review-trump-attempted-assassination/
LOL — a panel of Trump-haters is being appointed to review the attempted assassination.
Washington doesn’t even try to pretend anymore that it isn’t an organized crime syndicate.
I think that all the speculation about Biden resigning from the WH misses one point and that point is that if Biden resigns now he would have to pardon Hunter and everyone else in his family before the election and that is a Dem destroyer. Biden’s plan, in my opinion, was to administer all the pardons after the election, the way all messy pardons have always been executed.
Of course if you presume that possibly Harris would make the “promise” to issue the pardons Biden would have to presume that Harris will win the election, and that is problematic.
If you don’t think pardons hurt them look up what Ford’s pardon of Nixon did to his election in 1976 and that pardon was actually very good for a nation in turmoil.
“Harris campaign rakes in nearly $50 million in 7 hours on ActBlue”
https://thehill.com/elections/4785224-harris-campaign-fundraising-actblue/
“As of 9pm ET, grassroots supporters have raised $46.7 million through ActBlue following Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign launch. This has been the biggest fundraising day of the 2024 cycle. Small-dollar donors are fired up and ready to take on this election,” ActBlue wrote in an update posted to social media platform X.
LOL — Sure. Suddenly, we are to believe that millions of people are coughing up wads of cash to support Harris, who couldn’t even get enough votes to last until the first primary when she ran for the presidential nomination last time.
I wonder what the odds are that most of that $47 million came from billionaires and multi-millionaires who dispersed the money to others for them to donate.
@EmmaJoNYC
“How is there not a single protest over the coup against President-81-million-votes ?”
They just let the elites depose Joe “the most votes ever” without a peep from his voters?
Hmm it’s almost like Joe never actually got more votes than even Barack Obama in 2008.
Imagine that…..
@seanmdav
“Biden’s not at the White House. He’s made no public appearance since a staffer took control of his X account and announced he was not running.
There’s no evidence Biden knows what happened today. Also: do we have any evidence Biden is even alive right now?
This is banana republic insanity.”
They can’t even shoot a quick iPhone video in his home office. That’s how bad it is.
@MonicaCrowley
“All of these Dems claiming that Biden is a “good and decent man” who is “putting his country first” could not be more full of sh!t”
When Joe finds out he withdrew I wonder if he will declare he is back in again?
He might. He has dementia bad temper and could be very upset with some people.
Who gets all the money donated to him?
I suspect the money was donated to the “Biden-Harris” campaign, and that Harris will get it.
Good thinking.
But what if she isn’t nominated? Does anyone really care whom Biden endorsed?
Good question about what happens to the money if Harris doesn’t get the nomination. But for the moment it looks like democrats are pretty much falling in line behind Harris. I suspect there’d be too much negative publicity if they don’t get behind a black woman who’s already VP.
I wonder whether she can keep the money and use it in 2028, or donate it to whomever.
But who knows — since we’re already into the Hollywood fiction-writers’ department.
If FJB doesn’t resign I’m thinking Kamala (and a cabinet majority) will invoke Amendment 25.4 and become acting Potus, since that could enhance her electoral prospects, which is all the Dems really care about at this point in time.
Much more likely that Joetard will be made to suffer a stroke-and-croak. Democrats will get a LOT more mileage out of a massive state funeral and a week or two of tearful eulogies — “Joey, we hardly knew ye” — than they would get out of 25th Amendmenting Joetard, which would make them look like vultures pecking at his senile carcass.
I’m curious as to what the Las Vegas betting odds are that Joetard will be alive beyond Labor Day. He already has one foot out the door with COVID.
You may be right. The Dustin Hoffman character in Wag the Dog comes to mind.
I saw that film, but don’t remember it — which usually means I didn’t like it — not that it means I disagreed with it.
I just think a state funeral for Joetard is too much free-and-manipulative publicity for democrats to ignore. It’s not as if a funeral is something that republicans could criticize. They’d more-or-less be forced to sit there and shut up until it was over — however many weeks that might be.
If democrats didn’t play the funeral card and went on to lose to Trump, they would forever be wondering whether they would have won if they’d played the funeral card.
I’m sure all of that sounds ridiculously cynical — but it also might be super-realistic.
Jimmy Carter will be the next presidential funeral. He still hasn’t croaked.
If I had money to bet, I’d bet on Jimmy lasting longer than Joey.
At this point, nobody gains from Jimmy Carter’s death, but there are a LOT of people in line with something to gain from Joetard’s end.
Fox is already wondering whether Joetard is still alive:
https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1815161431068742116
Maybe a little premature, but probably not by much.
@DavidSacks
“Let’s review. Joe Biden said repeatedly that he didn’t want to step aside. Then came reports that Democrat Party insiders led by Nancy Pelosi would ratchet up the pressure until they drove him out of the race. We still don’t know what pressure they used, but Biden suddenly announces his resignation as nominee via a tweet, with no address to the American people. Even his own campaign and White House staff are caught by surprise. We still haven’t seen or directly heard from him hours later. For all we know, someone hacked his X account. But the entire Democrat Party and MSM are praising the situation, acting like this is completely normal. Apparently they have no interest in finding out what changed. “Democracy” just means falling in line with a new X handle, with no questions or transparency about how this happened.”
“Joe Biden turned America into a banana republic by prosecuting his election opponent. And as in a banana republic, he has now been deposed in a coup. What goes around comes around.”
————————-
Is the press now hounding Biden for answers and public appearances or statements at his beach house so that we even know he is alive?
Of course not. Shhh. They prove they are the Fake Propaganda News every day.
It will probably turn out that the Biden family was promised lives of luxury if Uncle Joe packed it in.
@ClayTravis
“What I think happened today: top Democrats told Biden they were prepared to remove him under the 25th amendment, but that if he dropped out and endorsed Kamala they would let him finish his term. And likely they also gave him several hundred million in “foundation” commitments.”
*Plus, pardons and immunity from criminal prosecution for all the Biden Crime family.
@alexnazaryan
“At this point, an October Surprise would have to involve space aliens.”
That feeble POS is so not in charge that he couldnt even put on a tie and tell the American people he’s dropping out.
Instead some aid wrote a note, like Epsteins mother on Welcome Back, Kotter.
Pathetic.
LOL — Move over, Mother Teresa. The SAME democrats that desperately wanted Joetard out of the way are laying it on pretty thick now to canonize Super Saint Joe:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/07/liberal-tears-rachel-maddow-shell-shocked-van-jones/
Can the funeral eulogies be far off?
Ugh, to canonize one of the most dishonest, mean, corrupt politicians of our lifetime.
Dems and their Media will be Playing the Joe Sympathy Card Bigly.
Already started with Hunter releasing statement: “I love you, Dad.”
Can you just imagine how heartbreaking losing old Joe is for the country that loved him so? LOL gag me.
Oh and that Joe was so selfless, always working hard for the Soul of the country. LOL gagging over here.
We didn’t deserve such a patriotic, selfless, servant. Just threw up in my mouth.
PREPARE your barf bags accordingly!
Joe Biden belongs behind bars for his TREASON.
Joe Biden is a TRAITOR to his country.
MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT WHO JOE BIDEN ACTUALLY IS.
Lock up the rest of his family of grifters, traitors and criminals too.
Joe Biden is a DISGRACE to everything this country stands for. So is his wife.
The man and his media liars LIED to the country for YEARS on behalf of installing a demented criminal into power.
Joe Biden and his crime family MUST BE SHAMED RELENTLESSLY UNTIL his death.
Make sure Dr. Biden is pelted with insults and can no longer show her face in public without being SHAMED by the public. DO NOT LET THESE LIARS, TRAITORS and CRIMINALS get one ounce of peace from this day forward. No JUSTICE? NO PEACE.
GFY Democrat party full of TRAITORS, criminals, liars, commies, and freaks.