The Biden Presidency was the worst administration in my lifetime on the issues of Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press. Working with the largest of technology companies, President Biden successfully censored disfavored political opponents, and successfully silenced information that he believed to be harmful in some way to his positions. This included true, but inconvenient information.
President Biden didn’t however lead this charge. What led it, what allowed it to happen, was a shift in our culture here in the United States.
We had lunatics from the left wing screaming for people to be thrown off social media, demanding that books not be published, and that speakers be shouted down.
At the very same time, we had lunatics from the right wing screaming that books needed to be removed from libraries, that age restrictions for the access of literature be implemented, and that certain curriculums be disallowed.
Censorship became the goal of the fringe on both the left and the right. The only real difference was in what each side wanted to censor.
The most circus-like aspect of all of this was watching the left wing lunatics swear up and down that they were not involved in censorship, declaring the right wing lunatics the censors de jour. And of course the right wing lunatics responding in precisely the same way.
The fact of the matter is that the fringe left, and the fringe right were both extremely vocal in demanding censorship.
The Biden Administration, Universities, and Non-Profit Organizations all responded, creating a vast network in support of censorship, and convincing large technology companies to jump on the censorship bandwagon.
Let’s be clear. Censorship is the antithesis of Americanism. It is always wrong. And in the United States it has always been illegal for the Government to engage in.
Freedom of Speech is the most cherished, and most important right held by every American by virtue of birth. It is a right granted not by government, but by God, however you might define the divine.
But, for a time, lots of people thought that we should be more like Europe. Indeed many today are still calling for the United States to adopt European style speech norms.
You know, Europe. Like the United Kingdom, where they throw people in actual jail because of disfavored Facebook posts.
No thanks.
Europe has always been largely dominated by tyrannical governments who once every generation or two decide that it would be fun to engage in some mass slaughter of innocent men, women, and children, so go off and invade their neighbors. We’re seeing that yet again right now in fact. And once again, in the current war, Europe is looking to the United States to come to the rescue.
If European style governance was any good, we wouldn’t be here. Because our ancestors would have stayed over there.
European style censorship needs to stay in Europe. And if it is to act rightly, our government will not allow European governments to bully American technology companies into becoming or remaining censors.
Golly, I didn’t intend to have such a rant about the Old World, but the point is, we are Americans, and we should act like it. Not look to adopt the failed old policies of the places from which our ancestors fled.
Now of course with President Trump’s election we, I think, rightly have hope that this drive towards censorship will fade away. I certainly believe it to be a good sign that he has appointed to high office many people who were in fact victims of censorship under the previous Administration.
But we must remember that power always tends to corrupt. And Republicans have complete power at the moment. The Presidency, both Houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court.
They do very well to remember that the pendulum always swings. Their competitors in the Democratic party might be on their backs at the moment, but they won’t be on their backs forever. It will turn, Democrats will return to power. And this will probably happen much sooner than anyone expects.
If Republicans don’t want to see a return to Biden era censorship within the next handful of years, they had better put it to bed now.
And not, as signs seem to be pointing towards over the past few weeks, begin their own efforts towards silencing their political opposition.
