herodotus
Well-known member
I don't care if its a website like Billszone, where Historian unilaterally bans you after you expose his groupies as the useless sacks of right wing authoritarian shit they are and then, when he says your ban is over and you ask nicely for full reinstatement he permanently bans you even though the TOS has no mention of your alleged infraction after making logical comparisons to Kamala Harris, who kept people in prison even after their sentences were over. I don't care if its Washington or Kiev or even Moscow (yeah there, I said it. Putin cracking down on regime critics is terrible, file that one away somewhere Hipkat), governments cracking down on dissenting voices is not the way of democracy and freedom, its the way of dictatorship and tyranny.
Truman famously said that we do not defeat communism by outlawing it, but by having a better message. So yes, when I read articles like this, I fear for this country:
www.forbes.com
Let me explain why:
If the constitution only protects those who support the party in power then the constitution is worthless. I do not know who Tim Pool or Dave Rubin are, I don't even care. What I do know and care about is that if we start depriving people of the freedom of speech and freedom of press then the America, the shining city on a hill, that beacon of freedom and democracy, that we all thought we lived in no longer exists. The constitution is an all or nothing sort of thing. Either everyone has the right to have their say, or none of us do. If we start silencing those who oppose the party in power because they are deemed "foreign agents" then we have given the government a power which it will never relinquish. If Tim Pool and Dave Rubin lose their freedom today, then Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow lose their freedom tomorrow. Precedents like this department of justice crackdown are decidedly unAmerican. The constitution should not be limited to defending freedom of speech for people who say things I happen to agree with in times of tranquility. No, for the constitution to have any meaning at all it must defend unpopular and disagreeable speech in times of chaos and instability or it has been replaced not by a higher law (read Seward's speech by the same name), but by a lower law, that of authoritarianism and tyranny.
Sure, its lazy as I copied my initial facebook post, but it rings true. Again, I don't know who most of the people on the DOJ list are and to be sure, I honestly don't give a fuck because again, if the constitution only protects pro government and otherwise agreeable and popular speech in times of peace, prosperity, and stability then it has no power and is not worth the paper it was written on.
Years ago Benjamin Franklin was asked so what sort of government do we have? He said, a republic. . . . If you can keep it. When we use excuses such as foreign influence to crack down on that freedom we are losing that republic for which so many sacrificed so much to establish and safeguard. The worst treason in this world is not saying war is generally evil, that our foreign policy is a disaster, and we are losing our way, its cracking down on our rights to question and criticize the government.
Oh and Hip, just a bit of advice, if I disagree with you or anyone else I may and very likely will call you an ass hole, a dumbass, a fucking jackass, and any other colorful language, but at the same time, I will on principle defend your right to your opinion no matter how much I disagree with it because again, what makes this country work so well is not Obama and Tampon Tim's "common narrative" and "censorship" of disagreeable ideas, but that people can have a wide range of often conflicting ideas and opinions and that despite it all we reach a common ground where we can to make this a better country for everyone who lives here.
The path of pseudohistorian's Billszone and Biden-Harris' washington is not the path to freedom, its not democratic, it doesn't better defend democracy. It makes us into another one of many right wing authoritarian hellscapes.
Truman famously said that we do not defeat communism by outlawing it, but by having a better message. So yes, when I read articles like this, I fear for this country:
Who Are Tim Pool And Benny Johnson? What To Know About The Six Right-Wing Commentators DOJ Alleges Were Funded By Russia.
The Justice Department alleges Tenet Media, a social media company linked to right-wing personalities, was funded by the Kremlin with the goal of boosting Donald Trump ahead of the November election.
www.forbes.com
Let me explain why:
If the constitution only protects those who support the party in power then the constitution is worthless. I do not know who Tim Pool or Dave Rubin are, I don't even care. What I do know and care about is that if we start depriving people of the freedom of speech and freedom of press then the America, the shining city on a hill, that beacon of freedom and democracy, that we all thought we lived in no longer exists. The constitution is an all or nothing sort of thing. Either everyone has the right to have their say, or none of us do. If we start silencing those who oppose the party in power because they are deemed "foreign agents" then we have given the government a power which it will never relinquish. If Tim Pool and Dave Rubin lose their freedom today, then Anderson Cooper and Rachel Maddow lose their freedom tomorrow. Precedents like this department of justice crackdown are decidedly unAmerican. The constitution should not be limited to defending freedom of speech for people who say things I happen to agree with in times of tranquility. No, for the constitution to have any meaning at all it must defend unpopular and disagreeable speech in times of chaos and instability or it has been replaced not by a higher law (read Seward's speech by the same name), but by a lower law, that of authoritarianism and tyranny.
Sure, its lazy as I copied my initial facebook post, but it rings true. Again, I don't know who most of the people on the DOJ list are and to be sure, I honestly don't give a fuck because again, if the constitution only protects pro government and otherwise agreeable and popular speech in times of peace, prosperity, and stability then it has no power and is not worth the paper it was written on.
Years ago Benjamin Franklin was asked so what sort of government do we have? He said, a republic. . . . If you can keep it. When we use excuses such as foreign influence to crack down on that freedom we are losing that republic for which so many sacrificed so much to establish and safeguard. The worst treason in this world is not saying war is generally evil, that our foreign policy is a disaster, and we are losing our way, its cracking down on our rights to question and criticize the government.
Oh and Hip, just a bit of advice, if I disagree with you or anyone else I may and very likely will call you an ass hole, a dumbass, a fucking jackass, and any other colorful language, but at the same time, I will on principle defend your right to your opinion no matter how much I disagree with it because again, what makes this country work so well is not Obama and Tampon Tim's "common narrative" and "censorship" of disagreeable ideas, but that people can have a wide range of often conflicting ideas and opinions and that despite it all we reach a common ground where we can to make this a better country for everyone who lives here.
The path of pseudohistorian's Billszone and Biden-Harris' washington is not the path to freedom, its not democratic, it doesn't better defend democracy. It makes us into another one of many right wing authoritarian hellscapes.
