If anyone had told me a couple of years ago that I'd be singing the praises of Matt Taibbi, I'd have told them they were high. I wasn't particularly familiar with Taibbi — just knew he'd been a writer for Rolling Stone and had written some things I found obnoxious. I also knew our politics were miles apart.
And then the Twitter Files happened. When Taibbi first broke the Twitter Files story in December of 2022, I started paying closer attention to him. Because differ though our views might, I recognized he was someone who, like me, firmly believes in the freedom of speech, and he seemed willing to stick his neck out in defense of it at a time when many seemed cowed. I began listening to his "America This Week" podcast, and it soon became part of my regular Saturday morning routine.
Over time, I've found myself agreeing with Taibbi and his co-host Walter Kirn more often than not. We may not share the exact same politics, but we share a whole lot of the same values. I've also come to appreciate Taibbi's earnest belief in America's foundational principles and his almost endearing disbelief at the current state of his chosen profession.
On Sunday, Taibbi was one of numerous featured speakers at a "Rescue the Republic" event held in Washington, D.C. Other speakers included Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson, Tulsi Gabbard, Robert Malone, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Russell Brand, Lara Logan, the aforementioned Walter Kirn, and many others.
I expected I'd enjoy Taibbi's speech. I didn't expect to love it. But I did. I absolutely, unabashedly did.
I'm only going to provide a brief excerpt of it here, but I highly encourage you to watch it in its entirety. (The video below is cued up to the beginning of Taibbi's speech. Fair warning: There's some salty language toward the end.) And if you'd like to read the full transcript, it's available on his Substack. (It may require a subscription — I have one. I find it worth it. UPDATE: He's removed the paywall.)
Because “freedom of speech” is now frequently described as a stalking horse for hate and discrimination — the UN High Commissioner Volker Türk scolded Elon Musk that “free speech is not a free pass” — it’s becoming one of those soon-to-be-extinct terms. Speech is mentioned in “reputable” media only as a possible vector for the informational disease known as misinformation.
The end game is not controlling speech. They’re already doing that. The endgame is getting us to forget we ever had anything to say.
...
After that I realized every American has a little bit of a**hole in him. William Blake said, “Always be ready to speak your mind and a base man will avoid you.” Some struggle with this concept. Americans are born knowing it.
Incidentally propaganda is the same trick I saw in that restaurant. It’s always someone trying to make you feel bad for their weakness, their mistakes. Don’t be ground down by it. Stand up straight and give it back.
Which is why I say: Kerry, Hayden, Cheney, Adam Schiff, Craig Newmark, Reid Hoffman, Pierre Omidyar, Leon Panetta, and especially that Time editor turned self-appointed censor Rick Stengel should be packed in a rocket and launched into the f***ing sun.
Let's be clear about our language. Madison famously eschewed the word toleration or tolerance when it came to religion and insisted on the words freedom or liberty instead. This became the basis for the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which in turn became the basis for the Bill of Rights. That's why we don't have “toleration of religion” or “toleration of speech.” We have freedom of speech. The right word for the right time.
To the people who are suggesting that there are voices who should be ignored because they're encouraging mistrust or skepticism of authority, or obstructing consensus: I'm not encouraging you to be skeptical of authority. I'm encouraging you to DEFY authority. That is the right word for the this time.
To all those Snoops and Nosey Parkers sitting in their Homeland Security-funded “Centers of Excellence,” telling us day after day we must think as they say and vote as they say or else we’re traitorous Putin-loving fascists and enablers of “dangerous” disinformation:
Motherf***er, I’m an American. That s**t does not work on me. And how can you impugn my patriotism, when you’re sitting in Klaus Schwab’s lap, apologizing for the First Amendment to a crowd of Europeans? Look in the mirror.
I’m not the problem. We’re not the problem.
You’re the problem.
YOU SUCK.
Thank you.
In this speech, Taibbi hit all the right notes, with a nod to our history, the history of free speech, the Gospel of John and the power of words — and the Word. He captured the spirit of what it means to be quintessentially Americen — to be free.