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Posts tagged 'Elon Musk'
5 Reasons Corrupt Media Are Ignoring The Scandalous 'Twitter Files'
BY: MARGOT CLEVELAND | JANUARY 18, 2023
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2023/01/18/5-reasons-corrupt-media-are-ignoring-the-scandalous-twitter-files/
Reporters refusing to cover 'The Twitter Files' prefer their role as propagandists to journalists.
MARGOT CLEVELAND
VISIT ON TWITTER@PROFMJCLEVELAND
Soon after Elon Musk acquired Twitter, he gave a few reporters access to the tech giant's internal communications, resulting in scandalous revelations about Twitter's routine collusion with and censorship direction from the FBI — revelations you likely haven't heard much about from the corporate media.
"The Twitter Files" showed that this symbiotic relationship between the feds and a so-called private company involved the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story right before the 2020 election, the silencing of Covid dissenters, and even the squelching of regime-challenging journalists, among other bombshells. According to the communications, the federal government paid Twitter some $3,000,000 for its assistance.
Notwithstanding these explosive revelations, backed up by the internal communications of high-level Twitter executives, the corporate media have ignored the scandals. But why?
Here are five reasons the corrupt press has refused to adequately cover "The Twitter Files."
1. Giving Credence To Trump's 2020 Election Claims Would Be Unforgivable
Accurate coverage of "The Twitter Files" would require the media to report on the FBI's role in burying the Hunter Biden laptop story shortly before the 2020 election. Among other things, "The Twitter Files" revealed the FBI met monthly and then weekly with Twitter's team, warning them of various foreign efforts to interfere in the election. Those internal communications, when coupled with an earlier statement Yoel Roth, the then-head of Twitter's site integrity, provided to the Federal Election Commission, establish the FBI was behind Twitter's censorship of the Hunter Biden story.
"Since 2018 he had regular meetings with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and industry peers regarding election security," Roth stated. "During these weekly meetings, the federal law enforcement agencies communicated that they expected 'hack-and-leak operations' by state actors might occur in the period shortly before the 2020 presidential election, likely in October," Roth said, adding that from those meetings he learned "that there were rumors that a hack-and-leak operation would involve Hunter Biden." Roth then explained that those "prior warnings of a hack-and-leak operation and doubts about the provenance of the materials republished in the N.Y. Post articles," led Twitter to conclude "the materials could have been obtained through hacking."
When Roth's statement is read together with the internal emails establishing that Twitter banned the New York Post's blockbuster reporting under the guise that the materials had been hacked, the FBI's responsibility for causing the censorship of this politically explosive story is clear. And because the FBI knew Hunter's laptop had not been hacked and that the materials on it were authentic, by prompting the censorship of the story, the FBI knowingly interfered in the 2020 election.
Or as Donald Trump put it on Truth Social after "The Twitter Files" broke: "The biggest thing to come out of the Twitter Targeting Hoax is that the Presidential Election was RIGGED — And that's as big as it can get!!!"
For the press to honestly cover "The Twitter Files," then, would require it to give credence to Trump's "RIGGED" claims — something it just cannot stomach. Instead, the corrupt media have responded to "The Twitter Files" with silence or spin.
2. Being the Press Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry
A second reason the press refuses to cover "The Twitter Files" stems from the corrupt media's inability to acknowledge its own bias, wrongdoing, and hackery. To report on the many scandals exposed by the files would require media elites to face their own involvement in censoring news and their failings as so-called journalists.
While historically, journalists stood in unity with their fellow reporters, when Twitter and other tech companies censored and then deplatformed the New York Post, the press — in the main — remained silent. In contrast, when Musk temporarily suspended reporters' accounts who had posted location tracking information in violation of Twitter's new rules, a thud sounded as the same journalists collectively collapsed on their fainting couches.
Not only did these supposed standard-bearers of journalism not condemn the censorship, most ignored the story. Those that did not ignore it, such as NPR, discussed not the details of the scandal, but their justification for ignoring it. "We don't want to waste our time on stories that are not really stories, and we don't want to waste the listeners' and readers' time on stories that are just pure distractions," NPR intoned.
Covering "The Twitter Files" now would be an implicit admission that they were wrong not to report on the laptop story and that they were equally amiss in failing to condemn the censorship of the Post.
"The Twitter Files" also raise an uncomfortable set of questions for news outlets, namely: Did the FBI warn legacy media that supposed Russian disinformation, in the form of potentially hacked materials involving Hunter Biden, would drop? Is that why they ignored the story and allowed the censorship of the Post to go unchallenged?
Reporting on "The Twitter Files" would force legacy outlets to confront the potential reality that the FBI had played them and that they were willing to trust the government rather than be a check on its abuse.
"The Twitter Files" also vindicate Musk and counter the media narrative that his Twitter takeover spelled the beginning of the end for the tech giant. Not only did the avalanche of predicted hate speech not materialize, but under Musk's leadership, Twitter's newfound transparency has served both the public interest and a (functioning) free press. Reporting on these facts, then, would require the press not only to acknowledge its own failings but to apologize to Musk and admit their own complicity — things they are apparently unable to do.
3. Condemning the Feds Would Shut Down Sources and Hurt Their Heroes
The media are likely also ignoring "The Twitter Files" to protect their sources — both literally and figuratively.
Many of the same FBI agents and governmental officials, such as Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who pushed for Twitter to censor speech probably serve as regular sources for the legacy media. This scenario is especially likely if the FBI pushed for the press to censor the Hunter Biden story, as it had with Twitter and Facebook. Reporting on "The Twitter Files" would thus force the media to hammer some of the same individuals who give them valuable leaks. Condemning those individuals could shut down various source networks the corrupt media can't risk.
The media likely also don't want to "hurt" their sources or the FBI agents who pushed the Russia disinformation lie to tech companies because they see themselves on the same anti-Trump team.
Just as the media refuse to condemn the Department of Justice and FBI agents involved in pushing the Russia-collusion hoax because the press favored the unwarranted attacks on Trump that hamstrung his administration, the leftist media silently applauds the FBI's interference in the 2020 election because it helped deny Trump a second term.
In this regard, the legacy media and the deep state share the same worldview — that the ends justify the means. The media will thus keep mum about what the FBI did because they're grateful that intelligence agencies destroyed Trump's chance to defeat Biden by prompting the censorship of the October surprise.
4. The Russian Bogeyman Must Be Preserved at All Costs
Ignoring "The Twitter Files" also helps the media preserve their Russia, Russia, Russia narrative.
The various "Twitter File" threads revealed several damning details concerning Russia's supposed interference in American politics. First, they exposed how the FBI and federal intelligence agencies used Russia's supposed interference in the 2016 election to push for more resources and collaboration with tech giants. Second, the files revealed that, notwithstanding federal agents' claims, there were no systemic efforts by Russia to use Twitter to interfere in the U.S. elections. To the contrary, the internal communications showed the FBI pushing for evidence of Russian interference and Twitter executives countering that they weren't seeing issues.
Third, as detailed above, "The Twitter Files" exposed that the Hunter Biden laptop story was not only not Russian disinformation but that the FBI used that excuse anyway to prompt censorship of the story.
Fourth and finally, the internal Twitter communications showed that the trending of the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag was not prompted by Russian bots or Russian-connected accounts and that Democrats such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Schiff's claims to the contrary were false. Those communications also revealed that even though Twitter negated the Russian-interference theory — telling politicians point blank that the evidence showed #ReleseTheMemo was trending because of organic interest in the hashtag — Democrats and the media continued to push that false storyline.
Reporting on "The Twitter Files" would require the media to first acknowledge they were wrong in their #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag coverage. But what's more, covering Twitter's internal communications would force the press to dispel the notion that Russia is the bogeyman behind every Republican candidate and every negative story about Democrats.
Corrupt media need to maintain Russia as the bad guy for future elections, however, and to counter future scandals affecting Democrats. Accurate reporting on "The Twitter Files" would lessen the effects of any later resort to a Russia, Russia, Russia narrative — and the press can't have that.
5. Reporters Prefer Their Role as Propagandists to Journalists
While there are many practical reasons the press refuses to report on "The Twitter Files," as a matter of principle, it all comes down to one: The legacy media have none.
The so-called journalists working at outlets that were once the standard by which all journalists were judged today value politics more than they do their professional obligations. Informing the public and providing a check on the rich, the powerful, and the politicians are no longer the end goals of corrupt reporters; rather, they seek to use their power to advance their own personal beliefs and agendas.
In short, the reporters refusing to cover "The Twitter Files" prefer their role as propagandists to journalists.
Margot Cleveland is The Federalist's senior legal correspondent. She is also a contributor to National Review Online, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Townhall.com, and has been published in the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Cleveland is a lawyer and a graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, where she earned the Hoynes Prize—the law school's highest honor. She later served for nearly 25 years as a permanent law clerk for a federal appellate judge on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Cleveland is a former full-time university faculty member and now teaches as an adjunct from time to time. As a stay-at-home homeschooling mom of a young son with cystic fibrosis, Cleveland frequently writes on cultural issues related to parenting and special-needs children. Cleveland is on Twitter at @ProfMJCleveland. The views expressed here are those of Cleveland in her private capacity.
Media, Political
CORRUPT CORPORATE MEDIA
TWITTER FILES
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Employee of the Month
A.F. BRANCO | on January 3, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-employee-of-the-month/
Biden endorses using child labor for mining cobalt in the Congo and Zambia to use in EV batteries.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – All Wired In
A.F. BRANCO | on January 2, 2023 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-all-wired-in/
It looks like the FBI and other deep-state organizations had a direct line to the Mainstream leftist media.
DONATE to A.F.Branco Cartoons – Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU!
A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including NewsMax, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and "The Washington Post." He has been recognized by such personalities as Rep. Devin Nunes, Dinesh D'Souza, James Woods, Chris Salcedo, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.
CHILD SLAVE LABOR
FBI TWITTER
Musk: 'To be totally frank, almost every conspiracy theory people had about Twitter turned out to be true'
By Editorial Staff | https://www.sarahpalin.com | December 26, 2022
Read more at https://www.sarahpalin.com/2022/677640/musk-to-be-totally-frank-almost-every-conspiracy-theory-people-had-about-twitter-turned-out-to-be-true/
Billionaire Elon Musk, who recently purchased the social media giant Twitter, said that "almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true."
Many Americans were silenced in recent years when they attempted to exercise free speech online and share their opinions on various issues.
"To be totally frank, almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true." pic.twitter.com/zBDY3AcrRq
— Gretchen 🇺🇸 (@GretchenOO8) December 25, 2022
Specifically, Americans were often banned or censored if they criticize Joe and Hunter Biden's shady overseas business dealings. People were also banned from mentioning the possible origins of the COVID-19 virus from a lab in China or the possible adverse effects of the recently developed COVID-19 vaccine.
It's been widely speculated that government officials and intelligence agents were colluding with social media giants behind closed doors. It turned about to be true.
Musk said, "To be totally frank, almost every conspiracy theory that people had about Twitter turned out to be true."
Turns out we were being very conservative about the rampant corruption inside of the walls of Twitter.
— 🔥 Eye of Truth, Empire of Reason 🔥 (@Silent_Kindling) December 25, 2022
Nearly every conspiracy theory everyone had about Covid was also true. There's a long list of true "conspiracy theories". That's why silencing dissenting voices is catastrophic to a functioning society.
— T.J. Moe (@TJMoe28) December 25, 2022
Musk revealed shocking and disturbing documents proving that FBI agents and others inside the intelligence community colluded with social media giants to censor Americans and protect Joe and Hunter Biden.
The FBI wrongfully claimed that news about Hunter's laptop right before the 2020 presidential election was part of a Russian misinformation campaign. These "Twitter Files" showed the FBI has regularly contacted employees at Twitter to target Americans who "may" be violating the company's terms of service.
The FBI has responded to Musk by claiming they never told Twitter to "take action" using their false information about the Bidens. Twitter took action nonetheless and banned accounts. FBI officials told Fox News, "We are providing it so that they can take whatever action they deem appropriate under their terms of service to protect their platform and protect their customers, but we never direct or ask them to take action."
Journalist Matt Taibbi showed multiple internal files between Twitter workers and FBI employees.
One email reads: "Hello Twitter contacts, FBI San Francisco is notifying you of the below accounts which may potentially constitute violations of Twitter's Terms of Service for any action or inaction deemed appropriate within Twitter policy."
A Twitter employee responded that three of the four accounts were suspended. One of the banned accounts tweeted on Nov. 8, "I want to remind republicans to vote tomorrow, Wednesday November 9."
The FBI also suggested another tweet needed to be censored because the person joked on November 8th, saying, "Americans, Vote today. Democrats you vote Wednesday 9th."
An FBI employee wrote in an email that one user "claimed in her posts that she is a ballot counter in her state and, in additional posts, states, 'For every negative comment on this post, I'm adding another vote for the democrats' and 'If you're not wearing a mask, I'm not counting your vote.'"
Taibbi said these tweets were merely jokes and satirical, but the FBI still suggested the company should ban or censor these Americans exercising their free speech.
Exactly. There are no conspiracy theories, just truth suppressed by governments. 🤔🔥
— Baroness von M 🇺🇸 (@Brahmslover1278) December 26, 2022
pic.twitter.com/8Uo2jZzLg8
— Chad (@BRBerrys1) December 25, 2022
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Twitter Claus
A.F. BRANCO | on December 22, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-twitter-claus/
Old Saint Twit, Elon Musk, comes bearing gifts, Free Speech, and government corruption exposed.
Political cartoon A.F. Branco ©2022.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Merry Porkulus
A.F. BRANCO | on December 22, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-merry-porkulus/
Democrats and RINO Republicans are pushing a $1.7 Trillion Omnibus bill that spends $47 Billion for Ukraine and $410 Million for Border security in the Middle East but nothing for our southern border.
Political cartoon by A.F. Branco.
$1.7 Trillion Omnibus bill
Southern Border crisis
Leftists Call Free Speech 'Violence' To Mute Critics of Barbaric Transgender Surgeries for Kids
BY: CHAD FELIX GREENE | DECEMBER 16, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/16/leftists-call-free-speech-violence-to-mute-critics-of-barbaric-transgender-surgeries-for-kids/
We simply cannot allow the left to keep bullying critics of their agenda by accusing us of causing violence.
CHAD FELIX GREENE
VISIT ON TWITTER@CHADFELIXG
The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy organization, has targeted conservative commentator Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire; the person who runs the Libs of TikTok Twitter account; and Seth Dillon, CEO of the satire site The Babylon Bee, accusing them of causing violence in a new report titled "Online Harassment, Offline Violence."
The report argues, "Anti-equality, online extremists are leading a proactive and coordinated campaign of hate against hospitals and medical providers who offer gender-affirming care for transgender, non-binary and questioning youth."
The report states it consists of "an informal exploration across Facebook and Twitter" that identifies "24 different hospitals and providers, across 21 states, who were directly attacked online following harassing, inflammatory and misleading posts from Libs of TikTok, Matt Walsh, and other right-wing accounts."
Relying on misleading allegations of "lies" and "misinformation," the report draws a line of causation from Libs of TikTok posting a video from a particular hospital detailing its own practices to inevitable online outrage resulting in angry tweets, emails, and phone calls from individuals, causing the hospital to stop youth-oriented transgender advocacy and/or practices and ultimately resulting in legislative efforts to ban the practices in the first place. The report gives examples of hospitals and doctors receiving hostile or angry communications, threats, and specifically, the false bomb threats against Boston Children's Hospital.
The report insists, "What occurred in Boston is just one example of coordinated campaigns of hate, violence, and harassment being waged both online and offline against health care providers and children's hospitals simply for providing age-appropriate, best practice, medically necessary medical care to transgender youth." However, its claim of offline violence remains abstract and assumed. It provides no examples of actual violence.
Accusations of Hate Speech
Detailing what it argues is a coordinated campaign to target pro-LGBT organizations, the report notes: "hate speech accounts such as Libs of TikTok or Matt Walsh, a known transphobe at the alt-right news site The Daily Wire, post an inflammatory message full of disinformation about gender affirming care and call out a specific hospital or doctor by name." The alleged campaign continues with "right-wing politicians looking to rile up the most extreme members of their base join in spreading the same transphobic rhetoric from their platforms, in some cases going so far as to introduce legislation to regulate children's hospitals and gender affirming care providers."
The final "stage" of these campaigns involves hospitals discontinuing transition practices for minors or legislative efforts that heavily regulate or ban said practices. The report concludes by placing responsibility on social media companies, arguing, "Social media companies have a responsibility to act and to not be bystanders while angry mobs intimidate LGBTQ+ people and our allies into silence." Continuing, "Without intervention from social media companies, this will just lead to more hate speech, more threats, and more violence."
Again, without citing any actual examples of violence, the report's implication is that all negative interactions, from tweets to illegal activity like bomb threats, are essentially equal. The report's authors then go further by arguing direct causation between the posting of information and the dangerous response. Their conclusion is that authorities must prevent or punish those posting the original information, which allegedly "caused" the violence.
Attempt to Silence Criticism
While obviously any form of violence or threats against an individual or organization is wrong and should be handled by the authorities, the popular left-wing argument that responsibility falls to commentators is absurd — even more so as the targets of their anger quite literally share the information left-wing activists post themselves. What the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT activists stubbornly refuse to consider is that the outrage and anger are perfectly justifiable. Despite activists' best efforts, many people reasonably view transgender surgeries on minors as barbaric and destructive.
What these organizations are attempting to do is stigmatize anyone who participates in such criticism by accusing them of contributing to any potential violence that may occur. More to the point, they want to intimidate conservative commentators to prevent them from discussing or sharing provocative LGBT activism, often in their own words, in a way that will result in criticism or outrage. So convinced they are morally justified, they view the natural result of the public viewing this information with outrage and legislative pushback as inherently violent and hateful.
In truth, what we see is the very nature of the democracy they champion in action. A children's hospital boasts of performing elective double-mastectomies on teenagers as young as 15, as the Boston Children's Hospital does on its website, and the public is rationally outraged. They express their outrage to the hospital and to their elected representatives, who introduce legislation. The left typically champions public protest and the targeting of organizations with phone calls, tweets, and emails when they disagree with a policy or product decision. Such action only appears to become "violence" and "hate" when the left supports what an organization is doing.
In terms of "causing" things like fake bomb threats or threatening voicemails, the idea that illegal behavior from one individual is the fault of a completely unrelated individual is dangerous and irrational. Libs of TikTok sharing a video produced by a children's hospital is not a direct link to an unstable person calling in a bomb threat later on. Only the person making the call is responsible. Whatever motivated them to do so is entirely within their control. We simply cannot allow the left to continue bullying critics of their agenda by accusing us of causing violence by doing so.
Chad Felix Greene is a senior contributor to The Federalist. He is the author of "Surviving Gender: My Journey Through Gender Dysphoria," and is a social writer focusing on truth in media, conservative ideas and goals, and true equality under the law. You can follow him on Twitter @chadfelixg.
CENTER FOR COUNTERING
CHAYA RAICHIK
DIGITAL HATE
NONBINARY
Corporate Media Can Stomp and Cry All It Wants, Its Special Twitter Privileges Are Ending
BY: EVITA DUFFY-ALFONSO | DECEMBER 16, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/16/corporate-media-can-stomp-and-cry-all-it-wants-its-special-twitter-privileges-are-ending/
Corporate media 'journalists' are crying like children because they no longer get special permission to dox their political enemies.
VISIT ON TWITTER@EVITADUFFY_1
Before Elon Musk bought Twitter, corporate journalists freely persecuted their political enemies by posting their identities and locations to enable in-person harassment, but not anymore. This week, Musk decided he's no longer allowing anyone, including journalists, to jeopardize people's safety via Twitter, and he began temporarily suspending the accounts of offending members of the press.
"Everyone's going to be treated the same. You're not special because you're a journalist," Musk wrote in a Twitter post.
The crackdown on doxxing is personal for Twitter's CEO. On Wednesday, Musk reported that his 2-year-old son named "X" was followed by a "crazy stalker" who had mistaken X for Musk. According to Musk, the stalker blocked the car driving his son and "climbed onto the hood." The incident motivated Musk to suspend several high-profile journalists guilty of doxxing. This caused the corporate media to fly into hysterics. "Elon Musk censors the press," said one CNN headline." "[U]nprecedented," stated the flabbergasted Axios. "Twitter suspends journalists who wrote about owner Elon Musk," alleged The Associated Press. "Musk has begun banning journalists who have criticized him on Twitter," whined Washington Post TikTok reporter Taylor Lorenz.
All this outrage is performative. Firstly, Musk made it clear why the journalists are suspended, and it's not because they "criticized" him, as Lorenz said. "Criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not," wrote Musk.
Secondly, the propaganda press doesn't care about freedom of the press or free speech. They cheer on and instigate the de-platforming of competing journalists and news organizations. The only thing the media cares about is losing its monopoly on digital discourse and the special treatment it received from pre-Musk Twitter staff.
Before Musk, the corporate media enjoyed gross privileges awarded to them by their ideological allies at Twitter. When Lorenz outed the identity of the formerly anonymous woman who runs the "Libs of TikTok" Twitter account, Lorenz was never disciplined. As the "The Twitter Files" reveal, if Twitter staff did try to sanction left-wing users for violating Twitter rules, senior executives at the company would swoop in behind the scenes and protect them.
Meanwhile, countless conservative journalists were subject to random suspensions, locked accounts, and bans for harassment-free thought crimes. The Federalist's Senior Editor John Davidson continues to be locked out of his Twitter account because in March he tweeted the truth: Rachel Levine, the U.S. assistant secretary for health, is a man. Levine, a transgender male, is indeed a man and no amount of makeup or surgery will change that, yet Twitter penalized Davidson for promoting "hate speech." It still is penalizing him.
The Federalist's CEO and co-founder Sean Davis was also targeted by pre-Musk Twitter and his account is still subject to a shadowban today. That means Davis's posts are reduced in their ability to reach people. The reason for the shadowban remains unclear, but it's fair to assume the censorship was politically motivated. The "Twitter Files" revealed how pre-Musk Twitter used shadowbanning to punish ideological dissenters against Twitter's own terms of use.
Former President Donald Trump was perhaps Twitter's most high-profile ban. While he was still in office, Twitter nuked Trump's account. The "Twitter Files" show Twitter moderators admitted at the time of his banning that Trump had not violated any terms of service. The "Twitter Files" also revealed that the very real Hunter Biden laptop story was banished from the app even though it didn't violate any of Twitter's stated rules, either.
Unlike conservatives who were political targets of Twitter's pre-Musk censorship regime, journalists suspended for doxxing are instigating real, physical harm. People outed and targeted by corporate media for expressing conservative views have been fired, had their businesses harassed and ruined, and been targeted for violence. Unlike the shadowbanning of Davis, the banishment of Trump, and the nuking of the Hunter Biden laptop story, doxxing journalists know exactly what Twitter rule they violated. Musk told them in plain words.
The leftist media complex is in a frenzy because it lost some privileges after Elon took over. "Handled," one Twitter employee wrote to a "connected actor" who requested the deletion of disliked tweets, according to the "Twitter Files."
That kind of special treatment is over. Twitter's "rules for thee, but not for me" policy is gone, and the propaganda press is going to have to get used to it.
Evita Duffy is a staff writer to The Federalist and the co-founder of the Chicago Thinker. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, and her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1 or contact her at evita@thefederalist.com.
Business, Political
JOHN DAVIDSON
The Twitter Files Illustrate How Intelligence Agencies Can Rig Politics
BY: JOY PULLMANN | DECEMBER 14, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/14/the-twitter-files-illustrate-how-intelligence-agencies-can-rig-politics/
Perhaps the most important outcome of these releases is the broadening recognition that Twitter, Facebook, Google, et al., are part of government propaganda operations.
It's not clear whether Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter is hostile.
Musk could be motivated by deeply personal reasons to battle Big Tech's enforcement of Marxist identity politics. Or he could be attempting to do damage control for the regime by duping people who have reason to distrust the regime into believing Twitter is now more trustworthy. There are many other possibilities, too, and it's impossible for outsiders to know which is true.
After all, the Twitter Files haven't so far released that much new information. We already knew Big Tech was colluding with federal officials to deny Americans free speech and therefore self-government. We already knew the internet's dominant infrastructure is completely rigged. We already knew Donald Trump's Twitter defenestration was based on Twitter employees' personal animus against him, not any objective reading of company policy.
We already knew Joe Biden is likely owned by foreign oligarchs who pay his son Hunter for access and influence, and that the Hunter Biden laptop story's suppression was a deep state influence operation that tipped the 2020 election.
Whatever is going on behind the release of the Twitter Files, good things can come of it. This wormhole likely goes very deep, and even what we're seeing now, quite close to the surface, is alarming and indicative enough. Perhaps the most important outcome of these releases is the broadening recognition that Twitter, Facebook, Google, et al., are part of government propaganda operations.
This is very likely why we've been hearing increasing alarms about "protecting democracy." The existence and prevalence of this chant online is itself a strong indicator that democracy, or the concept of self-rule through free and fair elections, as the basic bloke thinks of it, doesn't really exist anymore. At least, that's certainly the case if Big Tech, in collusion with unelected officials who are almost as far-left as Twitter's employees, selects what information voters may receive.
Twitter censorship directly or indirectly is what led to the horrendously regressive COVID policies, Biden's presidential victory, and why we got the record inflation, energy, crime, illegal immigration and Fentanyl crises.
We are here today because of what Twitter did.
— Rising serpent 🇺🇸 (@rising_serpent) December 13, 2022
This Twitter-capade reveals further details about Big Tech's function as an arm of U.S. "national security" and "intelligence" agencies. Decades ago, these agencies started going rogue on the formerly inalienable constitutional rights of American citizens, with tacit acquiescence from Congress through repeat authorizations and increased funding. These agencies and the entities they've colonized now treat the American people like occupied foreign territory, subject to psychological manipulation and institutional infiltration in a manner reminiscent of the Chinese Communist Party.
In fact, this whole affair emits more than merely a whiff of totalitarian collectivism, both communist and fascist. For one thing, the Twitter Files details about the revolving door between U.S. intelligence agency employees and Twitter — and surely also Google and Facebook — recall that Germany's infamous National Socialists embedded party operatives on "private" company boards. So does today's Chinese Communist Party.
One must also consider the possibility, if not absolute likelihood, that many of these "former" U.S. military and intelligence agents working at Twitter and Co. are not actually former, but covert government agents. I hear the practice is called "sheep dipping." Former Twitter Deputy General Counsel Jim Baker certainly fits that description. So does Vijaya Gadde.
Over the weekend, while we both dealt with obstacles to new searches, it was @BariWeiss who discovered that the person in charge of releasing the files was someone named Jim. When she called to ask "Jim's" last name, the answer came back: "Jim Baker."
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 6, 2022
It's also noteworthy that a number of these types, including Baker and big fat lying former CIA Director John Brennan, seem to be laundered through CNN and MSNBC stints as "security analysts." I.e. to use TV to spread regime-desired disinformation, such as to help quash the Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020.
"…multiple episodes suggesting that Twitter had been penetrated by foreign intelligence agencies and/or was complicit in threats to democratic governance" pic.twitter.com/6Nm4ds0rtk
— Matt Beebe (@TheMattBeebe) December 11, 2022
So, twitter employees were working with the FBI and foreign intelligence. And the higher ups were warned and were totally cool with it to the point they fired the whistle blower to silence the story. Just amazing. https://t.co/FxUsK8wajF
— The Dank Silent Knight, Holy Knight 🎄🦇 (@capeandcowell) December 12, 2022
This use of spycraft against American citizens seems to be an increasingly recurring and increasingly visible aspect of our post-2016 dystopia. Recall that it appears to have been a feature of the Jan. 6, 2021 "insurrection," the 2020 Michigan tyrant "kidnapping" false flag operation, the Spygate operation, the attempted FBI entrapment of Sen. Ron Johnson, and many more.
While the vast majority of Americans don't use Twitter, it has a massive, outsized influence on every American's everyday life. We saw that in real-time with the consent spiral manufactured, possibly by national security agencies, to impose unprecedented lockdowns in 2020.
Twitter has a fraction of the users of every other major online network, yet it controls the political conversation because of who uses it and how they use it. It's helpful, even if not literally true, to think of Twitter as an influence operation targeted at Congress, the executive agencies, the corporate media that control the ruling Democrat Party, and other members of the ruling class. That's who its users overwhelmingly are, especially the most active.
Twitter is where people go to link up to the woke hive mind. That's why it's poison to everyone, but especially Republican officeholders.
This is why Republican politicians make some of their stupidest decisions when framed by what they see on Twitter, because the Twitter "consensus" reflects the opposite of their constituents' views. (This disconnect is a major reason The Federalist exists.) It's simply a pressure tool for the leftist mob. That's also why big business leaders are idiots to respond to Twitter mobs — the majority of their customers don't pay any attention to Twitter.
This information asymmetry has been highly destructive to the American republic but highly useful to the nefarious actors who run our deeply corrupt federal agencies. For one thing, it has allowed the veiled imposition of a vast information iron curtain across Western countries where many people believe themselves to be free citizens. Twitter is the tip of the spear for this growing censorship regime now consisting of a shadowy web between federal officials, social media-sponsored "fact checking" censorship hacks, Big Tech, corporate media, intelligence agencies, and who knows what other entities.
Twitter has been the typical initiator of bans on a person, organization, idea, or conversation from an online voice — and sometimes from basic life necessities such as banking. Then Facebook, Apple, Google, and others follow suit. The other colluding entities get Twitter to do the heavy lifting of canceling a dissenting person, political movement, conversation, or idea, then just file behind and copy Twitter so they avoid blowback.
We now have more evidence to add to the growing pile establishing that Twitter wasn't just functioning this way because almost all of its employees were far-left Democrat activists. It also has been rigging public conversation, and therefore public life and elections themselves, at the behest of elected and unelected Democrats using their public positions for deeply partisan gain.
The Biden administration admitted it was flagging specific posts for Twitter to take down. It called for Big Tech to inflict "consequences" on those who disagreed with Democrats, and attempted to publicly formalize its evisceration of this vital tool of democracy — free speech — with a "Disinformation Governance Board." The Biden administration's national security apparatus openly declared that anyone who doesn't agree with Democrat politicians could be investigated as a potential "domestic terrorist"!
These government-entwined monopoly platforms obviously exist to disseminate coordinated information operations and kill competing information. They are staffed with de facto or actual intelligence agents at levels high enough to disappear key internal records. Anyone who claims these are simply "private companies" is either not intellectually competent, in denial, or part of the ongoing psy-op to deny Americans the right to make their own political decisions based on genuinely free and open public discussions.
Joy Pullmann is executive editor of The Federalist, a happy wife, and the mother of six children. Here's her printable household organizer for faith-centered holidays. Sign up here to get early access to her next ebook, "101 Strategies For Living Well Amid Inflation." Her bestselling ebook is "Classic Books for Young Children." Mrs. Pullmann identifies as native American and gender natural. She is the author of several books, including "The Education Invasion: How Common Core Fights Parents for Control of American Kids," from Encounter Books. Joy is also a grateful graduate of the Hillsdale College honors and journalism programs.
ADMINISTRATIVE STATE
ELECTION RIGGING
INFORMATION OPS
INFORMATION WARFARE
INTEL AGENCIES
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
PSY OPS
PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Here's the Beef
A.F. BRANCO | on December 13, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-heres-the-beef/
Elon Musk exposes the dark anti-conservative twitter files involving shadow banning and canceling.
shadow banning
Elon Musk Vows to Defeat "The Woke Mind Virus," Says "Nothing Else Matters"
By: Mary Aultman | December 12, 2022
Read more at https://thepostmillennial.com/breaking-twitter-employees-painted-trump-as-terrorist-leader-american-patriots-as-rioters-to-justify-ban?utm_campaign=64487
On Monday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk vowed to defeat what he termed "the woke mind virus" a day after tweeting his pronouns were "prosecute/Fauci."
"The woke mind virus is either defeated or nothing else matters," Musk tweeted.
1. On the morning of January 8, President Donald Trump, with one remaining strike before being at risk of permanent suspension from Twitter, tweets twice.
— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) December 12, 2022
Journalist Luke Rudkowski responded to Musk's tweet:
"We are either in a mass awakening event or total collapse of society."
Musk replied, saying, "Exactly."
On Sunday, Musk tweeted, "my pronouns are prosecute/Fauci," which has since garnered 166,000 retweets and 1 million likes.
My pronouns are Prosecute/Fauci
"When Musk was asked if the Twitter files were coming on COVID, her replied:
"Oh it is coming bigtime …"
RELATED: 'Woke' Schools in Australia Renaming Grandparents to 'Grandfriends' to be More Inclusive
Meanwhile, retired astronaut Scott Kelly, brother of Sen. Mark Kelly, attacked Musk for his offensive tweet.
"Elon, please don't mock and promote hate toward already marginalized and at-risk-of-violence members of the #LGBTQ+ community. They are real people with real feelings. Furthermore, Dr Fauci is a dedicated public servant whose sole motivation was saving lives," Kelly tweeted.
Musk responded:
"I strongly disagree. Forcing your pronouns upon others when they didn't ask, and implicitly ostracizing those who don't, is neither good nor kind to anyone."
"As for Fauci, he lied to Congress and funded gain-of-function research that killed millions of people. Not awesome imo."
woke movement
Third Batch of Twitter Files Shows Twitter's Lead Censor Joking About FBI Collusion
BY: TRISTAN JUSTICE | DECEMBER 10, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/10/third-batch-of-twitter-files-shows-twitters-lead-censor-joking-about-fbi-collusion/
'I'm a big believer in calendar transparency,' Roth said. 'But I reached a certain point where my meetings became… very interesting.'
TRISTAN JUSTICE
VISIT ON TWITTER@JUSTICETRISTAN
The third batch of "Twitter Files," published by independent journalist Matt Taibbi, revealed Twitter's former lead censor, Yoel Roth, joking about the company's collusion with government intelligence entities.
"After [Jan. 6, 2021], internal Slacks show Twitter executives getting a kick out of intensified relationships with federal agencies," Taibbi wrote, publishing internal Slack messages that show Roth "lamenting a lack of 'generic enough' calendar descriptions [for] concealing his 'very interesting' meeting partners."
"I'm a big believer in calendar transparency," Roth said in one message. "But I reached a certain point where my meetings became… very interesting."
In response to a colleague who commented "Very Boring Business Meeting That Is Definitely Not About Trump ;)" Roth responded "Preeeeeeeetty much."
"DEFINITELY NOT meeting with the FBI I SWEAR," Roth wrote in another message.
The Slack messages offer more evidence of explicit coordination between the government and Twitter to censor conservative accounts. The second batch of Twitter Files, published by independent journalist Bari Weiss on Thursday, revealed the lead of the company's Strategic Response Team (SRT), a group designated to run the platform's shadowban operations, was a former federal intelligence operative. Jeff Carlton, the team's head, was previously an analyst for the CIA and the FBI, according to his since-deleted LinkedIn page.
This week, Twitter CEO Elon Musk also revealed that the company's deputy general counsel, who played a key role in the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, was a former general counsel of the FBI.
Weeks before the 2020 election, Twitter blocked users from publishing links to blockbuster stories from the New York Post that implicated then-candidate Joe Biden in his son's potentially criminal overseas business ventures. Emails that showed the former vice president's direct involvement with Hunter Biden's influence-peddling schemes came from an abandoned laptop in Delaware. Despite no evidence the computer was ever hacked, Twitter suppressed the story across the platform citing its hacked materials policy. The first batch of "Twitter Files" out last week showed that the company deliberately shut down the bombshells from the Post out of partisanship.
Jim Baker played a pivotal role in censoring the story at Twitter as the company's deputy general counsel, telling colleagues "caution is warranted" that the content might be the consequence of a hack. Prior to joining Twitter, Baker was instrumental in the FBI's deep-state operation to undermine President Donald Trump by peddling the Russia hoax. Musk fired him from Twitter Tuesday and announced the termination with a tweet.
"In light of concerns about Baker's possible role in suppression of information important to the public dialogue, he was exited from Twitter today," Musk wrote.
"His explanation was …unconvincing," Musk wrote in a follow-up on Baker's justification for suppressing the laptop story.
Another post from Taibbi showed Twitter Policy Director Nick Pickles asking colleagues if employees could refer to corporate relationships with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security as "partnerships."
In one internal Slack post published Friday night, Taibbi further exposed the partisan nature of Twitter's censorship operations. On Oct. 9, 2020, someone shared a Trump tweet with Roth which read, "Breaking News: 50,000 OHIO VOTERS getting WRONG ABSENTEE BALLOTS. Out of control. A Rigged Election!!!"
"'[A] rigged election' would be enough to be in violation right?'" wrote an employee whose name has been redacted.
"If the claim of fact were inaccurate, yes," Roth wrote, then added, "But it looks like that's true," with a link to an article from NPR.
The post in question no longer appears in a keyword search for it on Twitter, even though employees knew the facts were accurate.
Tristan Justice is the western correspondent for The Federalist. He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at Tristan@thefederalist.com.
JIM BAKER
YOEL ROTH
A.F. Branco cartoon – Channeling Stalin
A.F. BRANCO | on December 12, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-channeling-stalin/
Show me the man and I'll show you the crime. Stalin-style Justice Dept.
Elon Musk Fires Former FBI Lawyer Behind Russiagate Hoax Following 'Unconvincing' Explanation for Hunter Biden Laptop Censorship
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/12/07/elon-musk-fires-former-fbi-lawyer-behind-russiagate-hoax-following-unconvincing-explanation-for-hunter-biden-laptop-censorship/
Jim Baker was the Clinton campaign's 'go-to, speed-dial contact' to plant false claims about Trump collusion with the Kremlin.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk fired Jim Baker, the company's deputy general counsel, on Tuesday after an "unconvincing" explanation of the terminated employee's role in the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.
On Sunday, independent journalist Matt Taibbi posted a link to an article from attorney Jonathan Turley published in the New York Post which connected Baker's work at Twitter with his prior operations peddling the Russia hoax at the Department of Justice. In 2016, Baker was the Clinton campaign's "go-to, speed-dial contact" to plant false claims about Kremlin collusion and the Trump White House effort. Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann picked Baker to give junk intelligence about a purported connection between President Donald Trump and the Russian Alfa Bank.
"He was effectively forced out due to his role and reportedly found himself under criminal investigation. He became a defender of the Russian investigations despite findings of biased and even criminal conduct," Turley wrote. "After leaving the FBI, Twitter seemed eager to hire Baker as deputy general counsel."
The first batch of "Twitter Files" out on Friday revealed how Baker went on to play an instrumental role in suppressing blockbuster stories from the New York Post about Hunter Biden's laptop and the Biden family business ventures — stories containing emails that implicated then-candidate Joe Biden in the dealings.
"Baker soon weighed in with the same signature bias that characterized the Russian investigations," Turley wrote. Internal documents made public last week show Baker pressed colleagues at Twitter for more information that Biden's emails had been hacked.
"Caution is warranted," Baker wrote, despite there never being evidence the emails were illegally hacked.
Musk responded to Taibbi's post on Tuesday with the announcement that Baker had been fired.
"Was he asked to explain himself?" inquired a user.
"Yes. His explanation was …unconvincing," Musk replied.
In a "Twitter Files Supplemental" thread, Taibbi explained that last week's delay in publishing the first round of files was due to Baker reviewing them without new Twitter leadership knowing.
"Twitter Deputy General Counsel (and former FBI General Counsel) Jim Baker was fired. Among the reasons? Vetting the first batch of 'Twitter Files' — without knowledge of new management," Taibbi wrote.
The post suggests Baker was running interference behind Musk's back to minimize the fallout over the reveal of Twitter's behind-the-scenes operations to elect Joe Biden in 2020.
While general counsel at the FBI, Baker was central to the agency's deep-state operations to undermine Trump as an agent of the Russian government. According to former FBI Deputy General Counsel Trisha Anderson in her testimony before House lawmakers in 2018, Baker "personally reviewed and made edits to the [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]" warrant on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
The ex-FBI counsel would later defend the agency's conduct, telling Yahoo News that officials took "seriously" the uncorroborated dossier commissioned by the DNC that alleged collusion, but "we didn't necessarily take it literally."
The agency's legal chief, however, took it seriously enough to sign off on warrants to spy on political opponents. At least two of the warrant applications to conduct government surveillance on Page were declared illegal by a federal judge.
Carter Page
michael sussmann
Russia hoax
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Ol' Saint Twit
A.F. BRANCO | on December 7, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-ol-saint-twit/
To the MS-Media and the left, Elon is the Grinch who stole their corrupt censorship platform.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Cleaning House
A.F. BRANCO | on December 6, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-cleaning-house/
Government and Democrat corruption with Fascist style censoring is being uncovered by Elon Musk at Twitter Inc.
Elon Musk says Twitter interfered in elections; ex-head of safety admits to Hunter Biden 'mistake'
By Ian M. Giatti, Christian Post Reporter | December 1, 2022
Read more at https://www.christianpost.com/news/elon-musk-says-twitter-interfered-in-elections.html/
This video grab taken from a video posted on the Twitter account of billionaire Tesla chief Elon Musk on October 26, 2022 shows himself carrying a sink as he enters the Twitter headquarters in San Francisco. Elon Musk changed his Twitter profile to "Chief Twit" and posted video of himself walking into the social network's California headquarters carrying a sink, days before his contentious takeover of the company must be finalized. | Photo by Twitter account of Elon Musk/AFP via Getty Images
Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk confirmed the suspicions of many conservative voices Wednesday after revealing that the social media platform "has interfered in elections." Musk made the announcement in response to a Reuters report on Yoel Roth, Twitter's former head of trust and safety, who said the company was "not safer" after the billionaire business magnate acquired the company last month.
In what was billed as his first interview since resigning in November, Roth warned that the company no longer had enough staff to adequately perform safety work. In response to one commenter who said Twitter "has lost users' trust" and that previous "trust and safety" personnel were a "disgrace," Musk agreed and pledged to make Twitter "more effective, transparent and even-handed."
"The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust & safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections," he wrote.
Exactly. The obvious reality, as long-time users know, is that Twitter has failed in trust & safety for a very long time and has interfered in elections.
Twitter 2.0 will be far more effective, transparent and even-handed.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 30, 2022
Earlier this week, Musk signaled that he would follow through with his pledge to make Twitter more transparent by releasing what he dubbed the "Twitter Files on free speech suppression," adding, "The public deserves to know what really happened…"
The Twitter Files on free speech suppression soon to be published on Twitter itself. The public deserves to know what really happened …— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 28, 2022
Roth made the comments that ultimately spurred Musk's response while speaking at a conference hosted by the Knight Foundation when he explained why he tendered his resignation after initially supporting, at least publicly, Musk's reform efforts.
"One of my limits was if Twitter starts being ruled by dictatorial edict rather than by policy … there's no longer a need for me in my role, doing what I do," he was quoted as saying.
Roth also admitted that Twitter censored the Hunter Biden laptop story at the height of the 2020 presidential campaign because the company was unable to confirm its veracity, according to Reuters.
In an interview with journalist Kara Swisher, the former Twitter division lead was quoted as saying: "We didn't know what to believe, we didn't know what was true, there was smoke — and ultimately for me, it didn't reach a place where I was comfortable removing this content from Twitter."
When asked whether the move was ultimately a mistake, Roth replied, "In my opinion, yes."
In October 2020, just days before voters were to head to the polls, Twitter blocked users' ability to share links to the New York Post's story about Hunter Biden's now-notorious laptop.
The New York Times confirmed the laptop's existence in March of this year in a report on the ongoing federal investigation into Hunter Biden's tax filings.
Twitter's censorship of the Post's story also included blocking anyone with a large Twitter following from sharing it, CP reported in October 2020. The platform went so far as locking the personal account of White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany after she shared the article. Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who shared the article were also blocked on the platform. In response, the Senate Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who later confirmed the censorship and said it was "wrong" to block the story from being shared.
Since Musk's takeover, a number of several high-profile accounts were reinstated by Twitter, including former President Donald Trump, The Babylon Bee, Dr. Jordan Peterson, Kathy Griffin and Project Veritas, among others.
CP, which had its account suspended in March after publishing a headline that described trans-identified Health and Human Services Secretary Rachel Levine as a man, has not yet been reinstated.
Hunter Biden Lap Top
Twitter interfered in elections
'Misinformation': Democrats, Media Allies Zero in on Their Own Election Denial Strategy
By LAUREL DUGGAN, SOCIAL ISSUES AND CULTURE REPORTER | November 08, 2022
Read more at https://dailycaller.com/2022/11/08/misinformation-democrats-media-allies-election-denial/
Screenshot/CBS News
Democrats and left-leaning media are blaming the expected midterm red wave on "misinformation," refusing to acknowledge that voters may be choosing not to support them based on accurate information about their performance.
Twitter under the leadership of Elon Musk and conservative media projects focused on winning over minority voters have been targets of Democrats' blame, and the media has accused both of promoting "misinformation."
"The narrative has been set by Democrats and their allies in the media that as soon as Elon Musk took over Twitter, misinformation would spread. It's entirely predictable, and the leftist alliance simply wasn't prepared for the course correction desperately needed on a platform that used to censor conservatives," Mike Davis, president of the Internet Accountability Project, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Democrats are blaming their projected midterm losses on "misinformation," which they claim is responsible for their declining popularity. Democratic politicians and left-leaning media figures are preemptively blaming the expected red wave on Elon Musk's Twitter buyout and ensuing changes in the platform's censorship policies. They're also blaming their declining popularity among minority voters on conservative media outreach projects aimed at those communities, which they have labeled "misinformation."
"The narrative has been set by Democrats and their allies in the media that as soon as Elon Musk took over Twitter, misinformation would spread. It's entirely predictable, and the leftist alliance simply wasn't prepared for the course correction desperately needed on a platform that used to censor conservatives," Mike Davis, president of the Internet Accountability Project, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Free speech is vital to a free and fair system, and we should all welcome the fact that Twitter is no longer a communications arm of the far left."
Musk's purchase of Twitter was finalized Oct. 17, and he quickly fired several top executives including head of legal policy, trust and safety, Vijaya Gadde, who had been involved in content moderation policies such as the decision to ban then-President Donald Trump from the platform in 2021. Democrats have expressed fear that Musk's takeover will result in more relaxed content moderation and a surge in misinformation on the site, which some of them claim is a threat to election integrity. (RELATED: Rogan: 'Woke' Left Wants Censorship Because The Right Got Good At Social Media)
Stacey Abrams explaining her poll numbers: "Unfortunately, this year, black men have been a very targeted population for misinformation. Not misinformation about what they want but about why they want what they deserve." pic.twitter.com/HhPxK0vVgj
— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) November 6, 2022
"Elon Musk goes out and buys an outfit that spews lies all across the world," President Joe Biden said. "There's no editors anymore in America."
Twitter moderators create curated content pages for news stories and trending topics which include context about the story which is often slanted in favor of Democrats' talking points, according to The Washington Post. Musk reportedly laid off the entire team behind those efforts Friday.
"Days before the midterms, Twitter lays off employees who fight misinformation," an NBC News headline said of the development. Twitter leaders have disputed claims that the platform is weakening its election integrity efforts.
The controversy comes two years after Twitter suppressed and censored the New York Post's story about emails on Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop regarding a meeting between then-Vice President Joe Biden and a Ukrainian gas executive.
"Ahead of what looks to be a resounding midterm defeat, Democrats and the media (pardon the redundancy) are engaging in their favorite form of election denialism: the "misinformation" trope," Jorge Bonilla, director of Media Research Center Latino, told the DCNF. "By pushing these tropes in the face of defeat rather than engaging in retrospection over their lost power and influence, the left (and the media) prove that they've learned nothing."
Democratic Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams said Georgia Democrats were seeing waning support among black men because they were targets of misinformation in a recent appearance on MSNBC's "Velshi."
"Unfortunately, this year, black men have been a very targeted population for misinformation. Not misinformation about what they want but about why they want what they deserve," Abrams said.
What the hell does that mean, "Not misinformation about what they want but about why they want what they deserve,"?
White House adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms echoed Abrams' point in a Sunday interview on CBS News' "Face the Nation."
"If the policies are so good, why is communicating them such a problem?" interviewer Margaret Brennan asked.
"Well it's been a very difficult couple of years. We've been in the midst of a pandemic, there's been a lot of misinformation flooding the airwaves," Bottoms said. "We see it in ways not just on television but we're seeing it through YouTube. We're seeing it on other social media platforms. So it is more difficult to get the message out."
Twitter and Musk did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation's requests for comment.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Great Balls of Dire
A.F. BRANCO | on November 8, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-great-balls-of-dire/
Biden is driving an economic wrecking ball crane and it doesn't run on diesel, just Left-Wing propaganda. Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2022.
Cartoon by A.F. Branco
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Vote Red! Stop the Insanity
A.F. BRANCO | on November 8, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-vote-red-stop-the-insanity/
Vote Red! Stop the Insanity. Even Elon Musk is saying to vote straight Republican on November 8, 2022.
A.F. Branco has taken his two greatest passions, (art and politics) and translated them into cartoons that have been popular all over the country, in various news outlets including "Fox News", MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and "The Washington Post." He has been recognized by such personalities as Dinesh D'Souza, James Woods, Sarah Palin, Larry Elder, Lars Larson, Rush Limbaugh, and President Donald Trump.
BIDEN DISASTER
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Creepy Tots
A.F. BRANCO | on October 31, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-creepy-tots/
Halloween for 2022 Creepy Tot swamp monsters.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Chief Twit
A.F. BRANCO | on November 1, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-chief-twit/
Elon Musk buys Twitter, fires the top CEOs and the left is throwing a fit.
SWAMP MONTERS
Here Is Everything Democrats Claim Is 'A Threat to Democracy'
BY: THE FEDERALIST STAFF | OCTOBER 27, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/10/27/here-is-everything-democrats-claim-is-a-threat-to-democracy/
Meanwhile, it's the blue party that's working overtime to erode and replace actual democratic processes.
THE FEDERALIST STAFF
Updated on Oct. 27.
It seems like every day Democrats and their cronies in the corrupt corporate media concoct a new, bogus "threat to democracy" that they use to intimidate Americans out of voting for their political opponents.
These "threats" aren't just overused, they are overexaggerated in an effort to cover up Democrats' hypocrisy, mask their incompetence, and justify the targeting of their ideological enemies. Meanwhile, it's the blue party that's working overtime to erode and replace the actual democratic processes responsible for keeping our nation running.
Here is a list of everything Democrats claim is "a threat to democracy."
Americans think corporate media are a bigger "threat to democracy" than former President Donald Trump yet not one day goes by without a Democrat, talking head, or corporate media outlet asserting the Republican is responsible for the downfall of the nation.
The "threat to democracy" accusations began before Trump won the 2016 election, have continued throughout his presidency, and repeatedly make headlines more than a year after the end of his first term.
What could possibly be a bigger "threat to democracy" than Democrats' top Trumpian foe? According to President Joe Biden, it is "MAGA Republicans."
"Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic," Biden said during a doom-and-gloom speech in Philadelphia earlier this year.
Whether it's Republican voters, Republican governors, Republican members of Congress, Republican-controlled legislatures, or even Republican grandmas, Democrats and the media say anyone associated with the GOP could destroy our nation and deserves punishment.
Brookings, a left-leaning think tank, described Republican Sen. Ted Cruz as one of many "copycat candidates who parrot Trump's moves and endorse his anti-democratic tactics" in a piece titled, "Trump is not the only threat to democracy."
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley earned the same judgment from Brookings as Cruz. Additionally, when he objected to certifying the 2020 presidential election results, he (along with Cruz and other GOP senators) was smeared by The Washington Post as one of "the Constitution's most dangerous domestic enemies."
According to Democrats, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a raging, extreme "threat to democracy" for simply governing as a Republican.
"Ron DeSantis Would Kill Democracy Slowly and Methodically," one article in New York Magazine warned.
"An impaired Fetterman who does not pose a threat to our democracy is better than a polished Oz who does. Remember what's at stake here," a senior adviser at The Lincoln Project tweeted shortly after the political opponents' debate.
Tudor Dixon
Tudor Dixon, the Republican woman brave enough to challenge Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, was classified as "a huge threat to our democracy" by her incumbent opponent for raising questions about election irregularities.
Election deniers pose a huge threat to our democracy — and Tudor Dixon is one of them. She spreads conspiracies and won't even commit to accepting the results of this election.
I will always accept the will of the people and protect our democracy. pic.twitter.com/Ou2Qq0mJVW
— Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) October 26, 2022
For the crime of being an effective Republican lawmaker, Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has also been deemed a "threat to democracy."
Legitimately Conducted Elections
Speaking of Republicans, did you know that Americans choosing to elect GOP candidates is a threat to Democracy? That's what several of the nation's top propaganda publications want you to believe.
"American Democracy Can't Survive Unless the Far Right Is Marginalized. Here's How to Do It," Time Magazine warned in 2021.
The push to classify GOP wins as threats especially expanded ahead of the 2022 midterms.
"Should [Republicans] win, they will certainly attempt to end democracy as we know it in their states," MSNBC Opinion Columnist Ryan Cooper wrote three weeks before Election Day 2022. "The effort will probably look like an updated version of Jim Crow."
Questioning Elections
Nevermind that Democrats are known for rejecting election results and objecting to every presidential Republican victory this century — anyone who dares mention that U.S. elections are not perfect is smeared with the ill-fitting term "election denier," and considered a "threat to democracy."
This "threat," according to media, Democrats, and the ever-vague "experts," is so big that it needs to be taught in schools. Less than two weeks before the 2022 midterms, The New York Times published a "Lesson Plan" titled "Explore How the Election Denial Movement Threatens Democracy."
"What can happen in a representative democracy when politicians and a significant portion of the electorate question the legitimacy of elections?" the subtitle asks.
The Events of Jan. 6, 2021
Democrats say Americans' actions on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, proved to be as big a "threat to democracy" as Pearl Harbor or 9/11, both of which resulted in thousands more deaths than the Capitol riot.
Not only was the Capitol riot an existential threat, leftists claim, but New York Magazine says "Americans' Indifference About January 6 Is the Real Threat to Democracy."
Election Security Legislation
The New York Times is also one of the many corporate media outlets and others that have expressed concern with Republicans' voter integrity measures following the chaotic 2020 election.
"Many top Republican Party officials and lawmakers have spent the last two years striking back, and drawn the most attention for their efforts to pass 'voter integrity' laws that aim to make voting more onerous under the guise of preventing fraud. … These are pernicious laws, and they undermine Americans' hard-won rights to vote. But just as important is the matter of who counts the votes, and who decides which votes count and which do not," The New York Times editorial board wrote last month.
"The real threat to America's electoral system is not posed by ineligible voters trying to cast ballots. It is coming from inside the system," the board concluded. "All those who value democracy have a role to play in strengthening and supporting the electoral system that powers it, whatever their party. This involves, first, taking the threat posed by election deniers seriously and talking to friends and neighbors about it. It means paying attention to local elections — not just national ones — and supporting candidates who reject conspiracy theories and unfounded claims of fraud. It means getting involved in elections as canvassers or poll watchers or precinct officers."
It's ironic that The New York Times wants voters to be poll watchers — especially since corporate media recently deemed those who sign up to monitor ballot boxes as "threats to democracy."
As documented by The Federalist's Shawn Fleetwood, the propaganda press is repeatedly "hitting the panic button over Republican poll watchers legitimately overseeing the conduction of elections, see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here."
When Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced plans to acquire Twitter and welcome free speech back to the Big Tech platform, Twitter's pampered employees, the corporate media, and pro-censorship politicians threw a fit.
"He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less," The Washington Post's Max Boot tweeted.
Not only is Musk's purchase considered by the left a "threat to democracy," Salon writer Matthew Rozsa said Musk's "attempted takeover of Twitter is a threat to the free world."
Some of the same media personalities whose livelihoods revolve around rights granted by the First Amendment say that free speech, especially online, is "a threat to democracy."
'Misinformation'
The pro-censorship party and its allies say "misinformation" and "disinformation," which means any information about hot topics like Covid, elections, and biology that they deem inconvenient or contra the narrative they are trying to sell, is a threat to democracy.
Parents at School Board Meetings
If it wasn't already clear that the National School Boards Association and Attorney General Merrick Garland think concerned parents are "domestic terrorists" who threaten our nation and deserve to be prosecuted, it was certainly made clear by members of the media.
"Attacks on school boards are a threat to democracy," an opinion editorial in the Mercury News said.
Pro-Lifers
Garland also considers peaceful pro-life protesters to be a threat to the nation. That's why his Department of Justice has publicly indicted 22 people who oppose killing babies in the womb instead of prosecuting the people responsible for the destruction, vandalism, and arson of dozens of pregnancy centers.
The U.S. Supreme Court
Democrats have long insisted that the Supreme Court's decisions are the "law of the land" but when the court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year, that philosophy was quickly replaced with the left's favorite excuse for hypocrisy.
"The US supreme court poses a real threat to Americans' democracy," one headline in The Guardian blared.
Even before that, media, upset with the prospect of Trump exercising his presidential power to nominate yet another justice to the court, felt the need to explain "Why the Supreme Court is one of the biggest threats to American democracy."
At one point, New York Magazine's Eric Levitz threatened that "If the Court's right-wing majority finds that it can continually push the boundaries of conservative judicial activism without undermining its own popular legitimacy, then the consequences for progressivism and popular democracy could be dire."
Clarence and Ginni Thomas
The left believes that not only is the Supreme Court a "threat to democracy," but so are Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife.
"Ginni and Clarence Thomas are the duo we wish we didn't have to constantly talk about, but here we are. Their actions surrounding the insurrection are a threat to our democracy and the public's trust in our courts," Citizens for Ethics, a leftist watchdog group, tweeted.
Our nation's Electoral College was designed to best represent Americans no matter where they lived but the left says that constitutional design is a "threat to democracy."
The left-leaning Aspen Institute blared that "The Electoral College Is a Threat to 21st Century Democracy," adding that while "our founders felt we needed a brake against 'mob rule,' it is incompatible with our current national credo that every vote counts."
Our Bicameral Legislature
According to Vox, though, the Electoral College "poses a smaller long-term threat to American democracy than the Senate," because "the Senate undermines principles of equal democratic representation."
"The Senate will continue to give small states, which tend to be rural and conservative, far more clout than their size deserves. That's not just a problem for democracy in the abstract," the Brennan Center's Zachary Roth agrees.
Democracy Itself
As documented by The Federalist's Elle Purnell, Democrats and the media also consider an elected majority in the U.S. Senate a threat to democracy.
This became very apparent when West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, "determined not to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Bankrupt plan."
"Manchin is killing the Biden legislative agenda, and perhaps the future of American democracy too," tweeted MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan.
THREAT TO DEMOCRACY
Elon Musk vs. Twitter drama finally ends with agreement to buy social media company for original price
By CHRIS PANDOLFO | October 04, 2022
Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/elon-musk-vs-twitter-drama-finally-ends-with-agreement-to-buy-social-media-company-for-original-price-2658386724.html/
Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $44 billion deal to buy Twitter is back on after the multi-billionaire offered to close the deal, which would put an end to pending litigation and a dramatic back-and-forth with the social media company. Musk made his proposal in a letter to Twitter that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday and first reported by Bloomberg. Twitter issued a statement saying the company has agreed sell at Musk's original offer price of $54.20 per share.
"We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share," Twitter said.
Twitter issued this statement about today's news: We received the letter from the Musk parties which they have filed with the SEC. The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share.
— Twitter Investor Relations (@TwitterIR) October 4, 2022
Musk's attorneys wrote that deal will close pending a Delaware judge's agreement to stay Twitter's pending lawsuit against Musk and the ability of Musk to secure financing.
"The Musk Parties provide this notice without admission of liability and without waiver of or prejudice to any of their rights, including their right to assert the defenses and counterclaims pending in the Action, including in the event the Action is not stayed, Twitter fails or refuses to comply with its obligations under the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement or if the transaction contemplated thereby otherwise fails to close," the letter said.
The letter brings an end to the drama over Musk's attempt to acquire Twitter. The billionaire businessman purchased a 9.6% stake in the company before rejecting a seat on Twitter's board and threatening a hostile takeover. He offered to buy out Twitter for $44 billion in April but then tried to back out of the deal in July by claiming that Twitter had made false claims about how many fake or bot accounts are on its platform. After Twitter sued Musk to make him follow through with the agreement, he added claims from a whistleblower that Twitter deceived regulators about "extreme, egregious deficiencies" in combating hackers and spam to his complaint.
Outside observers had predicted that Musk's effort to back out of the deal was likely to fail. Some analysts suggested that he was trying to negotiate a lower sale price from Twitter.
"Musk proceeding with Twitter deal at $54.30. Writing was on the wall he could not win in Delaware and this saves both sides a long and ugly court battle ahead," said Wall Street tech analyst Daniel Ives.
Musk proceeding with Twitter deal at $54.30. Writing was on the wall he could not win in Delaware and this saves both sides a long and ugly court battle ahead. Musk will now own the Twitter platform as an end to this saga and soap opera that began in April.
— Dan Ives (@DivesTech) October 4, 2022
Musk was scheduled to be deposed in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday and Friday.
Twitter shares surged as much as 18% on the news that he offered to complete the deal, according to Deadline.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Technoking in Shining Armor
A.F. BRANCO | on May 20, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-technoking-in-shining-armor/
Elon will join the fight against the Democrat's war of Division and Hate on the American people by voting Republican.
woke Left
This Insane 2020 Time Magazine Article Explains Exactly Why the Left Fears Losing Twitter
REPORTED BY: DAN O'DONNELL | APRIL 28, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/04/28/this-insane-2020-time-magazine-article-explains-exactly-why-the-left-fears-losing-twitter/
An astonishing but largely forgotten story in Time Magazine explains why there is so much leftist concern today about Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter.
DAN O'DONNELL
Of all the hysterical leftist reactions to Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter on Monday, MSNBC host Ari Melber's was easily the most revealing.
"If you own all of Twitter or Facebook or what have you, you don't have to explain yourself," he gravely intoned during his show Monday evening. "You don't even have to be transparent. You could secretly ban one party's candidate or all of its candidates, all of its nominees, or you could just secretly turn down the reach of their stuff and turn up the reach of something else, and the rest of us might not even find out about it 'til after the election."
You don't say. This was in fact the way the left used social media to win the 2020 presidential election. They even admitted it openly in a stunning yet largely forgotten February 2021 article in Time magazine entitled "The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign that Saved the 2020 Election."
"For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America's institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President," wrote reporter Molly Ball. "Their work touched every aspect of the election."
And they wanted credit for it, Ball continued, "even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream — a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information."
Their aim, they insisted, wasn't to rig the election but to "fortify" it against then-President Donald Trump and his allies, whom they believed to be a threat to democracy itself.
"Their work touched every aspect of the election. They got states to change voting systems and laws and helped secure hundreds of millions in public and private funding. They fended off voter-suppression lawsuits, recruited armies of poll workers and got millions of people to vote by mail for the first time. They successfully pressured social media companies to take a harder line against disinformation and used data-driven strategies to fight viral smears."
The final piece was critical, especially in the waning days of the campaign, when an October surprise in the form of Hunter Biden's laptop threatened to derail his father's candidacy and undo the organized left's hard work.
The New York Post's exclusive story dropped like a grenade less than a month before Election Day, providing "smoking-gun emails" showing that the younger Biden introduced his father "to a top executive at a Ukrainian energy firm less than a year before the elder Biden pressured government officials in Ukraine into firing a prosecutor who was investigating the company."
The emails, the Post explained, were obtained from a computer dropped off and apparently forgotten at a repair shop in Delaware. Under the terms of the repair agreement, the store's owner took possession of the laptop when it was deemed to be abandoned. Twitter and Facebook, though, determined without any evidence that the emails were actually "hacked materials" and thus distributed in violation of their terms of use agreements.
Facebook quickly acted to limit the reach of the story, while Twitter took the extraordinary step of locking the Post's account and preventing other users from sharing its story or even pictures from it. Neither Hunter Biden nor the Joe Biden presidential campaign denied that the laptop was Hunter's, and the younger Biden's business partner, Tony Bobulinski, went on the record a few days later with documents that confirmed the Post's reporting, which seemed to uncover an international bribery scheme.
It didn't matter. Once 50 obviously partisan intelligence officials issued an evidence-free statement calling the laptop materials "Russian disinformation," it was determined that they would be censored in both legacy and social media.
Of course, more than a year after Biden was safely elected, both The New York Times and Washington Post confirmed that the laptop was genuine, but the censorship did its job: A Media Research Center poll of swing state voters confirmed that 16 percent of Biden supporters would have changed their votes had they heard of the laptop story, including 4 percent who would have switched their vote to Trump. This obviously would have swung the entire election to Trump, but that would have been an unacceptable result for the leftist cabal intent on "fortifying" democracy by stacking the deck against him. In light of the Media Research Center's findings, social media censorship was very possibly the most effective way they did it. And naturally they had to brag about it in Time.
"Trump's lies and conspiracy theories, the viral force of social media and the involvement of foreign meddlers made disinformation a broader, deeper threat to the 2020 vote," Ball reported. "Laura Quinn, a veteran progressive operative who co-founded Catalist, began studying this problem a few years ago. She piloted a nameless, secret project, which she has never before publicly discussed, that tracked disinformation online and tried to figure out how to combat it."
She ultimately concluded that engaging with this supposedly "toxic content" or trying to debunk it was ineffective, so "the solution, she concluded, was to pressure platforms to enforce their rules, both by removing content or accounts that spread disinformation and by more aggressively policing it in the first place."
This research armed liberal activists to pressure social media companies like Twitter and Facebook to far more aggressively and creatively enforce their rules, prompting a crackdown on "disinformation" that was in fact completely accurate. Because it was harmful to the effort to "save democracy" and defeat the "autocratic" Trump, it was censored.
"Democracy won in the end," Ball concluded. "The will of the people prevailed. But it's crazy, in retrospect, that this is what it took to put on an election in the United States of America."
This reveals the real threat of Musk's Twitter takeover: If it is no longer possible to suppress factual information in the name of rescuing democracy from its alleged enemies, then those enemies (read: Republicans) might start winning more elections. And that is simply unacceptable.
Dan O'Donnell is a talk show host with News/Talk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee, Wis. and 1310 WIBA in Madison, Wis., and a columnist for the John K. MacIver Institute.
ARI MELBER
Hunter Biden laptop
The Washington Post's Repulsive Defense Of Twitter Execs Makes Even Elon Musk Look Good
REPORTED BY: MARK HEMINGWAY | APRIL 28, 2022
Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/04/28/the-washington-posts-repulsive-defense-of-twitter-execs-makes-even-elon-musk-look-good/
In buying out Twitter, Elon Musk is more important for what he has revealed than what he has done.
MARK HEMINGWAY
VISIT ON TWITTER@HEMINATOR
Yesterday, amid the ongoing bladder loosening that has accompanied Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter, leaks started coming from inside the tech company. Politico reported that "Twitter's top lawyer reassures staff, cries during meeting about Musk takeover."
The lawyer, Vijaya Gadde, has played a major role in some of Twitter's most controversial decisions, such as removing former President Trump and censoring The New York Post from the platform for reporting an accurate story about the damning Hunter Biden laptop weeks before his father was elected president amid real questions about his involvement in his son's corruption. Gadde's political motivations don't seem to be a mystery. Six days before the 2020 election, Politico profiled her under the headline, "Is Twitter Going Full Resistance? Here's the Woman Driving the Change." And it's pretty clear that she contributed to Twitter making at least one terrible decision. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey would later admit the company made a "total mistake" in censoring the story.
By any reasonable measure, Gadde has earned her fair share of criticism — quite literally. Twitter is reportedly paying her just shy of $17 million a year, and one of the main justifications for such exorbitant executive pay, however flimsy, is public accountability. If you must fall on a sword, I imagine an eight-figure bank balance cushions the blow quite a bit. So on Tuesday, Saagar Enjeti, the co-host of the popular online political show "Turning Points," tweeted a screenshot of the Politico headline about Gadde crying and observed, "Vijaya Gadde, the top censorship advocate at Twitter who famously gaslit the world on Joe Rogan's podcast and censored the Hunter Biden laptop story, is very upset about the @elonmusk takeover." Musk himself decided to reply to Enjeti, adding, "Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate."
That same day, Mike Cernovich, who has a large right-leaning Twitter account, noted that Twitter's deputy general counsel is Jim Baker, who was previously general counsel of the FBI. While at the FBI, Baker played a very controversial role in the FBI's discredited investigation into the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia. (In fact, here's Baker being asked about the process for FISA warrants, which were used by the FBI to spy on the former president: "Do I need to have every one of those details? I mean these things are already quite long. Look, it's an art, not a science.")
Musk responded to Cernovich's tweet: "Sounds pretty bad…"
These two interactions would be pretty thin gruel for a news story on their own merits, but Musk is the richest man in the world, and obviously what the new owner says about Twitter is noteworthy.
Anyway, you wouldn't believe what the Washington Post did next! Or maybe you will.
Stifling Dissent
At 3:03 a.m. Wednesday, the Post dropped its story on the matter: "Elon Musk boosts criticism of Twitter executives, prompting online attacks: The targeting of employees by Musk's massive Twitter megaphone is a major concern for workers."
The horror only compounds from there. "Musk's response Tuesday was the first time he targeted specific Twitter executives by using his nearly singular ability to call attention to topics that interest him," intoned the Post. "Supporters of Musk, a prolific and freewheeling tweeter with 86 million followers, tend to pile on with his viewpoints."
To be clear, Musk never said anything specific about Gadde, except to imply her role in the decision to ban The New York Post was wrong — an opinion that isn't controversial and was publicly stated by Twitter's previous CEO. As for Baker, Musk was commenting on his previous conduct as a public official, which by any accurate assessment was defined by poor judgment. Regardless, "sounds bad" is not exactly committing to a definitive judgment of the man, much less in his current role at Twitter.
(As for what it says that the FBI's former general counsel went from a disgraceful role in a spy scandal meant to influence the 2016 election to a lucrative gig at a tech company perhaps best known for its clumsy and dishonest attempts to influence the 2020 election… well, let your imagination run wild. There's no explanation that isn't disheartening.)
Neither person was "targeted." The entire story is more accurately restated by the Washington Post expressing shock and dismay that millionaire tech executives might find themselves receiving public criticism from billionaire tech entrepreneurs. That's a pretty questionable premise for one of the nation's most influential news outlets to endorse.
As Mike Solana, no stranger to observing the tech industry, put it, "This is a country of over 300 million people. If the rule for acceptable criticism of powerful executives and state propagandists is 'can't lead to *someone else* saying something awful,' you effectively end all vital dissent. Then, that is of course the point."
Believe me, when you learn how this story was reported, the notion the Post was trying to stifle dissent is not an outrageous assumption. The Post almost entirely ignored the substance of the criticisms leveled at Baker and Gadde and did not make good-faith attempts to include alternate perspectives.
On Wednesday, Enjeti took to Twitter and blasted the Post's story, which hinged on his interaction with Musk: "WAPO says I did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Complete BS, they emailed *my producer* at 2am EST…7 hours after @elonmusk replied to my tweet with the following RIDICULOUS questions." Without waiting for Enjeti to respond, the Post published the story in the middle of the night, less than an hour after asking him for comment.
The questions the Post asked were hilariously loaded. Essentially, Enjeti was asked to explain his villainous behavior:
Does [Enjeti] have any concern that mentioning a specific Twitter exec could result in attacks on that exec? What are the responsibilities here? For example, one of the commenters on the tweets made racist comments against Gadde, and said she should be fired.
What does [Enjeti] hope to accomplish by calling out Gadde and getting Musk involved?
Enjeti was rightly disgusted: "This is a great example of how the media smears you. I make a substantive point, randos say something. Now myself and @elonmusk are somehow racist/responsible for them! All to cover up the fact that they substantively agree with censorship."
Aside from their desire to prop up an opaque regime of algorithmic censorship produced by an unholy collusion of tech executives and state propagandists, the more benign explanation for the Post's motivations — and this in no way negates both motives being true — was summed up by Josh Barro: "The idea that the important thing here is the feelings of Twitter employees (especially senior executives) is just so unhinged. Pure class affiliation on the part of journalists, they consider existing Twitter management to be their partners."
Indeed, class affiliation increasingly explains this bizarre and indefensible media behavior, as well as their growing inability to describe basic realities. Batya Ungar-Sargon has written a very good book on the problem.
However, if there's a line between class affiliation and class warfare, the corporate media's pro-censorship crusade has obliterated it. For a long time, I balked at Trump daring to call the media "the enemy of the people," but it is becoming impossible to ignore that the media's motives reflect an "Us" vs. "You" mentality. In this case, as Tim Carney notes, "The best way to understand the media is to ask who do they consider 'us.' The college educated progressive high-level tech employees are 'us' to the average tech reporter."
As long as we're talking about class solidarity, it should also be clear that it would be foolish of anyone critical of the current censorship regime to assume that Musk will be a reliable champion of a set of particular values or whatever else you think might be necessary to preserve America's legacy of prosperity and ordered liberty. There is no need to go out of your way to defend him, he's just one very wealthy man, and odds are high he will disappoint you. Maybe he won't sell his soul to China. Maybe he will get us to Mars. But here and now, Musk is more important for what he has revealed than what he has done.
By merely expressing support for a conception of free speech that Americans almost universally agreed on 15 years ago, he threatens to take a battering ram to the doors of The Cathedral. He is a threat to an existing order that corruptly benefits progressive elites, an unaccountable government, and a media too dumb and pliable to realize there's no glory in defending someone who makes $17 million a year from mean tweets.
It's not that any thoughtful American doesn't have serious reservations about an eccentric billionaire presenting himself as a guardian of the right to free speech. The problem is that we've been given a choice between Elon Musk and the demented and hostile worldview chronicled in the Washington Post, and the choice is obvious.
Mark Hemingway is the Book Editor at The Federalist, and was formerly a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. Follow him on Twitter at @heminator
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Mostly Peaceful Takeover
A.F. BRANCO | on April 26, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-mostly-peaceful-takeover/
Elon Musk buying Twitter is a huge boost for free speech in America and has the censorship Tyrants on the left going berserk.
Elon Musk diagnoses Netflix's big problem after platform sheds subscribers, stock tumbles: 'Woke mind virus'
Reported by CHRIS ENLOE | April 20, 2022
Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/elon-musk-diagnoses-netflixs-big-problem-after-platform-sheds-subscribers-stock-tumbles-woke-mind-virus/
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has diagnosed the disease that he believes is causing Netflix's foreboding financial woes.
Netflix announced on Tuesday that it experienced its first net loss of subscribers in more than a decade during the first quarter of 2022. The streaming platform disclosed that 200,000 users dropped the service between January and March. The news caused shares of Netflix stock to tumble more than 25%, CNBC reported. Netflix previously told shareholders the company would experience a net gain of 2.5 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. To make matters worse, Netflix is now forecasting the loss of another 2 million subscribers in the second quarter of this year. Netflix's stock further cratered more than 30% as of Wednesday afternoon.
Musk pointed to woke ideology as the source of Netflix's subscriber and impending financial woes.
Responding to news of the significant stock tumble, Musk said, "The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable."
The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable
In response to another Twitter user who said the "woke mind virus is the biggest threat to the civilization," Musk affirmed, "Yes."
Indeed, Netflix has platformed provocatively progressive content. For example, Netflix hosts the show "Dear White People," which is described as addressing the "complexities of prejudice that take different forms — whether it's white or light-skinned privilege, sexism, or homophobia."
Netflix is also scheduled to release a new show on Thursday called "He's Expecting." As the title suggests, the show is centered on a pregnant male character. Netflix describes the show: "When a successful ad executive who's got it all figured out becomes pregnant, he's forced to confront social inequities he'd never considered before."
Netflix is also working with Ibram X. Kendi to adapt his anti-racist work into film projects, and the platform released a show about Colin Kaepernick last year. The platform attributed its subscriber decline and bleak forecast to market factors outside the company's control, account sharing, competition (from Amazon, Disney, YouTube, Hulu, and others), and other "macro factors" including "sluggish economic growth, increasing inflation, geopolitical events such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and some continued disruption from COVID."
It's Not Just Elon: The Left Whines 'Threat to Democracy' Whenever There's a Threat to Their Regime
REPORTED BY: ELLE REYNOLDS | APRIL 19, 2022
Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/its-not-just-elon-the-left-whines-threat-to-democracy-whenever-theres-a-threat-to-their-regime-2657176085.html/
They're so fragile that making any chink in their armor will get you labeled as America's (next) 'first 9/11.'
ELLE REYNOLDS
VISIT ON TWITTER@_ETREYNOLDS
The same people who relentlessly insisted that Big Tech's censorship campaign was totally fine are now screaming that a potential buyout of Twitter by Elon Musk poses a certified Threat to Democracy. But we've heard this absurd routine before, and it's not really democracy they're worried about. The Big Tech, big media, and big government cabal just whine about democracy being under siege when their own power conglomerate is threatened.
"I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes," fretted The Washington Post's Max Boot last week, after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO offered to buy the entirety of Twitter stock. "For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less."
Former New York Magazine writer Jesse Singal had the very intelligent take that even the possibility of Musk buying out Twitter was "America's very first 9/11," while Salon's Matthew Rozsa blared that "Elon Musk's attempted takeover of Twitter is a threat to the free world."
The idea of losing some power to silence opposing viewpoints on social media is terrifying to these people — so terrifying that in their panic they don't even realize they've admitted their own gluttony for control.
But this isn't the first time the group of people in media, tech platforms, and politics who want to control what you think have seen pushback on their vise grip and gone ballistic. And a "threat to democracy" is their favorite label with which to smear anything that challenges their power.
The most obvious example is the systematic campaign to convince the country that a five-hour riot at the U.S. Capitol — which, contrary to media lies, did not cause the deaths of five people — was as bad as or worse than the terror attacks of 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the Civil War. You don't have to defend the Jan. 6, 2021 riot to recognize that America's own justice system indicates it was neither an "insurrection" nor a "terrorist attack," despite the hysteria of the corporate press.
But that's not the only instance. Just think back to when The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin cried "Democracy is hanging by a thread" when an elected majority in the U.S. Senate, including West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, determined not to pass President Joe Biden's Build Back Bankrupt plan. For Rubin and others, actual democracy at work was just too much of a threat to … democracy.
Meanwhile, The Atlantic has called the entire Republican Party "a grave threat to American democracy," with similar smears from Business Insider and the Chicago Sun-Times.
When concerned parents showed up to school board meetings to protest racist and radical sex ideology in their kids' classrooms, they were labeled not just a threat to democracy but domestic terrorists, in a smear campaign that was revealed to be orchestrated by President Joe Biden's own Department of Education.
New York Magazine's Eric Levitz worried that the U.S. Supreme Court was too conservative, threatening that "the consequences for … popular democracy could be dire."
Vox, among others, has declared that the constitutionally prescribed Electoral College "poses a … long-term threat to American democracy." It has also claimed the constitutionally prescribed half of our bicameral legislature known as the U.S. Senate poses an even greater one.
And of course, nearly everyone on the left whined that questions about the rigging of the 2020 election were existential threats to democracy, after they spent years deriding President Donald Trump's 2016 win as "illegitimate."
It's more than obvious by now that these people don't truly want democracy or freedom, but power. When their control — over what laws are passed, who wins elections, what's taught to kids in schools, or what you're allowed to say on social media — is challenged, including by actual democratic processes like fair elections, free speech, or the will of a congressional majority, they'll rush to call the challenger an enemy of democracy itself.
Just like Dr. Anthony Fauci equating himself with Science, these members of the ruling class want you to believe that an attack on their power is an attack on our entire political order. If they succeed in that, they can insulate themselves from all critique and silence the opposition, either via the power of cancel culture and self-censorship, or by simply locking the accounts of their critics.
But their propensity to fall back on that sham defense every time their rule is threatened has revealed just how desperate they are for control, and just how ridiculous they are willing to sound to maintain it. If they felt confident they could maintain power without smearing every opponent as the next big threat to the free world, there would be no need for such distracting theatrics. Instead, they're so fragile that making any chink in their armor will get you labeled as America's (next) "first 9/11."
Next time you hear cries that something is a "threat to our very democracy itself, even graver than all the other, formerly-gravest threats to democracy," it should be your first clue that that thing, good or bad, is making the censorship class quake in their silk slippers. Your second thought should be to expect them to exploit the "democracy" fearmongering for even more control — and your third thought should be to keep that the heck from happening.
Elle Reynolds is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. You can follow her work on Twitter at @_etreynolds.
A.F. Branco Cartoon – TDS, Truth Derangement Syndrome
A.F. BRANCO | on April 19, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-tds-truth-derangement-syndrome/
Democrats and the mainstream media are having a meltdown over the possibility of Elon Musk buying Twitter.
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Elon Musk on Purchasing Twitter: "This is not a Way to Make Money – To Have a Public Platform that Is Maximally Trusted and Inclusive Is Important to Future of Civilization"
Reported By Jim Hoft | Published April 14, 2022
Read more at https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/04/elon-musk-purchasing-twitter-not-way-make-money-public-platform-maximally-trusted-inclusive-important-future-civilization/
What great timing!
Elon Musk was scheduled to give a TED talk today, which happens to be the same day Elon announced his intentions of buying far-left social media giant Twitter. The interview turned quickly to Elon's $43 billion offer to buy Twitter.
Elon Musk described his intentions in purchasing Twitter.
Elon Musk: It's important for the function of democracy. It's important for the function of the United States as a free country among many other countries. And to help, actually to help freedom in the world more importantly than the US. And so, I think it's, the situational risk is decreased if Twitter the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform. And so I do think this is going to be something somewhat painful. I'm not sure that I will actually be able to acquire it. The intent is to retain as many shareholders as is allowed by the law… This is not a way to make money. I think this is, my strong intuitive sense is to have a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important for the future of civilization.
Jim Hoft
Jim Hoft is the founder and editor of The Gateway Pundit, one of the top conservative news outlets in America. Jim was awarded the Reed Irvine Accuracy in Media Award in 2013 and is the proud recipient of the Breitbart Award for Excellence in Online Journalism from the Americans for Prosperity Foundation in May 2016.
Purchasing Twitter
A.F. Branco Cartoon – Free Bird
A.F. BRANCO | on April 13, 2022 | https://comicallyincorrect.com/a-f-branco-cartoon-free-bird/
Many are hoping that Elon Musk owning a majority of Twitter shares will bring back free speech to its platform.
Will You Be Voting In Person November 3rd?
Elon Musk quickly fact checks Biden over SOTU claims on electric vehicles that ignored Tesla
Reported by CHRIS ENLOE | March 02, 2022
Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/elon-musk-fact-checks-biden-sotu-electric-vehicles-tesla\
Elon Musk corrected President Joe Biden on Tuesday for touting the success of Ford and General Motors in the electric vehicle industry but completely ignoring the successes of Tesla. During his speech, Biden touted the "revitalization of American manufacturing," referring to American companies who outsourced their manufacturing but have begun to increase domestic production in recent years. Specifically, Biden cited Ford and GM and their commitment to building electric vehicles.
"Companies are choosing to build new factories here, when just a few years ago, they would have built them overseas," Biden said. "That's what is happening. Ford is investing $11 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 11,000 jobs across the country. GM is making the largest investment in its history — $7 billion to build electric vehicles, creating 4,000 jobs in Michigan."
When the president's social media team reposted the lines to his Twitter account, Musk quickly hit back.
"Tesla has created over 50,000 US jobs building electric vehicles & is investing more than double GM + Ford combined," Musk corrected.
Tesla has created over 50,000 US jobs building electric vehicles & is investing more than double GM + Ford combined
[fyi to person controlling this twitter]
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 2, 2022
Musk has good reason to be upset with Biden. Not only has Tesla created tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. and generated billions of dollars in revenue, but Tesla is also the most productive automotive manufacturer in North America, producing 8,550 cars per week on average at its Fremont, California, plant, Bloomberg reported.
And Biden's snub on Tuesday was not the first time Biden has given Tesla the cold shoulder. Last August, the White House held an electric vehicle summit. Biden invited GM, Ford, Chrysler, and the United Auto Workers union, but refused to invite Tesla despite being the No. 1 producer of electric vehicles.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki later addressed why Tesla was not invited, implying that Musk's company was snubbed because its workforce is not unionized.
Musk later accused the Biden administration of being "controlled by unions" when he addressed the EV summit.
"You know, Biden held this EV summit, didn't invite Tesla. Invited GM, Ford, Chrysler, and UAW. An EV summit on the White House. Didn't mention Tesla once, and praised GM and Ford for leading the EV revolution. Does this sound maybe a little biased or something? And you know, just, it's not the friendliest administration. Seems to be controlled by unions as far as I can tell," Musk said.
Just last month, Musk highlighted the idiocy of ignoring Tesla's obvious successes while promoting pro-union auto-makers.
"Biden has pointedly ignored Tesla at every turn and falsely stated to the public that GM leads the electric car industry, when in fact Tesla produced over 300,000 electric vehicles last quarter and GM produced 26," Musk said.
State of the Union Speech
Elon Musk Drops EPIC Tweet, CRUSHES Liberals with 'Red Pill'
Reported By Paul Duke | May 17, 2020
URL of the originating web site: https://steadfastdaily.com/elon-musk-drops-epic-tweet-crushes-liberals-with-red-pill/
One of the common themes among the hyper-political online discourse is the idea of a "red pill", which constitutes an antidote to your current belief system.
The term was popularized after a late 1990's movie called The Matrix used a "red pill" versus "blue pill" gag in the dystopian film's buildup. The idea was that the protagonist would need to choose to take the "awakening" pill, or red pill, in this case, if they ever hoped to live a normal life.
Now, Republicans are using "red pill" as euphemism for escaping the constraints of liberal thought…and Elon Musk may have just taken this concept mainstream.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who has emerged as a champion of defying stay-at-home orders intended to stop the coronavirus from spreading, stirred the pot with a cryptic tweet Sunday.
"Take the red pill," the Tesla CEO wrote to his 34 million followers.
Some followers saw it as a sign that Musk was pushing for the conservative cause. Adviser to the president and first daughter Ivanka Trump later retweeted it, adding the word: "Taken!"
Musk has been erring on the side of the Republican viewpoint as of late, as his Tesla factory in California has been operating outside of the Golden State's virus lockdown protocols.
Musk has even gone so far as to suggest that he be arrested for the continued operation, in a statement that was seen as a "dare" to California's authorities.
"Red Pill"
Come Fly With Musk
Drawn and Commentary by Chip Bok | February 17, 2018
URL of the original posting site: http://bokbluster.com/2018/02/17/come-fly-with-musk/
We depend on Russia to launch our astronauts into space at $70 million a pop.
Here's The Wire in The Atlantic back in 2014:
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden voiced his concern, saying it would be better if the U.S. could launch its own astronauts to space. Because, who knows, it might turn out the Russians are trying to rig our elections.
Just kidding. He actually said, "we might enter into a Cold War-style territorial dispute with Russian President Vladimir Putin and want to be able to credibly pose a financial threat."
But maybe America is getting its space mojo back thanks entrepreneurs like Elon Musk and his SpaceX program. Here's BBC video of the launch of his Falcon Heavy Rocket earlier this month. And the release of its payload – a red Tesla Roadster headed for Mars piloted by a mannequin named Starman.
You can track Starman here.
More Politically INCORRECT Cartoons for February 9, 2018
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