A palpable blow to Biden's Ministry of Truth
The United States Constitution is something of a miracle. But unless we defend it, it’s just a piece of paper.
These are the words of Dr Aaron Kheriaty, a plaintiff in Missouri v. Biden, a federal free speech case that has reverberated globally.
In short, a swathe of federal agencies, in collusion with the Biden White House, spent years pressuring social media platforms to deprive Americans of their right to speak freely — on topics ranging from the Hunter Biden laptop scandal to the origins of COVID-19 to the integrity of the 2020 election.
The states of Missouri and Louisiana, led by Missouri’s former attorney general and current US Senator Eric Schmitt, took the US government to court and have secured a historic — if temporary — victory against the forces of censorship.
The presiding judge, Terry A. Doughty, conspicuously used July 4th — the United States’ national holiday and a day when federal rulings are seldom issued — to send a message about freedom the Biden administration cannot ignore:
“If the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.”
Though more developments are expected in this case, not least because the defendants have already filed an intent to appeal, the result thus far is promising: Doughty has issued a preliminary injunction preventing the US government from ordering Big Tech to police speech on their platforms.
The whole piece is well worth reading, as is the 155 page ruling, although I'll admit to skimming some of the legal arguments in the latter part of this document. For anyone paying attention this isn't news, but what comes across hot and strong in the ruling is how huge, complex and far-reaching the White House censorship regime has been in recent years.
What also comes across very strongly indeed is how reliable information has become such a coercive, top-down concept within the White House and US government agencies.
Judge Doughty’s 155-page ruling is a thing of beauty — at least in the eyes of any still interested in the US Constitution’s First Amendment. Consider just one red-hot excerpt, which has independent outlets buzzing worldwide:
“Although this case is still relatively young, and at this stage the Court is only examining it in terms of the Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, the evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth'.
The Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence in support of their claims that they were the victims of a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign. This court finds that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim against the Defendants.”
In summarising the case, Judge Doughty listed a dizzying array of failings and alleged scandals the Biden regime did not want Americans questioning: Big Tech’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop contents on the eve of the 2020 election; the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin; the inefficiency of masks, lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccines; election security issues including voting by mail; and the Biden economy.
Judge Doughty’s 155-page ruling is a thing of beauty — at least in the eyes of any still interested in the US Constitution’s First Amendment. Consider just one red-hot excerpt, which has independent outlets buzzing worldwide:
“Although this case is still relatively young, and at this stage the Court is only examining it in terms of the Plaintiffs’ likelihood of success on the merits, the evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth'.
The Plaintiffs have presented substantial evidence in support of their claims that they were the victims of a far-reaching and widespread censorship campaign. This court finds that they are likely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment free speech claim against the Defendants.”
In summarising the case, Judge Doughty listed a dizzying array of failings and alleged scandals the Biden regime did not want Americans questioning: Big Tech’s suppression of Hunter Biden’s laptop contents on the eve of the 2020 election; the lab-leak theory of COVID-19’s origin; the inefficiency of masks, lockdowns and COVID-19 vaccines; election security issues including voting by mail; and the Biden economy.
3 comments:
"Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it."
~ George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty Four
You could make an argument that the Biden regime has greatly increased the impossibility of thoughtcrime not only by censoring the language permitted but also by making sure alternative opinions and uncomfortable truths are supressed.
Censorship? What an ineffective and outdated concept! Just imagine having government officials contacting media companies and telling them what to do!
Far better to have an organisation which is not part of government, but prides itself on its independence and its probity. (But somehow gets the government to police people who don't want to subscribe and appoint its leaders.) Then they can decide what is newsworthy and what is not, on the basis of values they share with the government.
And yes, not a mention of this ruling on the BBC. Whereas Trump couldn't fart without it being headline news.
DJ - much of it seems to be the encouragement of self-censorship too, creating an environment where people avoid situations where those uncomfortable truths could emerge. Nothing new about it of course, but it certainly seems odd in an era where so much can be checked so easily.
Sam - that's right, an organisation where anything horribly embarrassing is not mentioned until it appears in the Sun. I hope it doesn't survive this one, but of course it will survive it as usual.
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