We really are quite spoiled. As Americans, we’re not used to a politically correct culture and we’re more apt to voice our opinions…… free speech, right? At Q Tree, we practice free speech but citizens in most countries don’t enjoy the same kind of liberty. Two days ago, MAGA Mom began an interesting discussion on the threats to free speech and censorship of conservatives. Her post is worthy of its own thread.
From MAGA Mom:
More on the Social Media “changes” and “updates” … ie systematic guards against conservative success and effectiveness on social media and the internet in general. This is such an important topic that, after reading what was posted here the last two days, I spent most of the morning thinking about it.
What has surprised me to some extent is the success of the leftists at purging conservatives and establishing bias practices against them not just on social media and search engines but of all platforms and even businesses such as banks shutting down accounts of conservative organizations and even conservative businesses and now, it seems, WP. They already used these methods in the “news”/MSM, entertainment industry and on college campuses as well as rewriting history and silencing conservatism in school curriculum across the nation.
We have seen the increase of silencing on social media, search engines and the internet in general coming pre 2016 but the speed is greatly increasing and although encased in Orwellian, leftist/globalist double speak, is clearly targeting Conservatives and seeking to limit grassroots movements driven by the citizenry of the US.
We should not at all be surprised for the following reasons:
1) The social media and internet companies are staffed by majority leftists as seen by their ideologies and contributions
2) They contribute to leftists politicians
3) They have suppressive work environments, persecuting and purging conservative employees – if they think it is ok to do this to employees/coworkers why wouldn’t they think it is ok to do to unknown strangers across the web?
4) They work with repressive, socialist, far leftist and even communist countries around the world, obeying their laws and cooperating with horrific human rights abusers, then applying those same censorship rules to the free citizens of the US
5) They not only work with and emulate these communist countries, they Invest in these countries and Receive income from these countries!!!! Their corporate life is now dependent on these countries!! They have voluntarily become subservient and dependent. They are now of questionable loyalty to the US, to US citizens and to our God given freedoms as explicitly stated in and thus protected by our Constitution. At best they have dual loyalty and can be used by our economic competitors and even national enemies. At worst, and sadly this seems to be true at times, they are voluntarily assisting our economic competitors and national enemies against us.
6) They have a proven track record of working against freedom of expression, private citizens speaking up and organizing in conservative grassroots movements and suppressing conservative voices via their “rules”, biased searches and manipulation of likes, rankings, etc. They were Already leftist biased and it wasn’t enough. This is not new – its just more of what they were already doing!
7) And the most important reason that we ought not be surprised by this is because they explicitly told us they were going to work very hard and diligently to do exactly what they are now doing! After the 2016 loss, there were many articles analyzing the damage caused by the policies in place in social media and internet search engines, etc., that either inadvertently helped President Trump win or did not do enough to stop him, and the citizens of the US in their grassroots efforts, from winning. They vowed to change purposefully to work against such success by conservatives, private citizens and President Trump in 2020 and beyond.
And now they are doing just that! When our enemy shows who they are and states what they intend to do, we ought to believe them!
This morning I have gone back and reviewed what they were saying directly after “their” loss (and, yes, most of the owners, their employees, the MSM, the “journalists” covering the Dem loss (v. GOP win) and the role social media played in 2016 viewed it as a personal loss, a defeat, that they as employees and companies had failed because the election was “lost”. What is happening is exactly what they promised the followers and voters on loonely left and of the dangerous dems that they would do.
For those interesting in digging, in reminding ourselves of the background and how we got here as well as insight into where these companies are going, here are a collection of articles that I have read/re-read this morning examining fake news on social media (interesting what some consider fake news) and the role of allowing all voices onto social media.
Most important:
Google was already doing they could, both as private citizens, as employees with google as their tool and as a corporation, to get Hillary elected/defeat President Trump
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-10/google-was-working-get-hillary-clinton-elected-silent-donation-according-leaked
and 2ndly, this election effort and the vow to do “better”, ie defeat conservative voices online and defeat them in elections, is show in their corporate setting
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-09-12/panic-and-dismay-leaked-video-reveals-distraught-google-execs-grappling-hillary
and more insider view of google employee thinking
https://dailycaller.com/2018/11/29/google-censorship-conservative-media/
2018 article proving google bias
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-news-google-search-results-2018-8#when-searching-trump-north-korea-youre-served-with-several-opinion-columns-rather-than-straight-news-stories-google-marks-them-with-the-word-opinion-3
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/03/donald-trump-internet-success-twitter-us-election-media
https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/technology/306175-trump-won-thanks-to-social-media
Notable quote from the below NPR article: “It’s too late to fix these problems for this election, but a look to the social networks of tomorrow might offer some hope.”
https://www.npr.org/2016/11/08/500686320/did-social-media-ruin-election-2016
They all knew what an important role social media played. Another thought: Maybe social media was a reflection of the populace thoughts v. playing a role in shaping them? Maybe leftists leaders just hadn’t talked to or heard from those outside of their bubble so clearly and loudly before social media made it possible for flyover country to be heard?
https://www.wired.com/2016/11/facebook-won-trump-election-not-just-fake-news/
This is a study that is more of a “deep dive”. I would like to know the criteria they used to define “fake news” as I saw MUCH more fake news geared toward smearing President Trump than Hillary
Quote from the study’s conclusion: “both Facebook and Google are removing fake news sites from their advertising platforms on the grounds that they violate policies against misleading content. Furthermore, Facebook **has taken steps** to identify fake news articles, flag false articles as “disputed by 3rd
party **fact-checkers**,” show fewer potentially false articles in users’ news feeds, and help users avoid accidentally sharing false articles by notifying them that a story is “disputed by 3rd parties” before they share it. In our theoretical framework, these actions may increase social welfare, but identifying fake news sites
and articles also raises important questions about who becomes the arbiter of truth.” (emphasis added, citations removed for smoother reading)
https://web.stanford.edu/~gentzkow/research/fakenews.pdf
Hillary and many other “leaders” have pushed for more censorship on social media as gateway points out and as was already happening in 2017 & 2018
2017 (Yes, from daily wire, yuck, never trump and fake newser himself from Trump campaign of ’16 but this is a fitting article)
https://www.dailywire.com/news/17052/hillary-blames-social-media-and-trump-followers-joseph-curl
2018
twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/968321022427652096
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/02/hillary-clinton-blames-social-media-loss-calls-censorship-2018-elections-twitter-responds/
Lastly, a leftist take on the censorship, claiming it isn’t biased because the purged were just breaking the rules. To that I say, yes, they were breaking the rules but are all rule breakers being equally purged? If leftist and conservative rule breakers are not being equally purged, held equally to the same rules then it IS anti conservative bias!
https://www.thebipartisanpress.com/law/dont-blame-liberals-and-democrats-for-social-media-bans/
So what we Do and how do we politically fight back and how do we insist on the market place remaining open to conservatives and conservative ideas?
__________ End to MAGA Mom’s post.
From there, Aubergine, SingingSoul, Scott467, Wolfie, many others chipped in with great ideas.
Thought it might be time for us all to address this issue. I recall how we all felt, before President Trump decided to run, after the Romney loss. We felt alone. Living in the years of the Obama Admin, we felt like the world was upside down. Was everyone crazy? President Trump’s run for office was successful, in part, because we realized we were not alone. We found our voice……
…… and we will never be silenced again.
Day: June 9, 2019
Dear MAGA: 20190609 Open Topic
This very special
Shavuot & Pentecost SUNDAY open thread
is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody
to post whatever they feel they would like
to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA world.
Say what you want, comment on what other people said,
comment on people’s comments.
Keep it civil. Treehouse rules, but expect lots of QAnon.
See the January 1st daily thread for the rules of the road,
which are few but important.
Remember – your greatest gift to President Trump is FIVE WORDS:
I AM PRAYING FOR YOU
Shavuot – Feast of Weeks
You shall count for yourselves — from the day after the Shabbat, from the day when you bring the Omer of the waving — seven Shabbats, they shall be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count, fifty days… You shall convoke on this very day — there shall be a holy convocation for yourselves — you shall do no laborious work; it is an eternal decree in your dwelling places for your generations. – Leviticus 21:15-16, 21
Origin of Shavuot
“Though various Christian denominations commemorate Pentecost, many forget that it was a Jewish holiday before the Church was established. The name Pentecost comes from the Greek word for 50, but the Jewish name is Shavuot (meaning weeks or sevens).”
Shavuot was a way for our people to offer their best to the Lord. In Exodus, God commands His people: “The first of the firstfruits of your land you shall bring into the house of the Lord your God” (Exodus 23:19a; 34:26). Further instructions regarding this offering of firstfruits (grain) are outlined in Scripture in Deuteronomy 26:1–4:
And it shall be, when you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it, that you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land that the Lord your God is giving you, and put it in a basket and go to the place where the Lord your God chooses to make His name abide. And you shall go to the one who is priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come to the country which the Lord swore to our fathers to give us.’ Then the priest shall take the basket out of your hand and set it down before the altar of the Lord your God.[1]
Following the presentation of the firstfruits or “wave loaves,” Jews would recite a prayer of supplication, describing the bondage of their ancestors in Egypt, their deliverance and their dependence on God, who brought them to “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Deuteronomy 26:9). Read more …
Other Traditions
Shavuot is celebrated by both Traditional and Messianic Jews. Roman Catholics and liturgical Protestant churches both celebrate Pentecost 50 days after Easter Sunday. Following an older traditional calendar, Orthodox Christians celebrate Pentecost with an all night Vigil rich with symbolism. The church in Greece makes it a 3 day party you will want to be aware of if you are traveling to Greece on that weekend.
Think’s Thoughts
Considering the deep historical and spiritual meaning for this day, please ponder and think about celebrating our shared values for honoring the scriptures as given to Moses, the prophets, and teachers in the Judeo-Christian traditions.
This was one of three feasts given to the people where they would take their harvest (produce from the land), travel to the temple in Jerusalem, and present it before the Lord.
Just to make sure this picture is complete, remember that their harvest was used in two ways, to feed the family (landowners) that came to present it, and some was distributed to the priests, the fatherless, widows, and temporary residents–those without land to provide for themselves. In this way everyone in the nation was able to use this time to enjoy God’s goodness.
Imagine, if you will, the value of these feasts. Creating a special event creates unity among the members of the family. Making it a vacation from regular work gives them time to rest and restore between seasons. Traveling to Jerusalem strengthens bonds with the rest of the people in their nation. Offering their first fruits focuses their minds and hearts on the appreciation they naturally feel for the gift of abundance, land ownership and freedom from the bondages of the past. Sharing with others who did not have land probably increased their gratitude for the land they now enjoyed.
Starting from the observance of Passover, they would begin the countdown to this extraordinary celebration. After the destruction of the temple, the focus for the Jewish people shifted from the focus of offering the produce of their land to the giving of the Torah. This is a a beautiful tradition where the night is spent reading and giving thanks for the scriptures, especially the book of Ruth. (This tradition is not found in the writings of Moses.)
It is in this context that the disciples were instructed by Jesus,–after the resurrection, and 10 days before Shavuot–to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, where they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. As Jews, they knew of the upcoming Shavuot Feast. Devout people from all over were gathering in preparation for it.
I can imagine on this day in that upper room the sounds of travelers greeting and the smells of food being prepared kept their minds on the significance of the time they were in.
In some way, you might see these men and women as the first fruits of the harvest given to Jesus by the Father. Thus, as they pray, Jesus presents them to the Father, who responds by sending fire from Heaven to baptize them.
The sounds from the streets of Jerusalem are replaced with the roaring sound of a rushing wind, the Holy Spirit, and then the loud voices of the believers as they begin to glorify the Lord. They are so loud that people on the streets stop and say, “What is this?” which prompted an explanation that led 3,000 more to believe and join this new community. What an amazing day!
Think *3
Extra servings of MIQUEDEM (whom I just found in my research for this post)… quieter song of Psalm 116 in Hebrew with subtitles… more rock style international concert in Jerusalem.
With strings in modern worship style in English from a rooftop in Jerusalem. I really like the visuals and the vocals in this one.