Every time someone pushes back, like you did in that phone call with your old friend, every time we challenge the “do you feel safe” garbage, (dripping in irony because the real danger comes from those same smug authoritarians, drunk with the power they have to shame and destroy), every time we cause the little glitch in their brain by speaking the forbidden thoughts - a tiny bit of ground is clawed back from these sickening scolds.
They think they’ve won. I’ve often feared it. But then I read something from you, or Michael Shellenberger, etc. And I have a glimmer of hope.
During the Trump years, I managed a mining operation where I lived in the same house with the owner of the mining property we were leasing. The owner is a good man and a good friend, but he is a diehard, Portlandish liberal. We were very amicable as long as we avoided politics, which was quite hard to do after 2016. I had the occasion to need some medical attention and while being interviewed by the pleasant, androgynous PA with purple hair and various bits of metal stuck through his face, he began asking me about my health history and home life.... "Are there guns in the house?" Yes, of course, this is western Alaska. Practically everyone has a firearm and often more than one.... "Do you feel safe?" to which I answered "No. I live with a raging liberal." The look on his face was absolutely priceless.
My MO has been to ask my far left friends what they think of this or that new development. 80% of the time, they haven't even heard of it. Then I fill them on what's happening, but I don't scold them for not knowing about it. I simply ask, "what are your news sources?" And after they respond, i ask, "don't you think they should have informed you about this development? (or covered it more? One example is NYT and WaPo each wrote around 400 stories about Kyle Rittenhouse, and only about 20-30 where they mentioned Darrell Brooks.)
Then I ask, "why would you trust a news source that didn't even bother to tell you this happened?" Or that got wrong or left out these key facts? Then you can hear the gears starting to turn...
Great article, Sasha. Another gem, like the author!
You certainly have better friends than I. Whenever I attempt to interject anything even remotely challenging to their pre-installed woke POV, no matter how gracefully and unthreatening, I usually get some form of "Conspiracy theorist!" spat in face and all conversation ends there.
There are the merely uninformed (largely, as you point out, due to poor choice of news sources), and then there are the true Kool Aid consumers. The former can at least sometimes be reached if not necessarily enlightened, the latter will require nothing short of en masse deprogramming from the cult.
Just kidding, of course. I hear you, and we all face the same challenge. But like Sasha and others, a fair percentage of Democrats are now actively questioning the far left dogma that has (imho) ruined the party.
Note that the percentage of voters who identify as Democrat has dropped from 38% a decade ago, to 33% several years ago, to 27% a month or two ago. (See Gallup monthly poll on voter political affiliation. That 10 point drop equates to more than 15 million people.
You are correct that the Kool Aid Wing of the left is pretty much unreachable. But that's okay when they represent only 20% of the electorate. Eventually, like the GOP did after the Goldwater debacle, they'll figure out that their policies repel more voters than they attract.
I write a letter to PBS Newshour almost every week asking why they're not covering various breaking stories. They barely touched the Hunter Biden laptop story and same with the Twitter files and usually only by reprinting an AP story on their website.
I do the same. "Wow, that was a big deal, don't you think? You didn't hear anything about that? I guess we listen to different news sources." Eyes gaze off..
Well, I don't want to portray myself as a pied piper, and no one has yet blurted out that they renounce their political positions.
But I'm not asking anyone to change their political positions. I'm asking why they would put their trust in "news" organizations that consistently get facts wrong, and consistently decline to cover developments that don't fit their political narrative.
This is where I feel I'm gaining ground, though it's more "three yards and a cloud of dust" than long gains downfield.
Well, I respect you for your efforts to inform others about views from outside their bubble. I encounter a great deal of fearful, suspicious sorts of behaviors about information coming from the Other Side. It is so cultlike. Very odd, that people have gotten into this.
Yes, same here, including unfortunately from within my own family. But for whatever reason, they are more open to me prosecuting their news sources, particularly when I can show indefensible behavior, which unfortunately is often.
One family member was going off on Kenosha and Kyle Rittenhouse, and repeating wholly inaccurate news accounts. When she was done, I pointed out, and was able to document, that Rittenhouse did not cross state lines with a gun, and that he was asked to help protect a car dealership. Then I asked if she knew he had a job in Kenosha? That he had immediately family in Kenosha? That the guy he killed was a convicted pedophile exhibiting unhinged behavior in the hours leading up to the shooting, including a face-to-face death threat against Zimmerman? That Rittenhouse was running away from pursuers right before he shot, and that the second guy he shot had drawn a gun and raised it towards Rittenhouse? She knew none of these things, which led to: "don't you think your news sources should have told you these things? If for no other reason than you wouldn't be surprised and angry at the verdict?" (which legal analysts had predicted for months.)
Another family member was going on (appropriately) about Jan 6, and I asked how she would compare that to the situation at the federal courthouse in Portland. Incredibly, he wasn't aware of it. When I patiently explained the three months of nightly riots, featuring napalm, bricks tossed at officers, etc., he was truly surprised. Then I asked if he thought his news sources should have informed him of 89 straight days of riots, and he had to acknowledge they should have, given similarities to what he was calling out about Jan. 6.
The 60-minutes hit job when they "edited" an interview with DeSantis was also effective. Call up both versions on your phone and invite anyone to read them and answer the simple question of whether the edited version accurately represents was DeSantis said. They can't, because the edited version is nowhere close to an accurate picture. (Then show them CBS's statement about the issue, which damaged their credibility further.)
Fortunately, there's good material to be found on FP pretty much every week. Bari's column on just how terribly the MSM did on Rittenhouse reporting can't be attacked for veracity. It reads like a 1,500 word correction.
Hang in there, my friend. The pendulum is beginning to swing back.
Great article defending Musk (yes we need him and appreciate his desire for free speech) and defending Taibbi (excellent journalist). What I truly enjoyed was watching video interview between Phil Donahue and Donald Trump. Phil tried so hard to ‘get him’ but Trump was too smart and truthful. Awesome job explaining NYC rent control.
Excellent, much needed piece, very glad you wrote this. Elon is a courageous hero who put his money on America’s legacy of freedom and free speech. Taibbi has been a rare courageous journalist who followed his conscience.
Regarding Trump: excellent observation that the big kerfuffle amounted to dissecting his words, and had nothing to do with what he actually did. We saw humorless ill-intentioned literalism. And worse.
What was the saying that that Canadian jouralist came up with?: "Trump supporters believe his intent and not his individual words but the Left believes his individual words and not their intent"?
I observed the MSM anchors to consistently interpret Trump's words differently from how I interpreted him. Like when he would say he thought there could be violent protests, or the like, if people were set off by actions that were being taken by Democrats. The media would immediately announce that Trump was threatening to perpetrate violence himself. I usually construed the twisting of Trump's words by the MSM as intentional, but it was also really literal and humorless. It's like there is something wrong with them, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think that Sasha Stone has referred to that experience also.
I feel a lot of empathy for Taibbi. Being on the receiving end of abuse by Democratic poiticians is a lot of pressure. I am on Taibbi's "Racket" Substack, and he has been sharing his experience of being attacked. It is horrifying that these people have so much power and that they feel so much need to destroy anyone who refuses to live by their bizarre beliefs.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I was a true left-leaning Democrat until the late ‘90’s when I started to embrace other viewpoints. One of those was Neal Boortz, a libertarian talk show host. Always direct and honest, Neal spoke of two types of people in society; the Producers and the Leeches. The Leeches need to feed off and suck dry from what the Producers make. They rely on that government “sugar daddy” for their survival. The big problem is; when the money pool from the Producers has run out (and it will) who is going to save them?
Sasha, very good article. An open Twitter with free dialog is a valuable tool with the upcoming election looming. Musk is doing what he can to maintain that openness, and I applaud him.
There are more now in the US that depend on government income (eg teachers, fed/state/city government employees or contractors, welfare, food stamps, etc) than there are Producers. And these Leeches will vote Democrat for their next check regardless of who it harms. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair GOP RINOS are worse because they’re hypocritical about it.
Exactly. We know the left, what it is, its raison ďetre. It is, at the very least, honest about its dishonesty.
The vast majority of "Republicans," are not. They know they are in a position to stand up for the powerless, to stand up for this nation and its constitution, and they refuse to do so.
If violent and bloody revolution comes, they should be among its first casualties because they were too cowardly to choose a side.
Well, there are those in society who truly can not care for themselves and it's not because they are lazy or irresponsible. That being said, they are probably a minority.
Me too! I listen while I'm walking the dogs -- better than staring at the computer, and it helps (I think) me understand Sasha a bit more to hear her voice.
The latest from you in my inbox is always a day brightener - and this one is no exception.
I couldn't help but be taken aback, somewhat, by this:
"The Democrats seem to only want power now."
NOW? That has been a socio-political constant since the first administration of FDR.
"So much of the battle for Twitter is simply about words. Words control ideology, which ultimately controls the people."
This has been the single preoccupation of the left since the 1960s - maybe even earlier.
"He who controls the language controls the masses."
–Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals
Hollywood has been the effort's chief ally, accessory, and enabler with the NEA and this nation's teachers an almost imperceptible second. How much of the entertainment beginning in the 1970s introduced a new definition of, 'family?' How much of it either subtlely or brazenly turned sexual morality on its head, mercilessly mocking the Judeo-Christian ethics upon which much of our society and culture had been founded?
"We need more people like him to thrust a bold middle finger at the information monopoly the Left controls."
Amen!
"We need role models who are resilient and who send the message to the young that words are just words."
True, and yes, words are just words, but our language is crucial. Definitions matter - connotations can change with context, but denotations must remain fixed for words to have any meaning, and the language to have relevance. Our common language is one of our society's great equalizers - or at least, it used to be.
I’m still really on the fence with Musk. He has to walk the line because of government contracts, however he’s big into his neural-link and AI (so long as it is his)… which makes him a natural ally of those who embrace trans-humanism.
This is an excellent essay because it is relevant, timely, organized, complete, and accurate and combines these attributes to paint a compelling and insightful portrait. The author is definitely an artist and professional. Regarding the topic per se, I saw Tucker’s interview with Elon earlier in the week and it is so refreshing to see a truthful and frank exchange, with no small dose of humor, being held by two outspoken critics of the Uniparty and Deep State. The Democratic Party once rebelled against wars (ok Vietnam was 50 years ago) and the Deep State but now they are Neocons and in bed with the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. Finally, regarding David Frum, his reflection will never fade, even though the water has become a fetid pool.
I have to say that this is your most important piece to date, wonderful lady.
Remember that the federal government(meaning democrats as 93% of DC votes for them) has been 'influencing' all of social media since about 2012. If you haven't been censored on any of the platforms you support them.
Taibbi was 'visited' by IRS agents recently; you can only imagine the pressure on Musk from the federal government who used to essentially run Twitter... Support him.
"So much of the battle for Twitter is simply about words. Words control ideology, which ultimately controls the people." You understand this, you understand everything that's been going on with "hate speech" and "speech is violence" and "racist" wordlists and so on ad nauseam. They want to reduce language to a few words that express nothing in specificity.
Here is a funny example of reducing speech and definitions very narrowly. “With that, Clinton may have been given the room to offer a technically "true" denial to the question of whether he had sex with Lewinsky--even if she happened to perform fellatio on him. The truncated definition characterizes sex in terms of a checklist of body parts, including the genitals, breast and thigh. Oral sex would not necessarily require the President to touch anything on Lewinsky that appears on that list.” https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/time/clinton.html. LOL. Our Democratic presidents at their best.
There is a commonality between Musk and Trump that I feel is important to point out. Their sense of humor. Alas, politics these days is completely devoid of it. Scratch that. The left is completely devoid of it.
Bill Maher was pretty funny tonight making fun of Trump’s two fisted shake ‘dance’ … said Trump looks like he was jacking off a couple of guys. Bill is a mean comic though so he doesn’t count.
Dems cut SS in their last mega-sized bill (did you know that?) and Biden's SOTU was NOT brilliant. It was mostly fabrications. MTG and other Republicans were calling out Biden's lies.
So free speech is a "train wreck"? Lowest unemployment, low inflation, low interest rates, higher wages, more money going into the treasury, GDP at about 3% (before COVID hit), etc. is a "train wreck"?
I don't blame him and he's Hercules for not letting it (the 24/7 cut-throat attacks) get to him long before now. However, someone needs to tell him he needs to go back to his old self again (the "happy warrior" with the occassional off-the-hook outbursts).
Those who are angry over Twitter being about free speech, tells you something about them. They like people who disagree with them censored. They have dark hearts.
Another brilliantly articulated article on one of the biggest stories of our generation. I just hope and pray more people will read, awaken, and move away from lies and deception toward the truth. Our lives depend on it.
I just seems to me that Twitter and Substack should be natural partners in the effort to promote free speech. They serve two purposes that are parallel, not crossed.
They do seem to compliment each other although with enough separation to be valuable in my view. One has professional writers who publish sufficiently lengthy essays to get a solid understanding of the topic while the other allows any amateur or pro to create a brief headline akin to throwing spaghetti against the wall.
Speaking of not talking about what else is going on in the world, there is some sort of scandal with USAID paying terrorists instead of helping the desperately poor. Considering Samantha Powers runs it, it is no wonder. How long have these tentacles of US government funded groups just been covers for CIA operations?
Social media is, and continues to be, a propaganda tool of the intelligence community that benefits the Leftists. We’re most likely dealing with only partial information or what is sometimes called ‘limited hangout’. Shiny object distractions to keep the masses (us) reactionary and away from whatever it is they want to hide. Right now… the end of the petro-dollar, is my guess.
The left needs to be called out on their condescending, intolerant, hysteria and unwillingness to discuss the horrible results of their corrupt policies.
Every time someone pushes back, like you did in that phone call with your old friend, every time we challenge the “do you feel safe” garbage, (dripping in irony because the real danger comes from those same smug authoritarians, drunk with the power they have to shame and destroy), every time we cause the little glitch in their brain by speaking the forbidden thoughts - a tiny bit of ground is clawed back from these sickening scolds.
They think they’ve won. I’ve often feared it. But then I read something from you, or Michael Shellenberger, etc. And I have a glimmer of hope.
During the Trump years, I managed a mining operation where I lived in the same house with the owner of the mining property we were leasing. The owner is a good man and a good friend, but he is a diehard, Portlandish liberal. We were very amicable as long as we avoided politics, which was quite hard to do after 2016. I had the occasion to need some medical attention and while being interviewed by the pleasant, androgynous PA with purple hair and various bits of metal stuck through his face, he began asking me about my health history and home life.... "Are there guns in the house?" Yes, of course, this is western Alaska. Practically everyone has a firearm and often more than one.... "Do you feel safe?" to which I answered "No. I live with a raging liberal." The look on his face was absolutely priceless.
My MO has been to ask my far left friends what they think of this or that new development. 80% of the time, they haven't even heard of it. Then I fill them on what's happening, but I don't scold them for not knowing about it. I simply ask, "what are your news sources?" And after they respond, i ask, "don't you think they should have informed you about this development? (or covered it more? One example is NYT and WaPo each wrote around 400 stories about Kyle Rittenhouse, and only about 20-30 where they mentioned Darrell Brooks.)
Then I ask, "why would you trust a news source that didn't even bother to tell you this happened?" Or that got wrong or left out these key facts? Then you can hear the gears starting to turn...
Great article, Sasha. Another gem, like the author!
You certainly have better friends than I. Whenever I attempt to interject anything even remotely challenging to their pre-installed woke POV, no matter how gracefully and unthreatening, I usually get some form of "Conspiracy theorist!" spat in face and all conversation ends there.
There are the merely uninformed (largely, as you point out, due to poor choice of news sources), and then there are the true Kool Aid consumers. The former can at least sometimes be reached if not necessarily enlightened, the latter will require nothing short of en masse deprogramming from the cult.
You may need some new friends. :+)
Just kidding, of course. I hear you, and we all face the same challenge. But like Sasha and others, a fair percentage of Democrats are now actively questioning the far left dogma that has (imho) ruined the party.
Note that the percentage of voters who identify as Democrat has dropped from 38% a decade ago, to 33% several years ago, to 27% a month or two ago. (See Gallup monthly poll on voter political affiliation. That 10 point drop equates to more than 15 million people.
You are correct that the Kool Aid Wing of the left is pretty much unreachable. But that's okay when they represent only 20% of the electorate. Eventually, like the GOP did after the Goldwater debacle, they'll figure out that their policies repel more voters than they attract.
Good to hear about the drop in people who identify as Democrats! Thanks for posting that!
I write a letter to PBS Newshour almost every week asking why they're not covering various breaking stories. They barely touched the Hunter Biden laptop story and same with the Twitter files and usually only by reprinting an AP story on their website.
I do the same. "Wow, that was a big deal, don't you think? You didn't hear anything about that? I guess we listen to different news sources." Eyes gaze off..
"Then you can hear the gears starting to turn..."
I'm glad that's happening for you. Maybe my hearing is going downhill.
Lol.
Well, I don't want to portray myself as a pied piper, and no one has yet blurted out that they renounce their political positions.
But I'm not asking anyone to change their political positions. I'm asking why they would put their trust in "news" organizations that consistently get facts wrong, and consistently decline to cover developments that don't fit their political narrative.
This is where I feel I'm gaining ground, though it's more "three yards and a cloud of dust" than long gains downfield.
Well, I respect you for your efforts to inform others about views from outside their bubble. I encounter a great deal of fearful, suspicious sorts of behaviors about information coming from the Other Side. It is so cultlike. Very odd, that people have gotten into this.
Yes, same here, including unfortunately from within my own family. But for whatever reason, they are more open to me prosecuting their news sources, particularly when I can show indefensible behavior, which unfortunately is often.
One family member was going off on Kenosha and Kyle Rittenhouse, and repeating wholly inaccurate news accounts. When she was done, I pointed out, and was able to document, that Rittenhouse did not cross state lines with a gun, and that he was asked to help protect a car dealership. Then I asked if she knew he had a job in Kenosha? That he had immediately family in Kenosha? That the guy he killed was a convicted pedophile exhibiting unhinged behavior in the hours leading up to the shooting, including a face-to-face death threat against Zimmerman? That Rittenhouse was running away from pursuers right before he shot, and that the second guy he shot had drawn a gun and raised it towards Rittenhouse? She knew none of these things, which led to: "don't you think your news sources should have told you these things? If for no other reason than you wouldn't be surprised and angry at the verdict?" (which legal analysts had predicted for months.)
Another family member was going on (appropriately) about Jan 6, and I asked how she would compare that to the situation at the federal courthouse in Portland. Incredibly, he wasn't aware of it. When I patiently explained the three months of nightly riots, featuring napalm, bricks tossed at officers, etc., he was truly surprised. Then I asked if he thought his news sources should have informed him of 89 straight days of riots, and he had to acknowledge they should have, given similarities to what he was calling out about Jan. 6.
The 60-minutes hit job when they "edited" an interview with DeSantis was also effective. Call up both versions on your phone and invite anyone to read them and answer the simple question of whether the edited version accurately represents was DeSantis said. They can't, because the edited version is nowhere close to an accurate picture. (Then show them CBS's statement about the issue, which damaged their credibility further.)
Fortunately, there's good material to be found on FP pretty much every week. Bari's column on just how terribly the MSM did on Rittenhouse reporting can't be attacked for veracity. It reads like a 1,500 word correction.
Hang in there, my friend. The pendulum is beginning to swing back.
Great article defending Musk (yes we need him and appreciate his desire for free speech) and defending Taibbi (excellent journalist). What I truly enjoyed was watching video interview between Phil Donahue and Donald Trump. Phil tried so hard to ‘get him’ but Trump was too smart and truthful. Awesome job explaining NYC rent control.
Rent control screwed up L.A. too.
Excellent, much needed piece, very glad you wrote this. Elon is a courageous hero who put his money on America’s legacy of freedom and free speech. Taibbi has been a rare courageous journalist who followed his conscience.
Regarding Trump: excellent observation that the big kerfuffle amounted to dissecting his words, and had nothing to do with what he actually did. We saw humorless ill-intentioned literalism. And worse.
What was the saying that that Canadian jouralist came up with?: "Trump supporters believe his intent and not his individual words but the Left believes his individual words and not their intent"?
I observed the MSM anchors to consistently interpret Trump's words differently from how I interpreted him. Like when he would say he thought there could be violent protests, or the like, if people were set off by actions that were being taken by Democrats. The media would immediately announce that Trump was threatening to perpetrate violence himself. I usually construed the twisting of Trump's words by the MSM as intentional, but it was also really literal and humorless. It's like there is something wrong with them, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I think that Sasha Stone has referred to that experience also.
I feel a lot of empathy for Taibbi. Being on the receiving end of abuse by Democratic poiticians is a lot of pressure. I am on Taibbi's "Racket" Substack, and he has been sharing his experience of being attacked. It is horrifying that these people have so much power and that they feel so much need to destroy anyone who refuses to live by their bizarre beliefs.
" That does illustrate perfectly what the modern Democrats value, and it’s not success or hard work or innovation."
Open you eyes, they never did.
It has always been about redistribution and taking from the productive individuals to the lazy and irresponsible.
I couldn’t agree with you more. I was a true left-leaning Democrat until the late ‘90’s when I started to embrace other viewpoints. One of those was Neal Boortz, a libertarian talk show host. Always direct and honest, Neal spoke of two types of people in society; the Producers and the Leeches. The Leeches need to feed off and suck dry from what the Producers make. They rely on that government “sugar daddy” for their survival. The big problem is; when the money pool from the Producers has run out (and it will) who is going to save them?
Sasha, very good article. An open Twitter with free dialog is a valuable tool with the upcoming election looming. Musk is doing what he can to maintain that openness, and I applaud him.
There are more now in the US that depend on government income (eg teachers, fed/state/city government employees or contractors, welfare, food stamps, etc) than there are Producers. And these Leeches will vote Democrat for their next check regardless of who it harms. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair GOP RINOS are worse because they’re hypocritical about it.
Exactly. We know the left, what it is, its raison ďetre. It is, at the very least, honest about its dishonesty.
The vast majority of "Republicans," are not. They know they are in a position to stand up for the powerless, to stand up for this nation and its constitution, and they refuse to do so.
If violent and bloody revolution comes, they should be among its first casualties because they were too cowardly to choose a side.
But you are speaking of RINOs, not all Republicans.
True - the RINOs far outnumber the true republicans, however. Making the distinction shouldn't be too difficult.
My salvation from contemporary progressivism was secured by reading "Atlas Shrugged".
Well, there are those in society who truly can not care for themselves and it's not because they are lazy or irresponsible. That being said, they are probably a minority.
Another great read! Thank you! Btw I always enjoy listening more when you
personally read to us!
Me too! I listen while I'm walking the dogs -- better than staring at the computer, and it helps (I think) me understand Sasha a bit more to hear her voice.
And it's such a calm and soothing voice!
The latest from you in my inbox is always a day brightener - and this one is no exception.
I couldn't help but be taken aback, somewhat, by this:
"The Democrats seem to only want power now."
NOW? That has been a socio-political constant since the first administration of FDR.
"So much of the battle for Twitter is simply about words. Words control ideology, which ultimately controls the people."
This has been the single preoccupation of the left since the 1960s - maybe even earlier.
"He who controls the language controls the masses."
–Saul Alinsky, Rules for Radicals
Hollywood has been the effort's chief ally, accessory, and enabler with the NEA and this nation's teachers an almost imperceptible second. How much of the entertainment beginning in the 1970s introduced a new definition of, 'family?' How much of it either subtlely or brazenly turned sexual morality on its head, mercilessly mocking the Judeo-Christian ethics upon which much of our society and culture had been founded?
"We need more people like him to thrust a bold middle finger at the information monopoly the Left controls."
Amen!
"We need role models who are resilient and who send the message to the young that words are just words."
True, and yes, words are just words, but our language is crucial. Definitions matter - connotations can change with context, but denotations must remain fixed for words to have any meaning, and the language to have relevance. Our common language is one of our society's great equalizers - or at least, it used to be.
I’m still really on the fence with Musk. He has to walk the line because of government contracts, however he’s big into his neural-link and AI (so long as it is his)… which makes him a natural ally of those who embrace trans-humanism.
Musk like Trump, exposed the Swamp. He’s to be commended for that regardless of wanting to maintain his wealth, that’s only human to do so.
This is an excellent essay because it is relevant, timely, organized, complete, and accurate and combines these attributes to paint a compelling and insightful portrait. The author is definitely an artist and professional. Regarding the topic per se, I saw Tucker’s interview with Elon earlier in the week and it is so refreshing to see a truthful and frank exchange, with no small dose of humor, being held by two outspoken critics of the Uniparty and Deep State. The Democratic Party once rebelled against wars (ok Vietnam was 50 years ago) and the Deep State but now they are Neocons and in bed with the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc. Finally, regarding David Frum, his reflection will never fade, even though the water has become a fetid pool.
I have to say that this is your most important piece to date, wonderful lady.
Remember that the federal government(meaning democrats as 93% of DC votes for them) has been 'influencing' all of social media since about 2012. If you haven't been censored on any of the platforms you support them.
Taibbi was 'visited' by IRS agents recently; you can only imagine the pressure on Musk from the federal government who used to essentially run Twitter... Support him.
"So much of the battle for Twitter is simply about words. Words control ideology, which ultimately controls the people." You understand this, you understand everything that's been going on with "hate speech" and "speech is violence" and "racist" wordlists and so on ad nauseam. They want to reduce language to a few words that express nothing in specificity.
Here is a funny example of reducing speech and definitions very narrowly. “With that, Clinton may have been given the room to offer a technically "true" denial to the question of whether he had sex with Lewinsky--even if she happened to perform fellatio on him. The truncated definition characterizes sex in terms of a checklist of body parts, including the genitals, breast and thigh. Oral sex would not necessarily require the President to touch anything on Lewinsky that appears on that list.” https://edition.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/time/clinton.html. LOL. Our Democratic presidents at their best.
Yes, lawyers lead the way in the "twisting language" categories, and both Clintons were lawyers.
Was anyone ever able to determine what 'is' is or was?
Whatever kept Bill's fat out of the fire. ;-)
There no longer is an is. Bill loses because he's a straight white guy.
There is a commonality between Musk and Trump that I feel is important to point out. Their sense of humor. Alas, politics these days is completely devoid of it. Scratch that. The left is completely devoid of it.
I’d be curious to know if you can name one democrat who is funny. To me, one with a good sense of humor rules the world.
Bill Maher was pretty funny tonight making fun of Trump’s two fisted shake ‘dance’ … said Trump looks like he was jacking off a couple of guys. Bill is a mean comic though so he doesn’t count.
Dems cut SS in their last mega-sized bill (did you know that?) and Biden's SOTU was NOT brilliant. It was mostly fabrications. MTG and other Republicans were calling out Biden's lies.
So free speech is a "train wreck"? Lowest unemployment, low inflation, low interest rates, higher wages, more money going into the treasury, GDP at about 3% (before COVID hit), etc. is a "train wreck"?
I don't blame him and he's Hercules for not letting it (the 24/7 cut-throat attacks) get to him long before now. However, someone needs to tell him he needs to go back to his old self again (the "happy warrior" with the occassional off-the-hook outbursts).
Those who are angry over Twitter being about free speech, tells you something about them. They like people who disagree with them censored. They have dark hearts.
Ha, it's not about free speech, Musk has banned or suspended many of the folks who criticize him. Seriously, this is not a great argument.
Another brilliantly articulated article on one of the biggest stories of our generation. I just hope and pray more people will read, awaken, and move away from lies and deception toward the truth. Our lives depend on it.
I just seems to me that Twitter and Substack should be natural partners in the effort to promote free speech. They serve two purposes that are parallel, not crossed.
They do seem to compliment each other although with enough separation to be valuable in my view. One has professional writers who publish sufficiently lengthy essays to get a solid understanding of the topic while the other allows any amateur or pro to create a brief headline akin to throwing spaghetti against the wall.
Right. Substack allows a thought on Twitter to become more fully developed.
Speaking of not talking about what else is going on in the world, there is some sort of scandal with USAID paying terrorists instead of helping the desperately poor. Considering Samantha Powers runs it, it is no wonder. How long have these tentacles of US government funded groups just been covers for CIA operations?
At least since 1963 by the CIA in Vietnam.
Social media is, and continues to be, a propaganda tool of the intelligence community that benefits the Leftists. We’re most likely dealing with only partial information or what is sometimes called ‘limited hangout’. Shiny object distractions to keep the masses (us) reactionary and away from whatever it is they want to hide. Right now… the end of the petro-dollar, is my guess.
Sasha, you nailed them, again!
Great job on a wonderful piece.
The left needs to be called out on their condescending, intolerant, hysteria and unwillingness to discuss the horrible results of their corrupt policies.