[ April 19, 2024 ]
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The fifth column. Crushing free speech is essential to leftists’ agenda of statism, and always has been. The National Socialist German Workers Party (the Nazis), the Communists, Stalinists, et al destroy freedom by first restricting free speech. The First Amendment is first for a reason. It is our most precious and most protected freedom. And political speech is the most protected speech.
It should give every American pause that anyone who was such an enemy of freedom of speech was FEC chairperson.
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Freedom of speech is the foundation of a free society. Without it, a tyrant can wreak havoc unopposed, while his opponents are silenced. They blame truth and sites like the Geller Report for their crushing election defeat in November. So they mean to shut us down. Not once did they consider that the election was the result of their catastrophic failures. The Democrats are anti-freedom, anti-America, anti-individualism.
The left cannot win in the war of ideas, so they must silence the opposition. Crush freedom.
Putting up with being offended is essential in a pluralistic society in which people differ on basic truths. If a group will not bear being offended without resorting to violence, that group will rule unopposed while everyone else lives in fear, while other groups curtail their activities to appease the violent group. This results in the violent group being able to tyrannize the others.
If speech that offends a group is outlawed, that group has absolute power, and a free society is destroyed. A group that cannot be criticized cannot be opposed. It can work its will no matter what it is, and no one will be able to say anything to stop it.
Inoffensive speech needs no protection. The First Amendment was developed precisely in order to protect speech that was offensive to some, in order to prevent those who had power from claiming they were offended by speech opposing them and silencing the powerless.
A free society is by its nature one in which people exchange ideas and opinions. The alternative is a quiet authoritarian society in which only one opinion is allowed and the others are silenced, and ultimately sent to the camps.
Former FEC Chairwoman Calls for ‘Regulations’ of Political Speech on the Internet
The former Federal Election Commission chairwoman Ann M. Ravel says that political speech must be controlled on social media. She presented her remarks in a speech at UC Berkeley, calling for regulations against “fake news.”
By By Ian Miles Cheong | Heat Street April 14, 2017
Speaking at an event called “Future of Democracy,” Ravel argued the proliferation of “fake news” and political advertising on platforms like Facebook influenced elections. She warned that the lack of disclosure by the creators of these campaigns was becoming a huge problem.
“We know that there’s a lot of campaigning that’s moved to the internet, whether it’s through fake news or just outright advertising and there is almost no regulation of this, very little,” she said. “And so that the disclosure that we expect as to who is behind campaigns is not going to exist soon”
“Some people are even predicting that by 2020 most of the advertising is going to move from television to the internet, and I think this is a serious issue that requires a lot of discussion,” continued Ravel.
During her tenure as the chairwoman of the FEC, Ravel previously called for right-leaning websites like the Drudge Report to be “regulated,” and blamed hostile responses towards her proposals on “misogyny.” She claimed it was within the purview of the Federal Election Commission to oversee internet political activities, including the airing of political viewpoints.
In 2015, the Democrats tried, but failed to expand the FEC’s regulatory powers to cover social media posts and other forms of political speech on the Internet, which are not subject to the same scrutiny as political advertisements on old media. At the time, liberal watchdogs complained to the FEC with allegations that (then-probable) presidential candidates like Jeb Bush and Martin O’Malley were skirting finance laws to campaign. Conservatives managed to stall the vote, fearing that the additional powers would chill political speech on the Internet.
Since then, Revel has only doubled down. In her speech at UC Berkeley, Revel claimed that companies like Facebook have “no real knowledge” of who sponsors the posts of political viewpoints on their platforms.
“I think this is a really serious issue that we need to address,” she said.
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61 Comments
7 years ago
Many of the same people who were screaming “free speech” in the 60′s and 70′s are the ones now shutting it down. They only wanted radical speech… now those radicals ARE the establishment….and they don’t see the irony?
I know it’s off topic, but our country is losing it’s freedoms. We have Donald Sterling forced to sell his NBA team, free speech not allowed on PUBLIC campuses, etc. We have expensive health insurance forced on all of us. Even auto insurance is forced on us (thank god for $25/month Insurance Panda coverage). What’s next? Mandatory phone insurance? We have taxes on top of taxes and our freedoms are slowly disappearing. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington would be rolling in their graves.
The tolerant liberals once again showing their fascist roots and their Socialist foundation of censorship of opposing views. They are a train wreck of destructive policies and childish finger pointing and are bent on the destruction of America.
7 years ago
Reply to
Pray Hard
I find myself wondering if the company in question is a muslum owned company — it would be the perfect case of muslum irony.
7 years ago
Reply to
Pathfinder0100
If you’ll notice the post in question has a reference to a certain insurance company — and this has happened dozens of times that posts like these always reference a certain insurance company.
7 years ago
Reply to
IzlamIsTyranny
You are right My bad! I apologize. I do follow your post and have NO quarrel with you. Keep up the good work.
6 years ago
Reply to
IzlamIsTyranny
The funny thing about the Insurance Panda posters, is that they’re posts are often right on the money.
7 years ago
Not a Trump fan at all – and it’s plain to see that what the Lefties want is Leftie friendly speech only. Keep up these neo-Marxist shenanigans, and you Lefties and “Progressives” will hand this buffoon in the White House a second term on a silver tray. Seriously.
7 years ago
Reply to
JohnSmith
I hope they keep talking, because I am a Trump supporter, and hope he gets a second term. MAGA
7 years ago
Political advertising influences elections? What a novel idea. Next thing you know they’ll want to advertise on TV. Ghastly!
7 years ago
Republicans in Congress should introduce a bill to outlaw criticism of President Trump. It would be fun to see how anti-free speech leftists would react to that.
7 years ago
Reply to
Angel
Unfortunately the Repubs would not have the balls to do such a correct thing.
6 years ago
Reply to
Ann Inquirer ✓ᴺᵃᵗᶦᵒᶰᵃˡᶦˢᵗ
The republicans are the Bruce/Kaitlin Jenners of the political world
6 years ago
Reply to
Angel
Here is how I try to explain what is taking place, picture a pyramid with floors/stories inside at the top is Satan and his top commanders, below him on various floors are his lower ranking dark forces, below them are evil men and women, mortals like Soros may or may not be inside the symbolic pyramid, but if not inside are certainly just outside, Soros with the many alphabet organizations he finances keeps millions of “Useful Idiots” useful. My explanation is Biblical and can be backed by the words of such people as admitted Satanist Albert Pike, read his book Morals and Dogma, Pike was an evil genius that spoke and wrote in many languages, he claimed he could communicate with Satan I believe him from the things he wrote about, JFK spoke about the secret societies, he said openly they were repugnant to him and he wasn’t going to be their puppet, no doubt this was why he and Bobby were murdered. FBI’s J Edgar Hoover talked and wrote about these Satanic secret societies, he was slandered and libeled for his stance Whatever the name of these organizations they are one and the same, all work in secret and darkness to bring about a world government. Many men and some women that belonged to these secret organizations wrote about them and some that came out of them such as Jim Shaw a 32 or 33rd degree Freemason has much to say about the subject, I highly recommend his book if you want to know about Freemasonry, the outside one that everyone knows about and the secret one very few know about. It’s possible to have the highest degree and be a good person and not know about the Satanic side or inner organization of this secret organization, much too long to post on here.
7 years ago
Ravel and her fellow travelers hate America and what it stands for. Their numbers are great. It’s probably safe to say, Ravel has never read the constitution, nor does she care to know how it protects U.S. citizens. She’s only concerned with securing total control for her and her friends in dirty night shirts. She’s probably fantasizing how she’ll be beaten for wearing the burkha the wrong way.
7 years ago
“FORMER FEC CHAIRWOMAN CALLS FOR ‘REGULATIONS’ OF POLITICAL SPEECH ON THE INTERNET”
My response: GFY, and all the black masked assholes at Berkeley too…
7 years ago
Nobody “sponsors” me. That’s another reason leftists lost, they think that everyone must be controlled by something or someone else. What a bunch of f’ing idiots.
7 years ago
If free speech is controlled on the internet, it will come out in other more assertive and quite definitely forceful ways. Only a fool would try to bottle up all outlets of the individuals right to express themselves. democrats are fools.
7 years ago
Reply to
Mahou Shoujo
They’re corrupt, they only look like fools because their lies are so obvious.
7 years ago
It would be interesting to see how these wannabe fascists would be defining “fake news”. I have no doubt counter-jihad websites would be included in the ban.
The Orwellian nature of the term regulation is obvious in this context. She didn’t just spontaneously begin spewing this thinly disguised thought crime bullshite either — she was prompted by other authorities in the Demoratic party.
7 years ago
She, like most of her ilk, has been fed too much Frankfurt School, Kalergie plan and Grasci hegemony among other unsavory libtard agendas and, due to the hive mind of such is beyond understanding that there are people out there who CAN think for themselves and will always reject verbal diarrhea of career politicians. They are like brain tumor that tries to control all of the brain. Urgent surgery needed.
7 years ago
How dangerous and frightening indeed. May this never come to pass.
7 years ago
The First Amendment may be first in order, but it is the Second Amendment that protects the First!
6 years ago
Reply to
Rodney Spencer
The second amendment makes the entire Bill of Rights meaningful and enforceable.
The Bill of Rights is a meaningless pious platitude without the second amendment.
7 years ago
If she were talking about the Democrat controlled outlets- like CNN< NBC, ABC, CBS, the New York Times- then I can see the point. News outlets should not be controlled by politicians. Also, President Trump needs to repeal the Johnson amendment as he promised so Churches can have freedom to criticize politicians without fear of being shuttered.
7 years ago
Freedom of speech is all important to democratic countries. But now it seems to be in danger, even in the USA:
“In 2015, the Democrats tried, but failed to expand the FEC’s regulatory powers to cover social media posts and other forms of political speech on the Internet, which are not subject to the same scrutiny as political advertisements on old media.”
Freedom of speech does not exist on TV.
Finnish TV news presenter Marjo Rein in the picture.
7 years ago
I say let the liberals (communists, socialists, marxist, stalinists, democrats, etc;) Say and print what they please in the name of ‘free speech. The more they say the worse they’ll look, even to themselves. Funny thing about ‘free speech’ is that it reveals the lies you tell as well as the truths. Let’em talk. Just make sure they don’t get to silence anyone else from being heard with their nasty tactics.
7 years ago
Commiecrats have this weird notion that when it comes to freedom of expression and equal protection under the laws, some citizens are more “equal” than others.
7 years ago
leftist ideas are so “good” that alternative ideas have to be censored.
7 years ago
The Left needs to be defeated!
7 years ago
Of course it was at Berkeley. Every attack on American principles begin at Berkeley
7 years ago
Hey , the word ‘regulate’ is in the Constitution . Means progressives can do whatever they want .
Dear Senator,
SB 764 is clearly nothing more than an effort to eliminate lawful concealed carry in Oregon. The requirements proposed in the “dash-2” amendments are onerous, unnecessary and almost impossible to comply with. I strongly urge
7 years ago
This idiot has NEVER read the Constitution has she?? Hey bit-h! You WILL NOT shut down free speech!
7 years ago
Hope to hell she sees this rh2!!
7 years ago
But, Fakebook does know who the sponsors are, liberal Demcrats like Soros. Fakebook publishes liberal propaganda for a reason, they agree with it.
7 years ago
Leftist bureaucrats, like this witch Revel, should be among the first of the swamp to be handed their walking papers!
7 years ago
There is a RightToOffend petition in Canada, started by RebelMedia
7 years ago
How the devil did such a weedy piece of trash like Ravel become FEC chairwoman? The more I see of women in positions of power the more I think their thinking is microscopic. Just consider Nancy Pelosi, Maxine Waters, first rate nuts.
6 years ago
Reply to
Rob Porter
Rob Porter: Absolutely. I am a strong, independent white American Woman. These so-called
“women leaders” who have lied their way into office are sickening to me. They DO NOT represent the woman I am nor the women I know. If we Americans don’t stop letting these “first rate nuts”, along with the male first rate nuttiers, from turning our freedoms into a political game for their benefit, they will ruin us all. WE NEED TO VOTE EVERY SINGLE ONE OUT AT FIRST CHANCE. We need to demand every GOVERNMENT official release THEIR tax returns EVERY YEAR IN OFFICE. And if they make $100,000.00 a year, they better not accumulate $12,000,000.00 in 4 years without PROVING how they got it.
6 years ago
Reply to
Joyce
Well said, Joyce. Mine was not a mysoginistic comment and I’m glad you reading it that way. I admired Britain’s Margaret Thatcher for her intelligence and courage, but too many of the women we see in public office nowadays are buffoons and flakes. These are not real people, their thinking mush – and dangerous.
6 years ago
Reply to
Rob Porter
[[How the devil did such a weedy piece of trash like Ravel become FEC chairwoman?]]
Yuo answered your own question- The devil appointed her in 2013
6 years ago
Reply to
bob434
Not only is she remarkably homely and scrawny, she is astoundingly stupid. They should rent her out to haunt houses.
7 years ago
Thank goodness Gorsuch is on SCOTUS now.
6 years ago
Or better yet !!!!
6 years ago
try convict and execute this treasonous bitch!
D
6 years ago
These clowns are milled out of these so called universities and fancy themselves as “educated”. Therefor “they” think they have the duty to think for you and correct you when they see fit. Don’t engage them don’t debate them. Tell them to talk to the hand and walk away. I admit, it is tough to do. I belong to a group and we are “social” a couple of times a month. One guy who I have known for 20 years made sure everyone in the group within 20 feet heard him say “I hope Trump has a Coronary” I smiled and said “really.” He says “yes I am serious”. I said “that is sad” and asked him not to speak with me again. Have not spoke to him since unless its club business related. BTW he is 58 years old, a bacholar (not xylbjt) and lives with mother. Just lost his job to India, (Allsate) made a massive move of services to that country just before the election. So…what does that tell you? Oh yeah I forgot Daddy was union and always voted democrat. Sad indeed.
6 years ago
Reply to
Merchantseamen
Thanks for the example: What a pajama boy looks like at 58. … Here’s another example for the readers on this thread.
One of my old friends from High School went to Cal Berserkeley and took journalism. Naturally he was unemployed from the moment he graduated. (Liberal enough but who needs a pasty colored, goofy looking white boy?) …
Zip forward thirty years to ’08 (HS reunion), and he’s still living in his bedroom at home! 59 yo. … Wasted a whole life.
He knows all about the military, but I’m the one who served. He knows all about chemicals, but I’m the chemical engineer. He knows all about pollution, but I’m the environmental engineer. He knows all about fossil fuels and global warming, but I was Big Oil. … I could go on and on.
He knows everything – from his bedroom – and I know nothing – even though I’ve seen it with my lyin’ eyes.
Sad. He’s the picture of a Libtard.
D
6 years ago
Reply to
Dan Knight
“He knows all about the military, but I’m the one who served. He knows
all about chemicals, but I’m the chemical engineer. He knows all about
pollution, but I’m the environmental engineer. He knows all about fossil
fuels and global warming, but I was Big Oil. … I could go on and on.”
That is great statement!! I was an engineering officer in the merchant marine for over 20 years. In oil tankers for a major oil company. We moved millions of barrels of oil from point to point safely and without spillage. It is called the profit motive. You did not make any money if you are paying fines and clean up costs. A spill is never intentional as that is like taking dollars and flushing them right down the toilet. Listening to the libtards you would think we just pumped this stuff over the side for giggles. The only ones who did it on purpose are the countries that nationalized their oil resources. Government controlled from well head to terminus. Witnessed over my career in Nigeria, Venezuela, North Africa and various “other” totalitarian/authoritarian countries. After cargo operations they are washing off the docks with gasoline and it all goes into the water etc. Dredge ponds full of oil or refined product. But….I am the bad guy.
6 years ago
Dangerous bigot. Like all Lietards FEC Chairwoman Ann M. Ravel is an anti-American as well as an anti-facts, anti-truth, and anti-free speech.
Current anti-speech laws – e.g. campaign finance reform – needs to be repealed.
6 years ago
What we really have to start doing is regulating politicians and bureaucrats.
6 years ago
Reply to
JWM
Now that alone would make America great again at least compared to what it has become and if the “Useful Idiots” could be educated then America would and could become truly a great nation, not ruled by thieves, crooks and evil men.
6 years ago
It is quite disappointing that the U.S. Federal, State and Local Governments all appear to have been infiltrated by many such traitors to The Constitution and the people of the USA.
6 years ago
Note FORMER FEC Chair.
6 years ago
Three reasons why president Trump must be impeached: 1. Aims to make government Lean. 2, Aims to make government Responsible. 3. Aims to make government Efficient.. Oh no cant have that, this could lead to a reduction in taxes that the American wage earners are forced to pay, there are basically two kinds of income that the Fascist system known as the IRS considers, too long and complex to put on here. Just think if our new president was successful with his three Aims he just might win over a lot of the “Useful Idiots” to his side which could upset the Marxist agenda and their so-called New World Order plans.
