Tuesday, November 29, 2022

'Prep-Fire' for the 118th Congress


The Republican Party, such as it is, will run the U.S. House of Representatives until, at least, 2024. Since the GOP is a "coalition" of disparate "hearts and minds," we proffer advice on how the 118th Congress can hit the ground running on Jan. 3, 2023. Despite "lib-Dem," "progressive" and RINO advice to the contrary, here are more proposals for what Republicans should do right now so they can act immediately after being sworn in

First, by tradition, the oath of office should end -- as did mine as a U.S. Marine -- with the words "so help me God." We need His grace and protection.

Second, unify our leaders and members in House committees crucial to protecting us all from the disastrous consequences of two years of Biden blunders -- domestic and international. As former CIA Director and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo recently tweeted, "We need more seriousness, less noise, and leaders who are looking forward, not staring in the rearview mirror claiming victimhood."

Third, "Be Prepared" -- the Boy Scout motto -- to investigate everything the Biden administration has done or failed to do and thereby damaged U.S. national security, jeopardized our economy and abridged our rights and liberties. Herewith, our immediate top priority: national security. 

Modernizing congressional committee structure must wait until after the 2024 elections. The new House leadership should however create a "National Security Task Force" with the mission of proposing measures to protect our homeland and countrymen.

Stopping the invasion across our southern border must be a national security priority. The self-inflicted tidal wave of millions illegally entering the U.S. is both a major security threat and a humanitarian disaster.

By Jan. 3, legislation to close and secure our borders, evict those here illegally and make merit-based legal immigration easier should be drafted.

Protecting our homeland requires our military to be able to deter war and, if we must fight, win as fast as possible and at the lowest cost. The civilian and military leadership at the Pentagon, State Department and White House must be held accountable for the Afghanistan catastrophe.

The new Congress must insist on coherence in our foreign policy. Totalitarian regimes in China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea proclaim we are their adversary. All either have or are developing nuclear weapons. Others, like Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Yemen and Afghanistan pose lesser threats to our security, but the Biden administration has adopted inconsistent, often incomprehensible policies that increase risk.

The Biden White House and State Department have offered to lift sanctions on Iran and Venezuela if they increase the flow of petroleum and natural gas. Congress should make clear such activity will not be funded.

On the other hand, Congress has provided billions of our tax dollars to help Ukraine repel Vladimir Putin's invasion of their country. Though Russian missiles rain down daily on brave Ukrainian civilians, Biden refuses to provide the kind of weaponry for Ukraine to win.

Congress should ensure Ukraine gets what's needed and act to replenish our rapidly depleting stocks of high-performance weaponry and strategic petroleum reserves. Direct the Department of Defense to stop indoctrinating U.S. troops on critical race theory and offering "gender transition" medical treatment. In short, if it isn't necessary for military readiness, don't do it.

As for Communist China, the new Congress should immediately use its "power of the purse" to avoid giving Xi Jinping any further means of crushing the anti-regime protests now erupting across China. Stop our federal government from buying "made in China" windmills and solar panels. And to show him we mean it, return the U.S. to energy independence by drilling for our own oil and natural gas.




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X22, And we Know, and more- Nov 29

 



There is nothing more irritating then coughing over, and over, and over again, when you just want to sleep, and you have zero idea of what position to sleep in that keeps you from coughing.

Here's tonight's news:


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Trump Exhaustion Syndrome


There are few people more annoying than self-professed “true conservatives” infected with a full-blown case of TDS – Trump Derangement Syndrome. These people, usually associated with the Bulwark or Dispatch, insist their way is the only way and anything former President Donald Trump did, even if they’d personally advocated for it their whole adult lives, doesn’t matter because the deliverer of their victories is imperfect. It truly is a disorder. But there’s another disorder Donald Trump needs to be aware of and address if he’s going to have any chance of winning either the Republican nomination in 2024 or the presidency again: Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.

I grew up in a UAW house in Michigan. Most friends of my parents and the parents of the kids I grew up with were either UAW members or in some other union – IBEW, Teamsters, etc. I still talk to a lot of them, and almost all of them have, to one degree or another, expressed a desire to take a break from Donald Trump. 

It’s unclear if they’re done with The Donald, but they all express varying degrees of “We can’t miss him if he never goes away.” 

There’s a lot of truth to that. Think what you will of the 2020 election and how we got to the results, but there is no doubt that some people simply had enough of Trump. A lot of people voted against Trump even though the liked the results he’d gotten as President, even though they knew Joe Biden would be bad at the job. Donald Trump needs to address that if he wants a chance of winning in 2024.

One way Trump could win back a big chunk of these voters is demonstrating he’s learned from the past and grown more serious as a leader. In 2016, Donald Trump was an outsider, a businessman running for office. He’s not that anymore. Like it or not, he’s a politician – you don’t get to be President of the United States and NOT be a politician, that’s just part of the deal. 

Not only is Trump a politician, President is the ultimate insider. Granted, he was screwed over a lot by his staff, but he hired those people. That is another important thing Trump needs to demonstrate he’s learned from. He doesn’t need to pledge that he’ll not hire someone because he likes their appearances on Fox, but he should not hire anyone for that reason. Too much of his administration, and a huge percentage of the people he ended up firing, came to their jobs because they had a good appearance on cable news. That has to end.

Knowing now who is advising Trump would go a long way toward making people comfortable that the mistakes of the past won’t happen again. It’s not just the public feuds with fired staff people were sick of, it was the leaking from untrustworthy hires. If after 4 years in office and all the learning that must have occurred, Trump can’t tell us who the trustworthy people he’d populate his administration with are, that’s an issue.

I bring this up because of the news that Trump invited the unstable Kanye West to have dinner with him at Mar-A-Lago last week. Why? There’s no good reason for it. They are “friends” like you are friends with the neighbor you waive to down the block – you’re friendly but would never invite the other over to watch a game. 

Trump and West weren’t running buddies or regular meal companions, West just said nice things about Trump and that was enough. Trump likes having his ego stroked. As a former President who wants to return to that office, he needs someone around him to makes it clear that that is not enough for a dinner invite. Trump needs to demonstrate that he’s grown as a person, that he’s not the same narcissist leftists accuse him of being. 

He also needs someone to keep the Kanye West show away. West bringing 2 self-promoting morons (you can decide for yourself if they’re anti-Semites or not, but I wouldn’t hang out with them and question any candidate who would) to dinner is one thing, having a staff that allows them in is another. And all the “I didn’t know who they were” excuses in the world don’t fly anymore; you’re a former President, not some naive rube who just fell off a turnip truck. 

This is the latest and just another reason why so many people who absolutely loved the Trump presidency aren’t excited at the prospect of another term. They’re tired of all the BS that comes along with it. People hate $3.50 gas and high inflation, but they can get used to it. Democrats won the House and Senate in the 1978 midterms even with Jimmy Carter in the White House. No matter how bad he got, Democrats kept the House in 1980 even as Reagan crushed Jimmy. 

People will still vote for bad candidates over good ones, vote against their own interest, if you don’t give them something to vote for. This last election showed that to be true. 

If Donald Trump wants a chance of recapturing what he pulled off in 2016 he has to do it differently in 2024 because 2024 is different. He’s a former President, for one thing. He needs to start acting like it, at least a little. The people he needs the votes from to win are sick of the same old act, sick of the drama and the ego. They need to see something more from him or they will look elsewhere for it. They’re simply exhausted with the Trump Show of the past. 




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Republican Thomas Massie Gives Voters Excellent Example of How and Why the Overton Window Moves


In a series of tweets today, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie provides an excellent example of why and how government always grows.

The Overton Window is basically a catchphrase to explain a narrow spectrum of acceptable government policies at any given moment. As the nation evolves the window of what would be considered currently “acceptable’ moves.  In the example of the government continue to grow, the Overton Window constantly shifts toward leftist totalitarian objectives, bigger government.

The movement happens slowly – over time – but is never reversed.  Regardless of who controls power, the big government Overton Window always goes one way, one nudge at a time in one direction, toward bigger government.  People often ask, why does this continue to happen even after Republicans are elected?   Today, Thomas Massie accidentally gives us a perfect example of how and why.

When Democrats are in power, they do everything to maximize their power and minimize the influence of their Republican opposition.  However, when Republicans are in power, they do everything to minimize their power and maximize the power of their Democrat opposition, now in the minority.  Democrats in control, they maximize the Overton Window shift.  When Republicans are in power, they do nothing to pull it back – they actually do everything possible to maintain the shift.  LOOK:

Saul Alinsky wrote the rulebook for radical leftists saying, “force the opposition to play by their own rules.”  A seemingly abhorrent concept when the powered wig crowd of honorable constitutional republicans take control.

Sitting atop the high horse Massie explains how it is a matter of principle that Republicans should not use power.

We are in an abusive relationship with government.

Representatives like Thomas Massie likely have the best intention in mind, but the result is a constant loss of freedom in one direction.

The constitution was written as a document to be affirmed, executed and defended by honorable people.  The progressive movement uses the morality within the affirmation as a weapon.

In a similar way a kidnapper tells one of two victims, they will harm the other if they try to flee, radical leftists slowly kill us by manipulating our love of country and constitution.

We should no longer accept the baseline premise; instead, we should change the dynamic by killing the kidnapper.

Get off the high horse and fight Mr Massie.

There comes a time to ‘Fix Bayonets’!

Fight dirty.

Fight ruthlessly.

Fight to survive.

Fight like the third monkey on the ramp to Noah’s ark.

Fight to win.

Give your grandchildren the opportunity to remount the high horse and wax philosophically about the value of the constitution.

Then again, all of that only applies if you really believe the message…

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The Right's Achilles Heel in the Culture War Is One Weakness the Left Doesn't Have


posted by Brandon Morse at RedState 

Years ago, I was sitting in the makeup room of a widely known conservative media outlet. I was a constant on a show there to the point where I was effectively a given part of it. Being young and hungry, I spent quite a bit of time driving back and forth from home to the studio every night to get my face in front of the cameras and was doing so for free. As grateful as I was for the chance at the spotlight, time and effort cost resources, and eventually I got to the point where I needed a paycheck. Moreover, I thought I’d earned one.

Naturally, I began asking for compensation for my time as any capitalist conservative would and should. It was around that time that the show’s producer walked into the makeup room and I asked about where we were at on setting me up with payment.

“You’re getting paid in publicity,” he said to me.

I can remember feeling my stomach give out from under me. I knew I couldn’t keep putting so much time and effort into the show without payment, and soon I’d have to walk away. I loved doing the show, the people who worked on it, and the adventures we’d go on, so this was a heartbreaking prospect. Eventually, I would and a valuable lesson was learned that I’d never forget.

It was my mom that drove the lesson home when she asked me: “Is the producer getting paid in publicity?”

He wasn’t, nor were most of the people around me. I felt foolish for committing so much time and effort to a company that clearly didn’t appreciate it enough. I became bitter and a bit disenchanted, but I’d never make that mistake again and, to this day, I haven’t. I would consider myself one of the lucky ones, however. I was picked up by RedState and Townhall Media recognized my penchant for creativity and they have given me what’s necessary to keep me creating for them.

Others aren’t so lucky. Not every creative gets paid to create, and sadly, many conservative creators find themselves facing the same problem I did. Conservative media organizations naturally want the best work and unwavering commitment, but they want to pay them less money than a Chinese sweatshop while dangling the promise of publicity and exposure over their heads. The issue, as many creatives know or soon learn, is that you can die of exposure.

It’s here that we see one of the biggest mistakes conservatives make, and one the left typically doesn’t. Leftist organizations spend a lot of time and money seeking the best creative talent and making it worth their while to stick around and keep creating more, whether it be the acting talent or the dude who writes algorithms. They all lend to the creation of narratives that aren’t just interesting, but also have a long shelf life.

To be sure, the “creative” types on the left have begun losing their creative edge as they lean more and more into messaging than actual storytelling, but that’s beside the point. At any moment, the left could recognize their mistake and they’d still have an infrastructure ready to get back on track and begin winning hearts and minds again.

Meanwhile, conservatives are staying in their lane. They think getting behind a microphone and maybe a camera and talking for an hour will change the course of history. To be sure, there are a few out there that will and are pretty successful, but not everyone is a Steven Crowder or a Ben Shapiro. The “talk about your ideas” market is so oversaturated on the conservative side that it’s a dime for three dozen podcasts, most of which are saying what someone like Mark Levin said already.

But what other choice do many of these people have? Most conservative organizations aren’t ready or willing to veer out of their rut and invest in real creativity. They don’t want to take a chance at a new approach. They want to fund more of what’s safe. It’s understandable as to why, but in doing so they lose out on what could be some really great opportunities to do what the primary goal should be in the first place; win hearts and minds.

The conservative movement is full of talent with great ideas but can’t find an organization willing to invest in them. Their out-of-the-box thinking that could have really shifted the balance in the culture war dies and stagnates as they are either ignored or worse, told to work for little to no pay and the promise of “publicity.” They become embittered, disillusioned, and unwilling to further contribute, or they’re courted by leftist organizations where their talents are utilized and they slowly drift away from their initial beliefs under the natural pressure of their peers.

This shouldn’t be an issue, yet it is. Conservative organizations should be far more business savvy given their capitalist leanings, and yet they fail to grasp that creating a supply leads to more demand. If you supply your audience with creativity, entertainment, and innovation, this will create a demand for more content and people willing to fork over cash for it. This will also attract talent that can bolster any further ventures.

All you have to do is pay the creatives currently doing the heavy lifting and use what you have left after bills to attract more talent.

How is it that the left knows how to utilize this for its own narrative creation purposes and the right largely doesn’t?

I’m loath to use the word “cowardice,” but I can’t find a better one. Conservatives with money (and I use the term “most” here knowing there are exceptions) are too scared to try something wholly out of the box for fear that their money won’t return and the venture will crash and burn. They’re probably right, but that’s not because of a lack of creative talent, it’s a lack of infrastructure and demand. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a conservative media that weighs its creativity with its good ideas.

Invest in creativity. Give recognition to artists. Focus on telling good stories. Make a supply. Generate demand. Win people. Secure the future.




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When Journalists Become Speech Police

Too many in the media now seek to neuter 
free expression in the name of saving it.


Call it Cooke’s First Law: Whatever the story, however complex its details, members of the American press will react by announcing who must be forbidden to speak going forward.

That is what too many journalists are now — not firefighters, not mediators, not conveyors of vital information, but zealous obscurantists staffing would-be censorship agencies. In comes the news, and, within minutes, out comes the latest justification for shutting everyone up. A mentally ill homeless man attacks Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer? That’s the Republican Party’s fault for running political ads against Pelosi — and it must stop. A disturbed man shoots up a gay club in Colorado Springs, Colo.? That’s the fault of Americans who object to drag shows for kindergartners — and they must be quiet. Elon Musk plans to moderate Twitter with a lighter hand? That will cause “havoc” and put lives at risk — and it must be prevented at all costs.

C. S. Lewis once observed that “it would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies.” So it is here. Yesterday’s bowdlerizers were at least open about the enterprise in which they were engaged. Today’s, by contrast, are pathologically determined to euphemize it. Because they are vaguely aware that there is something untoward about members of the press playing whack-a-mole with the national conversation, their rules come couched in the language of necessity. Once upon a time, everything was speech. Now, there is “speech” as classified and approved by media sentinels, and then there is “disinformation,” “hatred,” and even “stochastic terrorism.” One might sum the caprice with which free expression is now treated with one of those “irregular verbs” from Yes, Minister: “I report, you harass, he should go to jail for incitement.”

Worse still is the grotesque tendency for members of the press to cast their transparently self-serving determinations as raw scientific truths. It’s not the opinion of NBC, Axios, or the Washington Post that Twitter would be better left as is; it’s a fact — as determined by the “experts.” That these “experts” have been repeatedly proven to be full of it — remember when the entirely legitimate Hunter Biden laptop story was “a Russian disinformation campaign,”and therefore needed to be suppressed just before the election? — seems not to matter. Nor, indeed, does it seem to matter that a great many of our arbiters of truth are rank hypocrites and contemptible lunatics. The temptation to cast one’s preferences as fact is a remarkably strong one, and, for now at least, many modern journalists seem entirely incapable of resisting it.

How else might one explain the contemporary New York Times, which has gotten into the infuriating habit of simultaneously contributing to, and complaining about, America’s “speech problem”? Earlier this year, the Times’ editorial board complained that “Americans are losing hold of a fundamental right as citizens of a free country: the right to speak their minds and voice their opinions in public without fear of being shamed or shunned.” This development, the editors concluded, was the inevitable product of “the political left and the right” being “caught in a destructive loop of condemnation and recrimination around cancel culture.”

Which . . . well, would that, by any chance, be the “condemnation and recrimination” of which the Times is routinely guilty itself? Last week, the Times’ Michelle Goldberg conceded at the outset of her piece on the shooting at Club Q in Colorado Springs that “the police are still investigating the motive.” And then, having duly covered her ass with that caveat, she proceeded merrily along as if there were no need to wait for the facts of the case to be determined. Throwing caution to the wind, Goldberg proposed that because “we know that the suspect is facing hate crime charges, and that the attack took place in a climate of escalating anti-gay and anti-trans violence and threats of violence,” she could write the column she’d wanted to write all along. Among the causes of the “entirely predictable” massacre, Goldberg insisted, were “the right,” Chris Rufo, Florida legislators, “Gov. Ron DeSantis’s press secretary,” “QAnon,” “Republicans and Republican-aligned groups,” the “Proud Boys and other demonstrators,” “Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert,” “The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh,” and “Ben Shapiro.” These people, groups, and phenomena, Goldberg concluded, “don’t get to duck responsibility if a sick man with a gun took them seriously.”

That “if” is pretty important, though, isn’t it? In the Times’ op-ed on free speech, the editors complained that “many Americans are understandably confused, then, about what they can say and where they can say it.” And so they are! Which, in no small part, is because writers at outlets such as the Times feel entirely comfortable constructing lists of people who are presumptively to blame for crimes that do not, at the point at which those lists are constructed, even have a clearly established motive. If the editorial board of the Times really is as concerned about free expression as it insists it is, it will take the log out of its own eye and stop playing this game, for what Michelle Goldberg did last week was by no means an anomaly. In 2011, the Times repeatedly blamed Sarah Palin for the shooting of Gabby Giffords, only to discover later on that there was no connection between the two at all. In 2016, the Times pulled the same trick with the shooting at Pulse­ — among the attack’s contributing “factors,” the editorial board contended, was “a vicious and virulent homophobia” — only to learn that the killer had chosen the venue at random. The most recent editorial that the board has published — literally, the last thing it has said at the time I’m writing this — is that the 2022 “campaign season was marked by numerous incidents in which many Republicans used speech that has been linked to violence.” Linked, one must ask, by whom?

This is a pernicious practice. Now, as ever, America plays host to enough firebrand public speakers and enough unhinged criminal actors that it will always be possible for cynics to draw weak lines between the two. The most clear-cut connection between heated rhetoric and violent action in recent years was between the Democratic Party’s anti-Republican rhetoric and the attempted massacre of Republican lawmakers at a baseball field in Virginia. And do you know what that incident taught us? What it suggested about the Democratic Party? What it demanded of our political culture?

Nothing, that’s what. What happened in that case was the fault of the gunman, and the gunman alone. The United States is an enormous, diverse, rambunctious country, with a constitutional order that allows for vibrant civic debate, and to demand that the participants in that debate silence themselves because, somewhere out there, a madman may lie in wait, is to neuter free expression in the name of saving it. Once upon a time, American journalists understood that. Today, too many of them stand in line with the rest of the cynics and the poltroons, warning that it’s a bad idea to pick a fight with a man who buys red ink by the barrel.




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Biden Still Hasn’t ‘Shut Down’ Covid So Face Masks Are Again ‘Strongly Recommended’ In Democrat-Run Los Angeles



While the media pretend to be angry at yet another round of “zero-Covid” torture lockdowns in China, Democrat-run Los Angeles is separately creeping toward one more set of face mask mandates as the rate of infection there has spiked 50 percent in recent weeks.

On Nov. 26, L.A. County was averaging 2,100 new cases per day. That’s up from the daily average of 826 new cases just over a month prior.

Is anyone going to ask why, two years into his presidency, Joe Biden has yet to “shut down” the virus? Admittedly, two months ago he did declare that the Covid-19 pandemic “is over.” But then, after having caught the virus like eight times, he got his fifth Covid shot and then requested another $10 billion in Covid welfare from Congress. So, if you’re confused as to what the official line on the pandemic is from our elected leaders, don’t be. There isn’t one!

L.A.’s health department announced earlier this month that in addition to face covers still being required in health provider settings, like hospitals, they are now “strongly recommended” in all public indoor spaces. Recall that in addition to being run by liberal race tribalists, the Los Angeles government is led almost exclusively by Democrats, with Mayor Eric Garcetti at the top. In other words, the people who are the loudest in professing their allegiance to The Science™️.

What is the City of “Experts” doing wrong? They must not be social distancing. They must not be abstaining from non-essential travel. Aren’t they avoiding large indoor gatherings? And why doesn’t Biden care?

It’s worth noting that L.A.’s new “strongly recommended” mask wearing comes on Day 676 of the president’s corny “100 Days Masking Challenge,” a proclamation he signed the day after his inauguration. Since that time, the U.S. saw a rate of infection that more than tripled the peak of what it saw under Donald Trump. And right now there is once again an increase in the rate of Covid-related hospitalizations, I.C.U referrals, and deaths.

I know that we’ve been a little preoccupied with sending blank checks to Ukraine in order to make their shyster president look like a hero, but at what point is anyone of authority going to notice that Biden, and in fact, the entire Democrat Party, lied about their ability to stop a highly contagious airborne virus?

You would think they owe us an apology for that, though of course they knew it was a lie and didn’t care that eventually everyone would find out.




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Mike Lindell Is Running for RNC Chair Position, Discusses Decision with Steve Bannon


CEO businessman Mike Lindell announced yesterday he is running for the position of Republican National Committee Chairman, a challenge to current RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel who has stated her intention to run for reelection to the position.

Several current RNC members have announced their continued support for Mrs. McDaniel, including former RNC Chair Reince Priebus.  However, former Congressman Lee Zeldin has also stated his interest in running for the position.

Mike Lindell explains to Steve Bannon his intent and purpose for entering the very important race.  {Direct Rumble Link} WATCH:


The election for the two-year RNC Chair will take place at the RNC winter meeting in California late January.

The winter meeting of the RNC is taking place January 25-27th, in Dana Point California at the Waldorf Astoria – Monarch Beach Resort.  There are 168 members who will be in attendance (3 from every state) along with various RNC and national Republican leadership.

In addition to the RNC chair election, this RNC corporate meeting and the votes by the members, will determine the Republican Club rules for the 2024 election cycle.  Rules on primary dates, sequence, apportionment of delegates, distribution of delegates, state sequencing, qualifications and much more.

The billionaire donor class and corporations who currently operate the financial mechanisms of the RNC have already expressed their intent moving forward is to remove the populist movement and realign the RNC with corporate objectives.  This chairmanship election is going to be pivotal for the future of the party.



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A Tesla Smartphone Is Not an Idle Threat


Robert A. Hahn reporting for RedState 

In what I suspect is a spate of misinformed zealotry, Apple has threatened to remove the Twitter app from its App Store. At least, according to Twitter CEO Elon Musk.

This is all part of the effort by left-wing zealots to “punish” Twitter for proposing to end censorship based on political leanings. Mr. Musk said that, if pressed, he would launch his own line of phones in response. Should Apple CEO Tim Cook take such a threat seriously, or can he laugh it off?

I think he’d best take it very seriously.

In Tesla, Elon Musk has the only ‘tech’ brand name that comes close to Apple in terms of panache. A Tesla Phone actually has a chance of becoming The Next Big Thing. More worrisome for Apple, Tesla could realistically blossom into a complete lifestyle brand with phones, tablets, home security… all the toys. And Musk already has the car, something Apple has been tinkering with in a “skunk works” for years.

Also in Tesla, Musk has what everyone agrees is the best battery technology in the world, bar none, in terms of cost, capacity, and lifespan. This is an important consideration when buying a phone. Many people who are perfectly happy with their smartphones otherwise would switch brands tomorrow if they could get one that would go all day without a charge. A smartphone with noticeably superior battery technology would immediately become a formidable competitor in the segment.

Musk also has Something Interesting that only he has, in the form of a nearly-completed worldwide network of communications satellites in low Earth orbit. This may or may not be applicable to smartphones; I am not privy to the “feeds and speeds” of Starlink. At a minimum, he has a way to offer “no dead zones… anywhere” that would be unique in the industry.

At this point, smartphones — especially Android smartphones — are a commodity. The infrastructure and supply chain to build them are everywhere and cheap. There are no technological challenges. It’s just a matter of having the resources to get started and tolerate the bleeding during the start-up losses. This Musk has.

Android is Open Source technology. Anyone can take it and make anything they want out of it. Amazon designed a unique user interface for its phones. Several Chinese companies have also done that. Turn Tesla’s interior designers loose on a smartphone interface, and they might come up with something just stunning.

Tim Cook should pause before thinking he has the upper hand here. He might not.




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Twitter CEO Elon Musk Says He Will Publicly Reveal Twitter’s “Files on Free Speech,” and Implies Coordination with Government


CTH has not visited the various Twitter stories recently, quite frankly because we are ambivalent to them.  It just seems illogical for Elon Musk to have purchased Twitter without any idea of what was happening inside Jack’s Magic Coffee Shop, the public-private partnership that structures the operations of the social media company known as Twitter.

That said, some interesting developments recently as media rail against the platform and organized ultra-leftist groups demand advertising boycotts.  Apparently, Apple and Android are threatening to remove the Twitter App and Mr. Musk is doubling down on exposing the matrix of how the U.S. government was working with Twitter toward controlling speech that was against their interests.

This tweet about releasing internal “files” on “speech suppression” follow on the heels of Mr. Musk noting that government involvement in the blocking of speech is very troubling.

It’s not a secret that FBI and U.S. Dept of Homeland Security offices were in partnership with Twitter. Much has been written about how DHS collaborated with the platform on the definitions and removals of material adverse to their interests.

When Musk uses the word “files” he is probably referencing a set of guidelines from the U.S. government to Twitter for content enforcement.

We see a lot of shocked faces around this as if people are only just discovering the issue.  The general ‘surprise‘ seems rather weird.

It is worth remembering when Twitter became a tool of the U.S. government.  It was back during the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’, specifically the events in Egypt, when members from the Obama administration first solicited Jack Dorsey (Twitter) and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) for help.

The U.S. State Dept goal was to use these social media platforms as a way for citizens in Egypt and Libya to organize when the government was trying to put down protests.  President Obama wanted to assist the Muslim Brotherhood achieve the goal of removing Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Khaddaffi respectively.

Twitter and Facebook were instrumental in the organization of the protests which were then compromised by the more extreme political elements of political Islam from within the organization of the Muslim Brotherhood.  The relationship between the government and social media grew from there.

While the middle east uprisings were essentially the Beta test, everything in the relationship between govt and those companies evolved toward domestic use in the Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri.

Twitter and Facebook began promoting the “Hands Up Don’t Shoot” nonsense that was created for national media consumption by the Black Lives Matter group.  … and from that moment the public-private partnership was off to the races.

Fast forward a decade, and yes, now DHS is focused on domestic extremism as the greatest public threat.  Again, controlling speech that runs counter to the interest of government is part of a continuum of the same relationship.

It will be interesting to see what’s in the files.

 



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