CENSORS, STALINISTS, PATERNALISTS, FAUX-LIBERALS, AND OTHERS WHO WOULD SUPRESS FREE SPEECH: YOU’RE ON NOTICE. The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on March 18 in Missouri’s lawsuit alleging the federal government colluded with social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to suppress conservative and libertarians’ freedom of speech. And a lot of us are watching.

The Missouri Independent, explains the matter before the court, about which I and my fellow Insta-team members have written before:

“The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans prohibited the White House, the Surgeon General’s Office, the F.B.I., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from having practically any contact with the social media companies. It found that the Biden administration most likely overstepped the First Amendment by urging the major social media platforms to remove misleading or false content […]

“A central dimension of presidential power,” the administration argues, “is the use of the office’s bully pulpit to seek to persuade Americans — and American companies — to act in ways that the president believes would advance the public interest.”

But the bully pulpit, Missouri and Louisiana attorneys general wrote, “is not a pulpit to bully.”

Sadly, the outlet totally ignores the text of the 5th Circuit’s opinion, because, well, I think they’re kind of biased. Most reporters (and I have a lot of experience here) have been for too long living in a paternalist bubble. They know more than you do. They are inherently smarter than you. You work with your hands (Ugh). They know what’s better for you. “Shut up, serf!”

And to digress a bit, here’s where I find faux-liberal paternalism to be a form of fascism: To assert your view to the exclusion of others is a violation of others’ moral autonomy, in my mind, a core human right. In short, exactly what Stalin did.  But that’s for another time.

But here’s what we know for a fact: The Fifth Circuit said:

“We find that the White House, acting in concert with the Surgeon General’s office, likely (1) coerced the platforms to make their moderation decisions by way of intimidating messages and threats of adverse consequences, and (2) significantly encouraged the platforms’ decisions by commandeering their decision-making processes, both in violation of the First Amendment.”

In the oral arguments on that case, one judge asked the government lawyers whether the tone of the government was not like that of mob bosses in the movies: “Nice social media platform you have there. A shame if anything were to happen to it.”

Golly, where have we heard that before?

Spread the word to those faux-liberals who hide behind the chimera of “suppressing disinformation to save democracy” or other gibberish: we are watching. And fighting back.

OH, IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF CONSPIRACY NUTS, IGNORE THEM:  The Daily Caller put it best when :

“You don’t even need to look to the word ‘stolen’ — the election was rigged,” says just one of the many election watchers the Daily Caller interviewed who all came to the same conclusion.”

This trailer is for the sharpest, calmest, and most intelligent discussion about the 2020 election I’ve seen. Click on the image below to see the trailer.

Look, was there enough monkey business that provably swayed the election? I don’t know. But for a handful of invest elitists to encourage scoffing at even the most clinical look at the issue is the exact opposite of their alleged goal of “saving democracy.”

Election fraud is as old as the hills. Read Robert Caro’s outstanding trilogy about LBJ where he details many instances of mysterious boxes of ballots arriving at polling stations with just enough votes to get him into Congress.

My own grandmother was an alderman in Chicago during the Richard Daley years, and she’d laugh when regaling us with stories of police cars arriving with sacks of paper ballots that were dumped on her kitchen table. The cops would sit in the living room served coffee and babka while in the kitchen “Nanny” and her pals would make disqualifying marks on the ballots opposing whomever Daley wanted. Sadly, Mike Royko is not around to confirm this.

*DISCLOSURE: As a First Amendment lawyer, I did the pre-publication review of the full “Rigged” documentary for The Daily Caller. I can’t divulge any details, of course, but I can say it passed my heinously stringent standards with flying colors.

MAYBE THEY SHOULD START WITH COLORADO, HUH? A Freedom House report focuses on Nicaragua, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey and Venezuela, saying all six countries experienced considerable democratic backsliding over the past two decades.

VOA reports that:

“Around the world, there are a lot of anti-democratic leaders in increasingly authoritarian settings who are using a really expansive toolkit of oppressive tactics in order to silence critics and opponents,” Amy Slipowitz, the report’s co-author, told VOA. One of the primary tools is political imprisonment, which is “an attempt to remove the most vocal critics from society,” she said.”

It’s always in the last place you look.

SF CITY ATTORNEY APPOINTS HIMSELF “SPEECH POLICE:” SUE HIM GOOD AND HARD. An old reporter friend tipped me off to an important (but so far) not reported lawsuit in the Federal District Court covering San Francisco.

Everybody is familiar with U.S. News & World Report, which for decades has been the publisher of “rankings” for everything from grad schools to mortgage lenders. Whether you agree with the various rankings is of no moment. They disclose their methodology, are not “bought off” by advertisers and most importantly, ratings and reviews are generally protected by First Amendment law anyway.

OK, that’s the set up. Here’s what’s going on: San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu — out of the clear blue sky — sends a subpoena to U.S. News complaining and demanding information about their recent review of “Best Hospitals.”

Here’s a link below to a copy of his subpoena. What shocks the conscience is his statement that “As the City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, I have a duty to ensure San Franciscans and Californians have access to accurate information as they make critical healthcare decisions.”

Click to open: SF Subpoena

Really? I’ve looked at the portfolio his office has been given, and don’t see “misinformation police” listed as one of his “duties.” Something smells here. His subpoena is based on investigation of “Substantiation of Advertising (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17508)“.

This is not the first time a party has tried to shut down a publisher under “False Advertising” laws, and with rare exception, they inevitably fail. USN&WR, to their credit has filed a responsive lawsuit, which can be read here.

The papers filed (IMHO) could have been more tightly written, and like most BigLaw firms, they use 20 words when five would do, and I suspect there are other bases of complaint they could have asserted. But that’s just Monday morning quarterbacking on my part.

The $64 questions are: 1) How does a city attorney appoint himself the guardian of “misinformation” over speech that a first-year law student could show is constitutionally protected; and 2) given that the City Attorney is by its own admission tasked with providing “the highest quality legal services to the Mayor, Board of Supervisors, and other elected officials,” the reasonable reader — and perhaps an inquisitive reporter — should ask “Who prompted Chiu to issue this subpoena?”

This is just the beginning.

WELL-MEANING, BUT UNCONSTITUTIONAL AS HELL: I’m not sure if the Oklahoma Legislature is just trolling mainstream media, but they have introduced a bill that would require impositions akin to “licensing” journalists and publishers. Real democracies don’t do that.

Yes, I’m sure that Taylor Lorenz and Keith Olbermann’s tests may provide interesting (and explanatory) results, but this could swing both ways. The bill would require that:

“Each individual reporter, producer, writer, editor, or any other employee involved in the production of content distributed by a media outlet is hereby required to:

a. complete a criminal background check conducted by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation,

b. receive a license as prescribed by the Corporation Commission as provided in subsection C of this section,

c. complete a propaganda-free safety training course of no less than eight (8) hours as prescribed by the State Department of Education, which shall be developed in coordination with PragerU,

d. provide proof of liability insurance no less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), and

e. submit to quarterly drug testing for illicit substances to be administered by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation”

Mind you, I’m a big fan of Prager, but honestly, I can think of many people, like myself, who consider vodka one of our “Precious Bodily Fluids.”

DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE BUTT ON THE WAY OUT! JustTheNews is reporting that:

“I cannot stay silent as this administration turns a blind eye to the atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives, in what leading human rights experts have called a genocidal campaign by the Israeli government,” Tariq Habash, a Palestinian American who served as a special assistant for nearly three years, said in his resignation letter Wednesday to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.”

Just the tip on the iceberg, to boot:

“Also on Wednesday, 17 anonymous Biden re-election campaign staffers wrote a letter published on The Medium calling on the president to demand and work toward an “immediate, permanent ceasefire,” advocate for the release of Hamas hostages and more than 2,000 arrested Palestinians, among other things.”

Anonymous…how brave.
Goodbye to bad rubbish.

INTRODUCING GLASSER’S SYLLOGISM:

• All people who say that violent acts are only committed by conservatives are idiots.
• All people who say that violent acts are only committed by progressives are idiots.
• All people who use the words “all” or “only” are idiots.

This was inspired by dinner with some deep blue Democrats (the People’s Republic of Montclair) in which it was a “given” that conservatives are prone to violence. Rather than get into it and bring up “mostly peaceful” arson, I noticed this article from Just The News the next day.

“Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., said that on Thursday both of her daughters’ houses were “swatted,” or targeted by fake emergency calls.”

Swatting is not a joke or prank. It is designed to send an amped-up police force expecting gunfire into an unsuspecting person’s home, hoping some policeman shoots someone.

GREAT MOMENTS IN UN-SELFAWARENESS– Journalism Edition: I’m the first person to say that you have a right to bloviate bullsh*t. Fine.

But even understanding that The Daily Beast is about as scummy as it gets, (given that Gawker is no more), check the following phrases and you tell me if this is “reporting” or Op/ED:

• “BOTTOM FEEDING”
• “The MAGA network”
• “The channel’s fourth-quarter primetime ratings, meanwhile, have dropped 14 percent compared to the previous quarter, though they are still up significantly compared to 2022” [Citation? Meh.]
• “cartoonish pro-Trump sycophancy”
• “the bottom-feeding MAGA channel”

This asshat is entirely within his rights to make such editorializations, but would somebody tell me why the slimeballs at The Daily Beast think this is “reporting” instead of editorial?

These dolts say “Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.” Am I the only one who thinks a good tip would to be stop dressing up Opinion as “news”? Go for it.

*Disclaimer: I have never represented either Newsmax nor The Daily Beast in any legal matter.*

THE WORST THING A REPORTER OR EDITOR CAN BE IS INCURIOUS: This story from the NYT about Harvard’s board is fine…except the honkingly huge omission of whether these people are paid, and if so, how much.

How can you write this story and *not* ask that?
**UPDATE: A few folks have noted that the NYT story currently says that the Harvard board members are unpaid. I’m certain it was not in the first version I saw, but the Wayback Machine did not capture what I believe was a stealth edit. So without a screenshot (my bad) I can’t prove this. As to whether the Times would ever publish a stealth edit…I’ll leave that to your own judgment and experience.

THE IRONY, IT BURNS: Just The News is reporting a strong possibility that FISA’s warrantless search provision (Section 702) so favored by the Deep State going back to the W. Bush administration and embraced by the Obama and Biden DOJ may be biting Hunter Biden — and possibly the President — in the hiney.

Court records from the criminal case of Biden associate Patrick Ho, who is now in the pokey for money laundering, show the FBI and Justice Department gathered evidence under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) from around the time when Hunter Biden and his uncle James were dealing with Ho and fellow CEFC officials.

“This is certainly interesting information. We will pursue every piece of evidence that relates to Hunter Biden and his father. If there are FISA intercepts, it is something we should try to get,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a member of the House Judiciary Committee that is part of the impeachment process and the chairman of its surveillance subcommittee.”

CEFC, you may remember, channeled millions of dollars to Hunter and his uncle James, much of which was proven by the House Select Committee on Oversight to end up directly in the President’s pocket.

This idiotic talking point that “there is no evidence” makes the Adam Schiffs and Chuck Schumers out there look more disingenuous than ever. I think the only people falling for this gaslighting are within their ever-shrinking bubble of supporters.

But that’s just me.

BREAKING: Just the News reporting that “Colorado GOP to have caucus instead of primary if Trump ballot decision stands”

“After GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said Tuesday evening on X, formerly Twitter, that he would withdraw from Colorado’s primary ballot if Trump is not allowed on, the state Republican Party responded: “You won’t have to because we will withdraw from the Primary as a Party and convert to a pure caucus system if this is allowed to stand.”

You don’t have to be a Trump supporter to realize that the Colorado Supremes went way off the rails, and their decision obliterates (IMHO) the Fifth, Fourteenth, and possibly the First Amendment. But that’s what outcome-determinative judiciaries and illiberal liberals do.

This may be the first smart thing I’ve seen the GOP do in years. Granted, it’s the state, not the national level, but McDaniels really ought to step down.

File Under “Not that there’s anything wrong with it”: DAILY CALLER EXCLUSIVE: Senate Staffer Caught Filming Gay Sex Tape In Senate Hearing Room (GRAPHIC).

It’s true. The government is in the very best of, ummm, hands. Warning, eye bleach may be required.

More stuff to file under “The 21st Century isn’t working out the way I thought it would.” According to Ars Technica:

“A lawyer representing Donald Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen filed a court brief that cited three cases that do not exist, according to a federal judge. The incident is similar to a recent one in which lawyers submitted fake citations originally provided by ChatGPT, but it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether Cohen’s lawyer also used an AI tool.”

Ars Technica added this little gem: “Schwartz advertises his criminal defense services on a personal website with a tagline that says, “The power of the lawyer is in the uncertainty of the law.”

GRETA THUNBERG AND THE PRO-HAMAS TAKEOVER OF THE “GREEN” MOVEMENT: Ed Driscoll wrote here about how “Israel removes Greta Thunberg from school curriculum over anti-Israel post.” As well they should.

Apparently the smug little eco-celebrity is doubling-down on merging the pro-Hamas rhetoric into a platform of the “Green” movement. Just The News reported this morning that:

“Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg is dividing the climate movement as she has been calling for the end of Israel while her organization, “Fridays for Future” has at the same time been promoting rhetoric online that has been endorsed by members of terrorist organizations.”

One of the most insidious aspects of her support of Hamas is her since-deleted X postings of Nazi propaganda imagery. In particular, in her pro-Hamas messaging, she posed with a small octopus toy, which, others have noted, “Propaganda cartoonists have often used the image to warn of a global Jewish conspiracy. It was a caricature frequently deployed by the Nazis.”

How dare you, indeed?

“MUST-SEE TV”: This morning at 10:AM, the House Committee on Weaponization of the Federal Government will livestream the testimony of muckraking journalists Michael Shellenberger and Matt Taibbi who yesterday published a story that anyone even remotely interested in the collusion (yes, I used that word) between the government and scummy faux-“disinformation” outfits who are raking in the dough, some of it — surprise, surprise — coming from taxpayer funds.

You thought The Green Nude Eel was a boondoggle? Son, you’re just a dog-faced pony soldier. That’s all about politicians lining their pockets (and those of their donors) while @ss-raping American industry. Soros smiles.

No, my friends, this (IMHO, anyway) is far more insidious. If we are prevented from being heard discussing — heaven forbid challenging — the Permanent Washington Narrative, it’s lights out, game over. There’s a reason the First Amendment is, well, you know, first.

Again, here’s the link to watch the hearings.