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ALPERN AT LARGE - Well, fancy that! A federal judge (and we hate when they get all activist, now that they’re as of late more conservative and not just liberal, right!) just told President Biden to limit his censorship on social media because it violates the First Amendment.
Furthermore, the Biden Administration was ruled as likely censoring free speech on social media during the COVID-19 pandemic, with U.S. District Court Judge Terry Doughty (yep—he’s a Trump appointee) ruling that censoring opposing points of view than what was allowed by the White House…was “Orwellian”.
There’s now a sweeping preliminary injunction barring federal officials such as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, and all employees of the Justice Department and FBI from having any contact with social media firms.
You know, “freedom of speech” and all that?
I know, I know, I know, Republicans and conservatives are just…so…wrong!
So why should they be allowed to post their “crap opinions” and declared “facts” online, right?
So why should they post that the COVID-19 virus started in a bio-lab in Wuhan, China, even if more and more world health agencies have been leaning towards that conclusion?
And why should they post that schools and businesses were closed too much during the pandemic, and without any compromise in staying open in a socially distanced and low-risk outdoor setting?
And why should they post that while vaccinations were beneficial to elderly and immunocompromised individuals, they were virtually entirely unnecessary for kids and arguably dangerous to muscular young men (myocarditis)?
And why should they post that firing non-vaccinated individuals from certain businesses and the military should be mandated from the White House when masking and other efforts often were proven to be effective and sufficient for those choosing to remain unvaccinated?
(I got my vaccines, by the way, and as a health care professional I have every intention of getting boosters every 6-12 months or more if need be!)
And why should we wonder if the written press and virtually all news media outlets and social media (think Twitter and Facebook!) censored a sitting Republican President while only allowing Democratic points of view?
And why should we wonder if censoring Republican/conservative/libertarian points of view, while also censoring the Biden Family Scandals, for the past few years played a role in manipulating the 2020 election, and then the 2022 mid-term elections?
And why should we wonder how it is that only one side is allowed to state their case on Yahoo, AOL, Twitter, YouTube, and Google, and being entirely and blatantly partial against other points of view?
And why should we wonder if journalism, social media outlets, and educational facilities are impartial if the overwhelming fraction of them (90-95% or more) tend liberal with powerful Democratic leanings?
And why should we wonder if we’re in a Soviet Union-style scenario, with government “groupspeak” and “truthspeak” similar to that of Tass and Pravda on blatant display, with media figures and journalists going in and out of White House jobs?
And why should we wonder why so many younger or less-educated individuals have no idea of what Tass and Pravda were?
And why should we wonder if we’ve long been in an Animal Farm/1984/Orwellian gaslighting nightmare?
And why should we wonder why so many younger or less-educated individuals have no idea of who Orwell was, and/or what “1984” or “Animal Farm” refers to?
And why should we wonder if the DOJ, FBI, IRS, and other government agencies have been weaponized against alternative political and/or cultural institutions with opposing views not sanctioned by the White House?
But most importantly, should we now seriously have to wonder if there is a future Republican President in the White House that would lead to censorship against all liberal, Democratic, and progressive institutions…
…or if that is any more an example of horrible McCarthy-style censorship from a conservative point of view than when it’s done by liberals?
(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father. He was active for 20 years on the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) as a Board Member focused on Planning and Transportation, and helped lead the grassroots efforts of the Expo Line as well as connecting LAX to MetroRail. His latest project is his fictional online book entitled The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth, and can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)
