Silencing Trump, Silences Millions

Silencing Trump, Silences Millions

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

January 13, 2021

“A government big enough to give you everything you want, is a government big enough to take away everything you have,” is erroneously oft-attributed to Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson.*

Now, substitute government with big tech, and one can understand the current quagmire the United States has entered. More than understand, the American people should be downright frightened. The far left socialist progressives are using George Orwell’s 1984 as a template and taking it to places Orwell could never have fathomed. 

The far left, which encompasses the so-called mainstream media, the behemoth tech companies, and the incoming Biden administration which includes the already sworn in 117th Congress are marching in lockstep - goose-stepping - past political oppression, past speech suppression, straight to totalitarianism. They are playing a dangerous game and they are playing for keeps, starting with amending all gender specific language to gender neutral language in Congress.

Here’s an example of the insanity before Biden is even sworn in. “(3) In clause 8(c)(3) of rule XXIII, strike ‘father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, grandson, or grand daughter’ and insert ‘parent, child, sibling, parent’s sibling, first cousin, sibling’s child, spouse, parent-in-law, child-in-law, sibling-in-law, stepparent, step child, stepsibling, half-sibling, or grandchild.’” (Wall Street Journal, January 5, 2021) This will only heighten confusion, not decrease it, and is merely the beginning of the insanity. 

President Donald Trump has been unceremoniously stricken from Facebook, Google, Instagram, PayPal, Pintrist, Reddit, Shopify, Snapchat, Spotify, Tik Tok, Twitch, Twitter, and You Tube. What is to prevent any of these companies from cancelling anyone they choose for any reason or no reason? The age in which we live could turn into one reminiscent of Nazi Germany where children were told to spy on their parents and report seditious speech against Hitler to their teachers. Americans could turn their neighbors in to tech companies for spying a Trump bumper sticker on their neighbor’s car, or a Trump sign on their lawn. Those tech companies could just as easily banish any one of us from any of the above or other sites.

And for good measure, Michelle Obama supports the ousting of Trump from his multiple social media accounts and stifling his free speech. “Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior - and go even further then they have already by permanently banning this man from their platforms,” Obama said on January 7.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposes Trump’s banishment from Twitter, saying, “the right of freedom of opinion is of the utmost importance; it’s not big tech’s job to decide what speech should be blocked.” So, the German Chancellor understands the concept of free speech in the United States better than an American First Lady.

These Silicon Valley oligarchs have foisted draconian measures on the president in a way so frightening as if to tell him, “we dictate to you, and you are nobody.” Silicon Valley next set its sights on Parler, a conservative social media site, and in an act of collusion Amazon, Apple, and Google shut Parler down in a matter of hours.

While Parler has been banished from the internet on baseless accusations of being the site used by people planning the invasion at the Capitol on January 6, in reality, Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube were the hosts of the overwhelming majority of pre-invasion chatter and planning, but they keep chugging merrily along. Parler’s exile, because it caters to a more conservative clientele, is just one of a number of slights to the right. So much for the open forums these behemoth tech companies brag about, and an example of antitrust abuse. Demonstrative of how wrong the ouster of Parler was, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) supported its removal, but not that of Facebook, Twitter, or You Tube.

“It’s not about holding everyone to account equally… it’s about giving preferential treatment to certain people and taking it out on others. Amazon, Apple, Google, they don’t care. They are using this to squash the first real competitor in this space in so many years. If there’s a cast for antitrust I think this is an example,” said John Matze, Parler CEO on January 11. Parler is subsequently suing Amazon for violating antitrust laws.

“Silencing people, not to mention the President of the United States, is what happens in China, not our country,” said Nikki Haley (R-SC) former governor and United States Ambassador to the United Nations.

According to Twitter’s so-called Civic Integrity Policy, “we want to make it clear today that the accounts of world leaders are not above our policies entirely… We will err on the side of leaving the content up if there is a clear public interest in doing so.”

Such total… hypocrisy. World leaders? Iran’s Ayatollah is still on Twitter. He’s less of a threat to public safety than President Trump? If Amazon, Apple, and Google have the power, and quite frankly the temerity, to take Parler offline, why is the Ayatollah still posting? Or Antifa? And for that matter, why haven’t these three so-called arbiters of internet decency shut down every single site trafficking in child pornography? Seems knocking those filthy animals out would take priority, but no, it’s about sacking millions of conservatives.

Err on the side of leaving content up if there is a clear public interest in doing so? More than 74 million Trump voters and countless other Americans simply supporting free speech is certainly a clear public interest. Clearly a double standard on the part of tyrannical tech.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey still grants Holocaust deniers a platform, yet Trump supporters pose a greater threat to American civilization? While Parler was forcibly going dark, “Hang Mike Pence” was horrifyingly trending on Twitter. In reality, big tech, the media, as well as the liberal left socialist progressives actually believe the conservative movement poses a serious threat to their desires to turn the United States into a socialist country, enjoined with its evil trappings such as  the Green New Deal, Medicare for all, a minimum guaranteed monthly income, raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, a return to mandatory Obamacare membership, abortion on demand - full term, citizenship for illegals, continued support of sanctuary cities, a return to the Paris Climate Accords, and a reinstatement of the pathetic Iran deal.

Additionally, Twitter is busy lecturing foreign countries, specifically Uganda, having banned social media on the eve of its elections for president and parliament, scheduled for Thursday, January 14 on the importance of free speech, the importance of access to information, and to deny those, violates basic human rights, and that censoring people’s internet access is immoral. Such utter hypocrisy coming from the same company that has done just that to millions and millions of Americans. 

And as noted above it’s not just behemoth tech working to silence millions of conservatives. Forbes magazine announced it will not hire anyone affiliated or associated with the Trump administration, and it will doggedly pursue and attempt to ruin, financially, any business or company that does hire those linked to the Trump administration. “Forbes magazine’s chief content officer, Randall Lane, warned companies that may consider hiring Kayleigh McEnany, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and others who worked for the Trump administration. ‘Let it be known to the business world: Hire any of Trump’s fellow fabulists above, and Forbes will assume that everything your company or firm talks about is a lie.’”

“Cancelling anyone associated with President Trump, is not going to unite the country,” said Kelsey Bolar, an analyst with Independence Woman’s Forum. “This is just the latest example of cancel culture and the great purge that we’re seeing come from the left and never-Trump Republicans. This dangerous cancel culture, which wants to ban any American who had the audacity to support President Trump or work in his administration from being able to do something as basic as have a new job,” continued Bolar.

But back up on Capitol Hill, members are seeking to do more than just cancel some of their colleagues from across the aisle. US Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), and Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security called both Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) “domestic terrorists” who should be placed on the No-Fly list for the unimpeachable act of supporting the 10 day emergency audit of the votes in several states during the certification process of the Electoral College. 

Cruz and Hawley have been called insurrectionists, when nothing they did were the acts of insurrectionists. They were simply following their Constitutionally outlined duties and rights as senators. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called for the pair to resign immediately. Even Joe Biden had the unmitigated audacity to compare Cruz and Hawley to infamous Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Is this Biden’s brand of unity? Will the more than 74 million Trump supporters also be labeled insurrectionists, domestic terrorists, or Nazis and also be denied air travel, or credit cards, or bank accounts on the way to becoming unpersons?

Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), a member of the Senate Ethics Committee, sought censure or expulsion of Cruz and Hawley. And digging even lower, US Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) compared Trump to Osama bin Laden - this coming from a member of the House Intelligence Committee, literally in bed with a Chinese spy.

None of this consternation and angst were directed at the Democrats who challenged the results of the presidential elections and thus the certification processes of the Electoral College votes in 1969, 2001, 2005, and most recently in 2017. No one called for anyone’s censuring, expulsion, or resignation, meaning, none of the Republicans balked at the free speech and Constitutional rights of the Democrats in the Senate. Even after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Tweeted that the 2016 presidential election was “hijacked,” there were no repercussions.

Additionally, while also not suffering any punishment, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) encouraged the illegal actions in Minneapolis to continue following the burning down of the Third Precinct police station. “Everyone beware, they’re not going to stop, and they shouldn’t stop,” said Harris, who is slated to be inaugurated Vice President on January 20.

Then there’s the incendiary statement made by Biden, and applauded, not condemned, but applauded by many in the media. When asked if he would like to debate Trump, Biden said he wanted to “take Trump out behind the gym and beat the hell out of him.” When did this become acceptable, to threaten the president of the United States without retribution?

Ridding the internet of those evil, pesky conservatives allows the liberal left, socialists, and progressives to enjoy life in their echo chamber… chamber… chamber. But beware liberals, socialists, and progressives, once the conservatives are gone, they will come for you next once the infighting begins, and inevitably it will. “The cancel culture will come for us all,” said US Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH). This only exacerbates the problem of how free our free speech is, actually.

The diminishing of free speech in the United States is never more glaring than by the chilling words offered by Eugene Robinson, an associate editor with The Washington Post. Robinson actually called for the “reprogramming of Trump supporters,” and that “they are in a cult.”

CNN, in a most dastardly statement, having called for censorship, is working to have FNC removed from the airwaves, in an effort to eliminate its competition as it heads down a path toward totalitarianism. 

And only because it is relevant regarding the ever shrinking freedom of speech, a sham of an impeachment “hearing” was conducted on January 13 - one week prior to the end of Trump’s term. This was the Democrats response to the Capitol invasion of January 6. It really can’t be called a hearing as there was  no actual hearing, no witnesses, a complete lack of due process, no involvement by the Judiciary Committee - a total abuse of power. No matter, as the Democrats achieved their goal, casting enough votes to have President Trump the first president to be impeached twice. There were 232 yea votes, of which 10 came from Republicans, 197 nay votes - all Republicans, and four members not voting. No official word yet, as to a Senate trial.

Clearly there is an erosion of civil liberties in the United States commencing with a shrinking of free speech. Stand up for free speech before it no longer is free or even permitted. Once free speech is curtailed, what will they take next - our right to worship openly? Certainly the pandemic already set that in motion. And that would just be dangerous, toxic, and absolutely unAmerican. 

While the following refers to the deaths of multitudes during the Holocaust, it can also speak of the silenced. This passage is prominently featured in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, of which I am a proud charter member.

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me.” 

--Pastor Martin Niemoller (1892-1984) a German pastor outspoken against the Nazi regime. His Continental manual typewriter, on which this brave pastor typed his sermons, is on display at the museum.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. 

*US Senator Barry Goldwater used the phrase during his 1964 run for President; and President Gerald Ford uttered it while addressing a joint session of Congress on August 12, 1974.