White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki admits – no, boasts – that the government is now telling Facebook which posts to take down because they are “misinformation.” She adds that if one medium bans you, all the others should ban you as well. That is, America is on the verge of complete government control of information flow.
This announcement evokes neither shame nor denial from other government spokespersons, or from Democrat leaders, nor even from many GOP leaders. Rather than a profoundly troubling, controversial move, this seems to be accepted as normal. But normal where? Not in the America where I grew up. No way. But in the America of big tech and constitutionally illiterate young people? Yes, sadly it is becoming normal.
In Nazi Germany, genocide was normal and those who objected were sent to prison camps. In the Soviet Union and Mao’s China, mass starvation was normal and those who called attention to it were sent to mental hospitals. We had better be extremely careful what we consider normal. It is literally a life-and-death decision. And it is a decision we do not make suddenly and consciously. No, it is a decision we make gradually and unconsciously. We just slip into it, and before we know it, we are subjects not citizens, and we are ruled rather than governed.
•