Below is my column in the Hill on the new American emigres: “disinformation experts” who are finding themselves unemployed with the restoration of free speech protections.
Here is the column:
President Trump’s election has brought about mass layoffs among federal employees and contractors, including some who have sued and others who have protested.
But one group — that of America’s would-be censors — is taking its cause worldwide.
During the Biden administration, a massive industry took root, sweeping up billions in taxpayer funds to research, target and combat those accused of misinformation, disinformation and “malinformation.”
Although the exact number is uncertain, many trained censors are now facing unemployment. These self-described “disinformation experts” have become the modern equivalent of rōnin, the Japanese samurai who found themselves without a master and wandered the land looking for a new use of their skill set. They are finding precisely that calling in academia, not-for-profit groups and, most importantly, Europe.
A speech-regulation industry that was booming under Biden has gone bust under Trump. Over the last four years, massive amounts of money were poured into universities, non-governmental organizations and other groups in an unprecedented alliance of government, academia and corporations.
The media lionized many in the industry as “saving democracy” by controlling, targeting and suppressing others’ political speech. Not only did federal agencies fund these efforts, but they also coordinated censorship of groups and individuals with opposing views, even objecting to jokes on the internet.
Universities cashed in on this largesse as well. It was popular with most liberal administrators and lucrative for academics.
The sudden shutoff of the federal spigot comes as a blow, but it does not mean the speech warriors will simply convert their censor-shields into plowshares. Many will follow in the footsteps of Nina Jankowicz, briefly the head of a now-defunct disinformation governance board. After the outcry over the board, Jankowicz quickly found her skills were in demand in Europe.
Free speech has been in free-fall in Europe for decades. Germany has long enforced a robust system of speech criminalization that began with Nazi symbolism but steadily expanded to include inciteful speech, insults and merely “disinformative” statements. The United Kingdom and France showed the same insatiable appetite for the inexorable expansion of censorship and prosecutions.
The European Union has also been ground zero for the anti-free speech movement’s aggressive use of the Digital Services Act, which bars speech that is viewed as “disinformation” or “incitement.”
When it passed over the objections of free speech advocates, European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager was perfectly ecstatic, declaring it is “not a slogan anymore, that what is illegal offline should also be seen and dealt with as illegal online. Now, it is a real thing. Democracy’s back.”
That is why Vice President J.D. Vance’s recent speech in Munich was so historic. For the free speech community, Vance went into the belly of the beast and denounced the anti-free-speech movement in the heart of Europe.
The response to the Vance speech has been nothing short of panic in the anti-free-speech community. Many are assembling in conferences in Europe, including the upcoming World Forum in Berlin. Bill and Hillary Clinton will be in attendance. (I will also be speaking at the conference.)
It was Hillary Clinton who, after Elon Musk purchased Twitter with the pledge to dismantle the censorship system, called upon the EU to force him and others to censor her fellow U.S. citizens. She embraced the infamous Digital Services Act, which seeks to impose a global system of speech control. She has also suggested the arrest of those spreading disinformation.
Immediately after the speech, familiar European and American voices denounced Vance and doubled down on the need for Europe to hold the line against dangerous free speech.
For the free speech community, there could not be a better place for this debate to unfold. Germany has demonstrated the false claims of the anti-free-speech community over the years. Indeed, you might call their arguments “disinformation.”
Vance and others who have challenged the European censorship systems have been attacked as Nazi enablers or sympathizers. Many of those who have fostered this attack are part of the regulator ronin. Others simply repeated the narrative without thought or support.
Take CBS anchor Margaret Brennan, who confronted Secretary of State Marco Rubio over the outrageous fact that Vance was supporting free speech while “standing in a country where free speech was weaponized to conduct a genocide.” The claim is stupefyingly uninformed. The first thing that the Nazis did in coming to power was to crack down and criminalize free speech — just as many on the left have done in European countries.
A few have insisted that the Nazis were brought to power by the lack of government controls over what views could be expressed. But this is not true either. The crushing irony is that Article 118 of the Weimar Constitution guaranteed free speech only “within the limits of the general laws.” It did not protect statements deemed by the government as factually untrue, and speech was actively regulated.
Adolf Hitler, for example, was barred from speaking publicly. The Nazis did not use free speech because they did not have it. They did, however, use the denial of free speech to claim that the government was afraid to have certain views aired in public.
Germany has replicated the old system that failed to stop (and perhaps even helped) the Nazis, doubling down on speech controls and criminalization. As I discuss in my book, there has never been a successful censorship system in the history of the world — not one. Germany is again a chilling example of the true record of such systems.
Past polling of German citizens found that only 18 percent felt free to express their opinions in public. Only 17 percent felt free to express themselves on the internet. So the neo-Nazi movement is flourishing, even as average German citizens feel chilled in their own speech.
Despite this history, the regulatory ronin are hard at work to scare the public back into empowering and especially into funding their efforts.
The outgoing chairman of the Munich Security Conference spoke through tears as he expressed his “fear” that Vance’s call for free speech could take hold in Europe. He tellingly added, “It is clear that our rules-based international order is under pressure. It is my strong belief … that this multipolar world needs to be based on a single set of norms and principles.”
This “international order” has striven to impose a single set of norms on speech, particularly through vehicles like the Digital Services Act. The effort stands at odds with the very essence of the American constitutional system and values.
The only thing both sides agree on is that this is an existential fight. For those in the free speech community, it will determine the future of what Justice Louis Brandeis called “the indispensable right.” For the other side, it is the future of a European model of free speech, limiting the right to deter those with extreme or inciteful views.
The recent successes in the U.S. at X and more recently at Meta are real. However, the displaced speech regulators are not just going to retool and learn to code or train to work in the hospitality industry.
As Vance’s speech showed, we are more isolated than ever. Even Americans like Clinton have joined with the Europeans to fight for censorship. It is time to take a side and fight for freedom of speech.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
The Constitution is unequivocal.
The freedom of speech is absolute and imperative.
The singular American failure is the judicial branch, with emphasis on the Supreme Court.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
“…courts…must…declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void.”
“…men…do…what their powers do not authorize, [and] what they forbid.”
“[A] limited Constitution … can be preserved in practice no other way than through the medium of courts of justice, whose duty it must be to declare all acts contrary to the manifest tenor of the Constitution void. Without this, all the reservations of particular rights or privileges would amount to nothing … To deny this would be to affirm … that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid.”
– Alexander Hamilton
_________________________
1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech,….
Oh anon, a person can freely speak and if there is no listener what good is the speech? A person can write all day and publish the work and if no one can read what good is it.
CONSTITUTION V. COMMUNISM
Communism is global “dictatorship of the proletariat.” The U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights must have been adopted in local form by every nation on earth. There can be no question regarding the freedom of speech. There can be no censorship in a free world. Communists are direct and mortal enemies of freedom and self-reliance.
Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto 59 years after the adoption of the Constitution because none of the principles of the Communist Manifesto were in the Constitution. Had the principles of the Communist Manifesto been in the Constitution, Karl Marx would have had no reason to write the Communist Manifesto. The principles of the Communist Manifesto were not in the Constitution then, and the principles of the Communist Manifesto are not in the Constitution now.
Germany is lost, as I expected. Merz was just elected to lead Germany. His party is called center-right, but it is actually center-left.
Merz showed his hand after he was elected. He blasted the AfD (the real conservative party), Trump, and Musk. This means he will align with the Left to build a coalition and keep the Left happy by attacking Trump and slow-walking immigration reform. In return, he will get some pro-business legislation (i.e. Klaus Schwab stuff). I doubt he’ll even do much about dialing back climate policy.
The hard Left in Europe would rather blow up any coalition than negotiate on immigration and climate change. Merz knows that because the Left has already abandoned Macron in France.
Germany is stuck with a uniparty because over 50% of her voters are bloody fools. That much stupidity can’t be fixed. Same applies to Britain and France. If anything, they’re in worse shape than Germany.
We are alone, just as Professor Turley suggests. Hate to say it, but Western civilization is dead in Europe.
@Diogenes
Agreed. Western Europe is in free fall, I don’t think personally that there is a cure for it. Forget Russia: they do not have our laws, and I sure hope history doesn’t repeat itself there. Sure looks like it is about to. Guess the question is, ‘ What will we do this time?’.
Diogenes,
Merz has stated that, “Americans, at least this part of the Americans, this administration, are largely indifferent to the fate of Europe.”
If they want open borders, immigration, dont be surprised if it bites them where the sun dont shine. It is not that we are indifferent. We are just calling out the stupid.
He also is suggesting a independent European military force not dependent on America. About dang time!
@Upstate
We are most certainly NOT indifferent; we just can’t go down that road again. We have temporarily nipped it in the bud here; time will tell if that matters. There will be a GREAT deal of hate along the way. Count on it, with our formerly unelected oppressors (‘Scary Poppins’ anyone? Did any of us vote for her? Did our Congress? No. Is it a surprise she fled to Britain? No, it is not) still spinning. It ain’t over, and nobody should be relaxing, thinking freedom has won. We haven’t, yet.
James,
One of the things that gets me about being “indifferent,” is why are we to be responsible for their mistakes? We are not the ones pushing them towards fascism. They and their elected leaders are doing that all by themselves. Germany seems to have shifted some of that to a degree as conservative parties have won seats and progressive parties have lost. As for the whole neo-Nazi thing, I read a article stating that there maybe neo-Nazis who support the AfD but the majority are not neo-Nazis. Funny, our leftist friends dont seem to mind neo-Nazis in the Ukraine government but are screaming about it in Germany.
OT, I saw a Harvard poll that shows some 70% of Americans approve of Musk and DOGE finding fraud, waste and abuse. Meanwhile the Democrats are doubling down on their fight against him and DOGE. The seem to be keeping up with the identity politics thing as it is all they have. I agree we cannot rest and need to keep up the good fight for freedom.
“We are alone, just as Professor Turley suggests. “
The thought that we are alone sounds dismal, but to think we are among many with friends is worse. There is nothing worse because counting on false friends can get you killed. Counting on no one and finding that one has friends, even if temporary, is a gift.
Looking at the EU, we must recognize that they do not represent the hoodwinked people. The EU elite resides in Brussels, a cesspool of deceit.
Germany is not lost – they are just a bit closer to real freedom. Mertz’s victory required pulling out all stops and cheating to win. He will end up with a very weak coalition that will be incapable of acting.
I do not know if the Afd is good or bad, Nor do I care. CDU will have to adopt some of Afd’s policies – or it is only a question of time until afd defeats them.
We are seeing the same elsewhere – the EU is actively working to keep those opposed to them off the ballot.
That only gets you so far.
As Turley noted – it was not free speech that gave Germany Hitler – it was the supression of free speech.
When government supresses voices – they actualy become more powerful.
Turley notes the massive government funded unconstitutional censorship complex in the US – aside from wasting money, what did it accomplish ? Trump was elected despite their best efforts.
I follow information on demographics – and at the same time the US was headed towards EU censorship – trust in govenrment was declining. Further – particularly with the failure of Covid polices – the youngest cohort of voters in this country has shifted right – not far right, but in VERY LARGE numbers – they do NOT trust govenrment.
The issue in Germany is not that the Afd did not win – they came in a strong 2nd, but what matters most is that CDU has an even more tenuous hold on government than before. SPU – one of their coalition partners was clobbered. To form a government CDU must either include afd or cast a wide net to other parties and end up with a government that can not accomplish anything.
We are seeing this all over Europe – the rise of the right. I have concerns – because ALL the right wing groups that are rising are NOT inherently good – but the disempowerment of the european left is a very good thing.
Regardless the entire west is shifting slowly away from big government and towards indivdual liberty and that is a good thing.
All the german election shows is that the progress is slow. That may not be inherently bad
I hope you’re right, John, but I’ve been hoping for Europe too long.
John Say – Agree with your observations. MERTZ is going to have to make some real decisions or he will fail soon. Their energy is going to come from WHERE. Their electricity rates are out of sight compared to the US and their manufacturing is no longer competitive, with their high energy costs. Tariffs from the US will blast them. Their manufacturing will start to move to the US just to survive. He is just going to founder and certainly blasting Trump is not a smart move. Trump is not very forgiving. Basically turning on your own voters is not wise either. I suppose it will depend on how impatient his voters are. 1-2 years?
Actor Martin Sheen, Democrat loud mouth got a lesson from the aliens
Quick poll:
How many of you working in the dreaded private sector would receive an email asking you to list FIVE things you accomplished over the last WEEK and would either ignore it, complain about it or take Monday off?
These are the slugs that we are paying to do easy jobs with high pay, more security than the common worker and incredible perks and yet all they do is whine.
HullBobby,
I knew of a few companies that required weekly list of what you had done for the week. Had to send it in by 10am every Friday. Not government.
In software development there is a system called agile that requires meetings everyday in the morning where each member of the team gets 1 minute to tell what they accomplished YESTERDAY.
This is a very popular system
–>Schoolteachers do, upstate.
Hell, I’m Active Duty on a shore tour, and I have to do it every day of the workweek! Not 5 items, but just what I did for the day.
These whiners are in a huff about nothing
Hullbobby-As a physician in an outpatient setting, depending on the day I was making a record of every person I saw from 7-8am to 5-6 pm. Each record covered 15-20 minutes and listed all new complaints, reviewed history and drugs and new actions and labs and studies to do. 1 hr break for lunch. First of all, in this day and age, I doubt that missive would be sent, and if it was then the reply would be for them to access my name and pull up every patient I saw (and they could with the proper clearances) and they could account for my time each and every day. Thats what an electronic medical record does and has been used for 20+ years. My day was actually an open book. You also used the records for quality assurance by reviewing certain diagnoses and then reviewing how physicians would treat that specific problem by reviewing their records. You would get scorecards at the end of each month on number of patients seen, level of care charged, how many x-rays were ordered, what amount of lab was ordered and was it appropriate to the diagnosis. Often had all the physicians in the dept listed and you compared your utilization against your peers.
That was the usual week. Since I was very busy there were rare openings in my schedule.
Never boring.
So I find the whining about recording what you did in a week kind of blasé and out of touch with reality.
One of the things Musk said about this is it is a proof of life test.
Many govenrment employees are not working at all, and they are not following their government email.
If they do not respond at all – they can be dismissed for cause – because anyone who did not read their government email for two ways is not doing their job.
Musk, DOGE and Trump have had a lot of time to plan for this. And Musk learned alot at Tesla and at Twitter.
Each of these moves has MULTIPLE purposes and also is part of a broader strategy.
I predicted that the offer to buyout would be followed by significant layoffs – and it was. The probationary employees being laid off now wish they had accepted the buyout.
People fired for failing to respond tot he email will wish they took the buyout.
I would bet another – less generous buyout offer will come soon. And this time more people are likely to take it,
Because they KNOW that afterwards they could be fired.
i would further note that Contra the left – actually productive people have little to worry about, Alot of what Musk is working on is trying to identify who is and who is not productive – and how to get rid of those who are not.
This is not a perfect process – Some of the wheat will get thrown out with the chaffe. But the ration of chaffe to wheat is high.
For most of my life I have been self employed.
No client pays me without proof I have delivered value to them.
“How many of you working in the dreaded private sector would receive an email ”
In the latter part of my IT career, I typically had responsibility for a handful of major projects at any given time, all of which required me to regularly provide updates to higher management. Such an email almost certainly would have pi$$ed me off for diverting my time from more productive tasks, but I could have complied easily enough.
There’s a lot of jobs where you do that anyways, it just isn’t in the form of an email.
I had to do a form of that, not an email, most days of every week in the military.
I had the production and other documents I completed every single workday in several private sector industrial jobs I held.
And if I can’t detail what I do every week and document what I’ve done converted into billable hours in our business, then life gets simple very fast: we don’t get paid.
I find it interesting that the left always compares the conservatives to Nazism when in fact a mirror image of Nazism was socialism in the Stalin regime. A socialist in Russia starved to death many more people than Germany. Where is the invective of socialism as a mass murdering philosophy ever voiced by those on the left? One should come to a conclusion that socialism is equally as abhorrent as Nazism but you will hear no such complaint from the Stalin system worshippers on the left. Instead they call for the same limitation of speech that both Hitler and Stalin considered a necessity when they were in control. So I ask you, where in our political discourse lies the pursuit of totalitarian control? The American people have grown weary of the Nazi comparisons and they have made it known that they are finished with it at the poling place. My advice to the Democratic Socialist in The United States is to just keep digging that hole.
TiT,
“Never interfere with the enemy while he is in the process of making a mistake.”
— Charles E. Mitchell, 1932
I just reread 1984. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are heading in that direction. Trump in fact is leaving the mess to Musk because if you haven’t figured it out yet Trump is a liar, and uninformed about everything having to do with our government and all governments across the world.I disagree with all that you said about free speech in this country. Maybe that’s true in some parts of the U.S. but not in the Northeast.My students could always speak freely no matter the discussion. Carol Ortiz carolabriola@gmail.com
Um… lets see here. Some teacher claims to know all about government corruption and the morals of one Donald Trump based on a reading of 1984. Whew!
That’s not what he said.
Go ahead, stick your head in the sand. It will not end well for trump and his followers.
Did Ukraine start the war 3 years ago? If you think Putin is a truth teller, you are an idiot like trump
Will firing as many employees as musk/trump has done help reduce the deficit? Hardly at all. Will it destroy once world class agencies that did great stuff for our country and the world? Yep.
Are grocery prices coming down? Nope. trump said they would come down on day 1. Lier
Can trump defy existing legislation that says he can’t fire certain people without 30 days notice to Congress? We will soon find out what the SC says.
Free speech my ass. What will you say when trump defies a court order?
@Baby
You do realize your handle says it all, right? ‘Baby?’ Have you never had a real job where you get an annual performance review, as quite literally, EVERYONE in the private sector does, every fiscal year? Perhaps that is a rhetorical question.
The only heads in the sand are a small portion of the left who STILL are refusing to grasp how much people hate them. and what they have done to the country.
You keep thinking that something will happen to get the country to turn on Trump.
You have been trying this nonsense for a decade – and it has not worked yet.
You have less power now than ever before. People have far more actual knowledge of Trump than ever before.
And still – they voted you out, and they voted FOR trump.
“it will not end well for trump and his followers.”
How exactly can it end worse than it has for Biden and Democrats ?
Biden inherited a country on the cusp of exploding into good times and he destroyed that.
Trump has inherited a mess – even worse than Obama left him. He can do NOTHING and easily be a better president than Biden.
“Did Ukraine start the war 3 years ago?”
No, but the US and EU cross a bright line that Putin had drawn – much like the line JFK had drawn.
You can argue that line was unreasonable or that Putins response was unjustified – but Biden, Nuland, and the US and NATO crossed that land and Putin kept his promise and invaded Ukraine.
” If you think Putin is a truth teller, you are an idiot like trump”
What does this even mean ? Putin DID tell the truth when he said “Dont cross that line”
Regardless, the Putin is evil nonsense does not get you anywhere, Erodigan is evil, SMB is evil.
These are out allies – there are a long list of evil people leading other nations.
We do not go to war with people merely because they are evil.
“Will firing as many employees as musk/trump has done help reduce the deficit? Hardly at all. ”
Estimate are about $200B/yr from workforce reductions.
“Will it destroy once world class agencies that did great stuff for our country and the world? Yep.”
ROFL – almost no one in their right mind beleives that. Musk cut 90% of staff at Twitter and it is still going fine.
Do you honestly beleive that Govenrment is MORE efficient than the worst of private industry ?
You say “great stuff” – nearly all studies of Aid to Africa over the past 59 years – over $1T have found it accomplished nothing. Many have found it made things worse, none have found it made things a tiny fraction of $1T better.
I would suggest reading “the ugly american” – while it is fiction written 70years ago – you will easily recognize it as reflecting US foreign policy over the past 70 years. US govenrment efforts in foreign countries are on net significantly HARMFUL to the global reputaion of the US – because they are HARMFUL to those we have tried to help.
30 years ago people would have said I was on the far left for holding those views.
Now I am purportedly on the far right.
I have not changed. But the left has become stupid abandoning past values and truths.
We have 70+ years of disasterous US foreign aide. US foreign aide has been a NEGATIVE force in the world.
Fortunately our VALUES and our PEOPLE are better than our govenrment.
That is the story of the ugly american – as true in 1958 as today.
On to more economic studies.
Harvard Economist Robert Barro – has the most extensive database of government spending and efficiency in existace
It covers the US, the OECD, and most of the world.
In the US government generats about .25-.35 of value for ever $1 spent. i.e. Govenrment DESTROYS more than it creates. Conversely privately on average every $1 spent creates $1.1 or more in value. That is a NET number and we Require atleast a 10% gain just to break even on the waste of govenrment.
“Are grocery prices coming down? Nope. trump said they would come down on day 1. Lier”
He said lots of things would happen in one day – so did Harris and Biden in 2020 and 2024.
Only left wing nuts are calling this a lie.
i want to be careful about predicting an EXACT economic future. Real deficit reduction will cause NOMINAL prices to come down. But even if NOMINAL prices do not come down – Growth greater than inflation will cause REAL prices to drop. And that is what peopel actually care about.
“Can trump defy existing legislation that says he can’t fire certain people without 30 days notice to Congress? We will soon find out what the SC says.”
The answer is YES. The SC is near certain to say – whether the law requirring 30 days notice to congress is constitutional or not (it isn’t, the executive power is SOLELY with the president) ONLY Congress has standing to enforce that legislation, and Congress is NOT here at the Supreme court seeking to do that. Further – in the unlikely event that Congress was at the Supreme court – then SCOTUS would decide that 30 days had passed and therefore Congress HAS notice.
There have been MANY rulings on this in the past. The BEST outcome for those involved is that the court decides they are entitled to 30 days of back pay.
“Free speech my ass. What will you say when trump defies a court order?”
He hasn’t. Only left wing nuts expect he will. there are now over 70 cases filed against Trump EO’s.
Only a few have resulted in TRO’s, and nearly all of those TRO’s have been dismissed.
Your fighing a losing legal battle.
You are also fighting it on Trump’s turf, with YOUR money. and with only 20-30% of the country behind you.
Regardless if as you claim Trump’s actions are incredibly unpopular – then Republicans will lose special elections that they clearly should win, and they will be wiped out in 2026.
Make your case to voters.
Harvard poll undercuts Dem narratives, shows DOGE widely popular
“A further 70% believe government spending is rife with waste and fraud, while 69% support ultimately cutting spending by $1 trillion.”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/harvard-poll-undercuts-dem-narratives-shows-doge-widely-popular
Wow, to read 1984 and compare what’s happening with Trump to the mind control in 1984 screams if confirmation bias. The elimination of free speech is a central theme in 1984. Elon Musk owns a speech platform where even Anonymous is allowed to say what she thinks. If she was banned from X she would be the one screaming the loudest. Let us not forget that it was Anonymous who was saddened by Musk buying X and opening it up to all opinions. Did she really reread 1984?
TiT,
If that is what she got out of reading 1984, now we have clear evidence of why public education is failing children so badly.
@Thinitthrough
Really. I am convinced modern leftism is a brain disorder; environmental, congenital, a combination – I just don’t know. It really is tantamount to insisting the sky is green and grass is blue at this point. I do not know what the heck we do about that, as we are discussing *insanity*.
Again, the flagrant disregard for our intelligence or acumen is their blind spot, and they do not seem to be able to overcome it, not even a little bit, no matter what transpires in the world around them.
But we have only just begun and the midterms are NOT a sure thing.
And for the umpteenth time – I say this as a lifelong unaffiliated voter that used to vote for Democrats. 🤷🏻♂️
Sorry, ‘Thinkitthrough’. Some of us work for a living and time is scarce for corrections. 😂
James-I agree. It is a brain disorder. Too bad it does not show up on an MRI (yet). When it does I hope we can just go in and ablate it. But then the conversations on this column would be decreased by about 30-40 %
“Too bad it does not show up on an MRI (yet). When it does I hope we can just go in and ablate it.”
It can be ablated, it’s just that all of the effective treatments are 100% fatal. I don’t propose that remedy be actively applied, but I am beginning to wish that there was some ethical option to remove societal protections from those misfits so that Nature might allowed to take its course…
GEB,
If you ablate it, you would likely get masses of recovering patients with Biden like mental incompetence.
Upstate Farmer-Then the memory care industry would go through a Boom. I’m all for inventing new industries or enhancing the ones we have. Ablation of areas in the brain are done. The question is how much you would have to ablate. In Biden’s case you would have to actually remove what remained of his brain. Many others might be very small but likely individually specific. All of this is conjecture, of course.
Carol, any comment on the EU folks arresting folks for praying outside of clinics and even in their own homes? Any comment on rape victim’s fathers getting arrested for commenting on the perp? Any comment on anything Biden did when it comes to free speech?
Carol is the reason that kids can’t read, do math or reason things out. Carol is the problem, not the solution.
HullBobby,
Well said.
Ms. Oritz – if you just re-read 1984 and concluded Trump was implimenting the Oceania dystopia – you FAILED reading comprehension and should not be teaching anyone.
Trump is clearly in 1984 – he is Emanuel Goldstein. His is the evil carciture that those with actual totalitarian power strive to make the masses hate – so that ordinary people do not think about how those in power have duped them.
I do not know you – but I also have no good reason to beleive you. You have already demonstrated that you are not qualified to teach. Why should anyone beleive that your students can speak freely ? Why would anyone beleive that you would even KNOW if they felt they could not ?
John Say,
Great comment!!
John Say-Wow, remind me to not argue with you. Nicely written.
Here’s an acolyte of the former Oval Office House Plant, here to Speak It’s Biden Truths, informing us they can tell a liar when they see one – and Trump is a liar who is going to make a 1984 style mess.
1984 is the book where they spy on you like Obama/Biden and their FBI with those illegal counterespionage warrants, for anyone who got a substandard education from the Marxists in education.
It will be worse than the that was the Oval Office House Plant shutting the country down for YEARS! Trust them on this!
What a tragedy that we don’t have that truthteller and plain dealer Joe Biden still in office!
“It is my strong belief … that this multipolar world needs to be based on a single set of norms and principles.” – This is a great idea if it is based on my norms and principles. It is the other people who want their own norms and principles who are the problem!
This is why the more diverse a country is the more limited govenrment must be.
The NORMS and principles that we chose to use FORCE – government to impose can only be those with super majority support. The more diverse we are the smaller the set of norms and principles that have that type of universal support.
You’re saying the tyranny of the majority is the norm we should always expect.
How many of you believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is going to be whacked eventually?
Much like Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, or any Others in a long line of Puppets, even perhaps by the Ukrainians themselves.
Can you feel it coming?
There has been so much “Disinformation” from “Disinformation Experts” (LOL you mean The-Shop) around Zelenskyy and Ukraine, it seem inevitable. They couldn’t whack Hunter for the Burisma deals et.al. (not even – just the tip of the iceberg) for obvious reasons, but dis-Guy – Say Bye Bye.
What’s your take?
Wrong thread friend. Let’s move on…
They’re going to whack this Guy because Hillary Clinton and George Soros don’t leave loose ends.
Jonathan points out that Disinformation with “Disinformation Experts” is now an Industry, It is no longer a ‘Cottage Industry’ so it begs to ask, Where did it spawn from? The Intelligence Community first comes to mind, a Worldwide Intelligence Community these days.
Jonathan also indicates that this tribe of “Disinformation Experts” is Decentralized, “Never the same night in the same place” on the move like Rōnin, and much of the Intelligence Community.
Franz Kafka’s work on propaganda gave us some indication of; where, when and the modus operandi of Propagandist. But the source of the ‘modus’ for Today’s Disinformation Experts is still the same as yesterday’s, the Intelligence Community.
Covert Funding, Communication Networks, and Directives are shadows of the Intelligence Community.
Election’s in the U.S. or Election’s in Ukraine, the Intelligence Community.know no boundaries, Trump’s assassination attempts should have shown you that, if J6th wasn’t enough of what the “Disinformation Experts” do and Who runs the Show.
Zelensky, He doesn’t know all of it, but he knows enough to be expendable. Once they figure out where al the ‘funds’ have gone, he will be a liability of no use to them.
Anonymous 1:26 PM You are starting to sound like Star Trek, The Undiscovered Country where players in the Klingon High Command and Star Fleet Command conspire to assassinate the Klingon Chancellar in an attempt to continue the conflict between the two Star Nations. Where is Kirk in all of this.
Kirk is a figment of the imagination in all this – Never obtainable – for the Never Ending War.
“How many of you believe that Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is going to be whacked eventually?”
I can believe that his handlers would very much like to ultimately whack him, and maybe that is in their plan. However, how many billions of aid money has he embezzled and hidden? Can he afford to buy a private island and a first rate security team so that any assassination attempt would need to be overt and open, and the perps obvious? That might be his protection.
“Disinformation Experts” are also “Experts against Liars”. So of course they have no place in Republican areas. But they most definitely belong in colleges, where not lying is a big thing. The fact that MAGAs so strongly reject even the concept of fact checking tells you all you need to know about them.
Let’s fact check this one. Those dis-info experts you refer to, aren’t they a Biden era thing? Disseminating lies to the populus via gov and npo entities?
He who fact checks propagates lies.
“He who fact checks propagates lies.” This is straight out of 1984. When you are siding with the dystopian villains of a story, it might be a clue that you are on the wrong side.
You were alot funnier when you were Svelaz and more entertaining. Now you’re so damn predictable, still whiny but a drip, drip, drip….like gonorrhea, not that you’d ever score with any one of those 16 genders!
Then why is it the villains are siding with the fact checkers whom propagate lies? It sure as heck is not Trump or Musk.
Tell us, why is it the villains of this story are the Democrats who side with “He who fact checks propagates lies.” It most certainty is not Trump or Musk. Who might be on the wrong side is you. Clearly you have no clue.
OT, Harvard poll undercuts Dem narratives, shows DOGE widely popular
“A further 70% believe government spending is rife with waste and fraud, while 69% support ultimately cutting spending by $1 trillion.”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/harvard-poll-undercuts-dem-narratives-shows-doge-widely-popular
So, aside from “Trolled Jonathan Turley’s blog with lies, DNC/MSM talking points,” what else did you do for the other four bullets Musk asked of you of what did you do this week? Or, are you still struggling to come up with something ligit?
They are not disinformation experts when they will only perpetuate one side and not fact check the other. They are not experts at anything. Did you fill out your what 5 things I did last week? Or are you having difficultly thinking of something you actually did?
Franke – the reason for the lack of respect for disinformation experts is because they have FAILED.
Because they have LIED – they are not experts against liars – they are simply liars themselves – and not all that good at it.
Everyone values unbiased fact checking – but the left takes over every institution it touches and destroys objectivity.
We do not like fact checkers – because there are no unbiased professional fact checkers,
So we do our OWN fact checking – something that DOES NOT require faux expertise.
And the results we find are the left, lies, the fact checkers lie, the disinformation experts lie.
And the more lies you get caught in the less you are trusted.
The fault is not in your stars, but in yourselves.
The growing distrust of disinformation experts, fact checkers, the institutions the left has taken over,
is the consequence of YOUR failures.
If you ACTUALLY thwarted real disinformation, if you Fact Checks were not constanly politically biased nonsense,
if you did not lie constantly – people would trust you.
They don’t.
You did that to yourselves.
Trump and MAGA did not do that to you.
Trump did not Make you lie constantly.
John Say,
Well said. I would also add why does anyone put their faith and trust in a so-called fact checker? In this day and age it only takes a few minutes to find what we are looking for. COVID, Google, and SM sites did what they could to censor out the facts with help and pressure from the Biden admin but eventually the truth got out. And it continues to do so. Fact checkers were so bad Zukerburger got rid of them as he said something to the effect that there were no unbiased fact checkers.
Here is a little fact you might not like, Harvard poll undercuts Dem narratives, shows DOGE widely popular
“A further 70% believe government spending is rife with waste and fraud, while 69% support ultimately cutting spending by $1 trillion.”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/harvard-poll-undercuts-dem-narratives-shows-doge-widely-popular
How did your listing of 5 things you did this/last week go? Aside from “Trolling Professor Turley’s blog” what other four things did you do for us taxpayers? Anything to justify your employment? Anything that actually resembled you job description? You seem ever so against Trump, Musk and DOGE for finding fraud, waste and abuse. Could it be you are just another federal government parasite with no actual value other then taking our tax dollars to do nothing but steal oxygen? Are you afraid of losing you job as Musk and DOGE find you produce nothing of value to us tax payers?
How marvelous.
Franke says The fact that MAGAs so strongly reject even the concept of fact checking tells you all you need to know about them.
Now give us a few words on your favorite masterpiece of writing Franke: the illegal Clinton/Obama/Biden/DNC “Trump-Russia Dossier”.
Start with who commissioned it, then move on to who paid for it, and then follow on into how it became the party blueprint.
Finish by listing who pushed it.
You’re a Cheap Fake Lyin’ Like A Biden Democrat, Franke.
The modern left’s hubris is such they just don’t seem to be capable of grasping that overwhelmingly, *the current administration IS WHAT WE VOTED FOR*. This just will NOT sink in. Even Carville, who was previously criticizing the idiot moves by his party, is now broadcasting fear mongering nonsense. I still say we aren’t out of the woods, but again, the hubris and what is almost an addiction to control is staggering. These people simply aren’t well.
The fast-food industry is always on the look-out for college graduates with degrees in gender studies and critical race theory.
“degrees in gender studies and critical race theory”
Wait! You’re saying those are real degrees? Even if they are real, who in their right mind would choose that sort of subject? It can’t be real. Sounds more like fringey, woke, bargain bin books than academic subjects.
“Wait! You’re saying those are real degrees?”
Do you really want to know? well, you asked:
List of All U.S. Colleges with a Gender Studies Major
https://blog.collegevine.com/us-colleges-with-gender-studies-major/
Hey, “social sciences” degrees are old hat. What are these except more particularized examples of that h0r$e$sh1t?
Type too quickly – Number 6
“The fast-food industry is always on the look-out for college graduates with degrees in gender studies and critical race theory.”
But they need to be able to handle a fryer basket without incurring serious second degree burns or setting the restaurant kitchen on fire. I suspect most of those to whom you refer would be incapable of meeting that criteria.
Handle a fryer basket ? Do you mean as women, barefoot and pregnant because it’s the way of nature and nature’s God? In the kitchen?
Giorgia Meloni’s speech at CPAC 2025 last week is up there with that of JD Vance’s speech at Munich. Recall that Hillary lost two presidential races run to first, a half black guy and then to a TV producer, but Giorgia Meloni won in a truly chauvinist country like Italy. No wonder she is schlepping to Germany to speak to fellow authoritarians. Bet she will wear her Mao outfit!
The Left is nervous, and with Trump’s victory, their irritation has turned into hysteria — not only because conservatives are winning but because conservatives are collaborating globally…
When Bill Clinton and Tony Blair created the global leftist liberal network in the 90s, they were called statesmen. Today, when Trump, Meloni, (Argentina’s Javier) Milei or maybe (Indian Prime Minister Narendra) Modi talk, they are called a threat to democracy. This is the Left’s double standard. People no longer believe their lies.
…People are not naive as The Left considers them. They vote for us because we defend freedom, we love our nations, we want secure borders, we preserve businesses and citizens from green leftist insanity, we defend family and life, we fight against wokeism, we protect our sacred right to our faith and our free speech, and we stand for common sense.
– Giorgia Meloni
Prime Minster of Italy
#74. Why does it feel like another dupe, another fools game.
Don’t 4get your prayers…
Learning the breath and scope of the attack on free expression is chilling, but realizing that the assault was funded by the U.S. Government, creates the same uneasy feeling one experiences while reading George Orwell’s classic novel, “1984.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan is correct
Pope Francis is a dying man. His body is corrupting before everyone.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan wants to be the next Pope. USA, USA, USA.
Wrong thread there friend.
It’ll be a south African
Jonathan: JD Vance went to the Munich Conference for one purpose. Not to extol the virtues of “free speech” but to support the NfD neo-Nazi party. He met with their leader. Elon Musk and DJT also supported the NfD in last week’s election in Germany. Fortunately, the NfD lost to a coalition led by the CDU. Fredrich Merz, the leader of the CDU, will form a new government of other parties dedicated to preserving “democracy” in Germany. The NfD ran on an anti-immigration platform, getting out of NATO and not supporting Ukraine. It pushed the “virtues” of the previous Nazi regime. That is what the new German government will be fighting against. It’s the same right-wing forces we are fighting against here at home.
It appears you are in the awkward position of trying to defend the NfD and other neo-fascist parties in Europe–falsely claiming they are victims of the “anti-free speech community”. Neo-Nazi hate speech, disinformation and racist speech does not deserve protecting! Be careful that in defending the “free speech” rights of neo-Nazi parties you become one of their enablers. And we know what happens when fascist parties gain power. Their first order of business is to stamp out any semblance of “free speech”. We see this happening already under the second DJT/Musk regime! That should be your focus, not what is happening in Europe.
Nice try, Denny-poo.
One purpose? Did JD Vance clear his visit with you first?
HRC is just too much, no reflection or self awareness. But this is par for the course for the left, they don’t really want to stop misinformation, they only want to stop the rights information. HRC’s Russian Hoax was the worse political dirty trick that I am personally aware of and she is demanding a stop to disinformation?
Forget Hillarity. Jankowicz is the broad ya don’t wanna piss off.
Then again, why not?😄
Hear! Hear! Professor, great column!
OK, folks, let’s quit debating the obvious and cut to the chase. We have a Constitution that addresses the issue. Unfortunately, our penchant for tampering with perfection has compromised that beautiful document. So, how do we put the train back on the tracks? Seems rather simple to me. But there’s a problem! Where is the Supreme Court? On vacation? Cowering in fear of actually making a decision enforcing the Constitution? I can write the ruling for them. One sentence! “The Right Of The People To Freedom Of Speech Shall Not Be Infringed!” Then, as it should be, The People can judge for themselves what is true, good and acceptable.
There’s a pesky legal concept: case precedent.
And, no politician in his right mind would consider or even allow “The People” to make law. Look at the mob here. Fools at best.
Therein lies the problem! I now see why you use the moniker “Anonymous.”
The Court can’t take on a case not brought to it. My recommendation is to get busy looking for a good test case to bring.
“The Court can’t take on a case not brought to it. ”
That is true. But there appears (IANAL) to be a large number of tactics that a court can, and courts all too frequently do, use to avoid coming to grips with an issue embodied in a case that is brought to it, because a judge (or judges) on that court perceives that the ruling that should result from applying the law in the case is inconvenient or unpleasant. Anyone who would consider doing that should never be have been made a judge. Any judge who, after being appointed, finds that he or she is inclined to do that, should resign, or be removed.
Clarke,
Unfortunately, 2A specifically states that “The right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED”, and it’s infringed, I think probably more than any other right our Constitution gives us, so I can only conclude that your ruling would be equally and routinely infringed.
Conversely, 1A says that “Congress shall make no law…”, and 10A says that anything not specifically written into the Constitution is reserved to the states and/or the people.
As I understand it, in legal parlance, the word “shall” is an absolute — ergo, the federal government absolutely is not to be in either the business of regulating firearms, nor in the business of regulating our rights to speech, religion, freedom of association, assembly, or the ability of the people to redress grievances with our government.
If what I’m saying here is accurate, then probably states, and municipalities could regulate speech, but I’m not a Constitutional lawyer, so not 100% sure.
Our founders clearly didn’t trust the “mob”, and they equally distrusted the government they were creating, thus the magnificent document they, though imperfect themselves, crafted.
I don’t disagree with your assessment of SCOTUS. Anymore, they seem to err on the cautious side. I think, for example, many of Trump’s EOs will end up there, and SCOTUS will, most likely, kick the can back to Congress, who may, or may not, enact relevant statutes.
Methinks the single best thing we can do is bring back teaching critical thinking skills and adopt the philosophy which used to be taught in journalism classes, “question all sources”.
“If what I’m saying here is accurate, then probably states, and municipalities could regulate speech, but I’m not a Constitutional lawyer, so not 100% sure.”
IANAL, either. However, while the provision of Section 1 of the 14th Amendment (regarding birthright citizenship) has been discussed extensively of late, the prevailing interpretation of the next provision would seem to go right to the heart of your contention:
“No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Number 6,
Based on that, and that my assertion that shall is an absolute, states, municipalities etc aren’t able to abridge freedom of speech either, unless there is due process. Thanks for correcting me on that.
Again, people need to get back to critical thinking, and questioning all sources.
Free speech will keep this world from reverting back to the “dark ages” when civilization advanced very little, if at all. Had it not been for men, such as Galileo, questioning doctrines, such as heliocenterism, where might we be today?
“.. But there’s a problem! …”
The “problem” is that a majority People choose to live their lives ‘passively’.
Don’t actually apply themselves to consistent work (Stay focused on their Duties – hence the question: What did you get done last week? )
Parenting and Middle-Age to Older People have not taught the Younger Generation: How it Works. As many themselves don’t know How it Works (The practicalities of functioning in today’s American Society – Investing, Taxes, Banking, Economics, Partnerships, Social Viability, Working Hard … What ‘enhances’ Their Lives (i.e.: Is what I am doing enhance my life and those around Me? Is it Socially Redeeming?)
And above all: ‘Listening’, being Responsible for your actions, and making decisions for Yourself. Standing Tall.
That’s the “problem” Americans aren’t doing their’ Own part. They pass it off as: It’s someone else’s problem with no consequences in sublime fashion.
Without a good head on their shoulders; the Supreme Court, Congress, Schools, Communities, … are ineffective and there will be Consequences.
Consequences that materialize into the broader world, Such that have driven you (Clark) to post a comment in the manner as it is.
“.. But there’s a problem! …” Yes there is.
GOOD ONE, CLARKE. 👍👍
It’s hard to believe that after WWII and living through the Iron Curtain period Europeans would allow this to happen. I suppose in today’s atmosphere a raid against Radio Free Europe would be appropriate? Maybe a group of brave free speech European “Radio Pirates” will re-launch another Radio Caroline to transmit the truth throughout Europe?
“after WWII and living through the Iron Curtain period Europeans would allow this to happen…”
Note, prior and during those periods, there was no free speech clause in any European country’s “constitution”. So to imply that they had a choice, is wrong.
Radio Caroline was a music sender.
And let’s not forget the Soviet sphere of influence during the Iron Curtin period.
But I would like to add, the term Iron Curtin pretty much describes the current “European” attitude to “free speech”.
@anny – I rarely if ever reply to the small group of pineapples who muddy the blog replies but guy you work very hard at being dumb.
Muddy the blog? Really, look around Karen and see your ilk. Pull out your mirror and have a look. Scary eh?
Open mouth insert foot, your motto.
Anon – Just to clear things Radio Free Europe set about 1949 and was designed for purpose of Fee Speech and correct news of the day. Much of either wasn’t getting through to the block nations. The blogger also mentioned using “Caroline Radio”, yes it was used in the 60’s for music but the blogger mentioned using it to transmit Free Speech not music. Finally “Karen” a pejorative toward middle class white woman, I don’t believe Margot is a woman and maybe not white?? You have had a number of inaccuracies in many of your past comments, old boy.
I am not sure that “hearing” the truth will help them much. Can’t hurt if they hear “throw the bums out” repeatedly, but look at people in this country – even the Lib/Left/Dems “hear” the truth, no matter their echo chambers. But they keep on voting for Democrats in large numbers. There is not a drug addict or drunk out there who hasn’t “heard” the truth, that their substance abuse is bad, and killing them.
As I get older, I think the only thing that changes some people’s minds is actual suffering and pain and misery – the kind that is a result of their own actions. For example, Ana Kasparian. She “heard” the truth repeatedly, and rebuffed it. But when she got sexually assaulted by an illegal alien(?) or homeless person (?), whichever, then she kinda woke up. Then Reality became Real to her.
The people in Europe have experienced the direct results of Liberal/Left policies in a large way, but they have been slow to throw out the bums. I guess things need to get worse for them. It will probably take a Hitler-type to clean up the mess over there. Just give it a few years. Hopefully, not, but the Entrenched Powers are dug in pretty deep.
“only thing that changes some people’s minds is actual suffering and pain and misery.” A Civil War then!
No, the suffering there would be indirect for most people. A super-financial depression that affected large numbers of people would be better, because less money would dictate more-realistic choices. No more catch and release of career criminals – no more expensive prisons out the wazoo. Just prison for those who can be rehabilitated and execution for the rest, the murderers and drug dealers, etc. No more section 8 housing for the able bodied and no more child support. Get married and stay married. Churches would step in to help, but people would have to clean up their act. No more layers of lawyers and regulators to stand in the way of businesses. If things went back to the basics of a roof over your head and food to live, then you kick Americans back down to the realistic levels of Mazlows hierarchy.
If jobs were scarce then you would see an end to sanctuary cities, and affirmative action crap. You would see colleges cut back their tuitions, and crap classes removed from the curriculum. You would see medical costs go back to sustainable levels. Too much free money via the National Credit Card, has hidden a lot of structural flaws in society.
Frankly, if Trump is successful, I think we will see a big recession or depression, but that is necessary at this point to wring out the excess fluff. The stock market index is laughable, and we are about to the FAFO point. However, after the massive deleveraging, things should quickly recover, and maybe we get real growth, and bigly.
Floyd,
I have read a number of reports and thoughts from economists that the Biden economy was a sham, and there is going to be a crash. As you point out, it will wring out the excess fluff. These economists also think the economy will come out on the other side much stronger. We just have to get through the mess of Bidenomics.
I think it predates Biden. One way I saw it explained once was, that there has not been REAL GDP growth in decades If, you deduct the yearly deficit from GDP.
Like if Bob was the economy, and he brought home $40,000 after taxes. He spent it all on consumer spending. Bob’s GDP is $40,000.
Next year, Bob gets a credit card or two, and spends the same $40,000 plus an additional $10,000 on credit cards. Now, Bob’s GDP is $50,000! Oh Boy! Bob’s GDP went up by 25%!
Except that somewhere, Bob has to reduce consumer spending to pay back the debt. Now the United States doesn’t technically have to pay back the debt. So far, it has just been rolling the debt over, and paying interest on it. But the interest is now about 20% of tax revenues. That would be like Bob paying $8,000 per year on interest from his $40,000. No way that doesn’t affect his style of living.
With inflation still running hot, interest rates will not come down, so it will get worse.
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/interest-payments-percent-of-revenue-wb-data.html
Plus, the unemployment data is screwed up, unless you look at people not included in the work force.
“Now the United States doesn’t technically have to pay back the debt.”
Now the United States doesn’t technically have to pay back the debt ON ANY SPECIFIC TIMELINE. But all debts, and the interest on same, come due sooner or later, in one form or another. TANSTAAFL!
Margot Ballhere-just look at the history of Europe and you will understand.
They guaranteed a 2nd World War within a generation of the 1st World War with the Treaty of Versailles. Even Wilson the racist could see that.