A disturbing nexus of recent events has me concerned for the dangerous consequences to the American political system. Each on their own is troubling, but when looked at as a whole the forecast for the future grows darker.
First up is Diamond and Silk. They are a comedy duo of sassy black women who buck the conventional racial and ideological norms. They were early Trump supporters and appeared with him at campaign events. If you haven't seen their videos take a look. The pair announced over the weekend that Facebook now considers them "unsafe to the community."
Facebook never specified how the women were a danger or to what community. But it's part of a growing trend where conservative or Republican speech is blocked or silenced on social media. Silencing conservatives on the major social media platforms is nothing new, but the extent of the practice is growing wider every year. "Shadow banning" where a user is able to publish on social media but where there is no notification to his or her followers is the latest tactic. If a tree falls in the woods but there is no one there to hear it does it make a sound?
The problem isn't limited to Facebook or Twitter. At Google, they partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a far left fundraising group, to police You Tube. SPLC has little to do with southern poverty or law. It's a group that raises huge sums of money by warning frightened supporters to believe the right wing bogeyman is at the door. It's a great business model which has enriched it's founders to the point where the firm stashes cash offshore in the Cayman Islands. SPLC is notorious for labeling conservative individuals and organizations as extremists or hate groups including Ayaan Hirsi Ali the brave Somali woman who speaks out against the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation. Also targeted was the Family Research Council who opposed gay marriage and was labeled a hate group. Based on that designation, a left wing gunman went to their headquarters with the goal of assassinating their workers. Are these the people you want deciding what content is permitted on You Tube and silencing voices they arbitrarily determine to be offensive?
Kalev Leetaru, writing at Forbes, describes how the suggestion to have independent external panels examine the problem of political bias at these platforms has been greeted with silence. Refusal of social media companies to accept responsibility to be fair and transparent invites further public scrutiny and may demand government regulation to assure all users are treated equally.
The depth of that problem, is highlighted by a recent tweet made by Jack Dorsey, founder and CEO of Twitter. Dorsey recommends an article that describes "America's new civil war" in which the only solution is the total defeat of Republicans and silencing of their viewpoint in the public square. The article, written by Peter Leyden and political commentator Ruy Teixeira declares:
“In this current period of American politics, at this juncture in our history, there’s no way that a bipartisan path provides the way forward."Advocating a one party state is the path to tyranny, and ultimately to a shooting war but the left appears not the least concerned with the consequences of their actions. No doubt history wasn't taught in Jack Dorsey's left wing school.
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"Take the Republican Party down for a generation or two."
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"America can’t afford more political paralysis. One side or the other must win.”
The American left is quickly becoming the ultimate hate group and the violence such barely constrained hate inspires is already here. For years we've seen it at universities where conservative speakers are shouted down. Fires started, windows smashed, attendees assaulted. It's become almost commonplace.
We also saw mobs during the presidential election in 2016 chasing and assaulting Trump supporters. One campaign event in Illinois had to be canceled after Trump haters infiltrated the arena. Video shows mobs of Bernie Sanders supporters starting a melee. One, Jedidiah Brown, who professes to be an ordained minister and "anti-violence activist," rushed the stage and attempted to grab the microphone. Later he is seen throwing wild punches. So much for anti-violence. Literally the 21st century version of Nazi brownshirts! Here's the highlight reel:
The left points to the tragic death of a young woman in Charlottesville, Virginia as evidence that the right engages in violence too. At a white nationalist event black clad Antifa mobs showed up with clubs and started a riot with the right wing crowd. After the fact, a New York Times reporter accurately described the scene of violence on both sides and was forced to change her reporting. Some claimed that the Antifa rioters were simply defending themselves. Hard to justify that since many were from out of town and went to Charlottesville, as they do in other places like Ferguson Missouri, solely for the purpose of rioting.
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| Antifa counter protesters carrying semi-automatic weapons at the riot in Charlottesville, Virginia August 2017. But they're the good guys right? |
Permitting political speech, especially speech with which one might disagree, is a fundamental principle of American democracy. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing free speech was put first for a reason. The Supreme Court has upheld the predominance of that right ever since. But once again, the left seeks to silence speech with which they disagree. And not content to simply silence speech, they seek to use violence to get their way. History teaches us that's not a path that ends well. But the left has declared war and it will be up to those who love liberty to defend the Constitution against such infringement on our rights. I prefer ballots over bullets but as we've seen the left rejects the results of elections they lose. Their violent impulses will have to be contained by the rule of law. No doubt they will riot over that too!
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