A thread on Trump’s deplatforming and why I think the debate about it reveals the bankruptcy of contemporary free speech law. 1/17

Many of those who approve of the platforms’ decisions to ban Trump argue that current First A law grants speakers no right of access to privately owned property. and conclude that there is no free speech issue here. 2/17

They’re right on the doctrine: the Roberts Court has gone to extraordinary lengths to make clear that private actors enjoy total freedom under the First A to censor whatever speech they like. 3/17

But this wasn’t always the rule. Until the 1970s, the rule was that the First A limited the ability of private owners to exclude speakers from sufficiently important private speech forums. 4/17

And the current rule is a bad one! Today almost all of the important mass public speech forums are privately owned. Do we really want private companies to completely control who gets to speak in these vital public spaces? Surely not. 5/17

10 January 2020 #MAGAanalysis #TheGreat2021Purge

Thou Shalt Not Speak Truth

We begin today's work with a notification I found on @AnnVendersteel's Parler account (under that handle) just now. You'll see, the purge progresses. I quote in full below.

its really a vaporwave time rn

no other genre of music is going to fit the many overlapping things that are materializing or pressing into ur life in general, for the foreseeable future, from where im standing. if youre unacquainted or only know the hits u can start here:

i know people feel like its “played out” or that “it happened” already but really its the opposite. vaporwave was premonitory. it was seeing into an aspect of the future (now present) that is never going away. it illuminates this in a unique way, honestly, as only it can

people talk about how vaporwave is like a critique of consumerism or has XYZ view on capitalism but thats really not it imo. overall it is metapolitical and i think trying to shoehorn a political position into it is kind of missing what it points to, which is now everywhere

imo vaporwave in general (visual, music, the vibe in general) is about being [spiritually in exile] from [the reality of the future], that reality being opposed to [the idea or former idea of the future]. i try and not go full word salad but thats the most simple way to phrase it

physically, youre here, youre in this time and place. but spiritually, you, are in some form of exile or at least altered state. theres all this tech, and new modes of life, but somewhere along the way the path forked, + physically, ur here, but spiritually, ur on the other path

Don't insult our intelligence.....you don't have to say "I am with Trump"

You do so with every false article write, with every tweet that echos what Trump has said, with every support of the CPC no matter how bad and with every destructive rumour about 'your enemies'
#cdnpoli

We know the ties between The Millennial Post, we understand you are a special interest group and so are they, we GET that you exist solely to ensure this populist version of the CPC gets elected by any means....and we understand that lying to do so is your M.O.

Populism is a hell of a drug....it must be something to say something or write something that get people's fists in the air with a collective cry of 'YEAH'....but when you lie to get that reaction? it's wrong, when you insult to get that reaction? it's wrong.

But Canada Proud? let's not pretend, we know what you are, we know why you exist, we know what you are doing.....we know and YOU know it isn't right. If this is how you choose to 'make a living' fine, but let's not pretend it's honest or ethical or good for the country.

Let's visit some of your greatest disinformation hits on the past little while. Here's a fun one that suggests we should apply a moral/political lens to vaccine distribution rather than a vaccine distribution based on science, fairness and respect for ALL life.

#HOPEPORN+

RT != Endorsement

PRETEND THIS IS MAKE BELIEVE!!!

I ONLY LIE

Any more disclaimers??? It's a screen play, writers notes...

SO, I hear from a friend who heard from a friend... vvvvv see thread

AVOID NIGHT TRIPS,THEY ARE NOT ONLY UNSAFE, BUT UTTERLY DANGEROUS- OYEYEMI.

Arising from the dangers, the risks and the rising cases of fatalities occasioned by road traffic crashes recorded at night, the Corps Marshal, Federal Road Safety Corps, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi has advised fleet operators, other commercial drivers & patronisers of night trips,

including private vehicle owners to desist henceforth from it, emphasising that night trip which is often characterised by poor visibility, fatigue, sleeping on wheels, excessive speed among others is not only unsafe, but utterly dangerous.

According to Bisi Kazeem, the Corps Public Education Officer, Oyeyemi gave the warning while reacting to some reports of fatal crashes recorded at night at the beginning of the year, which led to the death of several road users and left others with different degrees of injuries.

The Corps Marshal while speaking extensively on why night trips should be avoided, lamented that on January 5, 2021 alone, an avoidable fatal crash occurred in Kabba, Kogi State where 2 vehicles were caught up in a head-on collision

All civilizations are based on a thin veil of trust. Law is based on the certainty of trust that underlies the application of justice. Once that veil is pierced, things go to hell very quickly.

Once upon a time, a fast food outlet had an owner who said something that was 1) legal 2) within his rights to say 3) controversial

There were some who felt so offended by this outrage that they decided that the company should be punished, if not entirely extinguished

Politicians across the country then worked to ensure that zoning laws were changed to ensure that this company was specifically targeted. Several large municipalities took action to ensure that this company could not even set up shop.

In the end, this company has ( so far) prevailed. But it didnt end there. But we see a new model of business being applied - Get woke, or go broke.

Parler is being removed from AWS because it is a place where the "unwoke" go to talk to each other. AWS has decided to act as a vigilante to the cause of wokeness and has decided that this business is worthy of being destroyed.

1/ @kyrstensinema I’m not sure if you remember me, and no worries if you dont. We shared a donut in the call center during the Prop 107 campaign. I helped a little with your social media on your 2010 State Senate run. I helped gather signatures to get you on the ballot in 2012...

2/ @kyrstensinema ...I mention all that so you know I’ve been a supporter with my time and effort since you started public service and so you don’t think I’m some random troll when I ask you what I’m about to ask you...

3/ @kyrstensinema ...I’ve watched you thread a nearly impossible needle of being blue at heart but still growing your influence in a red state. You’re a proud member of the LGBTQ community, a Democrat and a woman, who now sits in Barry Goldwater’s Senate seat. It’s astonishing...

4/ @kyrstensinema ...That balance you’ve maintained so you can grow has led you to be sometimes not as far left as I’d like, but I still trust and support you because of what I’ve seen you do. You led Arizona to be the first state ever to defeat an anti-LGBTQ ballot measure...

5/ @kyrstensinema ...the influence you’ve grown in Arizona and the Country has never been more needed than it is at this moment. The President of the United States tried to start a war with the People of the United States and he had the help of other members of the Senate...

Today militia groups will hold a rally in Olympia & at 1 PM will occupy the capitol grounds to prepare for forcibly taking over the legislative building on 1/11. Neo-Nazi Thomas William Hughes belongs to the militia "Evergreen State Patriots" & will lead the charge.

Known "Evergreen State Patriots" Damon Michael Huseman & Jeffery Brown attended the attempted break-in at the governor's mansion on 1/6/21. `

Too horrifying and important for

DR CHRIS MACKIE (@Healthmac) is London’s Medical Officer of Health and a government advisor.

Yesterday, he said schools being open, “SLOWS the spread of COVID.”

For context, let’s look at 23 other times he misused data or gave a bad unsupported take.

🧵A THREAD🧵

...1/24

...2/24

...3/24

...4/24

...5/24

@NC_Governor let me tell you something you son of a bitch. I’m not even going to get into a “political discussion” here because that is a whole issue which I’m not going to waste time on right now but where do you get the fuckin balls to use an Incident that the “Radical Left...

The very idea that we should concern ourselves with establishing rules of conduct that guarantee equal treatment for both ourselves & for the racist, murdering fascists who are aiming to carry out genocide & overthrow democratic governments makes no sense.

I appreciate everyone’s commitment to ideas of liberalism & equality but fascism exists outside of liberalism & there are people trying to kill us whose very ideology is based on the idea of there being no equality. They can only defeat us or be defeated.

There’s a reason we had an entire world war over this issue and it’s not because people at the time couldn’t figure out how to come up with a standard for free speech that applied equally to fascists & all the people they were trying to kill.

Furthermore, the idea we have to apply equal standards to all forms of speech implies all speech is equal. By that logic, there’s no difference b/w someone using social media to incite genocide v someone using it to advocate equal rights. Is that really the moral position?

The idea that holding Trump & other fascists to account might later have negative impact on others ignores that it’s already been the case that Black & brown ppl have received unequal policing & banishment online. The only thing new is that they’ve finally banned Trump.

If you’re frustrated by this lockdown it is worth remembering that there is an alternative. Our country has had a year to build an effective system for testing to identify cases & isolate them & those they have exposed. We are all paying the price for the failure to do this.

The deaths that are occurring now were largely preventable. The people dying didn’t simply want a big family bash over the holidays nor have they all been breaking the rules. They are not all old or medically vulnerable.

They are key workers and people’s whose jobs and lives expose them to crowds. The situation is so desperately tragic it’s much easier to blame them. But really important not to blame them. None of us can reduce our risk to zero and all of us rely on people taking risks.

The deaths, suffering & long term problems caused by the repeated lockdowns are an equal tragedy. It is appallingly difficult for many people right now.

It is not beyond a wealthy state like ours to control the spread of the virus without simply shutting everyone at home but at the moment this is the only alternative we have.

1) There are several secrets to becoming a successful #investor and most are hiding in plain sight.

2) This many sound like a cliché, but it hides a simple truth: buy quality companies. When I started #investing, I didn't feel like I could identify quality, so I bought a subscription to @TheMotleyFool and let them do the heavy lifting.

3) I paid $199 per year each for @TheMotleyFool #StockAdvisor and #RuleBreakers subscriptions. They have paid for themselves MANY times over.

4) Another obvious strategy that FAR too many #investors ignore is that "winners keep winning." "That one got away from me, and now I'm waiting for a pullback" has probably lost investors more money than every pullback combined.

5) To put this into practice, I look at the recent list of @TheMotleyFool recommendations and see which #stocks have put up double- or triple-digits gains in recent months and then try to understand why. In many cases, I end up buying the stock, even after 30% 40% 50% gains.

(1/x) We need to organize to protect each other and fight this while we still have some semblance of freedom. There are police forces across the country with military grade weapons and probably the vast majority are very loyal to Trump,

(2/x) and then the military itself (though I’ve heard mixed things about soldiers’ loyalties to Trump) and national guard. Just like when there’s a BLM protest and the national guard shows up in a day, if there’s a coup, police are *already* everywhere, and then

(3/x) the national guard and military can also be deployed throughout the country within a day. They can also massively ramp up censorship online and increase tracking down and arresting people for their political organizing or news-sharing. All the above, & many very bad things,

(4/x) have of course already *been* happening for the whole course of US history, but that doesn’t negate the fact that living under a dictatorship will be a massive change on a massive scale with violence and repression ramped up even more every way to opposition or even

(5/x) just perceived opposition. This is how dictatorships work. It’s in the history books. I’ve read about it in Chile.

1/ As I prepare to launch the biggest thing of my career 👀 I've been reflecting on my journey to this point. And the simple truth is - design changed my life.

But not in the way you think as I did not become a designer.

2/ Instead, I found an incredibly welcoming community that rallied around and helped when I did not have much to offer.

3/ On a very cold and rainy November morning in 2012, I arrived in Dublin, Ireland with less than 1k euro in my pocket, having never worked in tech and very few connections in the city.

4/ Before that, I spent a very turbulent 9 years in Canary Islands working in hospitality, with a short stint in London in between where I got some experience in sales and recruitment.

5/ I arrived in Dublin kind of lost but had one goal, I wanted to start a company so I could make enough money to realize my dream of opening a restaurant (LOL) Funny how that turned out.

Here’s newly-elected QAnon gun nut Rep. Boebert, the morning of the insurrection, referencing 1776.

Here she is that same morning, pushing lies about election fraud.

Here she is that morning calling on all of “us” (IE her fellow MAGAs) to “fight with everything” for a fair election to be achieved.

Here she is live-tweeting the location of members of Congress & the Speaker, as the mob invades the Capitol building. Either she has no regard for maintaining the safety of herself & her colleagues, or—not to start a conspiracy theory—she intentionally relayed info to rioters.

Here she is, after the attack ended, again evoking 1776.