National Public Radio yesterday posted an article titled “Twitter has lost 50 of its top 100 advertisers since Elon Musk took over, report says.” The article relies on a report from the liberal site Media Matters for America founded by Democratic operative David Brock. The report lists companies that have publicly pulled their advertising and the article strongly suggests that it is due to the pledge of Elon Musk to restore free speech protections on the social media site. These companies are well within their free speech rights to boycott the company or suspend their support in light of possible changes on content. However, customers also have the right not to support companies that do not support their free speech rights. Continue reading “Companies Join Call to Suspend Advertising with Twitter”
Category: Media
There is a deepening division on the J6 Committee as staffers turn on Liz Cheney over the final report on the January 6th riot. Angry rhetoric is flying with staffers accusing the Committee of becoming a “Cheney 2024 campaign” while both the Cheney spokesperson and Committee spokesperson lashed out at the staff members as “disgruntled” and producing shoddy or biased work. The underlying issue, however, is important and revealing. The Committee’s color coated teams include a “Blue Team” on the failure to prepare adequately for the riot. That part of the investigation is reportedly being dumped or reduced. Members of the “Green” and “Purple” teams are also reportedly irate.
We have been discussing how attacking free speech has become an article of faith for many on the left. That includes embracing corporate censorship and recently even good old-fashioned state censorship. It includes banning books and preventing opposing voices to be heard on campuses. Now, MSNBC national security analyst Frank Figliuzzi has called for Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson to face civil liability for their commentary on transgender policies or controversies after the recent tragic shooting in Colorado. It is part of a growing movement in the media in favor of imposing criminal or civil liability on opposing viewpoints — a call that is tantamount to sawing the very branch upon which journalists and analysts sit. Continue reading “MSNBC Analyst Calls for Liability for Boebert and Carlson … for the Colorado Shootings”
For those of us who have written about the Hunter Biden scandal and the family’s influence-peddling operation for years, it is routine to read media stories denying the facts or dismissing calls to investigate the foreign dealings. However, this weekend, the Associated Press made a whopper of a claim that there is no evidence even suggesting that President Joe Biden ever spoke to his son about his foreign dealings. I previously discussed how the Bidens have succeeded in a Houdini-like trick in making this elephant of a scandal disappear from the public stage. They did so by enlisting the media in the illusion. However, this level of audience participation in the trick truly defies belief.
In the shift of the left against free speech principles, there is no figure more actively or openly pushing for censorship than Hillary Clinton. Now, reports indicate that Clinton has unleashed her allies in the corporate world to coerce Musk to restore censorship policies or face bankruptcy. The effort of the Clinton-linked “Accountable Tech” reveals the level of panic in Democratic circles that free speech could be restored on one social media platform. The group was open about how losing control over Twitter could result in a loss of control over social media generally. For Clinton, it is an “all-hands on deck” call for censorship. She previously called upon foreign governments to crackdown on the free speech of Americans on Twitter.
In a stark warning from a reporter, Politico’s Sam Stein weighed into a dispute over the verification of a fake account for Senator Ed Markey (D., Mass.), who has demanded answers from Elon Musk. Liberals are using such verification problems to attack Musk for threatening to restore free speech protections to Twitter. When Musk mocked Markey’s letter, Stein ominously warned that it is “[a]lways risky to attack members of congress. Especially risky with Dems assured of Senate power. Curious play by Musk here. He has many interests before Congress.” For many of us, it was a chilling message coming from a reporter that you would be wise not to risk the ire of powerful politicians.
Below is my column in the Hill on the Georgia runoff and how media stories have focused on the runoff as a racist invention. As a long-standing advocate of runoffs, I view the majority requirement for election as not just an enhancement but an embodiment of democratic values. Indeed, with the mantra this election that “democracy is on the ballot,” one would think that both parties would support such runoffs not just in Georgia but throughout the country.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Are Runoffs Racist? The Media Coverage Ignores the Democratic Purpose of Runoffs”
Below is my column in the New York Post on why the self-described “giddy” White House might want to consider the impact of a loss of one or both houses of Congress. While many are still debating who will prevail in contested districts or states, the shift in power could produce its own “winners and losers.” Indeed, the President may find himself as giddy as all get out if he loses control of the House and possibly the Senate.
Here is the column:
Continue reading ““Giddy” as All Get Out? The Winners and Losers in a Shift in Control of Congress”
Below is my column in Fox.com on the impact of the likely GOP takeover of the House on the Hunter Biden scandal. Hunter Biden’s laptop is Washington’s Pandora’s Box. Opening up that laptop to greater public scrutiny could expose our local cottage industry of influence peddling.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Washington’s Pandora’s Box: The Opening of the Hunter Biden Laptop Could Expose the Cottage Industry of Influence Peddling”
President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that “I’m not going to change anything” after the midterm elections even with the possible loss of one or both houses of Congress. One thing that did not change is Biden’s continued suggestion that his political opponents are fascists or national security threats. Biden is now supporting an investigation into whether Elon Musk’s taking over of Twitter is a national security threat. Biden’s statement comes just a couple days after Musk’s call for supporters to vote for Republican control of Congress and the President attacking him for his plan to restore free speech protections on Twitter. Continue reading ““Worth Being Looked at”: Biden Supports Launching National Security Review of Elon Musk’s Twitter Purchase”
Below is my column in the New York Post on what a flipping of either (or both) houses might bring for President Joe Biden. While the President has cited his own impeachment as the danger of such a change, it may be the least of his worries. As we wait for the final tally on seats in both houses, here are three areas that represent a more serious threat to the President than removal from office.
Here is the column:
We have been discussing a series of false statements made by President Biden about election law, border agents, Second Amendment, gun capacity, and a variety of personal facts, including all of the falsehoods addressed on this blog earlier. Now, the Washington Post has awarded President Biden a “bottomless Pinocchio” for his repeating of clearly false facts — a distinction that he now shares with his predecessor former President Donald Trump. For those in the free speech community, it is a highly ironic moment given the President’s recent defense of censorship because citizens need “editors” to tell them what is real and what is not. Indeed, he asked, if we did not censor social media, “how will people know the truth?” Continue reading “Biden’s “Bottomless Pinocchio”: Washington Post Hits the President With Rare Rebuke for Repeated False Claims”
Below is a slightly expanded version of my Hill column on the widespread claims that democracy is in peril if the GOP prevails in the midterm elections. On the eve of the midterm elections, one would think that our constitutional system has only days to live. Indeed, on Fox Sunday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn declared “I’ve studied history all of my life. I taught history. And I’m telling you, what I see here are parallels to what the history was in this world back in the 1930s in Germany. This country is on track to repeat what happened in Germany when it was the greatest democracy going, when it elected a chancellor that then co-opted the media.” In other words, the Republicans are like Nazis about to overthrow democracy, an analogy to the rise of Adolph Hitler. It is notable that Democrats, including President Biden, are now arguing that the media is pro-Trump or coopted by the Republicans.
Here is the column:
Continue reading “Constitutional Defamation: Democrats, not Democracy, are in Danger this Election”
I have a column out this morning on the widespread claim by media and political figures that democracy may be lost if the GOP prevails in the midterm elections. The over-the-top rhetoric was recently captured in the unhinged claim of historian Michael Beschloss on MSNBC that a Republican win could lead not only to the end of history books and democracy but lead to the killing of our children. MSNBC later followed up with an interview with actor and Director Rob Reiner who seemed to struggle to outdo Beschloss in the apocalyptic predictions. Continue reading “Rob Reiner: Republicans Will Kill for Power and This may be our Last Election”
Elon Musk has not actually changed the “content moderation” policies at Twitter yet, but President Joe Biden went on a virtual rave on Friday over the prospect of free speech breaking out on a single social media site. As a type of censor-in-chief, Biden has led calls for censorship on social media, which have been largely heeded by companies like Facebook and Twitter. Now Biden is accusing Twitter of “spewing lies all across the world” by seeking to reduce one of the largest censorship systems in history. The President lamented that the influence of the media will be “de minimus.” He is a bit late on that front. Continue reading ““How Do People Know the Truth?”: Biden Unleashes Tirade Over Musk Restoring Free Speech Protections on Twitter”