The huge changes to our country that seemed hard to believe were happening in 2021 have only worsened and become the new norm in 2022 — serious crimes get a free pass, millions of illegal immigrants flow across our borders, record national debt and inflation burn away our dollars, and censorship worsens.
This year also included Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, so add the threat of nuclear war to that list of the new awful.
The good news from this year is brief but heartening: Covid-19 seems mostly behind us, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter and is exposing the Big Tech censorship so damaging to our democracy.
Abortion Ruling Brings Uglier Rhetoric — and Violence
Almost 50 years after the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, the ruling was overturned by Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
In an unprecedented series of events, the court’s decision was leaked to the press, demonstrators protested outside justices’ homes, and an armed man was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s residence and charged with attempted murder. Pro-abortion zealots attacked dozens of life-saving pregnancy centers and churches. The FBI arrested a pro-life activist at his home.
Extreme Partisanship
The abortion issue exemplified today’s partisanship, but President Joe Biden used his office to further divide our nation, disparaging a huge number of Americans when he said in September: “The Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans, and that is a threat to this country.”
This was following up on earlier comments that Trump’s philosophy is “semi-fascist.”
Biden Losing Command on World Stage
Biden also warned of “Armageddon.” On major international flashpoints, his administration walked back many of his panic-inducing comments. He said the U.S. would defend Taiwan should China invade, and that NATO would respond “in kind” to any Russian use of weapons of mass destruction against Ukraine. His handlers also walked back comments regarding sending U.S. troops to Ukraine and saying Putin “cannot remain.”
But when Biden tried to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin for inflation too (we knew more than a year ago, before Russia’s invasion, that inflation was at a 40-year high), the White House didn’t walk that back. On the issue of the year that arguably affects Americans more than any other, their loss of income due to inflation, Biden repeatedly blamed Putin. If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth.
Dissent Blocked by Big Tech
While Musk’s takeover of Twitter has revealed Big Tech’s suppression of free speech, many other events in 2022 highlighted ongoing threats to our First Amendment rights.
In February, podcaster Joe Rogan almost got canceled for using the “n-word” but also because he discusses ideas that corporate media consider untouchable, such as doubting Covid-19 vaccine efficacy. Since Rogan is not a conservative, a designation that makes people more subject to such cancellation, he brought national attention to how the left won’t tolerate dissent. In a compromise, Spotify deleted many of his past episodes.
The next month brought a major crackdown by Big Tech: Social media companies banned so-called “misgendering,” or accurately referring to people by their sex. Fox News’s Tucker Carlson, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk, The Federalist’s John Daniel Davidson, satire site The Babylon Bee, and others were blocked from Twitter.
That same month, YouTube removed a video of speeches by former President Trump and a U.S. senator at a major conservative conference, CPAC. YouTube representatives said the content violated their policy on misinformation regarding election integrity. Ironically, a topic of the conference was Big Tech censorship.
Information War Heats Up
Also in March, more than a year after Big Tech blocked the New York Post for publishing news of a laptop that detailed President Biden’s son Hunter’s cashing in on the family name with foreign business deals, The New York Times finally admitted the laptop was real and not Russian disinformation.
Then in May, the Biden administration launched a “Disinformation Governance Board” as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Following criticism, it was shut down.
However, DHS and the FBI continue monitoring social media for speech they consider dangerous and pressuring tech platforms to censor viewpoints that contradict the official narrative. Musk’s recently released “Twitter Files” have proven the government collaborated with tech giants to suppress free speech by censoring disfavored news stories and speakers, including using fabrications to block Trump’s account and coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop (Twitter said Trump violated its policy of inciting violence and the laptop went against its policy on publishing hacked materials, but staff acknowledged in internal deliberations that these were just excuses to do what they wanted).
Some Resist LGBT Ideology
Along with Big Tech’s “misgendering” ban, this year saw the Biden administration push its radical leftist ideology even further.
It kicked off the year pushing for more insurers to cover transgender surgeries. It announced it would take lunches away from poor kids if schools did not accept the transgender agenda. Men were put in women’s prisons, and law enforcement was purged of those who disagree with radical trans ideology.
Disney was found to be “queering” its movies and shows, and parents started to push back. States passed legislation to keep sexual education from being taught too young or advocating transgender ideology, banning schools from keeping children’s sexual confusion from parents.
Some states passed laws to protect female athletes after transgender-identifying male Lia Thomas defeated female college swimmers.
Other Firsts in 2022
In other firsts, Ketanji Brown Jackson was confirmed as the first female, black Supreme Court justice. Showing how much transgender issues have come to dominate our debate, she was also the first Supreme Court nominee to be asked to define what a woman is.
Another unprecedented event that occurred in 2022 was the FBI searching Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago. The Department of Justice is once again targeting a political enemy in what will likely become a lengthy, drawn-out investigation.
Ending the year in a fitting tone, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested for allegedly defrauding investors of millions of dollars. He was the second-largest individual donor to the Democrat Party during the 2022 midterm election cycle, giving away about $40 million. FTX executive Ryan Salame gave about $20 million, mostly to Republicans.
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely 2023 will see Big Tech ending censorship, Biden finding his footing, or transgender radicalism fading away.
With the November elections behind us, we may feel incapable of changing any of these things, but sharing the truth is our greatest power — when Big Tech allows it.