Ben Shapiro on the Singapore Summit

Jonathan Turley on Spygate

Diamond and Silk on Taking a Knee During the National Anthem

Dan Bongino on Why John Brennan Is Panicking

Diamond and Silk on Social Media Censorship

Prominent conservative voices in social media, such as Diamond and Silk and Dan Bongino, have vociferously voiced outrage that Big Internet has banned them as being unsafe for the social media  community because of their outspoken ideological opinions. This parallels YouTube demonetizing many of Dennis Prager's popular Prager U videos because the conservative views expressed did not sync with the progressive views of their internet overlords. And Twitter is infamous for shadow banning conservatives, even Senator Ted Cruz, without recourse or equal application against outrageous leftist Twits.

Diamond and Silk, who gained fame through their vigorous defense of then Presidential candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, did not silently take this rough trade from Facebook. On Fox and Friends, Diamond and Silk postulated that Mark Zuckerberg needed to "[S]uck it up, buttercup" and accept diverse viewpoints and freedom of speech on its social network, just as the small Indiana pizzeria would be forced to cater a same-sex wedding despite their religious objections to the ceremony.




Alas, Diamond and Silk have a weak case in a court of law.  Without meandering into the details of RFRA and First Amendment religious liberty, same-sex marriage proponents could point to civil rights legislation which the Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Harris claim a right to dignity for that class.  What protected class can Diamond and Silk rightfully claim against Facebook?

However, in the court of public opinion, Facebook engaging in ideological viewpoint discrimination could be a compelling case for action.  Does MySpace mean anything to Mark Zuckerberg?  That was a social media precursor to Facebook, but when it stopped being cool, it became ghost of itself and a dark web conduit.  Facebook is much bigger and is receiving congressional scrutiny.  Between viewpoint discrimination and revelations of data mining, shareholders should be concerned if Facebook were to become a fraction of its former self.

Facebook has ceased to be a mainly youth oriented site.  Adults may well chafe at having their lives data sold by the social media company.  But for motivated conservatives, this cyber censorship may well have this active demographic find alternatives to speak freely, like on GAB.

Dana Loesch on the March for Our Lives

House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes: "The media is dead"

Troubled Waters Over Bill O'Reilly's Barb?

 



While making the media rounds to promote his new book Old School: Life in the Sane Lane (2017 Holt 192 p.) , Fox News host Bill O'Reilly made a morning appearance on Fox and Friends.  Instead of simply promoting his new publication, O'Reilly riffed on the news of the day.

In reaction to strident one minute speech to an empty House chamber by Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA 43rd), Bill O'Reilly playfully pontificated that Water's wig was the same type as  the Godfather of Soul James Brown.  



Rep. Waters defiantly declared that the 79 year old she would not be intimidated by Bill O'Reilly. Following her lead, liberals on social media collectively flipped their wigs  over this jest as being absolutely out of bounds.  In fact, CNN and the Daily Beast to denounce the barb as being overt racism.  Really? Good gawd, y'all!

Being a smart businessman who wanted to sell more books during the publican week blitz, O'Reilly factored in the outrage and quickly apologized for the dumb joke. 

In assessing these troubled waters over this wise crack, it is worth wondering whether such cyber social justice warriors would react the same way if the proverbial shoe was on the other foot.  

Were progressives piqued when the President of the United States was compared to a monkey?  Of course not, because that was President George W. Bush.  






How about a national leader being compared Darth Vader? Well, former Vice President Dick Cheney embraced the Star Wars comparison.  In fact, the 46th Vice President quipped in 2007: 

"Most of you knew me long before anyone called me Darth Vader. I've been asked if that nickname bothers me, and the answer is, no. After all, Darth Vader is one of the nicer things I've been called recently."

Democrats seem to think that the Resistance is one of the keys to victory in 2018 and winning the White House in 2020.  Democrats act as if demonizing any opposition is sine qua non to their success.  

In addition, their base is constantly whipped into a frenzy to oppose the Trump Administration and anyone who opposes their politically correct perspectives. That ire is difficult to sustain for long periods of time.  Moreover, keying off of a puckish throw away comment about stage similarities lowers the shock value of charges of racism.