No other animal uses language nearly as successfully as humans. We are the language animal.
With language comes power. Humans, in many aspects, have dominated the planet for better or for worse. Those who gain power strive to keep it.
The federal government has vast stores of power. They aim to keep it, no matter the cost. But they have a problem: the Constitution.
The First Amendment is straightforward, not an arcane code. Anyone with a sixth-grade reading level should have no problem understanding it.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
If that’s a bit much for a sixth-grader, how about this: Congress will make no law that reduces a citizen’s right to speak freely concerning politics, religion, or anything else within the bounds of reason.
This poses a problem for government officials who cling to power like starving mice to cheese.
The Russian constitution, for example, prohibits "propaganda or campaigning" intended "to incite social, racial, national, or religious hatred and strife." It is up to the Russian government, of course, to decide what gets designated as propaganda or campaigning that incites whatever kind of strife. Anybody who threatens the power of the Russian government, suffice it to say, can be deemed guilty.
Whatever side of the spectrum political extremists land on, Communists and Nazis end up being two sides of the totalitarian coin.
In the U.S., extremists on both sides of the political spectrum can’t be as blatant as the Russians when it comes to prohibiting free speech. The annoying First Amendment forces them to play the free speech suppression game behind the scenes.
The Founding Fathers were farsighted and did their best to keep political power-mongers in check. The enemies of freedom, however, are experts at deception, duplicity, and the old end-around run when it comes to the Constitution.
The Founding Fathers Understood Human Nature
The Founding Fathers were successful because they understood human nature. The Englishman Lord Acton (1834 – 1902) spelled out what the Founders understood after the fact.
“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” is likely Acton’s most famous quote. That wasn't his only insight into power and corruption.
“Great men are almost always bad men,” wrote Acton to Bishop Creighton, “even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
Today, unelected officials in the federal bureaucracy have fortified their positions by erecting mountains of paperwork around them like castle ramparts of old. Put another way, they’re as dug in as the Viet Cong and as tough to root out. They use this power to influence the legitimate authority of elected officials. They’re as corrupt as a drug dealer hooked on his own supply.
“Despotic power is always accompanied by corruption of morality,” Acton wrote. That sounds about right. In a land where boys are encouraged to believe they are girls if they feel like it and girls are free to believe they are boys, morality has not only been corrupted but turned into it opposite.
If that’s not convincing, how about an internet seething with pornography—including the utter depravity of so-called “torture porn” and other twisted fantasies. Pornography is protected under the First Amendment and “cannot be proscribed unless it is found to be utterly without redeeming social value."
Who redeems the social value of internet porn, the devil himself?
For power junkies, the thoughts and speech of those who disagree with them are far worse than the worst internet pornography. That’s why Leftists are always looking for ways to curb free speech in cyberspace.
In just one example, the Biden administration colluded with social media firms to censor pandemic skeptics. If they tried it once, you can bet your last hundred dollar bill they’ll do it again.
The Champions of Free Speech
Thankfully, there are some elected politicians faithful to the Constitution.
In July, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY), and Congressman Dan Bishop (R-NC) introduced the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act to protect free speech online.
“Americans are a free people, and we do not take infringements upon our liberties lightly. Our Founding Fathers enshrined the First Amendment to protect our God-given right to free expression, recognizing its fundamental importance to a free society,” Paul said in a press release.
“With the Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act, we will strip away the barriers preventing judicial review of coercive government tactics that silence dissenting voices and ensure that no government official or contractor can undermine the First Amendment rights of Americans. We must confront and dismantle this censorship apparatus to protect our fundamental right to free speech.”
The press release went on to outline the purpose of the bill:
· Empower individuals to sue government officials who coerce online platforms into censoring constitutionally protected speech.
· Apply to past First Amendment violations and establish a presumption of liability for any government official attempting to pressure platforms into censorship, thereby overcoming the causality issue identified by the Supreme Court in Murthy.
· Provide a vital mechanism for all Americans to protect their constitutional rights and challenge government overreach. It ensures that government officials are held accountable for any attempts to infringe upon our fundamental right to free speech.
Paul is no stranger to government censorship via social media proxies. In 2021, he posted a YouTube video to educate the public about using ineffective cloth masks to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
YouTube blocked the video and suspended the Senator’s account for a week. The overt suppression of informed free speech—Rand Paul is a medical doctor — prompted him to move his content to Rumble.com.
Why Now?
The bill, in part, is a reaction to the Supreme Court ruling in Murthy v. Missouri. In the landmark First Amendment case, the court ruled that the plaintiffs did not have standing to seek an injunction against government officials who attempted to pressure platforms into censoring speech related to COVID-19. Put another way, it didn’t solve the matter one way or the other.
Bill co-sponsor Rep. Bishop said, “Americans have a God-given right to free expression, and the constant attacks on the First Amendment from government bureaucrats make safeguarding that right all the more important. Malicious actors within government should never be allowed to silence and censor Americans, and Americans targeted by the Censorship Industrial Complex deserve their day in court. This legislation will ensure just that by removing barriers for judicial review and cracking down on those who aim to trample on the First Amendment.”
Rep. Hageman said, “I have repeatedly said that the government cannot do by proxy what it is prohibited from doing directly. This is exactly what happened with the Biden Administration pressuring social media companies to suppress the free speech of American citizens. The Standing to Challenge Government Censorship Act will not only ensure future litigants would have standing, but also would also apply to the plaintiffs in Murthy.”
“No one has a monopoly on truth,” Hageman continued, “and the Biden administration and federal agencies are not entitled to declare that American’s speech is ‘mis-information,’ ‘dis-information,’ or ‘mal-information’ and silence the message, especially when you consider how much accurate and truthful information was squelched during Covid-19 and the 2020 election. We will continue to fight to protect our First Amendment rights.”
It's good to know some elected officials see themselves as citizens first and go out of their way to protect the rest of us. We need to elect more people like them. Language must correspond to truth, not power. To get to the truth, free speech is a must.
Instead of suppressing free speech, maybe the powers that be should promote critical thinking skills so the average citizen can sort through all the rot on the internet and get to the heart of the matter: where there is no freedom, truth is but a dream.
Keep that in mind the next time you cast a vote.
The Anti-Duct Tape Act sounds more catchy to me. A recent comment I made related to the Zuckerberg letter...
So what will Zuckerberg or those ordering the censoring do to help right the wrongs? It wasn't only about censoring posts, but also shutting down Facebook groups such as Died Suddenly and Freedom Convoy ones. What about the efforts by U.S. Surgeon General to stop spread of "misinformation" or Biden's appointed Ministry of Truth? How can anyone who has an iota about the Constitution and Bill of Rights support an administration that has blatantly tried to remove our right to free speech? This is akin to duct-taping the mouths of those asking for help or trying to get help. It's tyranny - cruel, oppressive government or rule. Are those in these authoritative/power positions supporting/encouraging/ordering/enabling censorship not a parent, aunt/uncle, sibling, or child of someone that was trying to ask for help or trying to warn others? Or of someone that died or was injured because of the mandates and pressure to take the shots? - https://leemuller.substack.com/p/poll-who-is-the-most-guilty - why are people only admitting wrong and not taking action to fix it and stop it? Zuckerberg needs a commercial not just a letter. Maybe he creates a Facebook page or group asking how the wrongs can be made right again. Maybe he creates a web site showing all of the censorship that took place and reestablish all the groups that were shutdown. Maybe he shares the specific names and communications of who ordered/pressured what. That would be a start. When will those who are supposed to enforce the law start standing up for the Constitution and Bill of Rights? When will those who established bad laws such as not requiring informed consent, or fast-pacing clinical trials to take place on the general populous a.k.a. Real World Evidence take effort to repeal these laws?
Beware of laws that have an end date. These are laws that are enabling a plan, an agenda rather than making a country better. The best laws hold over time.
Bravo! and thank you, Senators Paul and Bishop!