Below is my column in Fox.com on the potentially historic change in policy at Meta to restore free speech protections. As one of the longest and loudest critics of the company over its censorship history, it is admittedly hard to trust. However, an alliance of Mark Zuckerberg with Elon Musk could prove the most important development for free speech
Here is the column: Continue reading “Meta Culpa: Zuckerberg Joins Musk in the Global Fight for Free Speech”
After a presidential campaign where both President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris pushed back on claims that they were trying to shut down much of the fossil fuel industry, Biden waited until the final days of his administration to ban oil and gas drilling over 670 million acres of America’s coastline. President-elect Donald Trump responded that“It’s ridiculous. I’ll un-ban it immediately. I have the right to un-ban it immediately.” It will likely be more difficult than a simple “un-ban” order. Environmental groups will likely push a “sue, baby, sue” campaign to counter Trump’s “drill, baby, drill.”
There is an interesting defamation case out of New York in which the Second Circuit upheld the dismissal of the lawsuit by Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam (NOI) against the Anti-Defamation League (“ADL”) and individual defendants Jonathan Greenblatt, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Rabbi Abraham Cooper. Not only did the court reject the claim that canceled speeches resulted from alleged defamatory statements, but it also noted that the statements about NOI are protected opinions. Continue reading “Farrakhan and Nation of Islam Lose Major Defamation Case”
Below is my column in the Hill on the sentencing this week of President-Elect Donald Trump in Manhattan. Judge Juan Merchan waited to schedule the hearing for just ten days before the inauguration, limiting the time available to appeal. His order suggests that, if there is any interruption or delay in his sentencing, he might follow the advice of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and suspend sentencing for four years, a terrible option that we previously discussed. One could call that passively aggressive, but it seems quite actively aggressive.
Here is the column: Continue reading “The Trump Sentencing: Curtain to Fall on Merchan’s Hamlet on the Hudson”
“This body and this nation has [sic] a territories and a colonies problem.” Those words from Del. Stacey Plaskett echoed in the House chamber this week as the delegate interrupted the election of the House speaker to demand a vote for herself and the representatives of other non-states. The problem, however, is not with the House but with Plaskett and other members in demanding the violation of Article I of the Constitution. Continue reading ““Does the Gentlelady Have a Problem?” : Yes, Delegate Plaskett Most Certainly Has a Problem”
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell is under fire this week for using the terrorist attack on Bourbon Street in New Orleans to attack the United States Army as a greater threat than those crossing our Southern border. The statement is a vintage example of why many are turning away from legacy or mainstream media, including MSNBC (which has lost nearly half its audience since the election). Continue reading “MSNBC’s O’Donnell: Veterans are a Greater Threat of Terrorism Than Those Crossing Over Border”
In California, Democrats are ringing in the New Year with a new push against voter identification. California Attorney General Rob Bonta has been hammering Huntington Beach because the city recently amended its municipal laws to require basic voter identification. While voters overwhelmingly support voter identification, Democrats in California recently passed a law making it a crime to ask for voter identification at polling places. Now, Bonta is asking for an appellate court to intervene to prevent Huntington Beach from asking for IDs before people vote.
Continue reading “California Rings in the New Year with New Push to Block Voter Identification”
The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is under fire this week after it censored a leading scientist, atheist, and board member, Jerry Coyne, a professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Chicago. The FFRF took down a Coyne column titled “Biology is not bigotry,” a critique of an earlier transgender column. The move followed objections from transgender activists and led to the resignation of biologist Richard Dawkins and Harvard University Professor Steven Pinker in support of Dr. Coyne and free speech. The FFRF board has decided to ring in the New Year by reinventing itself as a freedom from free speech foundation.
We often use the end of the year to do a quick review of the state of the blog. We will soon pass our 87,000,000 view mark and our community continues to grow rapidly around the world. As a mark of that growth, we are now staggering our periodic updates that used to occur with each new millionth marker since we are now surpassing a million such views on average in less than a month. Continue reading “State of the Blog: The Record Year of 2024 on Res Ipsa”
Happy New Year to everyone on our blog! We rang in 2025 at home in Virginia. The kids went to parties after dinner with us this year, so it was just Leslie and me. That was appropriate since New Year’s Eve is also our wedding anniversary. Twenty-seven years ago, Leslie and I eloped in Old Town Alexandria. (We used my high school ring for the wedding ring.) Continue reading “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!”
On this New Year’s Eve, billions of people will gather with friends to ring in 2025 with the hope of a better year to come. For the first time in many years, free-speech advocates have a reason to celebrate.
With 2024, we will say goodbye to one of the most reviled offices in the Biden Administration: The Global Engagement Center. I discuss the Center in my recent book, The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage as one of the most active components in the massive censorship system funded by the Biden Administration. The demise of the GEC is a good start. However, like weight loss resolutions, it will take much more of a commitment if we are going to restore free speech in the United States. It is time to make the ultimate resolution to rip out the censorship root and stem from our government. Continue reading “A New Year’s Resolution: Let’s Get the United States Out of the Censorship Business”
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent Wall Street Journal report on the Biden Administration’s resistance to experts who voiced support for the lab theory on the origins of COVID-19. As with many academics in higher education, government experts were warned not to question the natural or zoonotic theory. In the meantime, figures like Dr. Anthony Fauci said little to support other experts who were being censored and targeted for opposing views. Call it the Silence of the Labs. The effort to marginalize such figures continues this week as pandemic hawks circle Dr. Jay Bhattacharya in anticipation of his confirmation as head of the National Institutes of Health.
Here is the column: Continue reading “Silence of the Labs: How a Censorship Campaign Failed to Kill a COVID Origin Theory”
This morning, the nation is mourning the loss of one of the most genuinely decent men ever to sit in the Oval Office. Even for his critics, Jimmy Carter was a model of empathy and integrity as an American president. After his presidency, he proved an even greater role model, working tirelessly to help those without homes or hope. He gave us 100 years of a life committed to helping others and a lasting lesson on what it means to be truly a public servant. Continue reading “The Passing and Lessons of Jimmy Carter”
For those who opposed the censorship and cancel campaigns during the pandemic, Dr. Jay Bhattacharya became an iconic figure of resistance. Unfortunately, the same can be said of the anti-free speech movement and pandemic hawks. Bhattacharya, who co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration and was a vocal critic of COVID-19 policies, has been nominated as the next head of the National Institutes of Health. As I wrote this weekend in my column, the nomination was heralded by many as a turning point for the NIH. It is also a rallying cry for those who supported the earlier measures, as shown by a hit piece in Scientific American, accusing him of being a danger to the very lives of American citizens. Continue reading “Pandemic Hawks Circle Dr. Jay: Pundits Launch Attacks on Bhattacharya Ahead of his Confirmation Hearings”
There is an interesting criminal case out of Florida in which FedEx driver Latavion Lewis was charged with grand theft, illegal dumping, and an organized scheme to defraud. Yet, in this case, the grand theft was to throw out packages rather than deliver them. It is a type of Grinch Grand Theft charge that only raises questions about the handling of a certain case in 1966.