All factions, at certain points, succumb to the impulse to censor. But for the Democratic Party's liberal adherents, silencing their adversaries has become their primary project.
I'm grateful to you, Glenn. I would never recognize my own party now. I was a faithful Democrat in 2016 and I can't believe what has become of it. I can't believe we're living through this. What in the hell could they possibly be thinking? They're going to pressure Spotify to "cancel" Joe Rogan? They're completely insane.
I grew up in a union home. One of my parents was a union organizer. We always voted Democratic. I volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012. I voted for Jill Stein in 2016. I don't recognize this party anymore.
I was teacher and of course the unions supported the democratic party in the past, and that made sense, but it hasn't been the party of the working class for decades. Clinton pushed the party much further right, but by time he came into office he didn't have to push hard. It was going that way since Carter, or that is what Thomas Frank in his book Listen Liberal had to say and they're are many who will back him up.
Bill Clinton ended the Democrats being the party of the Working Class (actually.. Ronald Reagan). Clinton knew they couldn't win without corporate money, and he had ties to banking, so he moved the Democrats to the party of the Bankers, and Bankers ended up taking over the world, and since most bankers have enough money, they only crave more control. Here we are!
I'm fully aware of what Ronnie was. But his win prompted Democrats to shift how they needed to beat Republicans. Hence they moved to Corporate and banking money. Now they basically own backing and Pharmaceuticals.
I read Thomas Frank's book "Listen Liberal" and "What's the Matter with Kansas." a while back and he and others who have written on this issue push the shift toward the right for democrats back to the Carter years. Although I do know that Clinton really shifted the party it to the right. I know the democrats are no longer a party of the people as they once were. Before Trump people talked about the fact they sidelined their liberals and depended on corporate America to fund their campaigns which made their agenda top priority. I certainly recognize what you are saying and when Obama wanted to push Tpp the liberals were everywhere talking it down. Good! Now being a democrat is a good thing and means you adhere to liberal ideas and support a party that does as well, what a joke, a total sham.
Neither of you two have linked or cited a single fact or evidence to support your theories. This is not how you bring people into your way of thinking.
Try citing things. Try offering evidence to support your theories other than some over-educated book nerd.
Clinton made massive, coup-level changes to our way of life and to the Democratic Party. For the latter, he created the DLC and the Third Way -- both a death knell to everything the Democratic Party once represented. To the former, with the 1996 Telecom Act, he deregulated the broadcast/media industry permitting the current tight, impermeable consolidation of the entire mass media system, he pulled the rug out from under welfare recipients, he repealed Glass-Steagall, passed the 1994 federal crime bill ushering in the mass incarceration of American law-breakers.
Tried to like your post, but it won't let me...agree that the 1996 Telecom Act was the big one - it is the ROOT of the very argument we are having over censorship and concentration of media into hands of big money alone. Glass Steagall was up there in turning the stock market into a casino for speculation rather than investment.
I'm not familiar with all you stated here, some of it. He also backed NAFTA. Obama wanted to push the Tpp trade agreement and I remember liberals up in arms, and rightly so. Thanks for the info.
Yes, NAFTA, which moved our manufacturing base to countries with cheaper labor and left so many Americans jobless. I knew I'd left something important out - thanks.
Hard to believe but Nixon was the last "liberal" president - that is how bad it has gotten since the 70s. We have been back tracking the New Deal ever since.
Most people wouldn't agree that Nixon was a liberal, but I am deeply grateful to him. Although many say it was totally political and not heart felt, he instituted more environmental policies then any other president. He signed into law the Clean Air Act, etc. etc, and one I am very grateful for is the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and following that the no dumping act so our marine animals can live and thrive in clean water. I know there are many environmental problems, and things have not been followed through on, but no one else instituted so many significant environmental policies. Amen.
Hi Bert. I enjoy the comment section almost as much as the articles. I share your puzzlement, but I think I'm starting to "get it". For years, I could not understand why corporate America has become overwhelmingly Democratic, along with organized labor, academia, Hollywood and the media. It's because they are all elitists who want to dictate to us. And the Democrats have been eager to capitalize on authoritarianism. The GOP is not innocent either. It's why so many (in the GOP as well as Democrats) hated Trump. He correctly put his finger in their eye, and all us who voted for him must be demonized, marginalized and banished. Less understandable, however, is the phenomenon described aptly by Candace Owens, that of most blacks every four years buying into the same Democrat propaganda ("those Republicans are racists"), forgetting who made up the "Solid South", who ran the fire hoses, wielded clubs and police dogs, segregated the schools, segregated buses, segregated lunch counters, etc. Democrats are doing it still, starting in the schools and colleges, but under a different pretext: that whites "deserve" it. Then, and now, Democrats' motto is "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Unionized Florida teachers are forcing children without masks to go back home and not get into the indoctrination centers. DeSantis should call in the National Guards or have State Police with German Shepherds force those teachers to quit reenacting the debacle of segregation.
The time is ripe for all parents to have control of their education $$ and place their kids wherever they will get a decent education.
Agreed. When you look at our history objectively everything you say here about racism is true. This generation is so dumbed down in regard to history, they will never get it. They are still on the plantation of the Democrats.
I noticed that the BLM lady who stole millions from her cause moved into a mostly upper class white neighborhood, just like the Obama's.
Each group is run by leaders. The Democrats learned that you don’t have to buy off every member of an interest group; you just have to buy off the leaders of the groups that represent them. Look at what has happened to the Anti Defamation League under former Obama staffer Greenblatt.
I have faith in neither party. I rate politicians on how they vote and how they act when they are in the majority. I really don't like what we are getting right now. So at this point the Republicans might be the lesser of two evils. Always subject to change.
Bert, since you mentioned the "lesser of two evils", this was a comment on Matt Taibbi's blog:
"Our elections have acquired an unhealthy sameness, every cycle we get to choose between polio and syphilis. It makes me wish "common cold" would at least appear on the ballot..."
Of course unions should not have faith in R's. But unions do not represent workers - they sponge off workers. R's aren't perfect, nor are bosses, but both care more about workers than unions do. It's how Trump won. Ever heard of West Virginia?
Why would they have any faith in politicians whom tell them outright they will shut their jobs down? Whether miners or pipeline builders, that's a 'youre fired' from the ultimate boss.
Because if you look at history you can see the sordid relationship between Organized Labor, the Mafia, and the Democratic party. Once the DNC got the mafia out, they kept everything else. This is the 'spoils system' the DNC promotes and is why the Republican faction broke with the party.
Union Arbitrator household here. I think I know exactly what it is actually... Corruption doesn't know party lines. Most of the unions failed due to it, and now the nation at large will.
I still remember a question and answer with my dad 40 years ago when I asked him why all the other people at his union hall drove Mercedes' and Cadillac's and we had a crappy old beat up Ford Pickup Truck. His answer has always been with me... "I couldn't live with myself." As a former Marine, I don't think that he could indeed.
And corruption grows in direct proportion to government
Enjoyed a good discussion with a millennial the other day on this topic, who was batching about money in politics. I explained it this way. Pretend you start a little coffee shop, using city water, as does the big paper company down the street. The water commissioner decides to levy a tax in order to "green up" the water supply. Could be any reason
The tax increases the cost of a primary input for you and the big company. While you might throw up your hands, what do the P&G's of the world do? They take the guy out for a nice dinner, lube him up a bit, promise to support his political career.....if only he creates a friendly carve out. It won't have P&G's name on it. No one will really know about it. They might even need his incredible insight for an important upcoming leadership conference, right while his son applies to those big name schools. Say! They may even know someone who could you know, put in a good word
What options does the little guy have? He could join an industry lobby group, which then plays the same game, minus the winning percentage. How about house owner Joe schmo, the plumber, the teacher? They have zero influence. They have nothing to offer
The water guy quite likes the arrangement. He's learned insertion into everyday life brings more power, prestige and of course money. He's something of a local bigshot. Why stop there? A bigger position means more opportunity. Meanwhile, he's incentivized to further insert himself into daily life
Note that the lowest guy on the totem pole, who has no voice in the conversation and nothing to offer, gets stuck with the short straw (not to mention the tab). These are exactly the people you're describing. Ironically, some of these people will advocate the loudest for the initiative, because it aligns with the dogma in which they believe- wrapped in a nicely phrased package by the water commissioner himself
As for P&G? By strange coincidence, they happen to strongly support the water commissioner and his righteous campaign. You'll hear all about it on their social media channels
Crony capitalism is not capitalism. It's the opposite. Whenever you find yourself surprised by a corporate political stance, this is exactly what's behind it. Take a peek under covers. Warning- those aren't pillows (anyone else miss John Candy?)
The worst possible way of getting money out of politics is putting politics in money. It will not fall to regulation. In fact, regulation merely encourages it.
All these fancy sounding PC (vomit inducing) bills are nothing but a sophisticated version of the used car guy selling George Castanza Jon Voigt's used LeBaron convertible
Bill Clinton lost me in the 90s with his war against Serbia (both sides were awful) and his pro-business and anti-worker actions. He bombed Iraq within his first month in office. There has not been a left since at least that time. Instead we have only had lesser of two evils, both of which eventually have led us to the hell we now have - as it is evil on all sides. Time to give up voting for a party, backed by money, and instead vote for independent candidates backed only by ideas. Even the newly formed People's Party will be compromised in short time. Money always moves in and co-opts the people.
Clinton bombing Yugoslavia is was what got my attention too. It was a flagrant war of aggression against a country that had not attacked or threatened to attack the United States or any other member of NATO.
We had no business getting in the middle of a territorial dispute between Serbia's security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army. In any event, it was the KLA that instigated the war and Clinton took their side.
Interesting in light of Ukraine/Russia. Ukraine now claiming Russia bombed children's hospital. Maybe, maybe not. None of us can know unless we are on the inside in the governments involved.
I gave up on Obama after he appointed Rahm Emanuel and then after he acted as a despot who did not believe in the rule of law and executed Bin Laden. No, I was not a fan of Bin Laden, but whatever happened to legal process?
Obama killed little children with drones on just his third day in office. In Waziristan, wherever 'Waziristan' is? You know, to "protect America" or some shit.
Then he did it again, and again, and again. He only stopped because he left office. Trump not only continued with Lord Obama's drone kill programme, he doubled down on it, just as Obama doubled down on buh's drone war.
I don't know what 'biden' is doing, because the press in America no longer functions properly.
*a quick search for the quote returned a link to Huffpo. The article in question though, is now gone. Go figure.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - Orwell
M. Owen, I'm not challenging you; I really want to know your opinion:
Did DJT really continue BHO's drone strikes? Did the intelligence agencies trick him into it, by any chance?
I don't doubt you that the intelligence agencies, abetted by Party establishments, or at least control-freak elements hidden within the Parties, have engaged in what you claim over the last decades.
What I want to know is what you think can be done about it. Despite you thinking I'm an idiot, would you please tell me what we should do about this state of affairs.
I am really sorry. You did not deserve that. I am in Ottawa today/. We are under siege and I am in a bad mood.
I never did think you were an idiot.
Social Media is something I am trying to avoid as it only makes it worse. My local supermarket is closing early as people are screaming at people for wearing masks. My wife's job is in jeopardy.
I certainly don't want to make your situation worse by arguing, but over the last year I have come to believe that Social Media will actually be part of the solution. In any case, I have always valued your posts, as I judge you get the big picture, and you have knowledge of things that I do not. Also, I know my optimism can rub pessimists the wrong way, and pessimism is next to the skepticism the general public seems to be lacking today. Please keep posting when you can.
My brother is a long-hauler out of Michigan. He knows the pain a truckers' strike/blockade would cause, but judging by his community's sentiments, he thinks it's coming. I sure hope these gov'ts stand down in time to avoid it.
His cabinet picks gave him away, which is why I am of the view that a primary candidate should state their cabinet picks...this is where you learn who and what the candidate really supports. If Trump runs again, he should name his cabinet during the process - to see if he really will choose big money hacks or actual swamp drainers.
Unfortunately, not workable. Cabinet picks are not going to make irrevocable commitments that far ahead of an election. That has sometimes been a problem even with VP candidates. Also, suppose one or more of the cabinet picks changes his mind, after the election, what is the recourse then?
So what? Did OBL mastermind it? Was he just used by the "buhs"? Doesn't change what I said, except maybe we should have PUBLICLY water-boarded him to get to the truth.
It's ultimately our (the People's) fault for not so demanding.
But I certainly wish you luck proving your claims.
Btw, have THOSE "Republicans" captured DJT? (Or do the People finally wake up, USE DJT to reclaim control of the intelligentsia?)
There were plenty of warnings. Bill Clinton was one of the greatest misogynists of his time, but exceeded by his wife HRC. Oh, and the 1994 Crime Bill ("bring THEM to heel".) (Who was "them"?) Then there was Barack "I'm really good at killing people" Obama who revealed his true (lack of) character long before 2012. For example, his serial lying about what Citizens United actually said.
We were told over and over again, that if were not for "Russian interference" Hillary would have run.
If so why did she not run in 20? That fact is all we need to know. No one in power or who is possession of the facts believes that ridiculous lie. Hillary lost because she's a loser. Hillary lost because not enough people voted for her.
Here’s a list of all the speeches for which Clinton received a fee of $500,000 or higher, including the year, location, host and actual fee:
2003 -- Japan, $500,000 Sakura Asset Management (Japanese finance corporation) (A note: This speech was canceled, but the fee went to Clinton’s presidential library foundation);
2008 -- California, $500,000, Power Within (life coach Anthony Robbins’ brand);
2010 -- Russia, $500,000, Renaissance Capital (Russian finance corporation);
2010 -- United Arab Emirates, $500,000, Novo Nordisk (Danish pharmaceutical company);
2011 -- Nigeria, $700,000, THISDAY (newspaper);
2011 -- Austria, $500,000, Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation (Austrian nongovernmental organization);
So in the time Clinton left the White House in January 2001 and when his wife stepped down from secretary of state in February 2013, Bill Clinton gave 13 speeches for which he made more than $500,000. Eleven of those occurred since January 2009, when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state. Only two happened before then.
im the same as you, voted nader bernie etc etc, but something happened to liberal brains when that orange man descended his escalator in 2015...was like an extreme psychic fracturing that led to a monumental nervous breakdown (only exacerbated by covid and floyd) and shows no signs of abating. it's like some sort of millenarian fever that most likely ends up burning down everything in its way....
i really dont see how this ends (or when), but seeing glenn put it all together like that is scary...
The "left" at the end of the day is an extension of the state. Their entire platform and policy has for decades proven this. Oh shit you dont agree with the state? Fuck you, we will throw you in camps like Stalin did.
The ultimate evolution of the DNC in America is the very communist/socialist regimes they claim to hate. It is the only possible outcome when everything they do reflects building up government at every single turn.
The government isn't the solution, it's the problem.
Icono...there you go, making with the Simplistic-s, so everyone can understand the direction, like " building up the government at every single turn"...yep.
In 2016 for example, when the state of CA legalized cannabis for recreational use, via proposition 64, you changed a mostly self-regulated industry into a state controlled one.
What was the result? A complete destruction of the market and a takeover by the big corporate interests, driving out small business owners and limiting the options that customers had.
Steinwetz said that in 2015, Flow Kana worked with 800 retailers out of approximately 5000 in the market at the time. Today, according to the Bureau of Cannabis Control, there are only 830 storefront retailers in all of California. Meanwhile, active cultivation licenses are up 35%. There are less businesses able to sell the increasing amount of product created by more cultivators than ever before.
It gets crazier than that. NJ had a referendum in 2020 which passed with strong support. Legalization law was passed in February 2021. There still has not been a single ounce of rec pot legally sold in NJ. Bureaucratic foot-dragging at its finest. Then there are the terms of the law itself: growing plants for yourself remains illegal, but posession of up to SIX ounces is legal.
Back in "the day" I did a little small time pot dealing, just enough to provide me with a free personal stash and maybe a couple of drinks at the local night club hot spot. I NEVER had that much grass on me at any given time to do that, and today's stuff is far more potent than what I had to sell. If you're walking around the neighborhood with 6 ounces on you, you are supplying that neighborhood (not that I have an issue with that :)
The media lost its grip on us somewhere in 2016. I think it was due to Bernie (and to a lesser extent Trump)'s rise and the media's inability to control the narrative.
The Shock doctrine is no longer effective. Too many shocks too close together. Now that demagoguery against differing points of view aren't working, we bring in censorship.
Yes remember in 2016 the DNC had fake primaries and let their voters think Bernie could be a candidate but in reality it was already HRC?
Then they did this in 2020 again when Bernie won the first couple of primaries and again the second Biden won ONE, everyone fell in line?
Say what you want about the shithead RNC but they at least actually gave their voters a choice during the primaries instead of a pretend one. Anyone who doubts it just look at Trump and how he treated Jeb LOL
What I don't get is how CNN is still on the air after rigging the debate for Hillary. It's one thing to have a POV bias, another entirely to actively engage in cheating. I have little use for Sanders but that is irrelevant, CNN got no punishment for it's actions, the only punishment it's ever received was from defamation lawsuits.
"Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party was considering amending its rules to ensure its candidates do not attend the debates because of concerns about "whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair and impartial forum for presidential debates.""
Part of me thinks that was due to Hillary's inability to see a woman have a reasonable chance of winning the presidency because she, Hillary, could not.
Yes, for many here it was the case that they lost us in 2015-2016. But the most important thing is that they are slowing losing others over time. It's classic you can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time... we're slowly working thru those in the middle getting it. Many with less ability for independent thought are stuck, and some are just partisan... but eventually there is too much suspension of distrust required for almost everyone to sustain the charade.
And, of course, our schools are hard at work turning out legions of bipedal ruminants who can't tell the difference between crital thinking and critical race theory...
Ironically, history shows that democracy dies, not when a blowhard like Trump stumbles into the presidency, but when there's extreme wealth inequality, when the middle class is eviscerated, and when it becomes more difficult for the poor to rise into the middle class. Those real factors have become grotesquely amplified by the lockdowns.
Yet the media is still obsessed with Trump.
An aside: I saw Don Lemon's first interview with Trump as a candidate - it was a total softball interview done for ratings it seemed.
More than this - the DNC and HRC were funding the DJT campaign with donation after donation in the wikileaks. When this bit was released, Russiagate came in to distract the people from the reality and it worked.
The underlying causality wasn't Trump, really. It's the social media AI and new media business model where outrage sells even more than before. Trump, who literally trained in playing the heel in professional wrestling, basically leveraged this landscape to rocket him to the top of the national consciousness. But make no mistake that the tech and media landscape, especially AI bots regularly finding the things that cause outrage to drive profit and engagement, underlie it all and will and are perpetuating it all now. The AI algos of social media are the most important part because all of the left journos are on social media and were among the first and most affected victims, so it spills over into their writing and work even more.
Former FB exec Chamath Palihapitiya would agree with you.
The linked article is more than 4 years old. The situation is even worse today.
"A former Facebook executive has said he feels “tremendous guilt” over his work on “tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works”, joining a growing chorus of critics of the social media giant.
Chamath Palihapitiya, who was vice-president for user growth at Facebook before he left the company in 2011, said: “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.”"
It all clicked for me finally when I saw "The Social Dilemma" the documentary. In particular, I noticed that the Pew data on how the left moved more left and the right moved more right had a time element. The left moved left from 2010-2015 and the right moved right from 2016-. That is consistent with their relative timeline of uptake of social media. Before that I couldn't figure out why our country seemed to be leaving reasoned discourse behind.
In the future, we may find that those that enjoy longform content and make better, more reasoned decisions clash with those who absorb their content in emotional short bursts but have the strength of the Borg due to their connectedness. Strength of the Borg, but the ability to reason of a swamp frog.
It's not only the DNC. It's all politicos, including the supposed neutral ones. Trump was not a member of their caste, who broke through the firewall of the 2-party oligopoly. Anyone in this ecosystem -the "journos," the "consultants," the "NGOers," the "bureaucrats," the "GoodGov-ers," the "beltway gossipers," the "NEA funders," the "Kennedy Center" types, EVERYONE who makes their living on Government Largess saw the writing on the wall that the Barbarians were at the Gates. So they started punishing the Barbarians who voted for the guy.
Of course, after 4 years of being yelled at, they literally breached the Gates, to take selfies and lecterns. Which was spun as an attempted revolution, complete with zip ties and everything.
a mass hysteria event mostly propped up by the left, using it to their advantage to take, take, take and hold more power. I haven’t recognized the “liberal” party in decades.
One of the most effective ways that power controls people is to divide them over some minor issues that are meaningless to them. They then sit back and laugh and laugh at us.
not really. they just happen the be the ‘party’ in power, though we really know it’s just a uniparty used to distract and divide, as you’ve said. I don’t stand with a single one of our politicians because none of them stand for us. we need to vote out every incumbent and reboot the gov.
The scariest thing Trump ever did (to the uniparty) was talk about moving government offices away from DC and spreading them around the country to places with lower costs of living as a means of lowering costs. The response to that trial balloon said everything you need to know.
The Left has wanted censorship for years. Trump just shined a light on them. I went to law school 1983-86 and a guest lecturer from the philosophy department in our first year advocated for "speech codes" on campus to ban "offensive speech" (his own?) The Left has NEVER believed in the Bill of Rights in its entirety. Their mantra forever has been that the 2nd, 9th and 10th amendments have no meaning. That's 30% of it. According to their religion, only the courts "give us" our rights. Law school itself is a brainwashing exercise, especially federal tax, teaching that judges, not the constitution, are the ultimate law. Legal commentators preach BS like the "living constitution" - to be twisted at their whim. It's how we got to where we are with Roe. Even Ginsburg disapproved of it.
Good observation on the Orange Man. In the beginning of his term his oral attacks on progressives were kinda humorous, one could see it as a response that NO ONE else made hence forth, and chuckle. But after a while it got really ugly and their anger grew and blossomed into outrage and attack. They organized on Twitter and learned how to respond, as a collective mass of humanity. Now they are using Twitter and other tools to wage war on their all of their enemies. I’m a free speech person and don’t let people like Joe Rogan bother me, he has had some very good interviews too (Bari Weiss and Ira Glasser). But the mob is using Twitter to attack Spotify to erode its market capitalization - that’s economic espionage and crosses the line of civility in my opinion. I have a few friends that think this way and I have distanced myself, hoping their fever passes.
Joe has always had an uncategorizable, eclectic mix of guests. The only reason the liberal media has had any traction at all in smearing Joe is because followers of the liberal media are profoundly incurious. How many have gone to his site and simply scrolled through the episodes to see precisely who Joe is talking to? How many have ever listened to Joe parse out difficult and contentious topics in science, economics and politics by challenging his guests and asking probing questions? Joe is a very smart guy. His critical thinking skills are excellent. He works hard to be well-read and prepared for the intellectuals he talks to, in addition to the MMA fighters and comedians (whose convos I avoid because I find them boring), and the fascinating adventurers, explorers, extreme sports aficionados, inventors, artists, politicians and iconoclasts…
Your comment that “he has had some very good interviews too” seems to imply that “Joe is largely a purveyor of garbage but once in a while he manages to have a normal guest who is liberal and who I respect.” If that’s all you can come up with, it’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t do justice to the skill, discipline and intelligence it takes to do what Joe does for a living.
Good thoughts, I get Joe’s skill and do agree, he is very talented. I’ll have to take some time to listen to some more of his podcasts, to broaden out the net so to say.
well stated. For me, his best shows are with people I often have never heard of, or on a topic I know little about. I avoid his MMA eps, because Im not a big UFC guy, and the ones with his comedian buddies.
avoiding the comedians means that you're avoiding the best content. The only podcasts worth listening to are hosted by comedians... Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget RIP, Marc Maron, Artie Lange (still ticking)...
I love comedians. I love stand-up. But the best content? That hasn't been my experience. Now, as a general matter, a podcast hosted by a comedian is the definition of Joe Rogan's podcast, and I find Joe's interviews very interesting a good portion of the time. Although I haven't listened to him in a long time, Marc Maron was somebody whose insights I enjoyed and who had a very intense interview style.
However, when Joe gets together with his comedian buddies for a marathon schmooze, even if they're comedians whose stand-up I enjoy, like Tom Papa or Jim Gaffigan, I have found those episodes really dull. Most comedians are most interesting when they are doing comedy, not talking about the mundane aspects of their lives.
There are a few exceptions: Bill Burr, and of course Dave Chappelle, who I could listen to all day, he's so smart.
James Lindsay is much more the reason that Biden and Democrats want Rogan canceled than the COVID doctor episodes. Lindsay spells out in full what is afoot with the "progressive" Soros funded agenda.
No. I think your best bet is to scroll through his podcasts, read the descriptions of his guests, follow up with a search and see if the guest intrigues you. Keep in mind that Joe is not really a political animal, believe it or not. He is a heterodox generalist with a wide range of interests.
Also, so many famous people talk to Joe that it’s possible somebody you admire has already spoken to him and you might hear a good conversation that way if you search for his name in combination with theirs.
You missed that Trump also demolished GOP lunatics. But soon after winning he selected "his generals" (one worse than the other), Pompeo, bible-idiot Ben Carson, Bolton -- an incompetent clown...
PS: Shame on you --- Bari Weissis a racist who adores apartheid and "kill-all-Palestinians" extremists...
Please note that Bari Weiss is a racist who OPENLY adores her "hero" - a well-known Likudnik racist, Nathan Sharansky.
She is also infamous for badmouthing the high-integrity Tulsi Gabbard "a Russian asset" called by repulsive and corrupt Hillary...
Always remember the brilliant and uniquely Tulsi's straightforward response:
Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies.
I subscribe to Weiss’s Substack and find much, but not all, of her content to be very good. I’m also a Jew and I disagree profoundly with her position on the Palestinians. Her podcasts are often excellent. For instance, her recent conversation with Turkish Imam Abdullah Antepli on the topic of anti-semitism in the Muslim world was surprising, profound and quite moving. And he criticized to her face the Israelis’ position on the Palestinians. FWIW, she did not argue with him.
Yes, considering the billions in aid that the Palestinians have been given, had they used this money to build their nation's infrastructure, provide good education and health care, and in general create a modern, democratic state, as Israel has done, they would be living in a society resembling those in 1st world nations. Instead, they have supported leadership that is corrupt, self-serving, and only interested in maintaining control while supporting terrorism and other insidious activities, while enriching the leadership and impoverishing the Palestinian people.
They have also used cement and fuel for smuggling and blind rocket launches. Their idiotic leaders put them in a no win situation, you give them aid and they attack, you withhold aid and they attack.
Trump derangement syndrome is real. The belief is that the white working class voted for Trump and listen to Joe Rogan. The white working class support white male patriarchy, which is evil and must be suppressed. Now we have Rogan derangement syndrome.
"something happened to liberal brains when that orange man descended his escalator in 2015"
Trump with his talk of "the swamp", "fake news", the "deep state", how politicians could be "bought off", and his criticism of Bush and his lies to start the Iraq war and the "establishment" was a threat to the establishment - left and right sides of it (as if there's a difference). People forget that the "conservative" establishment hated him too. Anyway, they mobilized corporate media against him with non-stop smears, like they now use against all their enemies whether Joe Rogan, Tulsi Gabbard or Bernie Sanders (until he came to heel like an obedient dog). It should not be called "Trump derangement syndrome", it should be called "CNN derangement syndrome". Leftists were deranged by corporate media, not by Trump.
"Religion" or "mass hysteria" ??!! -- it is more like self-preservation...
Everywhere a puzzling and completely irrational DNC/media/security state propaganda.
BUT -- there is a VERY rational reason for that. We are dealing here with BIG Lie(s)
ANY, even rudimentary, discussion would unravel the lie(s) -- hence total censorship and prompt defamations are the ONLY choice for the immensely corrupt Deep State cabal.
PS: A sad thing is that GOP lunatics are equally repulsive and dangerous -- happily grunting together while feeding at same donor troughs.
I've been talking with Populist Republicans lately. We don't agree on everything but they are a lot more sane than the Democrats and establishment Republicans. Check out VivaBarnesLaw.locals.com. They have a lot of good info on their website. I especially like when Barnes posts legal briefs on important issues of the day. Some of the info is free, some is for paid subscribers ($5 mo). They know I'm a liberal and all of them are very nice to me. They are very supportive of civil liberties and most are anti-war. Occasionally someone will post something really partisan and I cringe but overall I've enjoyed talking with them.
I look forward to Barnes on the Vivafrie podcast every Sunday. Barnes is a libertarian who objects to authoritarian Republicans. My understanding is that left leaning libertarians have more in common with right leaning libertarians like Barnes then we have with the authoritarians on the left. The question is will the Republican Party understand that a lot of people are saying "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the party left me" and move toward a more free populist Republican Party? Or will they get drunk on all the new voters they have and move towards an authoritarian government that is just as bad as what we have now.
Fair question. There is a big chance the RINO/war hawk/anti-abortion wing will continue to dominate. The party needs to become much more libertarian, and if so it could kick butt and have some crediblity. They need to learn that their beloved heroes in the security state actually loathe them, and spy/shill for the dems at every chance. And that the constitution did not give government the authority to regulate women's bodies. That's the right stand on abortion. Not what "the bible" says. And not what Roe says.
That is an interesting question coming from someone who pays a subscription fee to GG. Anyone from the Bush Administration that GG has written about, such as the Cheneys. I would call authoritarian. Barnes was just on Vivafrie to complain about Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham. Here is the latest episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33izK9r5-nE. Anyone who voted for the Patriot Act is authoritarian. Power corrupts, the Dems are going way too authoritarian with their current power, which will cause a swing towards Republicans. Will the Republicans see the shift as a call for freedom, or will it become a power shift towards the Cheney's style of leadership. For expert information on Republican authoritarians, follow Barnes on YouTuble and locals, and read past GG articles.
-- DNC oligarchs (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) are even WORSE (CORRUPTION, censorship, they concocted Russia-gate hoax, torture of Julian Assange, Daniel Hale’s persecution for Obama’s drone crimes, $16B Haiti-corruption under Hillary/Obama – Biden-family corruption pales in comparison)
The ONLY solution – vote THIRD party – now and forever.
ALWAYS vote – but VOTE for a Third (or fourth, fifth..) party – at ALL levels, especially at LOCAL levels (vote OUT each and every incumbent).
“If you always vote for the lesser of two evils, you will always have evil, and you will always have less.”
I voted for the Green party in 2016 & 2020 but that doesn't prevent me from talking to the populist Republicans. There are a lot of good people on VivaBarnesLaw.locals.com I'd love to see Glenn go on one their sidebars to talk with them. It would make for great viewing and it would worry the hell out of the establishment. LOL
BTW a lot of them like Glenn Greenwald and I'm not the only liberal over there. There are others. I really hope we can combine forces to defeat the crazies.
I'm a conservative and like Greenwald because he is consistent. He blasted national surveillance under Bush the Younger, under Obama, under Trump and under Biden. He does not make exemptions based on political party or even personal likeability. I value Greenwald over people such as Hannity as a result, when something is wrong, it is wrong for all, when something is right, it is right for all, it isn't just right or wrong depending whom is in power.
-- DNC oligarchs (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) are even WORSE (CORRUPTION, censorship, they concocted Russia-gate hoax, torture of Julian Assange, Daniel Hale’s persecution for Obama’s drone crimes, $16B Haiti-corruption under Hillary/Obama – Biden-family corruption pales in comparison)
-- The ONLY solution – vote THIRD party – now and forever.
-- ALWAYS vote – but VOTE for a Third (or fourth, fifth..) party – at ALL levels, especially at LOCAL levels (vote OUT each and every incumbent).
“If you always vote for the lesser of two evils, you will always have evil, and you will always have less.”
Yeah, the RINOs and lifers (often one in the same) are SJWs with boxing gloves on as opposed to brass knuckles, a slightly less revolting version of the same thing.
Establishment liberals are still fully in power. They pull the strings of monopoly media, woke corporations, big tech, the deep state, academia and the DNC. The mob left cheers them on, tweets but ultimately gets nothing but led around by the nose.
There are a lot of leftists who support free speech & civil liberties. It's the establishment not the leftists who are driving the authoritarian agenda.
I was inspired by JFK to become a liberal Democrat in 1960. I was inspired by Nancy Pelosi to become a liberal independent in 2009. My position didn't change, but my party did. It used to stand for tolerance, but now it stands for intolerance. Any difference with a single jot or tittle of the illiberal vitriol which spills naturally from a national Democrat's mouth is grounds for canceling. Go ahead and cancel me. I'd feel honored.,
Bill, like you I didn't leave the party, the party left me. But it began in 2000 when I attended the Third International Conference on Vaccinations. It was parents, doctors, scientists who gathered to discuss vaccination safety and science. The key note speaker was Republican congressman Dan Burton from Indiana whose grandchild reacted to multiple vaccinations in one visit--many loaded with mercury. I was sitting next to one of the conference organizers and asked her, "Where are the Democrats?" Her response, "There aren't any." Twenty two years later--"There aren't any." Democrats are now the party of Big Pharma.
I live in Oregon and RFK Jr. is more respected by Republicans than Democrats. The party left me. Now I view Democrats and democrats with the contempt they deserve.
I've heard that the midterms might turn into a political blood-bath for the Ds. That would be fitting.
Meanwhile Niel Young and Joni Mitchell can take their irrelevant music and shove it. Joe Rogan with a little help from his friends, might just save our democracy from the totalitarian-minded extremists also known as progressives, liberals, democrats.
Only flu vaccines still contain Thimerosal (ethylmercury), a safe preservative in use since the thirties.
Why do all the people who "worry" about vaccines have zero care about real risks like carcinogenic home cleaning products? Or driving around in cars for that matter, an activity vastly more risky than getting a vaccine?
Bill, we disagree, so how about the medical ethical principle of informed consent guide us to accept or decline an invasive medical procedure which congress ruled as unavoidably unsafe because of the limitations of science.
I think the distrust of the people who make the vaccines is a factor along with the continuous flow of money and staffers from big Pharma to the government officials and back again. The fact of them being mandatory is very troubling. The flu vaccine has always been optional.
So true. I work in healthcare. Just look at the number of Americans who die of heart disease—about 1 in 5—mostly self-induced by an atrocious diet, smoking, lack of exercise, poor sleep…yet, vaccines are deadly???
After 911 - Americans, now in terror of flying, took to their cars in droves. Driving is vastly more dangerous than flying, and so a statistical analysis showed that there were 1595 "extra deaths" as a result.
Most people are really terrible at evaluating real risk. Dan Gardner did a great book about Risk, and how most fail utterly at rationally evaluating it.
Bingo. The people whom wear masks when alone in cars out of terror of Covid probably don't give a second thought of driving behind a diesel truck, passing someone on a non-divided highway or making a rolling stop.
I think most vaccine fear is due to ignorance. MRna vaccines weren’t invented in 2020; they were being researched for 20-odd years before Covid, unlike what some people have stated. Like all exogenous products that we swallow/inject, there are side effects, just like many people have serious and sometimes fatal reactions to bee stings or peanuts, which are as “natural” as one can get. In most cases, it’s the person’s unfortunate excessive immune response to an antigen, not the actual vaccine or drug, just as some otherwise healthy individuals died from Covid due to producing an internal “cytokine storm” that killed the host.
While I agree with a good portion of what you said, I’m a huge fan of vaccines. I think vaccines and clean water have significantly reduced morbidity and mortality over the years. I think hospitals should have the right to turn away Covid-positive patients who refuse vaccination. So, don’t mandate vaccines but allow hospitals the freedom to turn such patients away. In 2020-21, I had several (vaccinated) patients whose elective procedures were postponed by weeks or months due to the shortage of beds because they were filled mostly with unvaccinated patients (90-95%), so the Covid vaccines certainly work. No one said they would be 100% effective, but they are nevertheless highly effective at reducing hospitalization due to Covid. As for Netflix and sitting on the couch…sometimes, after a rough day at work, watching John Wick shoot up the neighborhood is quite the stress reliever, and I’m a fan of stress relief. Lol.
The irony is that in todays political climate, JFK would be considered a moderate Republican given his policies, perhaps even Trump like given the women, albeit he would not be one for 'mean tweets.'
I think a part of it has to do with the same power-hungry, war-mongers in power, though that doesn't explain how the DNC embraced censorship. In the late 90s, they moved to the political right because of the right wing's long-held belief in the goodness of the armed forces and the belief that the US was a force for good in the world.
Afghanistan fell into their lap with 9/11 and they expanded it to Iraq. I initially supported Iraq as I was 18 at the time and knew of Hussein's history of invading other countries and gassing his own people. However as time passed and more wars were initiated with the same 'goals' as Afghanistan and Iraq in Libya and Syria, the right wing began to sour on the war mongers.
In 2016, with the frenzy by the DNC to prevent Trump from entering office by any means necessary. His refusal to enter any new wars and attempts to withdraw from current ones angered the war mongers. With the DNC's Russia hype and demands for increased security and censorship, the war mongers moved over to the left, which is why you have the idiocy going on in Ukraine.
Edit: The rest of it has to do with the paranoia of Russiagate.
I know that, you know that, most people on here know that, but for the 'hardcore DNC' types, they actually believe Russia is behind everything that the legacy press does not endorse. Mass paranoia which fuels their demands for censorship.
For future reference, you can truncate the URL (web address) after ".html". The rest of it, beginning with '?', is information used to track the link (or something like that), and it's not needed by others.
It's one thing to be a useful idiot and push a hoax for your boss, it's another entirely to lack critical thinking skills and buy into it hook, line and sinker.
Joe Rogan is not right wing, he just honestly expresses his thoughts and opinions and regularly has guests from the left like Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders and other leftists should speak up for Joe LOUDLY, it's about time for them to show some courage and last chance to do something useful before they are cancelled too.
The liberal establishment is scared that democrats and leftists will watch his show so they are running a smear campaign.
The absence of support is evidence of non-support. The silence of "creators" in literature and art is deafening. Yet, Rogan has constantly pulled his punches and thus contributed heavily to his precarious position. Like, he said "this guy [Biden] can't be president." Then Rogan went on to talk about hunting, fishing and the UFC. He could have made a difference, but stepped back - did not want to "help" Trump. So now we have a guy who does not know his name, forgets that he is president, thought he was running for the Senate, and, before he lost his marbles, was in bed with the banks and given to groping minor girls (check out the video of him with Chris Coons's daughter in front of the Senate). "Handsy" Joe. "Those Joe Biden shoulder massages" as Obama called them.
Rogan is an entertainer not a pundit. If he goes partisan he will lose half his viewers and half his influence. He focuses on "issues" more than politics, educating people instead of of making them stupid like fake news does.
In theory, and "once upon a time", that might have been true. But he's already lost half his audience. He wants to be friends with everybody. He refers to himself as a "leftie". But the Left tolerates no dissent from their pieties. Apologizing to Neil Young will only be seen as evidence of guilt. The Left won't want to shake hands, come around and say he's a good guy after all.
I was disappointed he apologized but he is under the thumb of a big corporation, like free speech itself, the left and 90% of the GOP.
edit - just watched Rogan's video statement and there's nothing wrong with it. Fake news wants to play it like a huge apology and claim a victory - that's why they're called "fake news". Monopoly media is going down the drain, nothing can stop it. Rogan will continue to pick up the viewers who jump ship.
Obviously you don't follow Greenwald. He's been Tweeting this for months: "Polling data shows an enormous partisan difference on the question of censoring the Internet. Democrats overwhelmingly favor censorship by Big Tech and by the Government. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose it. Those are facts." Including today, he Tweeted that.
I can't believe Joe Rogan used the n-word so many times. What a dumbass, he's no better than anyone else. That's part of the reason so many people like him. Stop using the n-word and please keep making those fucking podcasts because we don't have anyone else. Go Joe.
I'm right there with you Sasha. They have lost their minds. I've been a Democrat since the early 70s. I fought against the Moral Majority and now we have a Moral Majority on the left. I feel like Alice through the Looking Glass.
Funny thing about these rock stars - pretty sure they never tried to de-platform another rock star out of concern their lifestyle might be promoting health threats like heroin, LSD, and other drugs countless people have died from.
Instead, they wrote songs about the tragedies and pathos and did what they could via personal relationships. (Young did admit unapologetically some unspecified drug use.)
So I'm wondering why Mitchell or Young didn't attempt to initiate conversations and a relationship with Rogan. Not as "superiors" but as open-minded peers seeking to understand first of all. (A Mitchell-Rogan jam session conversation would've been fascinating.)
We're so eager today to "drone" others: to keep our distance. We don't want conversations. We want to denounce, shun, and inflict punishment from afar. This dehumanizes all: accusers, accused, and media.
And, I suspect, it provides something of a high for the participants.
As to your question "why Mitchell or Young didn't attempt to initiate conversations and a relationship with Rogan": "to ask that question is to answer it". Judge Learned Hand
Yep, I told my comfortably smug upper middle class friends a couple of years ago that this was not their father's Democrat party. For some the penny has not yet dropped but it is only a matter of time.
Well, one thing's for sure...we know that Chelsea is, without doubt, Bill and Hillary's offspring. Just like her parents, she lacks the same gene that allows them/her to detect and feel irony, hypocrisy, and shame.
"Apparently, this political heiress — who is one of the world's richest individuals by virtue of winning the birth lottery of being born to rich and powerful parents, who in turn enriched themselves by cashing in on their political influence in exchange for $750,000 paychecks from Goldman Sachs for 45-minute speeches, and who herself somehow was showered with a $600,000 annual contract from NBC News despite no qualifications — believes she is in a position to accuse others of "grifting.” She also appears to believe that — despite welcoming convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to her wedding to a hedge fund oligarch whose father was expelled from Congress after his conviction on thirty-one counts of felony fraud — she is entitled to decree who should and should not be allowed to have a writing platform."
...Glenn took the gloves off, i hope hes ready for the clinton smear campaign to begin...i like his chances, just needs to make sure he never does anything alone, or he may accidentaly commit suicide.
I'm actually surprised the DNC, along with its apparatchiks in the MSM, hasn't managed to "win" her her mom's old Senate seat in NY. Then again, the Legion of Doom (just not the same since Wasserman-Schulz was forced to fall on her pen knife) is seeding the cauldron with wool of bat and tongue of dog in preparation for Hillary's third failed attempt at proving the Russians, and their facebook allies, wrong. Perhaps Chelsea could be president-elects VP in 2024. Let the death rattles commence!
We are told, (over and over again) that the much beloved psychopath Hillary Clinton only lost to Trump because of "RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE!". If so then why did she not run against Trump last time, and why will she not run in 2024? hmmm
At one time i think the plan was to run her for Nita Lowey's House seat. Chelsea has no gift for communication whatsoever, i can't see her winning any big seat.
As for trying to run Hillary again - this is a party that has absolutely no one and nothing. All the Jurassics are planning to run again too. Pelosi, Biden or Clinton, Clyburn, Hoyer...
At least the Repubs give their fresh blood some airtime.
If I'd have come to you in 1980, and told you that in 40 years time Joe Biden would be POTUS...you'd have laughed me out of the room, then called the police. Never, EVER, underestimate the DNC's ability to do the wrong thing, at the right time. BTW, the same goes for the RNC. If you need proof, look no further than the cartoonish recall election in California.
It's amazing to see rockstars in their prime like Yang, Gabbard, Sinema -- all with fresh ideas -- smeared & snubbed by the establishment. Meanwhile, the geriatric class -- in cognitive decline -- stays comfortably in power.
Nancy Pelosi - 81
Diane Feinstein - 88
BIll Pascrell - 85
Grace Napolitano - 85
Eddie Bernice Johnson - 86
Jim Inhofe - 87
Richard Shelby - 87
Chuck Grassley - 88
Don Young - 88
Maxine Waters - 83
Eleanor Holmes Norton - 84
Jim Clyburn - 81
Patrick Leahy - 81
Why, it's almost as if there's a ruling class protected by the mainstream media whose job is to shill for it.
(Here's an elderly Congresswoman struggling to park)
By NOT stepping aside they are assuring that at some point the Democrats will be left with NOTHING and no-one to carry the torch. The entire Party will be left in the hands of incompetent losers like Adam Schiff and other distasteful, arrogant and hubris riddled "leaders." This will probably be the end to that corrupt band of thieves and power brokers. Good riddance can't come soon enough. BTW you left out Maxine Waters the 83 year old motormouth.
The same people whom oppose term limits because it interferes with their racket. If the FBI wasn't so corrupt, I'd suggest a RICO investigation of political lifers.
I hear you. Unfortunately, our "system" is designed to prevent any third parties from gaining any real political traction, and posing any real, actual threat to the status quo.
I blame you for not voting against the Democrats. By not voting for the only Party that could defeat them, you are ,in effect, increasing the Democrats chance of continuing their Police-Statism.
Yes in terms of money and privilege she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but in terms of growing up with people of character she really was short changed. Imagine your parents, thieves and murderers? Imagine your mother laughing when she heard Gaddafi was dead, sodomized by sword, and was the lead in destroying a country, and it's people, and all based on lies? Not to imply she was not complicit in many, if not all of our wars.
A back-handed compliment (to posters here) if I ever heard one. (I couldn't resist the tease, M. Stephen Sanford. I enjoy your posts, and even agree with most!)
The fact that she accepted a $600,000 per year salary from a "news" outlet without a lick of experience and seemed to accomplish NOTHING while employed there would indicate that she knew that she was being hired to BUY the influence of her parents. This was very obvious and yet the media said little about it.
This type of grift gave rise to the Hunter Biden syndrome where by bribes and payoffs can be channeled thru the children and relatives of elected officials. The DOJ is complacent and encourages this type of criminal activity with its' complete "hands off" policies---except of course if that politician is NOT part of the D.C. establishment.
The leftists corrupt EVERYTHING that they touch and allow all manner of crimes by their supporters. The Clinton influence machine, their Foundation, was just one glaring example. Losing the election and her influence cratered that faux Foundation almost immediately.
Censorship is always about caste, not content. Everything said by Correct People is correct by definition. Everything said by Incorrect People is incorrect by definition. Even when both castes are saying exactly the same words, it's still censorable when it's said by Incorrect People.
The majority of censorship shifted from R to D because the majority of the upper CASTE shifted from R to D in the '80s and '90s.
Will someone please show me where in history, going back to whatever date one wishes, where the side which employed widespread censorship ended up being on the right side of history?
Please focus on fighting for democracy and freedom in our beloved country -- leave Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries about we both know next to nothing (except for CIA propaganda) to pursue their destinies
You mean just let their corrupt absolute dictators pursue their destinies for them. None of the people in those countries have a say. If they open their mouths, they disappear. They are not “pursuing their destinies”. They are being force-marched for the benefit of a few. Doesn’t make us any better, but let’s be clear-eyed about what they are at this point in history.
You are relentless with your selective preoccupations and "information". Haiti FREED itself from slavery in 1793 !!! Ever since the US was destroying this once prosperous French colony.
Recent US crimes against Haiti people -- by Hillary , Condoleezza Rice/Bush, Obama – corruption, coups, military invasions (see general Smedley Butler), theft of $16B+ earthquake financial aid, century of massive exploitation of one of the poorest country. UN (Nepal soldiers) brought in cholera (30,000+ dead, million sick) but negated the horror for six (read slowly - six) years.
A detailed, most horrible recent history of US colonialism -- kudos to Aaron Mate (always remember how vulgarly he was attacked by TYT's despicables - Ana & Cenk). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3iT3y7MktI
PS: Going way back, 2nd President John Adams (1797-1801) supported Haiti and the revolution. He got voted out and Jefferson reversed policy immediately, black listing Haiti and yanking out support. One of Jefferson’s protégés was Monroe, of the Monroe Doctrine.
Adams’ predecessor, George Washington, had no use for the black leaders of Saint-Domingue. Nor did Adams’ vice president, Thomas Jefferson. He dreaded the prospect of black sailors, supercargoes and missionaries spreading the message of freedom and revolution into the Southern states. “We have to fear it,” Jefferson wrote Adams.
Ah, Boris. The MIG throws off more chaff. Now it's Haiti, which actually declared its independence in 1804. Prosperous colony? Yes, for the French colonial masters, not the people. Are you implying it should have continued to be run in that fashion? I'm not saying the U.S. hands are clean on foreign affairs - far from it. But Haiti has mostly been its own worst enemy, and the U.S. has generally batted clean up as France abandoned any sense of responsibility for its former colony.
In that era, unfortunately, slavery was standard practice for any country in a position to profit from the forced labor of others. Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas all participated. Britain really deserves the most credit for calling the world's attention to this horrible practice. While today everyone wrings their hands and beats their breast about the evils of centuries past, slavery continues today in the millions of people. We just call it sex trafficking or people trafficking. It receives relatively little attention. Boris, I don't think you're fooling anyone. I suggest a website like Mother Jones or Vox, where people will applaud your historical perspective.
M. Sea Sentry, I love your postings. We all have trouble (imo and in my experience) engaging M. Boris Petrov, a wonderful humanitarian and human being, but a difficult debater.
If you mean by "just let them" that don't invade them or apply siege warfare - I mean "sanctions" - then yes. Your black and white caricature of those countries is exactly that, a caricature.
"If they open their mouths, they disappear." Do you really believe that shite? Yes, they are authoritarian countries. Yes, they have on paper and often in practice fewer rights to speak out against the government. Ask MLK, Fred Hampton, RFK, JFK, and Edward Snowden to name some well known names, how much freedom of speech they have?
Julian Assange isn't even a US citizen, has never been to the US or run a business there, and yet he's being persecuted under US law. The main testimony against him has been recanted, and came from a sociopath and convicted child molester who cut a deal to testify against Assange to avoid his own prosecution.
Here's another name you might know: The US has free speech - right up until it matters. There is a reason Glenn Greenwald doesn't live in or visit the US anymore. Because if you speak out against the US government AND have some power, you'll either be cancelled or locked up.
Save for all of those whom fled to about every other country in the world. And with the passage of time and the collapse of those regimes, they will be remembered as on the wrong side of history, just like the USSR.
Did you ever know that peasants in entire villages in southern Ukraine would go blind and walk in columns holding each other's shoulder, because of starvation and lack of vitamins, before oh soo horrible October revolution?
I am aware of the ruin WWI brought to what is now Ukraine and Belarus. The farming methods there were archaic and both the conscription of farmers and the shifting of supplies and supply lines to fuel the Russian army crushed the region. The Russian Civil War did not help, nor did Lenin's refusal to accept international aid for many months, leading to countless unnecessary deaths in the Volga Famine.
Fast forward over a decade and you had the man-made famine of 1932-1933, which, while centered in Ukraine, also hit the north Caucasus and Kazakhstan, killing 10 million people in total, including 1.5 million of the then 4.0 million Kazakhs. This was in peace time mind you, and people would eat their own shoes, grass and the dead. This genocide, intended to break all resistance, combined with Stalin's colonization, made the Kazakhs a minority in their own political entity until the 1990s.
It is one thing to have a famine from the stresses of multiple wars waged by incompetent governments, it another entirely to stave people into submission.
Of course -- same as with China where 800 million people were raised from abject poverty and regular mass starvation in tens of millions. "Everybody" in the West agreed that China could never be saved... (they plundered it anyway).
But now -- we supposedly can't hate Russians and Chinese enough... while the War party has only three exports -- coups, corruption and weapons.
That’s true, Boris. Deng’s open, western-style development unleashed the hard-working Chinese spirit, and Xi has built on that, though in a much more authoritarian way. Of course, it stinks if you were one of the tens of millions that died under Mao’s repressive Marxist failure from which post-Mao China emerged. It also stinks if you are Tibetan, Uighur, Mongolian or a resident of Hong Kong. In pursuit of Marxist utopia, communists never let collateral damage get in the way of their narrative.
Neil Young made his living singing anti-government songs. Now he is against anyone who doesn’t spout the government narrative. Anyone think he perceives the irony. No, me neither.
He & many other big names have sold publishing rights to all or some of their music catalogs for big $$ to Hipgnosis, a UK investment fund. From a Twitter comment: "Hipgnosis is using $1 billion of Blackstone money to partner with them in buying up music & Blackstone's Senior advisor is the former Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler." Imagine that.....?
I could be wrong, but my take is the Neil just doesn't really have a choice (that wouldn't involve some personal sacrifice at least.) He doesn't own his music any more, so it probably wasn't even his decision to do this. Whoever own's his music probably came to him and said something like:
"look Neil, you are old and washed up, and your music isn't worth much any more, so we need a favor or we are shutting off the little money trickle we give you. Spotify pays almost nothing to owners of music (us, not you) and we want more. We were considering pulling your music and switching to Amazon music already and giving a middle finger to Spotify until they paid us more for your work, but now the time is right where we can repackage this move as less greed on our part and more moral crusading that will win Liberal approval while allowing us to use it as leverage to silence someone we don't like. It was looking good before, but now it can be three birds with one stone. If you do a good job in providing us cover by selling this as authentic liberal-approved-moral-crusading and this helps us make more money in the long run, maybe we will increase your passive money trickle a little."
Indeed I have heard that a couple of the first people to step up and follow Neil's lead didn't own their own music any more -- i.e. it was never really their decision to make to pull music from Spotify, it was only their decision to provide moral-outrage-cover for it or not.
In short I am suggesting I think Neil Young and related are just more of an old coward then someone actively sold on the censorship train, but who knows.
I mentioned a Joe Rogan podcast to my liberal sister and brother-in-law at dinner one night and they both recoiled in horror that I would even mention his name. They shutdown the conversation immediately and would not listen for a second. Funniest part...they've never watched or listened to his show!
When you are convinced of your moral and intellectual superiority, the only people worth listening to are those that agree with everything you say.
Silencing or shaming those who disagree with you is for these people not just necessary, but the correct ethical action - and something courageous, that benefits society. This is because those who disagree with them are inferiors, who are not entitled to oppose.
Of course, silencing/censorship is just the first step. If opposition continues, intimidation/violence, even incarceration, is justified. History shows us what happens if opposition continues after that.
Ever challenged one of these people with cold hard facts and a knowledge of the subject matter? Often they have a full breakdown. There is no spirited debate. It just devolves into helplessly yelling talking points and phrases. What is worse, if they had the slightest idea about what you were talking about, they would not be surprised in the first place.
It's weird. Before 2015, I used to mostly get these kind of reactions from the gun control crowd. "People should not just be able to buy a gun off the internet without a background check!" "No, I don't know what a FFL transfer or a 4473 is." It was usually not knowing the legality of what they were talking about/proposing or how firearms work. (FYI if you own a firearm, learn the laws and mechanics before something bad happens) Other than that, people usually had interesting things to say and I would credit a lot of my current political views with my engagement of people from across the political spectrum. I would also like to thank a lot of old liberals for informing me of what the neocons were up to when much of what they did was concealed from the public and for standing up for free speech back in the day. Now days it feels like I am living on a different planet. Covid-19 is the worst because I will bring up the official line from a month ago and someone will claim "no one said that." It's like there is an actual mental block that prevents them from keeping track of who said what and when. Seriously, what happened to people? I still find it difficult to accept that Trump broke people this badly.
Which is ironic, since they're nearly always the only racists in the room. Everything about skin color, jamming us into skin color boxes, discriminating on skin color, defecating on Martin Luther King's dream of a colorblind society.
So true. Also, we are all supposed to clap for endless gender fluidity while remaining respectful of racial categories defined by some pseudoscienctist in the 1800s.
They are literally religious nuts (or in this case pseudoreligious nuts), immune to facts, logic, or anything else that contradicts the holy pronouncements of the Church of Wokery
Excellent description of this disease. They use their moral superiority and try to “guilt” people into supporting their view. And when they encounter resistance, they dismiss their challenger as lacking intellect.
The old saying don't talk politics to friends, always a problem to some degree, but not like it became when Trump ran and took office. It not only caused descension, but severed relationships totally, sometimes forever. Happened to me, and not because I voted for Trump, but because I didn't vote for Clinton. Those that identified themselves as liberals were the ones who went on the attack with a viciousness I never encountered before. Those who define themselves as democrats often see themselves as liberal which is absurd, since the party has been known for decades to sideline their liberals, and have embraced corporate America. I perceived the democrats during the Trump years as very authoritarian. and it doesn't surprise me that since they were so successful at it, even pulled the press and the deep state into their backyard, so why not push it more. During the Trump years they defined his base as a bunch of deplorables, which meant they were racists, sexists, ignorant and amoral. Well, all those liberals know we have to keep those kind in line, since they know not what they do.
It happened in our family too. Dems were more than happy to bash Trump and Repubs constantly during the Trump years. Discussing politics was OK with them then. But now that Biden is proving to be a disaster, they don't think we should discuss politics anymore, to keep things civil. 😕. We even got a (supposedly funny) list of "rules" for Thanksgiving dinner at their house.
That's true here too. My brother's hatred of Trump is a sickness, and when we get together my sister-in-law gives me the elbow if I even say something which in anyway can be seen as critical of Biden, or anyone associated with him. I referenced Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Rahm. Nothing to do with Biden, but an article he wrote in the Atlantic in 2014 which had nothing to do with politics. However he was hired by NBC to talk about Covid, and is on board with Fauci and Biden. He screamed at me, "I love him! He's great!" My brother has a phd and has never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Hard to believe, since this is his response to anyone whom he perceives is being critical of Biden or his administration. Achtung.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
Having supported him, I'm sure they are on the defensive since they must be aware that he is mentally compromised and he and his administration have screwed up a number of times. My brother's position was just as hate filled and rigid during Trump's administration. You couldn't even reference him if you didn't inject some degree of destain, or hate. I was reading an article on Information Clearing House and someone wrote an article unrelated to Trump, and after he left office, and somewhere in the middle he spit out a hate filled sentence about Trump which was unrelated to the article itself. I can't explain it, other then to say they push you into a corner and demand you remain mute, and they alone have the right to speak. Which I guess is what Greenwald's article is about, There way, or the highway.
Fran: I'm sorry that your relationship with your brother is poisoned by his irrational animosity. Contempt, disdain, and hatred are being inculcated in the population.
Regarding your use of the phrase "they know not what they do", the disdain liberals show for those who don't accept their worldview in its entirety originates in a spiritual darkness that stands in stark contrast to the enlightenment Jesus manifested as he hung on a cross after being beaten, tortured, and mocked. He prayed for those who had persecuted him: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34).
Thinking of such unbounded love being present on Earth two thousand years ago, and seeing the world as it is in our time, I sit in silent sadness.
Well, you would think someone with a scientific background would be more objective, but he's not, and Trump is just a hot button issue, and even educated people just have a knee jerk reaction to him. I didn't like Bush/Cheney, hate war, I really couldn't stand them, but I didn't react on such an emotional level nor did I care that there were others who liked them. I can understand why people don't like Trump or his policies, but I really don't get the over reaction, the destain. We've had far worse.
We certainly have! It’s important for people to remember that Trump was just this wealthy “celebrity business/TV figure” who had been around for literally decades, without upsetting anything. He was not some inside operator, with years of political dirty tricks under his belt, like the usual selections voters have to pick from. The MSM and his political opponents created this hated figure out of thin air. Really scary psyop shit, all in plain view, all because their utterly corrupt mediocrity of a candidate lost an election. It was outrageous as the horseshit fed to people after the Kennedy assassination.
Politics is the worst aspect of our society, even in the best of times. When everything is political, it means everything sucks
Yep, same here with Jill Stein (and Gary would have been my 2nd choice in a ranked choice voting)...in a state won by Hillary Clinton...and later Joseph Biden...In a ranked choice scenario, Clinton and Biden would have been placed behind Trump as my very LAST choice. 3rd party votes don't really influence non-swing States.
I encountered the same response in 2016 b/c I wouldn't vote for Clinton and voted for Jill Stein. I was told straight out by people I've always considered friends that "I had no right to throw my vote away."
You got off easy. My brother was furious at me, I no longer talk to someone I knew since we were 12, that's okay, and a cousin I never spoke to since 2016 again and who died 3 years ago from cancer. Crazy.
"and would not listen for a minute" -- that's what I've found so unnerving with friends and relatives is the treatment dished out if you don't agree with every word that comes out of their mouth. I have to wonder if this is what sane Germans faced in the 1930s when they tried to warn others where this insanity leads.
Well, fucking do something. Everyone has an excuse for not starting a fight, then whines when they’re cancelled over a tweet and can never work again. If my siblings shut me down they’d be wearing dinner and they’d do the same to me. But we never would.
They aren't "liberal"; they're authoritarian totalitarians and very close minded like, dare I say it, red necks. In the 60s when there actually were liberals, we used to say as a put down to the "conservatives"..."my mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts"!
I've had the same reaction from otherwise brilliant people. Fear reaction as though he's Voldemort. Very concerning mass group think happening, particularly in the high-paid pro and academic communities.
I have the same sort of "liberal' sister and brother-in-law. Liberal means open minded, which people who call themselves liberal usual are not if they refuse to listen to what people like Rogan and his guests say. I had to ban my sister and her husband from my home because of the narcissistic bulling they have subjected me to. You are better off not hanging out with people who just want to control you.
Aye, the things people have said about Rush are absurd. They wanted to silence him because he had opposing viewpoints. You had similar hate albeit to a lesser degree with Krauthammer.
I am homeless. I am what I consider a social liberal and fiscal conservative. I seriously do not know where I belong. I am not pro- abortion, however I am on the same page as the old Hilary.. Safe, Legal and Rare. I believe that all people should be able to live their life as they please as long as their is not a victim at the end. People should be able to get married even if they are same sex. I am totally against biological men competing in sports against biological women. I am a mother.. not a birthing person or person who menstrurates. I am a woman. I am not down with pronouns. I would never deliberately offend someone. If they look like a woman I will probably say she, her.. If they look like a man.. I will probably say he, him.. If I am not sure I will probably say they, them.. This CRT stuff is beyond me. I am LEO so I am pro police. In 25 years as a police officer I have NEVER met a white supremacist. I have met skinheads etc... but they do not target people of color.. they just don't believe in mixing races. Are they POS's.. yes.. but they do not push Asian women in front of the subway or attack black men or women. I am vaxed and I think everyone should get the vax... but I am not unsafe because someone else chooses not to vax... I am totally anti-war.. Stay the eff out of other countries. The only reason for war these days is for people to make money and young men and women to die for no good reason. I am pro- immigration and against illegal immigration. I believe in secure borders. If we want open borders then we cannot be a welfare state. When the heck did the democrats become the elitist Wall Street folks and the Republicans become the party of the working person. When is it ever a good reason to vilify half the country because of political beliefs? When did the media become the cover for corruption in government? I hated Trump, but jeez... out of the last 5 Presidents he was the least corrupt? What the eff happened to free speech? Why does the loudest 7 % of the voices decide policy? Thank you Glenn, Bari and Matt and (I can't believe I am saying this) Bill Maher? Please keep speaking the truth. Maybe it will stick.
You sound like a libertarian. From what you've said, we seem to share a lot of the same beliefs, whether secure borders vs open and closed, CRT (which has the same elements of a conspiracy theory as QAnon), multiple genders, war as a last resort. The main difference, I initially disliked Trump (I voted for a border wall and the supreme court, not so much for him) but as time passed, came to see him as a tragic hero of sorts.
I want my vote to count so I have to choose. I can be like some of my family and just vote Libertarian knowing it will not count. I raised my son to be a free thinker. He votes Libertarian. Yes... oddly enough I too consider Trump to be a hero of sorts.. I do not want him running again.. his odious personality will guarantee a Democrat win. Jeez.. just an effed up world. In this climate nobody with any character and integrity will ever run. I think Ron Paul was the last of a dying breed and his son is not far behind.
I realized the fallacy of third party voting or 'Virtue Voting' if you live in a swing state long ago...and I'm only 36. I too was raised in a free thinking family. My vote in 2020 was one of strong support...and I only became 'active' if you will in things after he got banned from Twitter.
I am unsure if the Pauls are a dying breed as Rand, unlike his father, entered the GOP to turn it in a more libertarian direction, rather than run separate of them. Additionally, a lot of people are waking up the power and censorship madness out there and discovering that they have libertarian leanings.
Regarding Trump loosing again...the polls say otherwise and I would love him to win with 55% of the vote just to see all of these thin-skinned censorship-bullies melt down:
Edit: Most polls skew 3 points or so to the Dems, so the averages in Trumps favor are higher. I'd know, at least for Wisconsin, in most polls in both 2016 and 2020 were off by over 5 points.
You're only homeless if you keep thinking so. Why do you even need a "political home"? Vote for the politicians who will support the things that are important to you (right now, that would be Republicans). Voting for a Republican candidate will not kill you, nor will it make you a Republican
He's good compared to the rest, but that's not saying much. There is no competition. There's no competition in the "free press" because it's not free anymore, same as for the free market - it's not free or competitive, it's just a bunch of corrupt and useless monopolies. Monopoly media, monopoly tech -it's all shit. Bring back competition. One would expect libertarians to speak up for "free"dom (free press, free market) but instead they argue that monopolies should be "free" to destroy competition and to censor, and "free" to outsource all the factories and jobs to a totalitarian state - what a bunch of wankers. The libertarian thought "leaders" work for think tanks paid off by the likes of the Kock brothers. They are sheep.
@8G - I agree with your take on our 'free' market landscape. The one thing I learned coming out of this COVID-madness is just how corrupt our country is. Nothing is sacred. CDC is on the take as well as the media and universities. It is the courageous few like Glenn and others that are willing to speak to power. The best way to get competition is to remove all the useless regulations in place. Most of the regulations are put in as campaign contribution favors to corporations. These regulations mostly favor their industry and prevent competition. BUT, if corporations can donate to campaigns and influence policy, there is really no hope as the people will lose out. This is why I say we live in an corporate oligarchy. The top 10 corporate donors for the Congress-critters are their constituents. The rest of us can go pound sand.
"The top 10 corporate donors for the Congress-critters are their constituents."
It's like there are only 10 voters. The donations are small relative to the trillions of taxpayer dollars that get moved around on their behalf. Meanwhile the taxpayers who paid those trillions have no say.
I get that libertarians oppose excessive state power because it works best when individuals make decisions for themselves. The same goes for corporations, they are just another beurocracy run by corrupt power mongers. When a corporation becomes large enough it behaves like a state, and that's where we are now. Google is a government but not democratic so it is allowed to censor us. The majority of libertarians appear to support that. Libertarian non-profits and think tanks are funded by the same billionaires who run corporate "governments" and so they give them a pass. A billionaire is an individual with nearly the power of a "state" and soon there will be trillionaires.
The constitution rightly puts limits on the power of a democratic government, but the founders did not anticipate limited liability corporate monopolies and trillionaires, so there are no checks on their power. It should be the role of libertarians to preserve liberty but by supporting billionaire tyrants and corporate monopolies they ensure tyranny.
I'm trying to point out hypocrisy so that libertarianism can improve because its principles are good. I don't see much dissent among libertarians however, they seem to march in lock-step. Unanimity in an organization is a sign of problems because free individuals always find ways to disagree.
I have found the vast majority of libertarians to be "lesser-of-two-evils" voters, and wisely, imo. Perhaps they seem to "march in lock-step" (believe me, a most UN-accurate descriptor of libertarians in general!) to you because the vast majority of libertarians, and for basically the entire existence of Libertarianism, therefore vote Republican.
That's a reasonable distinction. When a business is able to grow so large in market share, a danger is it uses that power (almost always abetted by Crony-Capitalism, i.e. government intervention) to unfairly limit competition. Still, I would say libertarians, as a group, are much more wary of this danger than other political groups, and therefore much quicker to "take their business elsewhere."
It's hilarious to see the reaction of my (many) liberal friends when I share content from Glenn or Joe Rogan. They reflexively assume that both are "alt-right conservatives" akin to Alex Jones. When I inform them that they are not, and in fact Rogan is a Bernie Sanders supporter, they can't process that information. It doesn't fit their small-minded world view, and their confusion is funny to watch. Sadly, they still want to silence those with whom they disagree--as Glenn notes, it's a religion with them.
I just posted this article on FB & can imagine the heads of most of my FB friends (& some family) spinning in disbelief. Any time I question the narrative now, I am suddenly a "Trump supporter." I walked away from the Dems in April of 2020 but have not joined ranks with the GOP. I am now an Independent thinker, based on the issue at hand! I support The 1st Amendment as well as autonomy over our own body
If more of us become independents - now about 43% of voters - it takes power away from both parties and forces them to compete on real substance. Let’s do this!
And fight against two parties? It'd be better to, for the time being, primary everyone in the GOP whom has been in public office for over 20 years (including being staffers or in state or municipal offices) and run candidates whom have written out ideas on how to fix things to both get fresh blood and sharp minds into the mix. Perhaps at some point that would be possible with the DNC, but not for many years by the way things are going.
I have never had any faith in the DNC, maybe because I am 36 and only remember back to election 2000. My focus is on the GOP and I have solutions I write about here and have spend hundreds trying to share...therein lies the problem, the separation from the common person from the connected crowd.
Alex Jones isn’t really that far right. He hated G.W. and is anti-war. He has more traditional liberal values in many ways. His presentation is just way over-the-top and sensational and he stretches the truth too far. I really can’t watch it, but sometimes I do. He’s certainly better than corporate media.
I listened/watched the interview Rogan did with Jones and was quite shocked to find out how young he is compared to how old he looks. His health is shit (Rogan was really trying to get him to realize that) and no doubt that's because he lives in the land of conspiracies. Some are legit.....like David Gergen and the Bohemian Club. https://www.youtube.com/watch
I distinguish liberals — who generally believe in reason, logic and the values of the Enlightenment — from “progressives”, who believe in pseudoreligious nuttery.
Yep. "Progressive" in the sense of ratcheting, accelerating, commie-fascist totalitarianism. Who I despise even more are the corrupt stupid cucked "conservative" collaborators who *conserve* commie-fascist institutions once they're in place. The traitor or fool in our own command post is far more destructive than the open enemy outside the wire.
Spotify makes exponentially more on Joe Rogan than they do on Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and all the hippies that once hated censorship but now live by it combined
Years ago, I warned anyone who would listen that the greatest threat to freedom in America was coming from the left, not the right. Most were incredulous, as leftist long purported themselves to be champions of tolerance and enlightened thinking. Now, anything that doesn't align itself with their dogma is "hate speech" and must be censored.
In short, leftists have become everything they ostensibly used to hate. i say ostensibly because I believe they've been this way for a long time, but were far better at concealing it.
With the advent of social media and the election of Donald Trump, they could no longer contain themselves.
Glenn's critique is directed at liberals, not leftists. Socialists & anarchists are not spearheading this censorship. It's centrists like these liberals that are responsible. Glenn himself is a member of a Socialist party in Brazil. Rogan endorsed Bernie Sanders; the effort to silence him is an effort by liberal centrists to suppress socialists.
I think Glenn has correctly identified what this is, apart from political labels: a religion. It is just like other religions that believe only their "experts" (priests, popes, scientists, professors) are capable of doing the thinking for society. All others must simply follow the pronouncements. If they fail to do so, they will be suppressed or worse.
Western Civilization succumbed to these types of people with the fall of Rome, and rule by the Church. Only after Luther and the Reformation, when people reclaimed the right to think for themselves (and act upon their thoughts), did the West emerge from 1000 yrs of what we now call the Dark Ages.
This new religion uses all the familiar weapons: guilt, fear, and victimhood. They sell the idea that one's lot in life is directly due to the evil committed by those outside the religion. They even have their own version of Original Sin - the slavery practiced by our ancestors, for which we are now eternally guilty.
We cannot allow this new brand of religion to gain complete control. This is no longer just about proper political labels.
Even if I grant you your distinction between liberals and socialists, the idea that socialists are the target of hate speech censorship rather than one its perpetrators, borders on absurd. Do you really believe those who run Big Tech and the mainstream media are "centrists?" I have a Facebook account and the number of posts they run from out-and-out Marxists is increasing exponentially.
As for Rogan, he wasn't a serious target until he challenged the Covid narrative, which in turn challenges a globalist oligarchy looking for a Great Reset.
The would be a Great Reset where "you'll own nothing and you'l be happy." That may be a lot of things. Centrist liberal isn't any of them
You haven't been following Democratic party primaries if you don't think socialists are targets of hate speech censorship. In 2016 Hillary claimed breaking up the banks (what Bernie wanted) was racist. In 2016 & 2020 Bernie supporters were labeled "Bernie bro" racists & sexists. Rogan became a target when he endorsed Bernie, which caused liberals/ centrists to label him a transphobic bigot.
When reality is against you, censorship is the only way you can keep the people from learning the truth. As the narrative has become so obviously frayed, the censors have to censor even harder.
Joe Biden's Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, during an interview with MSNBC, suggested that censoring Joe Rogan would help curb the flow of misinformation surrounding covid. This is akin to the mob stopping by your Italian restaurant to admire the décor, then proclaiming it would be a shame if something happened to it.
When corporations take their direction from government, there’s a word for that. It’s fascism. Not fake “Oh no Trump is a dictator” fascism, but honest-to-goodness fascism that says if you don’t hand over a wad of cash, something just might happen to your lovely little restaurant.
"When reality is against you, censorship is the only way..."
That's about it. Thanks to years of fake news, the public is deprived of the truth and when exposed it spreads quickly. Lies are usually boring and unpopular and die of their own accord, there is no need to censor them. It's only the truth that "needs" to be censored.
All one hears on social media is that when Big Tech censors a post, it is fine because that is a “choice” a private company can make. It follows that it should be equally fine for other private companies such as Rumble or Substack to make a different choice. But for progressives, there is only one choice that is allowed. Hundreds of times I have heard these progressives say “if you dont like it, start your own”, but apparently it never occurred to them that this is exactly what would happen. There is a market in a free society for ideas skeptical of or contrary to official narratives, and they will find a place to be expressed, and, in a capitalist society, private companies will profit by providing a platform for them. That demand, and the financial incentives of our free market society ultimately ensures that the censors will be defeated. The progressive censors are a reactionary force that will be forever chasing the next thing that pops up - and the next thing will keep popping up - to platform ideas they oppose.
As soon as a company goes to bed with the government, it ceases to be private. All such companies in bed with the government are aberrations and need to be, at the bare minimum, decoupled, at maximum, destroyed as they turn a free market into a centrally planned dictatorship.
Lots of private corporate censorship is motivated by self interest but its true some is motivated by the government. The NBA forced Daryl Morey to delete his tweet after pressure from the Chinese government, for example.
Zuckerburg spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the last election. No one made him do it, he's just a power monger. I blame Zuckerburg for that, nobody else. No private corporation should be allowed to skew democracy in that way, it should be illegal.
I am unsure what his motives were. This is all speculation, but given that he hadn't censored more during the 2016 campaign, the Biden campaign could have threatened him with anti-trust laws if he didn't do their bidding. Conversely he could have poured his dark money in simply to prove his 'wokeness.' He could have also done it for his own power, so if under threat by the Biden administration, he could retort, "You owe me the election."
I don't pretend to know which of the above is true, if it's a combination, or if none are true. Regardless, Facebook is in bed with the government and as such is an aberration.
I personally would approve of a constitutional amendment which would automatically break up any company whose combined assets and market value exceed 2% of the GDP and control over 30% of a market which is valued at a minimum of 0.5% of the GDP. Congress would be unable to stop such a breakup--and that's the point, to keep such entities from buying them.
Prior to Covid, 5 companies fit that bill, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (which owns Google) and Facebook. Currently, another two have entered that realm: Tesla and Visa. United Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Nvidia and JP Morgan Chase all fit the size requirement, though I am unsure if they control at least 30% of their primary markets.
I don't know the motive for Zuckerburgs dark money investments either, but it doesn't matter to me if his motives were purely altruistic or not. No individual or private corporation should have that much influence over the democratic process because ultimately that power will be abused. Democracy is a public process, billionaires should have nothing to do with it, aside from casting one vote.
I like your idea about breaking up companies that grow too large. I also like the idea of a progressive corporate tax rate - the bigger the company the higher the tax rate. They will automatically break themselves up to avoid higher taxes.
I'm grateful to you, Glenn. I would never recognize my own party now. I was a faithful Democrat in 2016 and I can't believe what has become of it. I can't believe we're living through this. What in the hell could they possibly be thinking? They're going to pressure Spotify to "cancel" Joe Rogan? They're completely insane.
I grew up in a union home. One of my parents was a union organizer. We always voted Democratic. I volunteered for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012. I voted for Jill Stein in 2016. I don't recognize this party anymore.
I was teacher and of course the unions supported the democratic party in the past, and that made sense, but it hasn't been the party of the working class for decades. Clinton pushed the party much further right, but by time he came into office he didn't have to push hard. It was going that way since Carter, or that is what Thomas Frank in his book Listen Liberal had to say and they're are many who will back him up.
Bill Clinton ended the Democrats being the party of the Working Class (actually.. Ronald Reagan). Clinton knew they couldn't win without corporate money, and he had ties to banking, so he moved the Democrats to the party of the Bankers, and Bankers ended up taking over the world, and since most bankers have enough money, they only crave more control. Here we are!
I said Clinton, a democrat, shifted his party further right. Reagan was a republican.
I'm fully aware of what Ronnie was. But his win prompted Democrats to shift how they needed to beat Republicans. Hence they moved to Corporate and banking money. Now they basically own backing and Pharmaceuticals.
I read Thomas Frank's book "Listen Liberal" and "What's the Matter with Kansas." a while back and he and others who have written on this issue push the shift toward the right for democrats back to the Carter years. Although I do know that Clinton really shifted the party it to the right. I know the democrats are no longer a party of the people as they once were. Before Trump people talked about the fact they sidelined their liberals and depended on corporate America to fund their campaigns which made their agenda top priority. I certainly recognize what you are saying and when Obama wanted to push Tpp the liberals were everywhere talking it down. Good! Now being a democrat is a good thing and means you adhere to liberal ideas and support a party that does as well, what a joke, a total sham.
Neither of you two have linked or cited a single fact or evidence to support your theories. This is not how you bring people into your way of thinking.
Try citing things. Try offering evidence to support your theories other than some over-educated book nerd.
Clinton made massive, coup-level changes to our way of life and to the Democratic Party. For the latter, he created the DLC and the Third Way -- both a death knell to everything the Democratic Party once represented. To the former, with the 1996 Telecom Act, he deregulated the broadcast/media industry permitting the current tight, impermeable consolidation of the entire mass media system, he pulled the rug out from under welfare recipients, he repealed Glass-Steagall, passed the 1994 federal crime bill ushering in the mass incarceration of American law-breakers.
IMO, the worst of these was the 1996 Telecom Act.
Tried to like your post, but it won't let me...agree that the 1996 Telecom Act was the big one - it is the ROOT of the very argument we are having over censorship and concentration of media into hands of big money alone. Glass Steagall was up there in turning the stock market into a casino for speculation rather than investment.
This is not really the topic, but I too have trouble "liking" posts.
Just liked yours OK (as a test). You on a real 'puter or a phone? If the latter, maybe Google's getting some revenge on Glenn :)
Me too. On this and other sub stack authors. Coincidence? Day after day and different times.
As do i.
I'm not familiar with all you stated here, some of it. He also backed NAFTA. Obama wanted to push the Tpp trade agreement and I remember liberals up in arms, and rightly so. Thanks for the info.
Yes, NAFTA, which moved our manufacturing base to countries with cheaper labor and left so many Americans jobless. I knew I'd left something important out - thanks.
NAFTA gets nothing like enough hate.
Hard to believe but Nixon was the last "liberal" president - that is how bad it has gotten since the 70s. We have been back tracking the New Deal ever since.
Most people wouldn't agree that Nixon was a liberal, but I am deeply grateful to him. Although many say it was totally political and not heart felt, he instituted more environmental policies then any other president. He signed into law the Clean Air Act, etc. etc, and one I am very grateful for is the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and following that the no dumping act so our marine animals can live and thrive in clean water. I know there are many environmental problems, and things have not been followed through on, but no one else instituted so many significant environmental policies. Amen.
Nixon was a human monster. But many of his policies were classically liberal. Go figure.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1996/08/04/our-last-liberal-president/cec55416-5f85-4872-9fde-2a93eaa49b88/
He also made peace with China.
'biden' will bomb them.
Oh, please, a "human monster"? Give me a f'ing break.
And Mr. Nixon was NOT a Classical Liberal; he was a modern liberal (a crony-Capitalist).
A Classical Liberal would NEVER even consider, let alone enact, price controls.
The DNC abandoned the unions for the new immigrant labor they supported via NAFTA and other legislation like open borders.
Still strange that so many unions are still blindly faithful to Democrats. That has always puzzled me.
Hi Bert. I enjoy the comment section almost as much as the articles. I share your puzzlement, but I think I'm starting to "get it". For years, I could not understand why corporate America has become overwhelmingly Democratic, along with organized labor, academia, Hollywood and the media. It's because they are all elitists who want to dictate to us. And the Democrats have been eager to capitalize on authoritarianism. The GOP is not innocent either. It's why so many (in the GOP as well as Democrats) hated Trump. He correctly put his finger in their eye, and all us who voted for him must be demonized, marginalized and banished. Less understandable, however, is the phenomenon described aptly by Candace Owens, that of most blacks every four years buying into the same Democrat propaganda ("those Republicans are racists"), forgetting who made up the "Solid South", who ran the fire hoses, wielded clubs and police dogs, segregated the schools, segregated buses, segregated lunch counters, etc. Democrats are doing it still, starting in the schools and colleges, but under a different pretext: that whites "deserve" it. Then, and now, Democrats' motto is "segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Unionized Florida teachers are forcing children without masks to go back home and not get into the indoctrination centers. DeSantis should call in the National Guards or have State Police with German Shepherds force those teachers to quit reenacting the debacle of segregation.
The time is ripe for all parents to have control of their education $$ and place their kids wherever they will get a decent education.
I agree, let the money follow the child.
I tried to upvote your comment Chuck, for some reason it wouldn't take???
\\][//
Agreed. When you look at our history objectively everything you say here about racism is true. This generation is so dumbed down in regard to history, they will never get it. They are still on the plantation of the Democrats.
I noticed that the BLM lady who stole millions from her cause moved into a mostly upper class white neighborhood, just like the Obama's.
Each group is run by leaders. The Democrats learned that you don’t have to buy off every member of an interest group; you just have to buy off the leaders of the groups that represent them. Look at what has happened to the Anti Defamation League under former Obama staffer Greenblatt.
Why would unions have any faith in Republicans…the party of the bosses?
I have faith in neither party. I rate politicians on how they vote and how they act when they are in the majority. I really don't like what we are getting right now. So at this point the Republicans might be the lesser of two evils. Always subject to change.
Bert, since you mentioned the "lesser of two evils", this was a comment on Matt Taibbi's blog:
"Our elections have acquired an unhealthy sameness, every cycle we get to choose between polio and syphilis. It makes me wish "common cold" would at least appear on the ballot..."
The only way forward.
Of course unions should not have faith in R's. But unions do not represent workers - they sponge off workers. R's aren't perfect, nor are bosses, but both care more about workers than unions do. It's how Trump won. Ever heard of West Virginia?
Spoken like a faithful company apple-polisher.
Why would they have any faith in politicians whom tell them outright they will shut their jobs down? Whether miners or pipeline builders, that's a 'youre fired' from the ultimate boss.
Because if you look at history you can see the sordid relationship between Organized Labor, the Mafia, and the Democratic party. Once the DNC got the mafia out, they kept everything else. This is the 'spoils system' the DNC promotes and is why the Republican faction broke with the party.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoils_system
By 1816, the Federalists were no longer nationally viable, and the U.S. became effectively a one-party polity under the Democratic-Republican Part
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party
every article on this site you are here talking shit on Republicans.
YOU LIVE IN FUCKING CANADA
mind your business bitch tits
Yeah, OK, Phyllis Schlafly.
You DO live in the 19th century, don't you.
For sure. Yet, they continue to reap the myth that they care about the working class and people of color.
Union Arbitrator household here. I think I know exactly what it is actually... Corruption doesn't know party lines. Most of the unions failed due to it, and now the nation at large will.
I still remember a question and answer with my dad 40 years ago when I asked him why all the other people at his union hall drove Mercedes' and Cadillac's and we had a crappy old beat up Ford Pickup Truck. His answer has always been with me... "I couldn't live with myself." As a former Marine, I don't think that he could indeed.
And corruption grows in direct proportion to government
Enjoyed a good discussion with a millennial the other day on this topic, who was batching about money in politics. I explained it this way. Pretend you start a little coffee shop, using city water, as does the big paper company down the street. The water commissioner decides to levy a tax in order to "green up" the water supply. Could be any reason
The tax increases the cost of a primary input for you and the big company. While you might throw up your hands, what do the P&G's of the world do? They take the guy out for a nice dinner, lube him up a bit, promise to support his political career.....if only he creates a friendly carve out. It won't have P&G's name on it. No one will really know about it. They might even need his incredible insight for an important upcoming leadership conference, right while his son applies to those big name schools. Say! They may even know someone who could you know, put in a good word
What options does the little guy have? He could join an industry lobby group, which then plays the same game, minus the winning percentage. How about house owner Joe schmo, the plumber, the teacher? They have zero influence. They have nothing to offer
The water guy quite likes the arrangement. He's learned insertion into everyday life brings more power, prestige and of course money. He's something of a local bigshot. Why stop there? A bigger position means more opportunity. Meanwhile, he's incentivized to further insert himself into daily life
Note that the lowest guy on the totem pole, who has no voice in the conversation and nothing to offer, gets stuck with the short straw (not to mention the tab). These are exactly the people you're describing. Ironically, some of these people will advocate the loudest for the initiative, because it aligns with the dogma in which they believe- wrapped in a nicely phrased package by the water commissioner himself
As for P&G? By strange coincidence, they happen to strongly support the water commissioner and his righteous campaign. You'll hear all about it on their social media channels
Crony capitalism is not capitalism. It's the opposite. Whenever you find yourself surprised by a corporate political stance, this is exactly what's behind it. Take a peek under covers. Warning- those aren't pillows (anyone else miss John Candy?)
The worst possible way of getting money out of politics is putting politics in money. It will not fall to regulation. In fact, regulation merely encourages it.
All these fancy sounding PC (vomit inducing) bills are nothing but a sophisticated version of the used car guy selling George Castanza Jon Voigt's used LeBaron convertible
learn more about fascism and socialism. you'll recognize it then.
Bill Clinton lost me in the 90s with his war against Serbia (both sides were awful) and his pro-business and anti-worker actions. He bombed Iraq within his first month in office. There has not been a left since at least that time. Instead we have only had lesser of two evils, both of which eventually have led us to the hell we now have - as it is evil on all sides. Time to give up voting for a party, backed by money, and instead vote for independent candidates backed only by ideas. Even the newly formed People's Party will be compromised in short time. Money always moves in and co-opts the people.
Clinton bombing Yugoslavia is was what got my attention too. It was a flagrant war of aggression against a country that had not attacked or threatened to attack the United States or any other member of NATO.
We had no business getting in the middle of a territorial dispute between Serbia's security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army. In any event, it was the KLA that instigated the war and Clinton took their side.
Interesting in light of Ukraine/Russia. Ukraine now claiming Russia bombed children's hospital. Maybe, maybe not. None of us can know unless we are on the inside in the governments involved.
I gave up on Obama after he appointed Rahm Emanuel and then after he acted as a despot who did not believe in the rule of law and executed Bin Laden. No, I was not a fan of Bin Laden, but whatever happened to legal process?
Obama killed little children with drones on just his third day in office. In Waziristan, wherever 'Waziristan' is? You know, to "protect America" or some shit.
Then he did it again, and again, and again. He only stopped because he left office. Trump not only continued with Lord Obama's drone kill programme, he doubled down on it, just as Obama doubled down on buh's drone war.
I don't know what 'biden' is doing, because the press in America no longer functions properly.
He dropped more bombs on the Mideast than Bush did.
And Obama once quipped about how he was really good at killing people. And to think he won the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Turns out I'm really good at killing people. Didn't know that was gonna be a strong suit of mine." - Obama
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/obama-s-warning-1.3339895
*a quick search for the quote returned a link to Huffpo. The article in question though, is now gone. Go figure.
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” - Orwell
I remember that. He now has his third term he wanted so bad, thru Biden.
And you know his team intentionally leaked that to make him look like tough guy.
Yes, he did.
M. Owen, I'm not challenging you; I really want to know your opinion:
Did DJT really continue BHO's drone strikes? Did the intelligence agencies trick him into it, by any chance?
I don't doubt you that the intelligence agencies, abetted by Party establishments, or at least control-freak elements hidden within the Parties, have engaged in what you claim over the last decades.
What I want to know is what you think can be done about it. Despite you thinking I'm an idiot, would you please tell me what we should do about this state of affairs.
In any case, I apologize for pissing you off.
I am really sorry. You did not deserve that. I am in Ottawa today/. We are under siege and I am in a bad mood.
I never did think you were an idiot.
Social Media is something I am trying to avoid as it only makes it worse. My local supermarket is closing early as people are screaming at people for wearing masks. My wife's job is in jeopardy.
I will address your other questions later.
Thanks for being reasonable! :)
Thank you.
I certainly don't want to make your situation worse by arguing, but over the last year I have come to believe that Social Media will actually be part of the solution. In any case, I have always valued your posts, as I judge you get the big picture, and you have knowledge of things that I do not. Also, I know my optimism can rub pessimists the wrong way, and pessimism is next to the skepticism the general public seems to be lacking today. Please keep posting when you can.
My brother is a long-hauler out of Michigan. He knows the pain a truckers' strike/blockade would cause, but judging by his community's sentiments, he thinks it's coming. I sure hope these gov'ts stand down in time to avoid it.
His cabinet picks gave him away, which is why I am of the view that a primary candidate should state their cabinet picks...this is where you learn who and what the candidate really supports. If Trump runs again, he should name his cabinet during the process - to see if he really will choose big money hacks or actual swamp drainers.
If anyone were to actually try to drain the swamp, he would be killed.
Didn't he name his Supreme Court pics while running?
Unfortunately, not workable. Cabinet picks are not going to make irrevocable commitments that far ahead of an election. That has sometimes been a problem even with VP candidates. Also, suppose one or more of the cabinet picks changes his mind, after the election, what is the recourse then?
Exactly. The People needed to see and hear OBL in person and on trial. Then we should have witnessed the hanging.
Osama worked for the CIA during the Russian war.
No way was he going to be allowed to testify in open court.
The bin Laden family and the buhs' were business partners and pals. On the morning of 911 buhs senior was having breakfast with bin Laden's brother.
So what? Did OBL mastermind it? Was he just used by the "buhs"? Doesn't change what I said, except maybe we should have PUBLICLY water-boarded him to get to the truth.
It's ultimately our (the People's) fault for not so demanding.
But I certainly wish you luck proving your claims.
Btw, have THOSE "Republicans" captured DJT? (Or do the People finally wake up, USE DJT to reclaim control of the intelligentsia?)
Buhs is SCUM
There is no proof you would accept is there?
If you were waterboarded you would admit to shooting Kennedy. ha ha ha
I will never read or reply to you again. You can go now. Bye.
There were plenty of warnings. Bill Clinton was one of the greatest misogynists of his time, but exceeded by his wife HRC. Oh, and the 1994 Crime Bill ("bring THEM to heel".) (Who was "them"?) Then there was Barack "I'm really good at killing people" Obama who revealed his true (lack of) character long before 2012. For example, his serial lying about what Citizens United actually said.
I’m relieved my parents didn’t live to see what happened to their beloved party. They would have been mighty disappointed
Me too......
Thats because Hillary Clinton is no longer acting politically correct because she knows she can never be President.
We were told over and over again, that if were not for "Russian interference" Hillary would have run.
If so why did she not run in 20? That fact is all we need to know. No one in power or who is possession of the facts believes that ridiculous lie. Hillary lost because she's a loser. Hillary lost because not enough people voted for her.
I wish that was true, but suspect she has designs on 2024.
God I hope not. Hope the socialists remember:
Here’s a list of all the speeches for which Clinton received a fee of $500,000 or higher, including the year, location, host and actual fee:
2003 -- Japan, $500,000 Sakura Asset Management (Japanese finance corporation) (A note: This speech was canceled, but the fee went to Clinton’s presidential library foundation);
2008 -- California, $500,000, Power Within (life coach Anthony Robbins’ brand);
2010 -- Russia, $500,000, Renaissance Capital (Russian finance corporation);
2010 -- United Arab Emirates, $500,000, Novo Nordisk (Danish pharmaceutical company);
2011 -- Nigeria, $700,000, THISDAY (newspaper);
2011 -- Austria, $500,000, Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation (Austrian nongovernmental organization);
2011 -- Netherlands, $600,000, Achmea (Dutch finance corporation);
2011 -- China, $550,000, Huatuo CEO Forum (business conference);
2011 -- United Arab Emirates, $500,000, Abu Dhabi Global Environmental Data Initiative (international environmental information organization);
2011 -- Hong Kong, $750,000, Ericsson (Swedish multinational communications technology company);
2012 -- Nigeria, $700,000, THISDAY (newspaper);
2012 -- Austria, $500,000, Center for Global Dialogue and Cooperation (Austrian nongovernmental organization);
2012 -- Italy, $500,000, Technogym (fitness equipment manufacturer).
So in the time Clinton left the White House in January 2001 and when his wife stepped down from secretary of state in February 2013, Bill Clinton gave 13 speeches for which he made more than $500,000. Eleven of those occurred since January 2009, when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state. Only two happened before then.
im the same as you, voted nader bernie etc etc, but something happened to liberal brains when that orange man descended his escalator in 2015...was like an extreme psychic fracturing that led to a monumental nervous breakdown (only exacerbated by covid and floyd) and shows no signs of abating. it's like some sort of millenarian fever that most likely ends up burning down everything in its way....
i really dont see how this ends (or when), but seeing glenn put it all together like that is scary...
That is exactly what happened. It was a mass hysteria event that broke the left.
The "left" at the end of the day is an extension of the state. Their entire platform and policy has for decades proven this. Oh shit you dont agree with the state? Fuck you, we will throw you in camps like Stalin did.
The ultimate evolution of the DNC in America is the very communist/socialist regimes they claim to hate. It is the only possible outcome when everything they do reflects building up government at every single turn.
The government isn't the solution, it's the problem.
So true! Worse, behind every fascist Democrat hides a cowardly Republican, not wanting to make waves.
Icono...there you go, making with the Simplistic-s, so everyone can understand the direction, like " building up the government at every single turn"...yep.
How difficult is that? thanks.
In 2016 for example, when the state of CA legalized cannabis for recreational use, via proposition 64, you changed a mostly self-regulated industry into a state controlled one.
What was the result? A complete destruction of the market and a takeover by the big corporate interests, driving out small business owners and limiting the options that customers had.
https://kymkemp.com/2021/11/24/flow-kana-ceo-threatens-to-withhold-cannabis-taxes-to-the-state-if-significant-change-isnt-made-to-help-the-struggling-cannabis-industry/
Steinwetz said that in 2015, Flow Kana worked with 800 retailers out of approximately 5000 in the market at the time. Today, according to the Bureau of Cannabis Control, there are only 830 storefront retailers in all of California. Meanwhile, active cultivation licenses are up 35%. There are less businesses able to sell the increasing amount of product created by more cultivators than ever before.
There are "fewer" government-recognized businesses, perhaps, but the product is getting sold. Probably more than ever.
Similarly, New Yorkers "legally" gambled 1.1 Billion Dollars online on sports in January 2022. And yet, the streetcorner bookies still exist.
It gets crazier than that. NJ had a referendum in 2020 which passed with strong support. Legalization law was passed in February 2021. There still has not been a single ounce of rec pot legally sold in NJ. Bureaucratic foot-dragging at its finest. Then there are the terms of the law itself: growing plants for yourself remains illegal, but posession of up to SIX ounces is legal.
https://www.nj.gov/oag/marijuana/docs/MJ_Reference_Card_3.26.21.pdf
Back in "the day" I did a little small time pot dealing, just enough to provide me with a free personal stash and maybe a couple of drinks at the local night club hot spot. I NEVER had that much grass on me at any given time to do that, and today's stuff is far more potent than what I had to sell. If you're walking around the neighborhood with 6 ounces on you, you are supplying that neighborhood (not that I have an issue with that :)
Hey, M. Iconoclast:
I just re-read this. I love it. I wouldn't change a punctuation mark. Nice writing, imo.
The media lost its grip on us somewhere in 2016. I think it was due to Bernie (and to a lesser extent Trump)'s rise and the media's inability to control the narrative.
The Shock doctrine is no longer effective. Too many shocks too close together. Now that demagoguery against differing points of view aren't working, we bring in censorship.
Yes remember in 2016 the DNC had fake primaries and let their voters think Bernie could be a candidate but in reality it was already HRC?
Then they did this in 2020 again when Bernie won the first couple of primaries and again the second Biden won ONE, everyone fell in line?
Say what you want about the shithead RNC but they at least actually gave their voters a choice during the primaries instead of a pretend one. Anyone who doubts it just look at Trump and how he treated Jeb LOL
What I don't get is how CNN is still on the air after rigging the debate for Hillary. It's one thing to have a POV bias, another entirely to actively engage in cheating. I have little use for Sanders but that is irrelevant, CNN got no punishment for it's actions, the only punishment it's ever received was from defamation lawsuits.
Let's look at who CNN used to attack Trump from 2016-2020.
Michael Avenatti - Now 2x convicted criminal.
Andrew Cuomo - Resigned in disgrace as governor over sexual misconduct.
Chris Cuomo - Fired over his own sexual misconduct scandal.
Jeff Zucker - Resigned in disgrace over sexual misconduct.
Don Lemon - Facing sexual misconduct charges
In addition, two CNN producers have also been charged in separate child sex scandals.
If you are an American, how can you respect anything that organization is putting out?
The whole Donna Brazile / Hillary Clinton relationship could be a book in and of itself, I suspect.
CNN doesn't care if they lose millions in media revenue if their party wins elections that are worth billions to the party in control.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/lossleader.asp
Also this is why all RNC chairwoman sent a letter recently about this exact subject.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/republican-party-threatens-boycott-us-presidential-debate-commission-2022-01-13/
"Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said the party was considering amending its rules to ensure its candidates do not attend the debates because of concerns about "whether the CPD credibly can provide a fair and impartial forum for presidential debates.""
It's because, as GG has pointed out, liberals want to be lied to. Media stars are rewarded for doing so because they know that.
Its that once HRC lost she no longer gave a fuck and sicced all her media flunkies on her enemies.
Remember the McCarthyism she pulled on Gabbard?
Part of me thinks that was due to Hillary's inability to see a woman have a reasonable chance of winning the presidency because she, Hillary, could not.
Yes, for many here it was the case that they lost us in 2015-2016. But the most important thing is that they are slowing losing others over time. It's classic you can fool all of the people some of the time, some of the people all of the time... we're slowly working thru those in the middle getting it. Many with less ability for independent thought are stuck, and some are just partisan... but eventually there is too much suspension of distrust required for almost everyone to sustain the charade.
And, of course, our schools are hard at work turning out legions of bipedal ruminants who can't tell the difference between crital thinking and critical race theory...
love your name - politically homeless. me too
Ironically, history shows that democracy dies, not when a blowhard like Trump stumbles into the presidency, but when there's extreme wealth inequality, when the middle class is eviscerated, and when it becomes more difficult for the poor to rise into the middle class. Those real factors have become grotesquely amplified by the lockdowns.
Yet the media is still obsessed with Trump.
An aside: I saw Don Lemon's first interview with Trump as a candidate - it was a total softball interview done for ratings it seemed.
" Don Lemon's first interview with Trump as a candidate - it was a total softball interview "
Corporate media is controlled by the establishment. Once they realized Trump was a threat (to them) they ordered the media to behave like attack dogs.
Trump was perceived as a threat but that didn't bear out in reality. Exactly what did he foil in his four years? Nada.
I could go on about what he did accomplish but you would probably disagree because we probably differ on political or economic issues.
However, everyone can agree that he popularized the terms "fake news", "swamp", and "deep state". This has real value.
Sadly, true. He taunted the security state but capitulated to them.
The files that wiki leaks released showed that Hillary wanted to run against Trump. The corporate media complied.
More than this - the DNC and HRC were funding the DJT campaign with donation after donation in the wikileaks. When this bit was released, Russiagate came in to distract the people from the reality and it worked.
Source? (Please provide link) They funded the Steele dossier - but I've not seen anywhere that they donated to DJT campaign.
Trump destroyed their capacity to reason.
They lost the thread.
The underlying causality wasn't Trump, really. It's the social media AI and new media business model where outrage sells even more than before. Trump, who literally trained in playing the heel in professional wrestling, basically leveraged this landscape to rocket him to the top of the national consciousness. But make no mistake that the tech and media landscape, especially AI bots regularly finding the things that cause outrage to drive profit and engagement, underlie it all and will and are perpetuating it all now. The AI algos of social media are the most important part because all of the left journos are on social media and were among the first and most affected victims, so it spills over into their writing and work even more.
Former FB exec Chamath Palihapitiya would agree with you.
The linked article is more than 4 years old. The situation is even worse today.
"A former Facebook executive has said he feels “tremendous guilt” over his work on “tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works”, joining a growing chorus of critics of the social media giant.
Chamath Palihapitiya, who was vice-president for user growth at Facebook before he left the company in 2011, said: “The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/11/facebook-former-executive-ripping-society-apart
It all clicked for me finally when I saw "The Social Dilemma" the documentary. In particular, I noticed that the Pew data on how the left moved more left and the right moved more right had a time element. The left moved left from 2010-2015 and the right moved right from 2016-. That is consistent with their relative timeline of uptake of social media. Before that I couldn't figure out why our country seemed to be leaving reasoned discourse behind.
In the future, we may find that those that enjoy longform content and make better, more reasoned decisions clash with those who absorb their content in emotional short bursts but have the strength of the Borg due to their connectedness. Strength of the Borg, but the ability to reason of a swamp frog.
It's not only the DNC. It's all politicos, including the supposed neutral ones. Trump was not a member of their caste, who broke through the firewall of the 2-party oligopoly. Anyone in this ecosystem -the "journos," the "consultants," the "NGOers," the "bureaucrats," the "GoodGov-ers," the "beltway gossipers," the "NEA funders," the "Kennedy Center" types, EVERYONE who makes their living on Government Largess saw the writing on the wall that the Barbarians were at the Gates. So they started punishing the Barbarians who voted for the guy.
Of course, after 4 years of being yelled at, they literally breached the Gates, to take selfies and lecterns. Which was spun as an attempted revolution, complete with zip ties and everything.
Logic and Reason are Racist.
And math and science.
Edit: How grateful I am for being self taught.
I really believe that the Clinton followers lost the plot in 2008. PUMAs? The shrieking bigot Geraldine Ferraro?
Is that Pocahontas's stage name?
Look up Geraldine Ferraro. She was whiter than you are.
a mass hysteria event mostly propped up by the left, using it to their advantage to take, take, take and hold more power. I haven’t recognized the “liberal” party in decades.
Like buhs and his crew never did that!
One of the most effective ways that power controls people is to divide them over some minor issues that are meaningless to them. They then sit back and laugh and laugh at us.
It works too, as you demonstrate.
not really. they just happen the be the ‘party’ in power, though we really know it’s just a uniparty used to distract and divide, as you’ve said. I don’t stand with a single one of our politicians because none of them stand for us. we need to vote out every incumbent and reboot the gov.
The scariest thing Trump ever did (to the uniparty) was talk about moving government offices away from DC and spreading them around the country to places with lower costs of living as a means of lowering costs. The response to that trial balloon said everything you need to know.
Bill... what is "buhs"? tha nks
buhs was and is a human monster of historic proportions. I refuse to show that creature even the minimal respect even of spelling its name correctly.
That's what 'buhs' is.
The Left has wanted censorship for years. Trump just shined a light on them. I went to law school 1983-86 and a guest lecturer from the philosophy department in our first year advocated for "speech codes" on campus to ban "offensive speech" (his own?) The Left has NEVER believed in the Bill of Rights in its entirety. Their mantra forever has been that the 2nd, 9th and 10th amendments have no meaning. That's 30% of it. According to their religion, only the courts "give us" our rights. Law school itself is a brainwashing exercise, especially federal tax, teaching that judges, not the constitution, are the ultimate law. Legal commentators preach BS like the "living constitution" - to be twisted at their whim. It's how we got to where we are with Roe. Even Ginsburg disapproved of it.
How do you know that the guest lecturer was a lefty or liberal? That was the days of Ronald Reagan, the “shining city on a hill” guy.
You’ve never ventured beyond the religion of conservatism. You mind ossified decades ago.
And the left-leaning side of the "right" (the crony-Capitalists/neo-cons of the Republican elitist establishment).
Yes.
Good observation on the Orange Man. In the beginning of his term his oral attacks on progressives were kinda humorous, one could see it as a response that NO ONE else made hence forth, and chuckle. But after a while it got really ugly and their anger grew and blossomed into outrage and attack. They organized on Twitter and learned how to respond, as a collective mass of humanity. Now they are using Twitter and other tools to wage war on their all of their enemies. I’m a free speech person and don’t let people like Joe Rogan bother me, he has had some very good interviews too (Bari Weiss and Ira Glasser). But the mob is using Twitter to attack Spotify to erode its market capitalization - that’s economic espionage and crosses the line of civility in my opinion. I have a few friends that think this way and I have distanced myself, hoping their fever passes.
Joe has always had an uncategorizable, eclectic mix of guests. The only reason the liberal media has had any traction at all in smearing Joe is because followers of the liberal media are profoundly incurious. How many have gone to his site and simply scrolled through the episodes to see precisely who Joe is talking to? How many have ever listened to Joe parse out difficult and contentious topics in science, economics and politics by challenging his guests and asking probing questions? Joe is a very smart guy. His critical thinking skills are excellent. He works hard to be well-read and prepared for the intellectuals he talks to, in addition to the MMA fighters and comedians (whose convos I avoid because I find them boring), and the fascinating adventurers, explorers, extreme sports aficionados, inventors, artists, politicians and iconoclasts…
Your comment that “he has had some very good interviews too” seems to imply that “Joe is largely a purveyor of garbage but once in a while he manages to have a normal guest who is liberal and who I respect.” If that’s all you can come up with, it’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t do justice to the skill, discipline and intelligence it takes to do what Joe does for a living.
Good thoughts, I get Joe’s skill and do agree, he is very talented. I’ll have to take some time to listen to some more of his podcasts, to broaden out the net so to say.
well stated. For me, his best shows are with people I often have never heard of, or on a topic I know little about. I avoid his MMA eps, because Im not a big UFC guy, and the ones with his comedian buddies.
avoiding the comedians means that you're avoiding the best content. The only podcasts worth listening to are hosted by comedians... Gilbert Gottfried, Bob Saget RIP, Marc Maron, Artie Lange (still ticking)...
I love comedians. I love stand-up. But the best content? That hasn't been my experience. Now, as a general matter, a podcast hosted by a comedian is the definition of Joe Rogan's podcast, and I find Joe's interviews very interesting a good portion of the time. Although I haven't listened to him in a long time, Marc Maron was somebody whose insights I enjoyed and who had a very intense interview style.
However, when Joe gets together with his comedian buddies for a marathon schmooze, even if they're comedians whose stand-up I enjoy, like Tom Papa or Jim Gaffigan, I have found those episodes really dull. Most comedians are most interesting when they are doing comedy, not talking about the mundane aspects of their lives.
There are a few exceptions: Bill Burr, and of course Dave Chappelle, who I could listen to all day, he's so smart.
Any suggestions on which episodes are best would be appreciated.
I’m center right on politics, enjoy business and void sports.
Douglas Murray, James Lindsay.
James Lindsay is much more the reason that Biden and Democrats want Rogan canceled than the COVID doctor episodes. Lindsay spells out in full what is afoot with the "progressive" Soros funded agenda.
👍👍
No. I think your best bet is to scroll through his podcasts, read the descriptions of his guests, follow up with a search and see if the guest intrigues you. Keep in mind that Joe is not really a political animal, believe it or not. He is a heterodox generalist with a wide range of interests.
Also, so many famous people talk to Joe that it’s possible somebody you admire has already spoken to him and you might hear a good conversation that way if you search for his name in combination with theirs.
I’ve scanned his extensive list of interviews.
Wow.
I’ll be able to find something that makes sense I’m sure.
Correction: what Joe used to do for a living. Before he got scared, before he apologized and promised to be more "balanced". He has capitulated.
Spotify market cap has a lot more to do with Fed policy than 3 million twitter bots.
I understand how the market works. The “affect” of the Twitter mob has been to neuter corporate boards into submission. That’s fucked up.
Who is on these "corporate boards"? Useful idiots.
You missed that Trump also demolished GOP lunatics. But soon after winning he selected "his generals" (one worse than the other), Pompeo, bible-idiot Ben Carson, Bolton -- an incompetent clown...
PS: Shame on you --- Bari Weissis a racist who adores apartheid and "kill-all-Palestinians" extremists...
I just subscribed to journalist Weiss. I don't mind a point of view but I'm not for killing anyone. I'll see where she takes me.
Bari’s Substack page is very good. I’ve not seen her advocate for killing anyone.
Please note that Bari Weiss is a racist who OPENLY adores her "hero" - a well-known Likudnik racist, Nathan Sharansky.
She is also infamous for badmouthing the high-integrity Tulsi Gabbard "a Russian asset" called by repulsive and corrupt Hillary...
Always remember the brilliant and uniquely Tulsi's straightforward response:
Great! Thank you @HillaryClinton . You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long, have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know — it was always you, through your proxies and powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose. It’s now clear that this primary is between you and me. Don’t cowardly hide behind your proxies.
agree
I subscribe to Weiss’s Substack and find much, but not all, of her content to be very good. I’m also a Jew and I disagree profoundly with her position on the Palestinians. Her podcasts are often excellent. For instance, her recent conversation with Turkish Imam Abdullah Antepli on the topic of anti-semitism in the Muslim world was surprising, profound and quite moving. And he criticized to her face the Israelis’ position on the Palestinians. FWIW, she did not argue with him.
Thanks. I was also a subscriber -- until she banned me.
Cowards can't stand pointing to their bad sides. ;-))
You can see her interview on Rogan and her parroting hatred of Tulsi Gabbard and anything Palestinian. She is a disgusting deeply racist person.
Palestinians would have a home land if not for their greedy and foolish leadership.
Yes, considering the billions in aid that the Palestinians have been given, had they used this money to build their nation's infrastructure, provide good education and health care, and in general create a modern, democratic state, as Israel has done, they would be living in a society resembling those in 1st world nations. Instead, they have supported leadership that is corrupt, self-serving, and only interested in maintaining control while supporting terrorism and other insidious activities, while enriching the leadership and impoverishing the Palestinian people.
They have also used cement and fuel for smuggling and blind rocket launches. Their idiotic leaders put them in a no win situation, you give them aid and they attack, you withhold aid and they attack.
Yes, well said.
Sure darling -- thanks for educating us
I think Brian knows that everyone realizes the Palestinians would have a homeland if not for their greedy and foolish leadership: He just reminded us.
The hasbara is everywhere!
Bol-ton was all those things but my impression is that he was injected into the White House by The L___y.
Trump derangement syndrome is real. The belief is that the white working class voted for Trump and listen to Joe Rogan. The white working class support white male patriarchy, which is evil and must be suppressed. Now we have Rogan derangement syndrome.
"something happened to liberal brains when that orange man descended his escalator in 2015"
Trump with his talk of "the swamp", "fake news", the "deep state", how politicians could be "bought off", and his criticism of Bush and his lies to start the Iraq war and the "establishment" was a threat to the establishment - left and right sides of it (as if there's a difference). People forget that the "conservative" establishment hated him too. Anyway, they mobilized corporate media against him with non-stop smears, like they now use against all their enemies whether Joe Rogan, Tulsi Gabbard or Bernie Sanders (until he came to heel like an obedient dog). It should not be called "Trump derangement syndrome", it should be called "CNN derangement syndrome". Leftists were deranged by corporate media, not by Trump.
Yes, this is a very fair observation.
The media fed the loons a script that was designed to trigger them 24/7.
The only possible response to this was the insanity that ensued.
"Religion" or "mass hysteria" ??!! -- it is more like self-preservation...
Everywhere a puzzling and completely irrational DNC/media/security state propaganda.
BUT -- there is a VERY rational reason for that. We are dealing here with BIG Lie(s)
ANY, even rudimentary, discussion would unravel the lie(s) -- hence total censorship and prompt defamations are the ONLY choice for the immensely corrupt Deep State cabal.
PS: A sad thing is that GOP lunatics are equally repulsive and dangerous -- happily grunting together while feeding at same donor troughs.
I've been talking with Populist Republicans lately. We don't agree on everything but they are a lot more sane than the Democrats and establishment Republicans. Check out VivaBarnesLaw.locals.com. They have a lot of good info on their website. I especially like when Barnes posts legal briefs on important issues of the day. Some of the info is free, some is for paid subscribers ($5 mo). They know I'm a liberal and all of them are very nice to me. They are very supportive of civil liberties and most are anti-war. Occasionally someone will post something really partisan and I cringe but overall I've enjoyed talking with them.
I look forward to Barnes on the Vivafrie podcast every Sunday. Barnes is a libertarian who objects to authoritarian Republicans. My understanding is that left leaning libertarians have more in common with right leaning libertarians like Barnes then we have with the authoritarians on the left. The question is will the Republican Party understand that a lot of people are saying "I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the party left me" and move toward a more free populist Republican Party? Or will they get drunk on all the new voters they have and move towards an authoritarian government that is just as bad as what we have now.
Fair question. There is a big chance the RINO/war hawk/anti-abortion wing will continue to dominate. The party needs to become much more libertarian, and if so it could kick butt and have some crediblity. They need to learn that their beloved heroes in the security state actually loathe them, and spy/shill for the dems at every chance. And that the constitution did not give government the authority to regulate women's bodies. That's the right stand on abortion. Not what "the bible" says. And not what Roe says.
Can you name for me please, these "authoritarian" Republicans?
That is an interesting question coming from someone who pays a subscription fee to GG. Anyone from the Bush Administration that GG has written about, such as the Cheneys. I would call authoritarian. Barnes was just on Vivafrie to complain about Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham. Here is the latest episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33izK9r5-nE. Anyone who voted for the Patriot Act is authoritarian. Power corrupts, the Dems are going way too authoritarian with their current power, which will cause a swing towards Republicans. Will the Republicans see the shift as a call for freedom, or will it become a power shift towards the Cheney's style of leadership. For expert information on Republican authoritarians, follow Barnes on YouTuble and locals, and read past GG articles.
Thanks, but:
-- Trump and GOP are truly HORRIBLE.
-- DNC oligarchs (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) are even WORSE (CORRUPTION, censorship, they concocted Russia-gate hoax, torture of Julian Assange, Daniel Hale’s persecution for Obama’s drone crimes, $16B Haiti-corruption under Hillary/Obama – Biden-family corruption pales in comparison)
The ONLY solution – vote THIRD party – now and forever.
ALWAYS vote – but VOTE for a Third (or fourth, fifth..) party – at ALL levels, especially at LOCAL levels (vote OUT each and every incumbent).
“If you always vote for the lesser of two evils, you will always have evil, and you will always have less.”
I voted for the Green party in 2016 & 2020 but that doesn't prevent me from talking to the populist Republicans. There are a lot of good people on VivaBarnesLaw.locals.com I'd love to see Glenn go on one their sidebars to talk with them. It would make for great viewing and it would worry the hell out of the establishment. LOL
Boris...Trumpty IS the Third Party...hello. Not the time to Divide, maybe later. thanks. i.e. unless you have about 600 years to make the turn.
Being pro-war, as the democrats are, is the most illiberal position imaginable.
Wow--who knew? Glad you're getting out more ;-)
BTW a lot of them like Glenn Greenwald and I'm not the only liberal over there. There are others. I really hope we can combine forces to defeat the crazies.
I know people who used to support Glenn, but who now hate him because, "he's changed".
He has not, but the awesome power of opinion control is now such that millions and millions of people fervently believe nonsense like that.
No, Glenn hasn't changed (thank goodness), they changed. Hell, they are now cheering on censorship & authoritarian mandates for god's sake.
I'm a conservative and like Greenwald because he is consistent. He blasted national surveillance under Bush the Younger, under Obama, under Trump and under Biden. He does not make exemptions based on political party or even personal likeability. I value Greenwald over people such as Hannity as a result, when something is wrong, it is wrong for all, when something is right, it is right for all, it isn't just right or wrong depending whom is in power.
We agree 100%. I can’t stand Hanity because he is equivalent of Rachel Maddow
Any specific recommendation? Below is mine:
-- Trump and GOP are truly HORRIBLE.
-- DNC oligarchs (Biden, Pelosi, Schumer) are even WORSE (CORRUPTION, censorship, they concocted Russia-gate hoax, torture of Julian Assange, Daniel Hale’s persecution for Obama’s drone crimes, $16B Haiti-corruption under Hillary/Obama – Biden-family corruption pales in comparison)
-- The ONLY solution – vote THIRD party – now and forever.
-- ALWAYS vote – but VOTE for a Third (or fourth, fifth..) party – at ALL levels, especially at LOCAL levels (vote OUT each and every incumbent).
“If you always vote for the lesser of two evils, you will always have evil, and you will always have less.”
https://soundcloud.com/going_rogue/lets-back-up-a-sec-and-ask-why-free-speech-actually-matters
Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters
Going Rogue With Caitlin Johnstone
Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters (substack.com)
I love Caitoz
Thanks - but what is Caitoz? ;-)) A typo?
https://twitter.com/caitoz
Yeah, the RINOs and lifers (often one in the same) are SJWs with boxing gloves on as opposed to brass knuckles, a slightly less revolting version of the same thing.
Trump the Orange Monster was a media creation.
I think that classical liberals have taken a back seat to full blown leftists.
Establishment liberals are still fully in power. They pull the strings of monopoly media, woke corporations, big tech, the deep state, academia and the DNC. The mob left cheers them on, tweets but ultimately gets nothing but led around by the nose.
Good points.
There are a lot of leftists who support free speech & civil liberties. It's the establishment not the leftists who are driving the authoritarian agenda.
Its true but 'm not aware of many leftists supporting Joe Rogan
on this issue, aside from GG. Are there any others? Now is the time.
I was inspired by JFK to become a liberal Democrat in 1960. I was inspired by Nancy Pelosi to become a liberal independent in 2009. My position didn't change, but my party did. It used to stand for tolerance, but now it stands for intolerance. Any difference with a single jot or tittle of the illiberal vitriol which spills naturally from a national Democrat's mouth is grounds for canceling. Go ahead and cancel me. I'd feel honored.,
Bill, like you I didn't leave the party, the party left me. But it began in 2000 when I attended the Third International Conference on Vaccinations. It was parents, doctors, scientists who gathered to discuss vaccination safety and science. The key note speaker was Republican congressman Dan Burton from Indiana whose grandchild reacted to multiple vaccinations in one visit--many loaded with mercury. I was sitting next to one of the conference organizers and asked her, "Where are the Democrats?" Her response, "There aren't any." Twenty two years later--"There aren't any." Democrats are now the party of Big Pharma.
I live in Oregon and RFK Jr. is more respected by Republicans than Democrats. The party left me. Now I view Democrats and democrats with the contempt they deserve.
I've heard that the midterms might turn into a political blood-bath for the Ds. That would be fitting.
Meanwhile Niel Young and Joni Mitchell can take their irrelevant music and shove it. Joe Rogan with a little help from his friends, might just save our democracy from the totalitarian-minded extremists also known as progressives, liberals, democrats.
Only flu vaccines still contain Thimerosal (ethylmercury), a safe preservative in use since the thirties.
Why do all the people who "worry" about vaccines have zero care about real risks like carcinogenic home cleaning products? Or driving around in cars for that matter, an activity vastly more risky than getting a vaccine?
Bill, we disagree, so how about the medical ethical principle of informed consent guide us to accept or decline an invasive medical procedure which congress ruled as unavoidably unsafe because of the limitations of science.
Informed consent is awesome
I think the distrust of the people who make the vaccines is a factor along with the continuous flow of money and staffers from big Pharma to the government officials and back again. The fact of them being mandatory is very troubling. The flu vaccine has always been optional.
So true. I work in healthcare. Just look at the number of Americans who die of heart disease—about 1 in 5—mostly self-induced by an atrocious diet, smoking, lack of exercise, poor sleep…yet, vaccines are deadly???
After 911 - Americans, now in terror of flying, took to their cars in droves. Driving is vastly more dangerous than flying, and so a statistical analysis showed that there were 1595 "extra deaths" as a result.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/05/september-11-road-deaths
Most people are really terrible at evaluating real risk. Dan Gardner did a great book about Risk, and how most fail utterly at rationally evaluating it.
https://www.amazon.ca/Risk-Things-Shouldnt-Ourselves-Greater/dp/0771032595
Bingo. The people whom wear masks when alone in cars out of terror of Covid probably don't give a second thought of driving behind a diesel truck, passing someone on a non-divided highway or making a rolling stop.
Very true.
Life is deadly too.
100%
For some, the vax is like standing in front of an Axe Board, not for most, but some.
I think most vaccine fear is due to ignorance. MRna vaccines weren’t invented in 2020; they were being researched for 20-odd years before Covid, unlike what some people have stated. Like all exogenous products that we swallow/inject, there are side effects, just like many people have serious and sometimes fatal reactions to bee stings or peanuts, which are as “natural” as one can get. In most cases, it’s the person’s unfortunate excessive immune response to an antigen, not the actual vaccine or drug, just as some otherwise healthy individuals died from Covid due to producing an internal “cytokine storm” that killed the host.
While I agree with a good portion of what you said, I’m a huge fan of vaccines. I think vaccines and clean water have significantly reduced morbidity and mortality over the years. I think hospitals should have the right to turn away Covid-positive patients who refuse vaccination. So, don’t mandate vaccines but allow hospitals the freedom to turn such patients away. In 2020-21, I had several (vaccinated) patients whose elective procedures were postponed by weeks or months due to the shortage of beds because they were filled mostly with unvaccinated patients (90-95%), so the Covid vaccines certainly work. No one said they would be 100% effective, but they are nevertheless highly effective at reducing hospitalization due to Covid. As for Netflix and sitting on the couch…sometimes, after a rough day at work, watching John Wick shoot up the neighborhood is quite the stress reliever, and I’m a fan of stress relief. Lol.
For some people "Vaccine IS Dead-er", for others, just debility.
The irony is that in todays political climate, JFK would be considered a moderate Republican given his policies, perhaps even Trump like given the women, albeit he would not be one for 'mean tweets.'
I think a part of it has to do with the same power-hungry, war-mongers in power, though that doesn't explain how the DNC embraced censorship. In the late 90s, they moved to the political right because of the right wing's long-held belief in the goodness of the armed forces and the belief that the US was a force for good in the world.
Afghanistan fell into their lap with 9/11 and they expanded it to Iraq. I initially supported Iraq as I was 18 at the time and knew of Hussein's history of invading other countries and gassing his own people. However as time passed and more wars were initiated with the same 'goals' as Afghanistan and Iraq in Libya and Syria, the right wing began to sour on the war mongers.
In 2016, with the frenzy by the DNC to prevent Trump from entering office by any means necessary. His refusal to enter any new wars and attempts to withdraw from current ones angered the war mongers. With the DNC's Russia hype and demands for increased security and censorship, the war mongers moved over to the left, which is why you have the idiocy going on in Ukraine.
Edit: The rest of it has to do with the paranoia of Russiagate.
Russia-gate is NOT a paranoia -- it is a BIG lie -- the original modern sin concocted by Hillary-Obama-DNC and Deep State
I know that, you know that, most people on here know that, but for the 'hardcore DNC' types, they actually believe Russia is behind everything that the legacy press does not endorse. Mass paranoia which fuels their demands for censorship.
"Hardcore DNC types" have pushed the Russia-gate hoax from the start -- especially odious is Jake Sullivan (replacement for destroyed Michael Flynn).
What Did Clinton Know and When Did She Know It? The Russiagate Evidence Builds
By Paul Sperry, RealClearInvestigations -- January 27, 2022 -- "Hillary" (Part 4)/Hulu
https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2022/01/27/what_did_clinton_know_about_the_russiagate_smear_and_when_did_she_know_it_the_evidence_builds_813739.html?utm_source=RC%20Investigations%20Today&utm_campaign=6b8e1291b1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_11_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d042379c8d-6b8e1291b1-88023858&mc_cid=6b8e1291b1&mc_eid=6198033111
For future reference, you can truncate the URL (web address) after ".html". The rest of it, beginning with '?', is information used to track the link (or something like that), and it's not needed by others.
Thank you very much -- sometimes the link is not activated ...
It's one thing to be a useful idiot and push a hoax for your boss, it's another entirely to lack critical thinking skills and buy into it hook, line and sinker.
Edit: The hoax being Russiagate for Hillary.
"Someone", me, just wrote an article that claims that Russiagate is war propaganda. Which it totally is.
https://williamowen.substack.com/p/the-war-on-russia?r=b6zt4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Bill, I have to keep coming back to this comment to read this; don’t know why.
weird
https://soundcloud.com/going_rogue/lets-back-up-a-sec-and-ask-why-free-speech-actually-matters
Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters
Going Rogue With Caitlin Johnstone
Let's Back Up A Sec And Ask Why Free Speech Actually Matters (substack.com)
"They're going to..."cancel" Joe Rogan?"
Joe Rogan is not right wing, he just honestly expresses his thoughts and opinions and regularly has guests from the left like Bernie Sanders.
Bernie Sanders and other leftists should speak up for Joe LOUDLY, it's about time for them to show some courage and last chance to do something useful before they are cancelled too.
The liberal establishment is scared that democrats and leftists will watch his show so they are running a smear campaign.
The absence of support is evidence of non-support. The silence of "creators" in literature and art is deafening. Yet, Rogan has constantly pulled his punches and thus contributed heavily to his precarious position. Like, he said "this guy [Biden] can't be president." Then Rogan went on to talk about hunting, fishing and the UFC. He could have made a difference, but stepped back - did not want to "help" Trump. So now we have a guy who does not know his name, forgets that he is president, thought he was running for the Senate, and, before he lost his marbles, was in bed with the banks and given to groping minor girls (check out the video of him with Chris Coons's daughter in front of the Senate). "Handsy" Joe. "Those Joe Biden shoulder massages" as Obama called them.
Rogan is an entertainer not a pundit. If he goes partisan he will lose half his viewers and half his influence. He focuses on "issues" more than politics, educating people instead of of making them stupid like fake news does.
In theory, and "once upon a time", that might have been true. But he's already lost half his audience. He wants to be friends with everybody. He refers to himself as a "leftie". But the Left tolerates no dissent from their pieties. Apologizing to Neil Young will only be seen as evidence of guilt. The Left won't want to shake hands, come around and say he's a good guy after all.
I was disappointed he apologized but he is under the thumb of a big corporation, like free speech itself, the left and 90% of the GOP.
edit - just watched Rogan's video statement and there's nothing wrong with it. Fake news wants to play it like a huge apology and claim a victory - that's why they're called "fake news". Monopoly media is going down the drain, nothing can stop it. Rogan will continue to pick up the viewers who jump ship.
Obviously you don't follow Greenwald. He's been Tweeting this for months: "Polling data shows an enormous partisan difference on the question of censoring the Internet. Democrats overwhelmingly favor censorship by Big Tech and by the Government. Republicans overwhelmingly oppose it. Those are facts." Including today, he Tweeted that.
I can't believe Joe Rogan used the n-word so many times. What a dumbass, he's no better than anyone else. That's part of the reason so many people like him. Stop using the n-word and please keep making those fucking podcasts because we don't have anyone else. Go Joe.
I'm right there with you Sasha. They have lost their minds. I've been a Democrat since the early 70s. I fought against the Moral Majority and now we have a Moral Majority on the left. I feel like Alice through the Looking Glass.
Just that Team D now has the whip hand with respect to these things.
for a few months at least
In the words of John McClain, 'Welcome to the party pal'
My favorite Christmas movie.
Now I have a machine gun. Ho, Ho, Ho!
Hey, man.
I love you.
For me too in a way as prior to 2016, I supported the Cheneys.
Funny thing about these rock stars - pretty sure they never tried to de-platform another rock star out of concern their lifestyle might be promoting health threats like heroin, LSD, and other drugs countless people have died from.
Instead, they wrote songs about the tragedies and pathos and did what they could via personal relationships. (Young did admit unapologetically some unspecified drug use.)
So I'm wondering why Mitchell or Young didn't attempt to initiate conversations and a relationship with Rogan. Not as "superiors" but as open-minded peers seeking to understand first of all. (A Mitchell-Rogan jam session conversation would've been fascinating.)
We're so eager today to "drone" others: to keep our distance. We don't want conversations. We want to denounce, shun, and inflict punishment from afar. This dehumanizes all: accusers, accused, and media.
And, I suspect, it provides something of a high for the participants.
As to your question "why Mitchell or Young didn't attempt to initiate conversations and a relationship with Rogan": "to ask that question is to answer it". Judge Learned Hand
Yep, I told my comfortably smug upper middle class friends a couple of years ago that this was not their father's Democrat party. For some the penny has not yet dropped but it is only a matter of time.
you speak for many of us, still reeling from what has become of the democratic party.l
Democrats haven't changed at all. They simply have more power than they had before.
This was always their nature.
Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds.
Well, one thing's for sure...we know that Chelsea is, without doubt, Bill and Hillary's offspring. Just like her parents, she lacks the same gene that allows them/her to detect and feel irony, hypocrisy, and shame.
"Apparently, this political heiress — who is one of the world's richest individuals by virtue of winning the birth lottery of being born to rich and powerful parents, who in turn enriched themselves by cashing in on their political influence in exchange for $750,000 paychecks from Goldman Sachs for 45-minute speeches, and who herself somehow was showered with a $600,000 annual contract from NBC News despite no qualifications — believes she is in a position to accuse others of "grifting.” She also appears to believe that — despite welcoming convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell to her wedding to a hedge fund oligarch whose father was expelled from Congress after his conviction on thirty-one counts of felony fraud — she is entitled to decree who should and should not be allowed to have a writing platform."
Glenn went full scorched earth with this one.
She obviously got her political instincts from her mother and not her father!
i always thought she was the love child of Janet Reno and Hillary.
Ouch!
"Like" (the like button did not work.)
...Glenn took the gloves off, i hope hes ready for the clinton smear campaign to begin...i like his chances, just needs to make sure he never does anything alone, or he may accidentaly commit suicide.
Came here to share my own appreciation for this paragraph. Amazing!
Chelsea Fucking Clinton.
lol
I can't.
I'm actually surprised the DNC, along with its apparatchiks in the MSM, hasn't managed to "win" her her mom's old Senate seat in NY. Then again, the Legion of Doom (just not the same since Wasserman-Schulz was forced to fall on her pen knife) is seeding the cauldron with wool of bat and tongue of dog in preparation for Hillary's third failed attempt at proving the Russians, and their facebook allies, wrong. Perhaps Chelsea could be president-elects VP in 2024. Let the death rattles commence!
We are told, (over and over again) that the much beloved psychopath Hillary Clinton only lost to Trump because of "RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE!". If so then why did she not run against Trump last time, and why will she not run in 2024? hmmm
She will.
At one time i think the plan was to run her for Nita Lowey's House seat. Chelsea has no gift for communication whatsoever, i can't see her winning any big seat.
As for trying to run Hillary again - this is a party that has absolutely no one and nothing. All the Jurassics are planning to run again too. Pelosi, Biden or Clinton, Clyburn, Hoyer...
At least the Repubs give their fresh blood some airtime.
If I'd have come to you in 1980, and told you that in 40 years time Joe Biden would be POTUS...you'd have laughed me out of the room, then called the police. Never, EVER, underestimate the DNC's ability to do the wrong thing, at the right time. BTW, the same goes for the RNC. If you need proof, look no further than the cartoonish recall election in California.
It's amazing to see rockstars in their prime like Yang, Gabbard, Sinema -- all with fresh ideas -- smeared & snubbed by the establishment. Meanwhile, the geriatric class -- in cognitive decline -- stays comfortably in power.
Nancy Pelosi - 81
Diane Feinstein - 88
BIll Pascrell - 85
Grace Napolitano - 85
Eddie Bernice Johnson - 86
Jim Inhofe - 87
Richard Shelby - 87
Chuck Grassley - 88
Don Young - 88
Maxine Waters - 83
Eleanor Holmes Norton - 84
Jim Clyburn - 81
Patrick Leahy - 81
Why, it's almost as if there's a ruling class protected by the mainstream media whose job is to shill for it.
(Here's an elderly Congresswoman struggling to park)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7Ym-kk1tRw
It's not Congress...it's a nursing home.
By NOT stepping aside they are assuring that at some point the Democrats will be left with NOTHING and no-one to carry the torch. The entire Party will be left in the hands of incompetent losers like Adam Schiff and other distasteful, arrogant and hubris riddled "leaders." This will probably be the end to that corrupt band of thieves and power brokers. Good riddance can't come soon enough. BTW you left out Maxine Waters the 83 year old motormouth.
The same people whom oppose term limits because it interferes with their racket. If the FBI wasn't so corrupt, I'd suggest a RICO investigation of political lifers.
Sinema is all-in on the "insurrection" hysteria. And she is not speaking up for free speech or out against starting new wars.
Don't blame me, i vote 3rd party or write in.
I hear you. Unfortunately, our "system" is designed to prevent any third parties from gaining any real political traction, and posing any real, actual threat to the status quo.
I blame you for not voting against the Democrats. By not voting for the only Party that could defeat them, you are ,in effect, increasing the Democrats chance of continuing their Police-Statism.
Perhaps she simply never learned them given her parents were incapable of teaching them.
Yes in terms of money and privilege she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but in terms of growing up with people of character she really was short changed. Imagine your parents, thieves and murderers? Imagine your mother laughing when she heard Gaddafi was dead, sodomized by sword, and was the lead in destroying a country, and it's people, and all based on lies? Not to imply she was not complicit in many, if not all of our wars.
Imaging getting all of the positions you were gifted - board membership, "news" reporting, Ivy professor - and thinking it was on your own merits.
Chelsea has no idea how painfully ordinary she actually is.
It is too perfect that she married the son of two parents just as corrupt and craven as hers
She has less talent and intellect than about almost anyone whom posts on Glenn's site.
A back-handed compliment (to posters here) if I ever heard one. (I couldn't resist the tease, M. Stephen Sanford. I enjoy your posts, and even agree with most!)
Hard to believe they're that stupid or narcissistic, but then again anything is possible in a world of make believe.
The fact that she accepted a $600,000 per year salary from a "news" outlet without a lick of experience and seemed to accomplish NOTHING while employed there would indicate that she knew that she was being hired to BUY the influence of her parents. This was very obvious and yet the media said little about it.
This type of grift gave rise to the Hunter Biden syndrome where by bribes and payoffs can be channeled thru the children and relatives of elected officials. The DOJ is complacent and encourages this type of criminal activity with its' complete "hands off" policies---except of course if that politician is NOT part of the D.C. establishment.
The leftists corrupt EVERYTHING that they touch and allow all manner of crimes by their supporters. The Clinton influence machine, their Foundation, was just one glaring example. Losing the election and her influence cratered that faux Foundation almost immediately.
A hundred likes if I could.
Same. Just look at cities which have voted D for the past 50-100 years....everything is unraveling.
She's a Clinton. They know a thing or two about grift.
$750,000 paychecks from Goldman Sachs for 45-minute speeches!
Why would they pay that kinda money?
The bit about Chelsea was my favorite of the article. No quals and still pulls in more than 1/2M, because she's CC.
Webb Hubbell
Censorship is always about caste, not content. Everything said by Correct People is correct by definition. Everything said by Incorrect People is incorrect by definition. Even when both castes are saying exactly the same words, it's still censorable when it's said by Incorrect People.
The majority of censorship shifted from R to D because the majority of the upper CASTE shifted from R to D in the '80s and '90s.
Excellent point!
Power censors any, and all threats to their power.
Power has no ideology except for, "Must. keep. power."
They need to censor, because their shitty ideas cannot survive open debate
That is why when debate begins, they scream Racism or take your pick of a phobia which is not part of the DSM.
Projection. Always projection with commie-fascist racist "progressives".
Will someone please show me where in history, going back to whatever date one wishes, where the side which employed widespread censorship ended up being on the right side of history?
never
Aye, but the "rub" is in the time it takes.
We’ll, if you live in China, Russia, North Korea or Venezuela, you would say “us”.
Please focus on fighting for democracy and freedom in our beloved country -- leave Russia, China, Cuba, Venezuela and other countries about we both know next to nothing (except for CIA propaganda) to pursue their destinies
You mean just let their corrupt absolute dictators pursue their destinies for them. None of the people in those countries have a say. If they open their mouths, they disappear. They are not “pursuing their destinies”. They are being force-marched for the benefit of a few. Doesn’t make us any better, but let’s be clear-eyed about what they are at this point in history.
You are relentless with your selective preoccupations and "information". Haiti FREED itself from slavery in 1793 !!! Ever since the US was destroying this once prosperous French colony.
An extraordinary interview !!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3iT3y7MktI
Recent US crimes against Haiti people -- by Hillary , Condoleezza Rice/Bush, Obama – corruption, coups, military invasions (see general Smedley Butler), theft of $16B+ earthquake financial aid, century of massive exploitation of one of the poorest country. UN (Nepal soldiers) brought in cholera (30,000+ dead, million sick) but negated the horror for six (read slowly - six) years.
A detailed, most horrible recent history of US colonialism -- kudos to Aaron Mate (always remember how vulgarly he was attacked by TYT's despicables - Ana & Cenk). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3iT3y7MktI
PS: Going way back, 2nd President John Adams (1797-1801) supported Haiti and the revolution. He got voted out and Jefferson reversed policy immediately, black listing Haiti and yanking out support. One of Jefferson’s protégés was Monroe, of the Monroe Doctrine.
Adams’ predecessor, George Washington, had no use for the black leaders of Saint-Domingue. Nor did Adams’ vice president, Thomas Jefferson. He dreaded the prospect of black sailors, supercargoes and missionaries spreading the message of freedom and revolution into the Southern states. “We have to fear it,” Jefferson wrote Adams.
Ah, Boris. The MIG throws off more chaff. Now it's Haiti, which actually declared its independence in 1804. Prosperous colony? Yes, for the French colonial masters, not the people. Are you implying it should have continued to be run in that fashion? I'm not saying the U.S. hands are clean on foreign affairs - far from it. But Haiti has mostly been its own worst enemy, and the U.S. has generally batted clean up as France abandoned any sense of responsibility for its former colony.
In that era, unfortunately, slavery was standard practice for any country in a position to profit from the forced labor of others. Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas all participated. Britain really deserves the most credit for calling the world's attention to this horrible practice. While today everyone wrings their hands and beats their breast about the evils of centuries past, slavery continues today in the millions of people. We just call it sex trafficking or people trafficking. It receives relatively little attention. Boris, I don't think you're fooling anyone. I suggest a website like Mother Jones or Vox, where people will applaud your historical perspective.
Thank you -- you didn't notice yet that even the famous Mother Jones has been corrupted and now managed by DNC "marxists" and our beloved CIA...
M. Sea Sentry, I love your postings. We all have trouble (imo and in my experience) engaging M. Boris Petrov, a wonderful humanitarian and human being, but a difficult debater.
If you mean by "just let them" that don't invade them or apply siege warfare - I mean "sanctions" - then yes. Your black and white caricature of those countries is exactly that, a caricature.
"If they open their mouths, they disappear." Do you really believe that shite? Yes, they are authoritarian countries. Yes, they have on paper and often in practice fewer rights to speak out against the government. Ask MLK, Fred Hampton, RFK, JFK, and Edward Snowden to name some well known names, how much freedom of speech they have?
Julian Assange isn't even a US citizen, has never been to the US or run a business there, and yet he's being persecuted under US law. The main testimony against him has been recanted, and came from a sociopath and convicted child molester who cut a deal to testify against Assange to avoid his own prosecution.
Here's another name you might know: The US has free speech - right up until it matters. There is a reason Glenn Greenwald doesn't live in or visit the US anymore. Because if you speak out against the US government AND have some power, you'll either be cancelled or locked up.
An OUTSTANDING Richard Hanania’s podcast (Feb. 14, 2022):
Conversation with Steve Hsu on the Russian-Ukraine crisis, the decline of the West, the Chinese system, embryo selection, and much else
The Future of Humanity Is IVF Babies and Chinese Domination (substack.com)
---------------------------------------------------
'The Next Revolution' host discusses a filing from Special Counsel John Durham alleging the Clinton campaign paid money to penetrate Trump's servers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llnIJVy0zME
You lying wretch: Hilton to Hillary Clinton – Feb 14, 2022
Hypocrite.
Save for all of those whom fled to about every other country in the world. And with the passage of time and the collapse of those regimes, they will be remembered as on the wrong side of history, just like the USSR.
Did you ever know that peasants in entire villages in southern Ukraine would go blind and walk in columns holding each other's shoulder, because of starvation and lack of vitamins, before oh soo horrible October revolution?
I am aware of the ruin WWI brought to what is now Ukraine and Belarus. The farming methods there were archaic and both the conscription of farmers and the shifting of supplies and supply lines to fuel the Russian army crushed the region. The Russian Civil War did not help, nor did Lenin's refusal to accept international aid for many months, leading to countless unnecessary deaths in the Volga Famine.
Fast forward over a decade and you had the man-made famine of 1932-1933, which, while centered in Ukraine, also hit the north Caucasus and Kazakhstan, killing 10 million people in total, including 1.5 million of the then 4.0 million Kazakhs. This was in peace time mind you, and people would eat their own shoes, grass and the dead. This genocide, intended to break all resistance, combined with Stalin's colonization, made the Kazakhs a minority in their own political entity until the 1990s.
It is one thing to have a famine from the stresses of multiple wars waged by incompetent governments, it another entirely to stave people into submission.
Exactly.
I just started to watch a British guy on YouTube called, "Bald and bankrupt", who has been travelling all over the former USSR for the last few years.
I find his channel fascinating as he is not very political at all. He will visit small towns and villages where he mingles with locals.
How is life in !RUSSIA! under !!PUTIN!! today?
Looks pretty damn good to me.
The TV lied to me!
Again.
Are you trying to say that communism was a vast improvement over tsarism? Because it was! :)
I doubt that, Bill, but it’s one of those things we’ll never know.
Of course -- same as with China where 800 million people were raised from abject poverty and regular mass starvation in tens of millions. "Everybody" in the West agreed that China could never be saved... (they plundered it anyway).
But now -- we supposedly can't hate Russians and Chinese enough... while the War party has only three exports -- coups, corruption and weapons.
That’s true, Boris. Deng’s open, western-style development unleashed the hard-working Chinese spirit, and Xi has built on that, though in a much more authoritarian way. Of course, it stinks if you were one of the tens of millions that died under Mao’s repressive Marxist failure from which post-Mao China emerged. It also stinks if you are Tibetan, Uighur, Mongolian or a resident of Hong Kong. In pursuit of Marxist utopia, communists never let collateral damage get in the way of their narrative.
So the Holodomor was justified because Stalin didn’t invent starvation?
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/129891. And the Holomodor was a horror for which Stalin bears responsibility.
I also notice that Ukraine Nazis use that all the time to try to excuse their horrors in WW2.
How any sane person can ask such question?
Neil Young made his living singing anti-government songs. Now he is against anyone who doesn’t spout the government narrative. Anyone think he perceives the irony. No, me neither.
Kneel Young
Neil's remarkable about-face mirrors that of the Democrats. Go figure.
Very true - good point!
He & many other big names have sold publishing rights to all or some of their music catalogs for big $$ to Hipgnosis, a UK investment fund. From a Twitter comment: "Hipgnosis is using $1 billion of Blackstone money to partner with them in buying up music & Blackstone's Senior advisor is the former Pfizer CEO Jeffrey Kindler." Imagine that.....?
Neil’s metamorphosis from hippy to progressive is stunning.
Hippy to Reagan voter to progressive. And how did being for vaccine mandates become progressive?
Progressive in the sense of geometrically progressive ratcheting communist totalitarianism.
My brother had a similar morph, but he's far more intelligent and slippery than Kneel Young, unfortunately.
Kneel 🤣🤣🤣
Never could stand his crap voice or what it said.
I hope Neil Young will remember, Spotify don't need him around anyhow.
I remember being disappointed in him in 1980 when he said he voted for Ronald Reagan and expressed contempt for Carter.
I could be wrong, but my take is the Neil just doesn't really have a choice (that wouldn't involve some personal sacrifice at least.) He doesn't own his music any more, so it probably wasn't even his decision to do this. Whoever own's his music probably came to him and said something like:
"look Neil, you are old and washed up, and your music isn't worth much any more, so we need a favor or we are shutting off the little money trickle we give you. Spotify pays almost nothing to owners of music (us, not you) and we want more. We were considering pulling your music and switching to Amazon music already and giving a middle finger to Spotify until they paid us more for your work, but now the time is right where we can repackage this move as less greed on our part and more moral crusading that will win Liberal approval while allowing us to use it as leverage to silence someone we don't like. It was looking good before, but now it can be three birds with one stone. If you do a good job in providing us cover by selling this as authentic liberal-approved-moral-crusading and this helps us make more money in the long run, maybe we will increase your passive money trickle a little."
Indeed I have heard that a couple of the first people to step up and follow Neil's lead didn't own their own music any more -- i.e. it was never really their decision to make to pull music from Spotify, it was only their decision to provide moral-outrage-cover for it or not.
In short I am suggesting I think Neil Young and related are just more of an old coward then someone actively sold on the censorship train, but who knows.
I mentioned a Joe Rogan podcast to my liberal sister and brother-in-law at dinner one night and they both recoiled in horror that I would even mention his name. They shutdown the conversation immediately and would not listen for a second. Funniest part...they've never watched or listened to his show!
When you are convinced of your moral and intellectual superiority, the only people worth listening to are those that agree with everything you say.
Silencing or shaming those who disagree with you is for these people not just necessary, but the correct ethical action - and something courageous, that benefits society. This is because those who disagree with them are inferiors, who are not entitled to oppose.
Of course, silencing/censorship is just the first step. If opposition continues, intimidation/violence, even incarceration, is justified. History shows us what happens if opposition continues after that.
That's how sick many of these folks are.
Ever challenged one of these people with cold hard facts and a knowledge of the subject matter? Often they have a full breakdown. There is no spirited debate. It just devolves into helplessly yelling talking points and phrases. What is worse, if they had the slightest idea about what you were talking about, they would not be surprised in the first place.
Mostly they just call you a racist, transphobe or the like because in their world, there’s no coming back from that!
It's weird. Before 2015, I used to mostly get these kind of reactions from the gun control crowd. "People should not just be able to buy a gun off the internet without a background check!" "No, I don't know what a FFL transfer or a 4473 is." It was usually not knowing the legality of what they were talking about/proposing or how firearms work. (FYI if you own a firearm, learn the laws and mechanics before something bad happens) Other than that, people usually had interesting things to say and I would credit a lot of my current political views with my engagement of people from across the political spectrum. I would also like to thank a lot of old liberals for informing me of what the neocons were up to when much of what they did was concealed from the public and for standing up for free speech back in the day. Now days it feels like I am living on a different planet. Covid-19 is the worst because I will bring up the official line from a month ago and someone will claim "no one said that." It's like there is an actual mental block that prevents them from keeping track of who said what and when. Seriously, what happened to people? I still find it difficult to accept that Trump broke people this badly.
nailed it!
They’re on the way to the end of Falling Down.
“I’m a bad guy?”
I need to watch that movie again. Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall put in amazing performances.
Which is ironic, since they're nearly always the only racists in the room. Everything about skin color, jamming us into skin color boxes, discriminating on skin color, defecating on Martin Luther King's dream of a colorblind society.
So true. Also, we are all supposed to clap for endless gender fluidity while remaining respectful of racial categories defined by some pseudoscienctist in the 1800s.
Wow. Good catch. They see gender as a continuum, but race as "black and white" discreet. Bizarro.
And if the discussion is about COVID policies, they think discussion should end when they say "800,000 people have died!"
Yep.
No way 800k died of covid. If 800,000 died, it's from 3 things:
* Denial of effective cheap therapuetics - HCQ & IVM (mass murder).
* Throwing covid patients out of hospitals into nursing homes (mass murder).
* The vaccines (mass murder).
Don’t forget misclassification of deaths “with” Covid as being deaths “from” Covid, even if the actual cause of death was, say, advanced cancer.
First two are likely correct --the third is a sheer idiocy... "Hauptsturmfuehrer" see a doctor - to pool your head out of your ass ;-))
And don't forget:
* Old age
They are literally religious nuts (or in this case pseudoreligious nuts), immune to facts, logic, or anything else that contradicts the holy pronouncements of the Church of Wokery
That’s my favorite though. I get to point out blacks and transsexuals can be assholes too!
We’re all human, baby!
Stop punching down you racist transphobe!!!
Excuse me my preferred pronoun is seal clubber.
That is getting old. They have become the boy who cried "wolf" too many times. They will find out about it in 2022 and 2024.
Excellent description of this disease. They use their moral superiority and try to “guilt” people into supporting their view. And when they encounter resistance, they dismiss their challenger as lacking intellect.
The old saying don't talk politics to friends, always a problem to some degree, but not like it became when Trump ran and took office. It not only caused descension, but severed relationships totally, sometimes forever. Happened to me, and not because I voted for Trump, but because I didn't vote for Clinton. Those that identified themselves as liberals were the ones who went on the attack with a viciousness I never encountered before. Those who define themselves as democrats often see themselves as liberal which is absurd, since the party has been known for decades to sideline their liberals, and have embraced corporate America. I perceived the democrats during the Trump years as very authoritarian. and it doesn't surprise me that since they were so successful at it, even pulled the press and the deep state into their backyard, so why not push it more. During the Trump years they defined his base as a bunch of deplorables, which meant they were racists, sexists, ignorant and amoral. Well, all those liberals know we have to keep those kind in line, since they know not what they do.
It happened in our family too. Dems were more than happy to bash Trump and Repubs constantly during the Trump years. Discussing politics was OK with them then. But now that Biden is proving to be a disaster, they don't think we should discuss politics anymore, to keep things civil. 😕. We even got a (supposedly funny) list of "rules" for Thanksgiving dinner at their house.
That's true here too. My brother's hatred of Trump is a sickness, and when we get together my sister-in-law gives me the elbow if I even say something which in anyway can be seen as critical of Biden, or anyone associated with him. I referenced Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, brother of Rahm. Nothing to do with Biden, but an article he wrote in the Atlantic in 2014 which had nothing to do with politics. However he was hired by NBC to talk about Covid, and is on board with Fauci and Biden. He screamed at me, "I love him! He's great!" My brother has a phd and has never been diagnosed with a mental illness. Hard to believe, since this is his response to anyone whom he perceives is being critical of Biden or his administration. Achtung.!!!!!!!!!!!!!! .
Biden supporters are so embarrassed at the moment. They are reacting out of shame.
Having supported him, I'm sure they are on the defensive since they must be aware that he is mentally compromised and he and his administration have screwed up a number of times. My brother's position was just as hate filled and rigid during Trump's administration. You couldn't even reference him if you didn't inject some degree of destain, or hate. I was reading an article on Information Clearing House and someone wrote an article unrelated to Trump, and after he left office, and somewhere in the middle he spit out a hate filled sentence about Trump which was unrelated to the article itself. I can't explain it, other then to say they push you into a corner and demand you remain mute, and they alone have the right to speak. Which I guess is what Greenwald's article is about, There way, or the highway.
Fran: I'm sorry that your relationship with your brother is poisoned by his irrational animosity. Contempt, disdain, and hatred are being inculcated in the population.
Regarding your use of the phrase "they know not what they do", the disdain liberals show for those who don't accept their worldview in its entirety originates in a spiritual darkness that stands in stark contrast to the enlightenment Jesus manifested as he hung on a cross after being beaten, tortured, and mocked. He prayed for those who had persecuted him: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34).
Thinking of such unbounded love being present on Earth two thousand years ago, and seeing the world as it is in our time, I sit in silent sadness.
https://allpoetry.com/I-Sit-And-Look-Out
Thank you, and I loved the poem by Walt Whitman. Somethings have gotten better since his day, but many things have gotten far worse.
"My brother has a phd". Credentials, schmedentials...
Well, you would think someone with a scientific background would be more objective, but he's not, and Trump is just a hot button issue, and even educated people just have a knee jerk reaction to him. I didn't like Bush/Cheney, hate war, I really couldn't stand them, but I didn't react on such an emotional level nor did I care that there were others who liked them. I can understand why people don't like Trump or his policies, but I really don't get the over reaction, the destain. We've had far worse.
We certainly have! It’s important for people to remember that Trump was just this wealthy “celebrity business/TV figure” who had been around for literally decades, without upsetting anything. He was not some inside operator, with years of political dirty tricks under his belt, like the usual selections voters have to pick from. The MSM and his political opponents created this hated figure out of thin air. Really scary psyop shit, all in plain view, all because their utterly corrupt mediocrity of a candidate lost an election. It was outrageous as the horseshit fed to people after the Kennedy assassination.
Politics is the worst aspect of our society, even in the best of times. When everything is political, it means everything sucks
Glass cannons, they can dish it out, but even tap them and they shatter. That and they must have taken a 'hypocritit oath.'
Yep! My vote for Gary Johnson in a state won by Hillary Clinton is why Donald Trump was elected. I'm pretty powerful!
Yep, same here with Jill Stein (and Gary would have been my 2nd choice in a ranked choice voting)...in a state won by Hillary Clinton...and later Joseph Biden...In a ranked choice scenario, Clinton and Biden would have been placed behind Trump as my very LAST choice. 3rd party votes don't really influence non-swing States.
I encountered the same response in 2016 b/c I wouldn't vote for Clinton and voted for Jill Stein. I was told straight out by people I've always considered friends that "I had no right to throw my vote away."
You got off easy. My brother was furious at me, I no longer talk to someone I knew since we were 12, that's okay, and a cousin I never spoke to since 2016 again and who died 3 years ago from cancer. Crazy.
"and would not listen for a minute" -- that's what I've found so unnerving with friends and relatives is the treatment dished out if you don't agree with every word that comes out of their mouth. I have to wonder if this is what sane Germans faced in the 1930s when they tried to warn others where this insanity leads.
Well, fucking do something. Everyone has an excuse for not starting a fight, then whines when they’re cancelled over a tweet and can never work again. If my siblings shut me down they’d be wearing dinner and they’d do the same to me. But we never would.
They aren't "liberal"; they're authoritarian totalitarians and very close minded like, dare I say it, red necks. In the 60s when there actually were liberals, we used to say as a put down to the "conservatives"..."my mind is made up, don't confuse me with the facts"!
I've had the same reaction from otherwise brilliant people. Fear reaction as though he's Voldemort. Very concerning mass group think happening, particularly in the high-paid pro and academic communities.
I have the same sort of "liberal' sister and brother-in-law. Liberal means open minded, which people who call themselves liberal usual are not if they refuse to listen to what people like Rogan and his guests say. I had to ban my sister and her husband from my home because of the narcissistic bulling they have subjected me to. You are better off not hanging out with people who just want to control you.
same with Limbaugh. they are programmed by isolation from other perspectives.
Aye, the things people have said about Rush are absurd. They wanted to silence him because he had opposing viewpoints. You had similar hate albeit to a lesser degree with Krauthammer.
I am homeless. I am what I consider a social liberal and fiscal conservative. I seriously do not know where I belong. I am not pro- abortion, however I am on the same page as the old Hilary.. Safe, Legal and Rare. I believe that all people should be able to live their life as they please as long as their is not a victim at the end. People should be able to get married even if they are same sex. I am totally against biological men competing in sports against biological women. I am a mother.. not a birthing person or person who menstrurates. I am a woman. I am not down with pronouns. I would never deliberately offend someone. If they look like a woman I will probably say she, her.. If they look like a man.. I will probably say he, him.. If I am not sure I will probably say they, them.. This CRT stuff is beyond me. I am LEO so I am pro police. In 25 years as a police officer I have NEVER met a white supremacist. I have met skinheads etc... but they do not target people of color.. they just don't believe in mixing races. Are they POS's.. yes.. but they do not push Asian women in front of the subway or attack black men or women. I am vaxed and I think everyone should get the vax... but I am not unsafe because someone else chooses not to vax... I am totally anti-war.. Stay the eff out of other countries. The only reason for war these days is for people to make money and young men and women to die for no good reason. I am pro- immigration and against illegal immigration. I believe in secure borders. If we want open borders then we cannot be a welfare state. When the heck did the democrats become the elitist Wall Street folks and the Republicans become the party of the working person. When is it ever a good reason to vilify half the country because of political beliefs? When did the media become the cover for corruption in government? I hated Trump, but jeez... out of the last 5 Presidents he was the least corrupt? What the eff happened to free speech? Why does the loudest 7 % of the voices decide policy? Thank you Glenn, Bari and Matt and (I can't believe I am saying this) Bill Maher? Please keep speaking the truth. Maybe it will stick.
You sound like a libertarian. From what you've said, we seem to share a lot of the same beliefs, whether secure borders vs open and closed, CRT (which has the same elements of a conspiracy theory as QAnon), multiple genders, war as a last resort. The main difference, I initially disliked Trump (I voted for a border wall and the supreme court, not so much for him) but as time passed, came to see him as a tragic hero of sorts.
I want my vote to count so I have to choose. I can be like some of my family and just vote Libertarian knowing it will not count. I raised my son to be a free thinker. He votes Libertarian. Yes... oddly enough I too consider Trump to be a hero of sorts.. I do not want him running again.. his odious personality will guarantee a Democrat win. Jeez.. just an effed up world. In this climate nobody with any character and integrity will ever run. I think Ron Paul was the last of a dying breed and his son is not far behind.
I realized the fallacy of third party voting or 'Virtue Voting' if you live in a swing state long ago...and I'm only 36. I too was raised in a free thinking family. My vote in 2020 was one of strong support...and I only became 'active' if you will in things after he got banned from Twitter.
I am unsure if the Pauls are a dying breed as Rand, unlike his father, entered the GOP to turn it in a more libertarian direction, rather than run separate of them. Additionally, a lot of people are waking up the power and censorship madness out there and discovering that they have libertarian leanings.
Regarding Trump loosing again...the polls say otherwise and I would love him to win with 55% of the vote just to see all of these thin-skinned censorship-bullies melt down:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2024/president/us/general-election-trump-vs-biden-7383.html
Edit: Most polls skew 3 points or so to the Dems, so the averages in Trumps favor are higher. I'd know, at least for Wisconsin, in most polls in both 2016 and 2020 were off by over 5 points.
You're only homeless if you keep thinking so. Why do you even need a "political home"? Vote for the politicians who will support the things that are important to you (right now, that would be Republicans). Voting for a Republican candidate will not kill you, nor will it make you a Republican
Will you please run for office?
You’re awesome and totally agree!!!
Great article Glenn! Keep up the good work. You are one of the few REAL journalists out there!
He's good compared to the rest, but that's not saying much. There is no competition. There's no competition in the "free press" because it's not free anymore, same as for the free market - it's not free or competitive, it's just a bunch of corrupt and useless monopolies. Monopoly media, monopoly tech -it's all shit. Bring back competition. One would expect libertarians to speak up for "free"dom (free press, free market) but instead they argue that monopolies should be "free" to destroy competition and to censor, and "free" to outsource all the factories and jobs to a totalitarian state - what a bunch of wankers. The libertarian thought "leaders" work for think tanks paid off by the likes of the Kock brothers. They are sheep.
@8G - I agree with your take on our 'free' market landscape. The one thing I learned coming out of this COVID-madness is just how corrupt our country is. Nothing is sacred. CDC is on the take as well as the media and universities. It is the courageous few like Glenn and others that are willing to speak to power. The best way to get competition is to remove all the useless regulations in place. Most of the regulations are put in as campaign contribution favors to corporations. These regulations mostly favor their industry and prevent competition. BUT, if corporations can donate to campaigns and influence policy, there is really no hope as the people will lose out. This is why I say we live in an corporate oligarchy. The top 10 corporate donors for the Congress-critters are their constituents. The rest of us can go pound sand.
"The top 10 corporate donors for the Congress-critters are their constituents."
It's like there are only 10 voters. The donations are small relative to the trillions of taxpayer dollars that get moved around on their behalf. Meanwhile the taxpayers who paid those trillions have no say.
You buy into a lie, the idea that libertarians are sheep. You could not be more wrong.
I get that libertarians oppose excessive state power because it works best when individuals make decisions for themselves. The same goes for corporations, they are just another beurocracy run by corrupt power mongers. When a corporation becomes large enough it behaves like a state, and that's where we are now. Google is a government but not democratic so it is allowed to censor us. The majority of libertarians appear to support that. Libertarian non-profits and think tanks are funded by the same billionaires who run corporate "governments" and so they give them a pass. A billionaire is an individual with nearly the power of a "state" and soon there will be trillionaires.
The constitution rightly puts limits on the power of a democratic government, but the founders did not anticipate limited liability corporate monopolies and trillionaires, so there are no checks on their power. It should be the role of libertarians to preserve liberty but by supporting billionaire tyrants and corporate monopolies they ensure tyranny.
I'm trying to point out hypocrisy so that libertarianism can improve because its principles are good. I don't see much dissent among libertarians however, they seem to march in lock-step. Unanimity in an organization is a sign of problems because free individuals always find ways to disagree.
I have found the vast majority of libertarians to be "lesser-of-two-evils" voters, and wisely, imo. Perhaps they seem to "march in lock-step" (believe me, a most UN-accurate descriptor of libertarians in general!) to you because the vast majority of libertarians, and for basically the entire existence of Libertarianism, therefore vote Republican.
Nobody should be loyal to a political party, least of all libertarians, but I think they are captive to big business.
That's a reasonable distinction. When a business is able to grow so large in market share, a danger is it uses that power (almost always abetted by Crony-Capitalism, i.e. government intervention) to unfairly limit competition. Still, I would say libertarians, as a group, are much more wary of this danger than other political groups, and therefore much quicker to "take their business elsewhere."
It's hilarious to see the reaction of my (many) liberal friends when I share content from Glenn or Joe Rogan. They reflexively assume that both are "alt-right conservatives" akin to Alex Jones. When I inform them that they are not, and in fact Rogan is a Bernie Sanders supporter, they can't process that information. It doesn't fit their small-minded world view, and their confusion is funny to watch. Sadly, they still want to silence those with whom they disagree--as Glenn notes, it's a religion with them.
I just posted this article on FB & can imagine the heads of most of my FB friends (& some family) spinning in disbelief. Any time I question the narrative now, I am suddenly a "Trump supporter." I walked away from the Dems in April of 2020 but have not joined ranks with the GOP. I am now an Independent thinker, based on the issue at hand! I support The 1st Amendment as well as autonomy over our own body
If more of us become independents - now about 43% of voters - it takes power away from both parties and forces them to compete on real substance. Let’s do this!
I tend to agree with this approach. If enough people switched to independent, then the two parties would loose some control. And that’s good.
And fight against two parties? It'd be better to, for the time being, primary everyone in the GOP whom has been in public office for over 20 years (including being staffers or in state or municipal offices) and run candidates whom have written out ideas on how to fix things to both get fresh blood and sharp minds into the mix. Perhaps at some point that would be possible with the DNC, but not for many years by the way things are going.
The Dem Party exists to soak up and neutralize efforts like yours.
Good luck.
I have never had any faith in the DNC, maybe because I am 36 and only remember back to election 2000. My focus is on the GOP and I have solutions I write about here and have spend hundreds trying to share...therein lies the problem, the separation from the common person from the connected crowd.
I’m not saying to fight the 2 big parties, I’m saying to ignore them. Let them compete for your vote without us pre-funding their BS.
It would be nice if that 43% started voting accordingly. I don't even need for them to vote Green; anything that breaks the duopoly!
Alex Jones isn’t really that far right. He hated G.W. and is anti-war. He has more traditional liberal values in many ways. His presentation is just way over-the-top and sensational and he stretches the truth too far. I really can’t watch it, but sometimes I do. He’s certainly better than corporate media.
He also tried to warn the Qtards it was a trap.
I listened/watched the interview Rogan did with Jones and was quite shocked to find out how young he is compared to how old he looks. His health is shit (Rogan was really trying to get him to realize that) and no doubt that's because he lives in the land of conspiracies. Some are legit.....like David Gergen and the Bohemian Club. https://www.youtube.com/watch
Please put "liberals" in quotes. These are commie-fascists. *Everything* they say is Orwellian doubletalk and projection.
I distinguish liberals — who generally believe in reason, logic and the values of the Enlightenment — from “progressives”, who believe in pseudoreligious nuttery.
Yep. "Progressive" in the sense of ratcheting, accelerating, commie-fascist totalitarianism. Who I despise even more are the corrupt stupid cucked "conservative" collaborators who *conserve* commie-fascist institutions once they're in place. The traitor or fool in our own command post is far more destructive than the open enemy outside the wire.
Yes, Glenn should have called these people “progressives.”
Here we go -- "commie-fascists" idiocy. CIA propagandists are also all "marxists". And - the Earth is flat.
Pfuck off, Comrade.
Well I hope Neil Young will remember
Spotify don't need him around anyhow...
Spotify makes exponentially more on Joe Rogan than they do on Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and all the hippies that once hated censorship but now live by it combined
That’s the song that popped into my head when I first heard Young talk!!
I had a parallel thought, that Niel Young has morphed into Richard Nixon.
"Tin soldiers and Niel Young coming ..."
Hey hey, my my
Free Speech can never die
that would make a great special effects video project!
war-mongering authoritarian thugs getting rich exploiting the down-trodden
aka, fascists.
Yes, a metamorphosis from hippy to progressive. Mind blowing for sure.
Kafka couldn't have written it better
Years ago, I warned anyone who would listen that the greatest threat to freedom in America was coming from the left, not the right. Most were incredulous, as leftist long purported themselves to be champions of tolerance and enlightened thinking. Now, anything that doesn't align itself with their dogma is "hate speech" and must be censored.
In short, leftists have become everything they ostensibly used to hate. i say ostensibly because I believe they've been this way for a long time, but were far better at concealing it.
With the advent of social media and the election of Donald Trump, they could no longer contain themselves.
Glenn's critique is directed at liberals, not leftists. Socialists & anarchists are not spearheading this censorship. It's centrists like these liberals that are responsible. Glenn himself is a member of a Socialist party in Brazil. Rogan endorsed Bernie Sanders; the effort to silence him is an effort by liberal centrists to suppress socialists.
I think Glenn has correctly identified what this is, apart from political labels: a religion. It is just like other religions that believe only their "experts" (priests, popes, scientists, professors) are capable of doing the thinking for society. All others must simply follow the pronouncements. If they fail to do so, they will be suppressed or worse.
Western Civilization succumbed to these types of people with the fall of Rome, and rule by the Church. Only after Luther and the Reformation, when people reclaimed the right to think for themselves (and act upon their thoughts), did the West emerge from 1000 yrs of what we now call the Dark Ages.
This new religion uses all the familiar weapons: guilt, fear, and victimhood. They sell the idea that one's lot in life is directly due to the evil committed by those outside the religion. They even have their own version of Original Sin - the slavery practiced by our ancestors, for which we are now eternally guilty.
We cannot allow this new brand of religion to gain complete control. This is no longer just about proper political labels.
Even if I grant you your distinction between liberals and socialists, the idea that socialists are the target of hate speech censorship rather than one its perpetrators, borders on absurd. Do you really believe those who run Big Tech and the mainstream media are "centrists?" I have a Facebook account and the number of posts they run from out-and-out Marxists is increasing exponentially.
As for Rogan, he wasn't a serious target until he challenged the Covid narrative, which in turn challenges a globalist oligarchy looking for a Great Reset.
The would be a Great Reset where "you'll own nothing and you'l be happy." That may be a lot of things. Centrist liberal isn't any of them
You haven't been following Democratic party primaries if you don't think socialists are targets of hate speech censorship. In 2016 Hillary claimed breaking up the banks (what Bernie wanted) was racist. In 2016 & 2020 Bernie supporters were labeled "Bernie bro" racists & sexists. Rogan became a target when he endorsed Bernie, which caused liberals/ centrists to label him a transphobic bigot.
When reality is against you, censorship is the only way you can keep the people from learning the truth. As the narrative has become so obviously frayed, the censors have to censor even harder.
https://simulationcommander.substack.com/p/censors-gonna-censor
---------------
Joe Biden's Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, during an interview with MSNBC, suggested that censoring Joe Rogan would help curb the flow of misinformation surrounding covid. This is akin to the mob stopping by your Italian restaurant to admire the décor, then proclaiming it would be a shame if something happened to it.
When corporations take their direction from government, there’s a word for that. It’s fascism. Not fake “Oh no Trump is a dictator” fascism, but honest-to-goodness fascism that says if you don’t hand over a wad of cash, something just might happen to your lovely little restaurant.
It's an excuse to censor under the guise of helping people and perhaps the most dangerous kind of excuse at that.
As per the famous CS Lewis quote
"When reality is against you, censorship is the only way..."
That's about it. Thanks to years of fake news, the public is deprived of the truth and when exposed it spreads quickly. Lies are usually boring and unpopular and die of their own accord, there is no need to censor them. It's only the truth that "needs" to be censored.
Your writing offers me hope in the midst of all darkness that has taken over virtually all our institutions.
All one hears on social media is that when Big Tech censors a post, it is fine because that is a “choice” a private company can make. It follows that it should be equally fine for other private companies such as Rumble or Substack to make a different choice. But for progressives, there is only one choice that is allowed. Hundreds of times I have heard these progressives say “if you dont like it, start your own”, but apparently it never occurred to them that this is exactly what would happen. There is a market in a free society for ideas skeptical of or contrary to official narratives, and they will find a place to be expressed, and, in a capitalist society, private companies will profit by providing a platform for them. That demand, and the financial incentives of our free market society ultimately ensures that the censors will be defeated. The progressive censors are a reactionary force that will be forever chasing the next thing that pops up - and the next thing will keep popping up - to platform ideas they oppose.
"...for progressives, there is only one choice that is allowed"
That's not a choice it's an ultimatum.
As Glenn and others have said many times to those who claim that oh so holy 'private companies' "Can do what they want".
It's just a fact that much of that "private" censorship has been done at the direction of governments.
As soon as a company goes to bed with the government, it ceases to be private. All such companies in bed with the government are aberrations and need to be, at the bare minimum, decoupled, at maximum, destroyed as they turn a free market into a centrally planned dictatorship.
Lots of private corporate censorship is motivated by self interest but its true some is motivated by the government. The NBA forced Daryl Morey to delete his tweet after pressure from the Chinese government, for example.
Facebook, Google, Twitter....they all censor because they are in bed with the government.
Zuckerburg spent hundreds of millions of dollars in the last election. No one made him do it, he's just a power monger. I blame Zuckerburg for that, nobody else. No private corporation should be allowed to skew democracy in that way, it should be illegal.
I am unsure what his motives were. This is all speculation, but given that he hadn't censored more during the 2016 campaign, the Biden campaign could have threatened him with anti-trust laws if he didn't do their bidding. Conversely he could have poured his dark money in simply to prove his 'wokeness.' He could have also done it for his own power, so if under threat by the Biden administration, he could retort, "You owe me the election."
I don't pretend to know which of the above is true, if it's a combination, or if none are true. Regardless, Facebook is in bed with the government and as such is an aberration.
I personally would approve of a constitutional amendment which would automatically break up any company whose combined assets and market value exceed 2% of the GDP and control over 30% of a market which is valued at a minimum of 0.5% of the GDP. Congress would be unable to stop such a breakup--and that's the point, to keep such entities from buying them.
Prior to Covid, 5 companies fit that bill, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet (which owns Google) and Facebook. Currently, another two have entered that realm: Tesla and Visa. United Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Nvidia and JP Morgan Chase all fit the size requirement, though I am unsure if they control at least 30% of their primary markets.
https://www.iweblists.com/us/commerce/MarketCapitalization.html
Facebook on that list is listed as 'Meta Platforms'.
I don't know the motive for Zuckerburgs dark money investments either, but it doesn't matter to me if his motives were purely altruistic or not. No individual or private corporation should have that much influence over the democratic process because ultimately that power will be abused. Democracy is a public process, billionaires should have nothing to do with it, aside from casting one vote.
I like your idea about breaking up companies that grow too large. I also like the idea of a progressive corporate tax rate - the bigger the company the higher the tax rate. They will automatically break themselves up to avoid higher taxes.