Masters of the Universe Tell Stalin to, “Hold My Beer.”
As many of you are aware, pressure from tech giants Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter is actively preventing Americans from being exposed to facts, opinions and commentary that the left (AKA, unAmerican agents for the Chinese Communists) finds offensive.
Amazon has kicked Parler off of its servers because so many Trump supporters have decided to try their luck there, rather than swim around in the public sewer that Twitter has become under the “leadership” of founder Jack Dorsey. Of course the Twitter boss just loves this little bit of serendipitous (or perhaps deliberately coordinated) bit of monopoly generating activity. For his own part, Jack thinks it’s his place to determine whether or not the American people should be allowed to read the words of a sitting President of these United States. Dorsey has shut down President Trump’s personal Twitter account. What are you frightened of Jack? Guess what Jackie boy, we Americans are big boys and girls. We even have jobs and pay taxes (well, Trump supporters do). We are fully capable of separating fact from fiction. We don’t need some hipster with a nose ring to do that for us.
What many Americans might not be aware of, is how deep the Tech Giants’ financial control of online media extends. Online news and opinion sites live and die by the number of pageviews (clicks) counted. This in turn generates advertising revenues. The more pageviews your site gets, the more and higher-priced ad revenue you get. There are some layers and complications, but that is the short version. For example, in some publications, “click through” traffic that goes through Facebook is a significant source of revenue.
Facebook makes direct and credible threats to the management of corporations that own conservative websites. In short, Facebook demands that the sites unpublish, formally retract and publicly apologize for articles written that don’t conform to Facebook’s political outlook. Last October, for instance, Facebook demonetized the parody/humor site Babylon Bee for substituting Mazie Hirono for the “duck” in the hilarious “she’s a witch” sketch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Back in the old Soviet Union, they had their own version of this practice. The Commissars would conduct what were commonly referred to as Show Trials. These weren’t trials in the western sense. In these public shows, the verdict was pre-ordained, often obtained through physical and mental torture. The object wasn’t to simply obtain a Guilty verdict. The idea was a public confession by the designated enemy of society. This, followed by his demonstration of remorse and plea for forgiveness.
Sounds just like the standard operating procedure of our Hollywood Cancel Culture as adopted by Big Tech. As many of my friends and associates have indicated, it’s gonna get worse before it gets better. Just this week one of my favorite online publications was also forced to bow to this threat. Over at American Thinker, my good friend, and writing mentor, Dr. Thomas Lifson was forced to disable the comment feature on his website. In his own words:
It is news to almost nobody who reads American Thinker that a political witch hunt is underway. Parties in and out of government are looking for excuses to suppress and destroy voices that oppose the left.
Because AT lacks the ability to monitor comments in real time, and because our position that comments are a forum, not something we publish, is being called into question, we can no longer publish comments.
Read: Why AT comments are disabled
All of us, whether we are political junkies or not, need to resist this. A free republic requires open and unfettered information and political discourse. When a very few entities are allowed to restrict the information the general public sees, well folks, that is a recipe for tyranny. We are headed for a dark place…unless we push back. Stay tuned.
Final note: Jack…grow up. You are a billionaire and have responsibilities. Cut that mop, trim that beard and get rid of that nose ring.
