By Ron Paul
Protecting democracy and the Constitution from Donald Trump and the “MAGA extremists” is a major theme of President Biden’s reelection campaign. As is often the case in American politics, President Biden is just as, if not more, guilty of posing an “existential threat” to the Constitution as those he smears as “extremists.” For example, President Biden and members of his administration have waged a campaign to undermine the First Amendment by “encouraging” companies to suppress the expression of “unapproved” views online. The latest example of the administration trying to get a private internet company to censor Americans may be the most outrageous of all. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan recently released a series of emails between Biden administration officials and Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer. The government officials wanted Amazon to remove from its online catalog books containing “misinformation” regarding the safety and effectiveness of covid vaccines, meaning anything questioning the government’s pro-vaccine propaganda. While Amazon did try to push back some against the administration, it did remove at least one “anti-vaccine” book from its online catalog. Amazon also manipulated its search results to make sure books expressing skepticism of vaccines were buried under books touting the pro-vaccine line. The company probably hoped that by “burying” these “dissident” books Amazon could make the administration happy without actually removing all books that question the covid vaccines. The company also promised the administration that it would expand use of a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warning for books promoting “anti-vaccine” narratives. Some libertarians say that Amazon should not be criticized for its decisions. These libertarians point out that, as a private company, Amazon has the right to decide what books to sell and also has the right to decide to make it difficult to find books expressing viewpoints the company finds dangerous or distasteful. This is true but ignores one important fact: Amazon’s decision to suppress books critical of covid vaccines was not done to attract consumers who would not shop at a site that sells “anti-vaccine propaganda” or “conspiracy theories.” Instead, Amazon acted at the behest of government officials who were seeking to prohibit Americans from accessing alternative views. Amazon may have been eager to cooperate with the government to avoid being subjected to antitrust litigation. At the very time the administration was demanding Amazon suppress covid dissidents, President Biden was preparing to appoint Lina Khan, an advocate for antitrust litigation against Amazon, to lead the Federal Trade Commission. It is clear that the US government has been a major spreader of covid disinformation, while those challenging the government’s pro-mask, pro-vax, and pro-lockdown propaganda have been the truth-tellers. Covid is an example of why protecting the First Amendment is vital to protecting not just liberty, but also our prosperity and health. Congress should prioritize its investigation into the Biden administration’s efforts to silence Americans because of their views. Congress should then impeach all high-level federal officials, including President Biden, who took action to violate Americans’ First Amendment rights.
Remember The "CARES" Act? That was when the federal government spent trillions (that it didn't have) to hand out for the lockdowns (that should never have happened). When the Fed prints trillions of dollars, prices skyrocket. When prices skyrocket, shoplifting increases as well. We get rising crime and a lower standard of living because the government "CARES"? The federal government and Federal Reserve create problems and then compound them! Limited government and sound money can get us out of this predicament.
An overwhelming majority in the Australian parliament has voted to request that charges against Julian Assange be dropped and that he be allowed to return to his native country. The UK high court will hold hearings next week on whether Assange can continue to argue his case against extradition to the US, where he faces 175 years in prison. Also today: the pro-war faction of Congress is maneuvering to get the military aid supplemental to the floor. Finally, House Intel Committee Chairman rolls out very suspicious "national security warning" regarding Russia.
A new bombshell report by Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger shows that the Obama Administration intelligence agencies used their foreign counterparts to spy on the Trump campaign and its personnel. Why? They wanted the dirt on Trump, but it would have been illegal for the CIA to do the spying. Also today: Biden DHS head Mayorkas impeached in the House. Finally: DEI in the sky should make you afraid to fly!
With the collaboration of most Senate Republicans, the US upper body "survived" a valiant filibuster effort by Sen. Rand Paul and others and passed a nearly $100 foreign military aid bill with any mention of the US border removed. Sen. Vance pointed out the several poison pills in the bill that would unconstitutionally bind any new Trump Administration, yet Senate Republicans ignored him. Also today: a panicked Congress seeks to forbid a future President Trump from getting out of NATO.
By Ron Paul
There has been much written and said about Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week. As of this writing the video on Twitter alone has been viewed nearly 200 million times, making it likely the most-viewed news event in history. Many millions of viewers who may not have had access to the other side of the story were informed that the Russia/Ukraine military conflict did not begin in 2022, as the mainstream media continuously reports, but in fact began eight years earlier with a US-backed coup in Ukraine. The US media does not report this because they don’t want Americans to begin questioning our interventionist foreign policy. They don’t want Americans to see that our government meddling in the affairs of other countries – whether by “color revolution,” sanctions, or bombs – has real and deadly consequences to those on the receiving end of our foreign policy. To me, however, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Tucker Carlson interview with Putin was the US mainstream media reaction. As Putin himself said during the interview, “in the world of propaganda, it’s very difficult to defeat the United States.” Even a casual look at the US mainstream media’s reporting before and after the interview would show how correct he is about that. In the days and weeks before the interview, the US media was filled with stories about how horrible it was that Tucker Carlson was interviewing the Russian president. There was the danger, they all said, that Putin might spread “disinformation.” That Putin might say something to put his country in a better light was, they were saying, reason enough to not interview him. With that logic, why have journalism at all? Everyone interviewed by journalists – certainly every world leader – will attempt to paint a rosy picture. The job of a journalist in a free society should be to do the reporting and let the people decide. But somehow that has been lost. These days the mainstream media tells you what to think and you better not dispute it or you will be cancelled! What the US mainstream media was really worried about was that the “other side of the story” might start to ring true with the public. So they attacked the messenger. The CNN reporting on Tucker’s interview pretty much sums up the reaction across the board of the US mainstream media. Their headline read, “Tucker Carlson is in Russia to interview Putin. He’s already doing the bidding of the Kremlin.” By merely doing what used to be called “journalism” – interviewing and reporting on people and events, whether good or bad – one is “doing the bidding” of the subject of the interview or report? No wonder fellow journalist Julian Assange has been locked away in a gulag for so many years. He dared to assume that in a free society, being a journalist means reporting the good, the bad, and the ugly even if it puts those in power in a bad light. In the end, the massive success of the Tucker Carlson interview with Vladimir Putin demonstrates once and for all that the American people are sick to death of their mainstream media propagandists and liars. They are looking not for government narratives, but for truth. That’s the really good news about this interview.
After a terrible week for President Biden, one in which the special prosecutor determined that Biden should not be charged over mishandling of classified documents because he was not mentally fit, a new poll shows the vast majority of Americans think he is just too old for another term. There is something the poll is missing, though... Also today: CDC vs CDC on masks. Finally - Dems panic that Trump might shut down their censorship agency.
When politicians spend money that they don't have ($34 trillion+) the Fed has to counterfeit money into existence. Everyone then has to adapt to the dollar losing value. Companies too have to adapt, by cutting costs and via "shrinkflation" (i.e., charging the same amount for less product). The companies aren't being "greedy." They're just adapting to actual greed -- politicians spending money that they do not have.
Today the US Supreme Court takes up the case of Colorado banning former President Trump from the ballot. Is this a legal case? Political case? Both? What to expect? Also today, surprise: no charges expected in Biden's classified documents case. Finally: "We have troops in Syria? Really?
Showing their disdain for journalism and fear of losing control of the narrative, leading EU politicians are calling for a travel ban on journalist Tucker Carlson over an interview he will release with Russian president Putin. And the interview is not even out yet! Also today: Rare failure of Israel funding bill in the House and McConnell losing control of Senate Republicans.
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