Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose
Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no no
And feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know, feelin' good was good enough for me
Good enough for me and my Bobby McGee
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Why the Left Has to Suppress Free Speech
Let us begin with this fact: The left always suppresses speech. Since Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917, there has been no example of the left in control and not crushing dissent.
That is one of the important differences between liberal and left: Liberalism and liberals believe in free speech. (The present leftist threat to freedom in America, the greatest threat to freedom in American history, is made possible because liberals think they have more to fear from conservatives than from the left. Liberals do not understand that the left regards liberals as their useful idiots.)
The Left Controls Just About Everything
The left controls universities. There is little or no dissent allowed at universities.
The left controls nearly every “news” medium. There is little or no dissent in the mainstream media — not in the “news” sections and not in the opinion sections.
The left controls Hollywood. No dissent is allowed in Hollywood.
That is why we have “cancel culture” — the silencing and firing of anyone who publicly dissents from the left, and even “publicly” is no longer necessary. The National Association of Realtors has just announced that if you express dissenting views (on race, especially) in private, you may be fined and lose your membership in the organization — which effectively ends your career as a realtor.
The left controls universities. There is little or no dissent allowed at universities.
The left controls nearly every “news” medium. There is little or no dissent in the mainstream media — not in the “news” sections and not in the opinion sections.
The left controls Hollywood. No dissent is allowed in Hollywood.
That is why we have “cancel culture” — the silencing and firing of anyone who publicly dissents from the left, and even “publicly” is no longer necessary. The National Association of Realtors has just announced that if you express dissenting views (on race, especially) in private, you may be fined and lose your membership in the organization — which effectively ends your career as a realtor.
The Left Fears Dissent
So, we return to the opening question: Why does the left need to crush all dissent? This is a question made all the more stark because there is no parallel on the right: Conservatives do not shut down dissent or debate.
The answer, though the left will not acknowledge it, is the left fears dissent. And they do so for good reason. Leftism is essentially a giant balloon filled with nothing but hot air. Therefore, no matter how big the balloon — the Democratic Party, The New York Times, Yale University — all it takes is a mere pin to burst it.
Leftism is venerated by intellectuals. But there is little intellectual substance to leftism. It is a combination of doctrine and emotion. The proof? Those with intellectual depth do not stifle dissent; they welcome it.
So, we return to the opening question: Why does the left need to crush all dissent? This is a question made all the more stark because there is no parallel on the right: Conservatives do not shut down dissent or debate.
The answer, though the left will not acknowledge it, is the left fears dissent. And they do so for good reason. Leftism is essentially a giant balloon filled with nothing but hot air. Therefore, no matter how big the balloon — the Democratic Party, The New York Times, Yale University — all it takes is a mere pin to burst it.
Leftism is venerated by intellectuals. But there is little intellectual substance to leftism. It is a combination of doctrine and emotion. The proof? Those with intellectual depth do not stifle dissent; they welcome it.
Fear Stifles Free Speech at Universities
That is why universities are so opposed to conservatives coming to speak on campus. One articulate conservative can undo years of left-wing indoctrination in a one-hour talk or Q and A. I know this from personal experience on campuses. You can, too. Watch the speeches given by any conservatives allowed to speak on a campus — many of these talks are still on YouTube — and you will see large halls filled with students yearning to hear something other than left-wing pablum. Look at their faces, filled with rapt attention to ideas they never heard that are clearly having an impact. Universities are entirely right to fear our coming to speak. We come with the pin that bursts their $50,000-a-year balloon.
That is why universities are so opposed to conservatives coming to speak on campus. One articulate conservative can undo years of left-wing indoctrination in a one-hour talk or Q and A. I know this from personal experience on campuses. You can, too. Watch the speeches given by any conservatives allowed to speak on a campus — many of these talks are still on YouTube — and you will see large halls filled with students yearning to hear something other than left-wing pablum. Look at their faces, filled with rapt attention to ideas they never heard that are clearly having an impact. Universities are entirely right to fear our coming to speak. We come with the pin that bursts their $50,000-a-year balloon.
Fear Keeps Leftists From Debate
That is also why it is so hard to get any of them to debate any of us. In 35 years of radio, I have never mistreated or bullied a guest. I was unfailingly polite to an icon of the left, Howard Zinn, the America-hating author of the America-hating A People’s History of the United States.
I even invited a UCLA political science professor and violinist, one of seven members of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra who refused to play when I conducted the orchestra in a Joseph Haydn symphony in the Disney Concert Hall — solely because I’m a conservative. Despite his public letter, in which he accused me of holding “horribly bigoted positions” and wrote, “Please urge your friends to not attend this concert, which helps normalize bigotry in our community,” I nevertheless invited him on my national radio show. He agreed. I had him in studio for an entire hour and treated him and his wife (who accompanied him) with great respect, despite my contempt for his false accusations and his advocacy of the cancel culture. Every American should hear...
That is also why it is so hard to get any of them to debate any of us. In 35 years of radio, I have never mistreated or bullied a guest. I was unfailingly polite to an icon of the left, Howard Zinn, the America-hating author of the America-hating A People’s History of the United States.
I even invited a UCLA political science professor and violinist, one of seven members of the Santa Monica Symphony Orchestra who refused to play when I conducted the orchestra in a Joseph Haydn symphony in the Disney Concert Hall — solely because I’m a conservative. Despite his public letter, in which he accused me of holding “horribly bigoted positions” and wrote, “Please urge your friends to not attend this concert, which helps normalize bigotry in our community,” I nevertheless invited him on my national radio show. He agreed. I had him in studio for an entire hour and treated him and his wife (who accompanied him) with great respect, despite my contempt for his false accusations and his advocacy of the cancel culture. Every American should hear...
Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins Experts: COVID Lockdowns Will Cause ONE MILLION Excess Deaths
“We interpret these results as a strong indication that policymakers should take into consideration the severe, long-run implications of such a large economic recession on people’s lives when deliberating on COVID-19 recovery and containment measures.”
Academics from Duke, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins have concluded that there could be around a million excess deaths over the next two decades as a result of lockdowns.
A NBER working paper titled The Long-Term Impact Of The Covid-19 Unemployment Shock On life Expectancy And Mortality Rates suggests that “For the overall population, the increase in the death rate following the COVID-19 pandemic implies a staggering 0.89 and 1.37 million excess deaths over the next 15 and 20 years, respectively.”
The paper was written by Francesco Bianchi, an economist at Duke University, Giada Bianchi, an MD in the Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Harvard Medical School, and Dongho Song, an economist at the Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School.
The study into how unemployment affects mortality and life expectancy was centred around 67 years of data about unemployment, life expectancy, and death rates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The paper suggests that deaths caused by the economic and societal decline as a result of lockdowns may “far exceed those immediately related to the acute COVID-19 critical illness.”
“The recession caused by the pandemic can jeopardize population health for the next two decades,” they add.
The paper explains:
This is one of Tucker’s best monologues and it’s frightening
Rep. Cohen says all white male conservatives are potential terrorists, but that’s only the beginning of the outrageous actions and statements by Democrats — fascists — and they are not even in office yet.
The media wants a secret police force.
Biden Won And 2 + 2 = 5
Democrats Pledge To Fight Trump Rule Ensuring Banks Won’t Refuse Service To Conservatives
Banks have a duty to provide proportionate access to financial services, even for clients involved in legal but politically controversial industries.
In its final days, the Trump administration is seeking to disrupt the way progressive activists increasingly impose their will on big business: through banks controlling the loan lifelines to the economy.
A regulation just finalized (update) aims to prevent lenders from blackballing businesses in industries opposed by the left by requiring banks to demonstrate that their loan decisions are “based on quantitative, impartial risk-based standards,” rather than political or reputational concerns.
The proposed Fair Access to Financial Services Rule (FAFSR) is a response to successful pressure campaigns waged by environmental groups and congressional Democrats, which culminated in every major American bank refusing to finance drilling projects in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), despite such drilling being authorized by President Trump in 2017.
Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, told RealClearInvestigations that the rule codifies longstanding OCC guidance on banks’s obligation to provide equitable access to their services, and will ensure that banks are not “terminating entire categories of customers.”
The rule has been published in the Federal Register, but it may be short-lived with the end of Trump’s term. Many Democrats oppose the measure and they will have 60 legislative days to disapprove the rule by a simple majority vote, as provided under the Congressional Review Act.
Nevertheless, the Arctic drilling conflict highlights the power of progressive groups to intimidate, cajole, and partner with corporate powerhouses to advance their agenda – often beyond the confines of the legislature. Through boycotts and other pressure campaigns, progressives have sought to push corporations to adopt their social and cultural values on issues ranging from climate-change policy to gun control.
The Debate Over Arctic Drilling Continues
Firearms dealers, oil producers, payday lenders, and workers in other controversial industries have had their access to capital stunted by these campaigns, which are often aimed at the circulatory system of the economy – the banking industry. Oil companies spent decades working through traditional Washington channels – engaging in full-press lobbying, writing white papers, and, of course, offering generous campaign contributions to sympathetic legislators – to obtain permission to drill in ANWR.
The debate over drilling in the refuge, the nation’s largest wildlife reserve, has raged since portions of the 19-million-acre area were first set aside under President Dwight Eisenhower in 1960. Twenty years later, President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which expanded the size of the reserve but opened up a coastal plain (the so-called “1002 Area”) to oil exploration, subject to prior congressional approval.
That authorization has proven elusive, as preserving ANWR became a cause célèbre among environmentalists. In December 2017, however, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which included a provision written by Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski authorizing oil exploration in the 1002 Area. The language opened a relatively small portion of the reserve – 2,000 of the area’s 1.57 million acres – to surface development.
The Republican lawmaker speculated that the project could generate “$60 billion in royalties for [Alaska] alone.” As the required environmental review process moved forward, opponents took action.
Applying Pressure on Banks
In January 2020, a group of Senate Democrats sent a letter to all of the major American banks, requesting that they “stop financing … oil and gas drilling and exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” in order to better “prepar[e] the U.S. economy to weather the growing impacts of the climate crisis.” The letter echoed themes found in later pressure campaigns waged by such environmental advocacy groups as the Sierra Club and Greater Good.
The banks fell quickly in line. In February, Wells Fargo announced that it would not...
White House lists hundreds of Trump accomplishments
Economic boom, tax relief, deregulation, fair trade, energy independence
Amid President Trump's war with establishment media and its Democratic Party allies over the past four years, many of the president's achievements have been ignored, downplayed or cast in a negative light.
Now, with Democrats bent on permanently staining his legacy and preventing him from ever running for office again, the White House is taking it upon itself to list his accomplishments.
Paul Teller, a deputy assistant to the president, distributed on Friday an updated list of accomplishments that number in the hundreds.
It will be available on the White House website until Inauguration Day next Wednesday. And it can be read here in a pdf file.
The list recounts the many measures the administration took to help create the conditions for an unprecedented economic boom, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, that produced the lowest recorded unemployment overall and for blacks, hispanics and women.
Along with tax relief and massive deregulation, there were the fair trade deals and measures that led to America becoming energy independent for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Nearly 7 million people were lifted from food stamps, poverty rates for African Americans and hispanics reached record lows, income inequality fell for two straight years, and the bottom 50% of American households saw a 40% increase in net worth.
The creation in impoverished neighborhoods of nearly 9,000 Opportunity Zones, which tax capital gains on long-term investments at zero, are poised to lift an estimated 1 million Americans from poverty.
Even amid the pandemic, an October 2020 Gallup survey found 56% of Americans said they were better off than four years ago.
As Trump predicted, the nation experienced a "V-shaped recovery" from the impact of the coronavirus lockdowns. During the third quarter of 2020, the economy grew at a rate of 33.1%, the most rapid GDP growth ever recorded.
For farmers, the administration successfully negotiated more than 50 agreements with countries to increase foreign market access and boost exports, supporting more than 1 million American jobs.
Trump signed into law landmark criminal justice reform, and his administration took strong measures to stem hate crimes, gun violence and human trafficking.
In education, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expanded "school choice," allowing parents to use up to $10,000 from an education savings account to cover K-12 tuition costs at the public, private or religious school of their choice.
In health care, there was the elimination of the Obamacare individual mandate that became a "financial relief to low and middle-income households that made up nearly 80 percent of the families who paid the penalty for not wanting to purchase health insurance."
More recently, Trump announced unprecedented reforms that dramatically lowered the price of prescription drugs.
He brought unprecedented attention and support to combat the opioid crisis and took action to seize illegal drugs and punish those preying on Americans.
In the judiciary, Trump nominated and confirmed more than 230 federal judges. He appointed three Supreme Court justices, expanding its conservative-appointed majority to 6-3.
A total of 54 judges were confirmed to the United States Courts of Appeals, making up nearly a third of the entire appellate bench. Trump filled all Court of Appeals vacancies for the first time in four decades. He flipped the Second, Third, and Eleventh Circuits from Democratic-appointed majorities to Republican-appointed majorities and "dramatically reshaped the long-liberal Ninth Circuit."
On the border, more than 400 miles of "the world's most robust and advanced border wall" has been built, cutting illegal crossings along those stretches by more than 87%. The practice of "catch and release" was ended, and Trump signed an executive order to strip discretionary federal grant funding from sanctuary cities.
There was the rebuilding of the military and the defeat of ISIS. And the administration reformed the Department of Veterans Affairs to improve care, choice and employee accountability.
The U.S. secured a $400 billion increase in defense spending from NATO allies by 2024, and the number of members meeting their minimum obligations more than doubled.
The U.S. withdrew from the costly and ineffective Paris Climate Accord and the one-sided Iran nuclear deal. After pulling out of the Iran deal, the U.S. imposed crippling sanctions on Iran's terrorist regime.
After every president since 1994 waived the mandate by Congress, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem. The U.S. acknowledged Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights and declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank comply with international law. Trump removed the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council because of its anti-Israel bias.
The Trump administration brokered historic peace agreements between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including the...
Expect The Beatings To Continue Until Morale Improves...
Or...Until We Start Posting About How Wonderful The Biden Administration Is Gonna Be, How Complying Is Freedom, And Approved Narratives Are Free Speech...
Sign Of Things To Come: Check This Out:
So I Had The FBI Waiting For Me When I Got Home
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