The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him. – Proverbs 18:17 (CSB)
Let us dare to read, think, speak and write. – John Adams, Second US President
During World War II, the Japanese used a team of female, English-speaking announcers to broadcast propaganda by radio with the goal of discouraging American GI’s serving in the Asian-Pacific region. The programs included a mix of American popular music to draw an audience but also depressing news and misinformation to dispirit the servicemen into thinking they were losing the war.
Although the announcers never used the name, the Americans dubbed all the female DJs “Tokyo Rose.” The wartime Japanese government knew that “information is power,” and that a steady diet of slanted “news” may mislead and discourage an audience (U.S. servicemen) cut off from their normal, pre-war sources of information.
Speaking of World War II, when I taught history at Roanoke’s Patrick Henry High School, I saw some colleagues show a video about that epic conflict. The Democrat and the Dictator, by journalist Bill Moyers, compared the US and German leaders during those crucial years.
Moyers pointed out that Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) and Adolph Hitler both came to power within six weeks of each other in 1933, and both died within days of each other in April 1945. Other than those similarities, however, both men and the countries they led were radically different.
Moyers pointed out, for example, that the US as a democracy was marked by a chorus of varying voices. Even during the wartime years, we had federal elections among competing parties in 1942 and 1944. In contrast, Nazi Germany tolerated no “competing voices.” Soon after he seized power, Hitler banned Jews from owning newspapers, and he ordered all print media, radio stations, and movies to present the Nazi “party line,” day in and day out. That steady diet of misinformation–with no dissenting voices or opinions allowed–helped speed up the brainwashing of the German people, with horrific consequences.
The same was true in Stalin’s Soviet Union. The mass media was only a tool to spread propaganda from the Party.
These examples from history–Tokyo Rose and dictatorships allowing only one narrative–sprang to my mind lately. As I like to say in these columns, “Don’t take my word for it–observe for yourself and come to your own conclusions.” Have you noticed a dominant “narrative” about the election, both on mainstream media and social media?
The dominant narrative I have observed is: “Trump lost, and now President-elect Biden is assembling his cabinet and positive vision for America and the world.”
As I have observed in some previous columns, there are some deeply troubling signs pointing to “irregularities” and possibly straight-up fraud. However, you wouldn’t know that if your only source of information is the mainstream media and most social media.
Today in America, I observe a “party line” and the main gatekeepers tolerate little to no dissent. That, unfortunately, is a sign of tyranny.
This topic is huge, but for today I want to only focus on Twitter. I’ve been hearing rumblings of “bias and censorship against conservative voices on Twitter” for a few years now, but I didn’t really know what to make of it.
Harry Truman, who became president after the death of FDR, said: “It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” What he meant of course is, things usually don’t seem very severe until they impact you personally.
I recently had my “Truman moment” with Twitter. I had found and hit “Follow” for attorney Sydney Powell on Twitter. She is the attorney who has made allegations of voter fraud so alarming, they should alert anyone who cares about their liberty and our country. (I discussed her claims in more detail in my Nov. 20 column.)
You may be wondering: “Scott, why are you looking for news on Twitter? Why not get your news from a real news source?”
That is a great question, and also part of the problem. I find that so many “news sources” have their own ideological ax to grind, it is hard to find trustworthy information. So, I wanted to see what Ms. Powell was saying, in her own words, without going through the biased filters of gatekeepers.
I read some of her tweets, went off to see what some others were saying on other threads, but when I tried later to find her tweet thread, I could not. I tried different derivations of her name: no luck. Remember: I had already opted to “follow” her, but when I looked back later, all I could find were other, random women named “Sydney Powell,” all of whom had zero followers.
Maybe it was a software glitch. However, my takeaway was Twitter was messing with her account and not letting me see what she had to say. That is when I realized personally, “Yes, Virginia, Twitter really does like to censor people and control the flow of information.”
Twitter’s Mission Statement claims their goal: “is to give everyone the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers.”
Yeah, that’s bunk.
I prefer the approach of our second president, John Adams: “Let every sluice of knowledge be opened and set a-flowing.”
So maybe you think Sydney Powell is spreading “fake news.” Ok–if what she says is false, then let other voices freely show how off base she is, and let us readers decide for ourselves.
On November 23, the Pennsylvania legislature had hearings into voting irregularities and fraud. That is their JOB. Shortly thereafter, Twitter put PA State Senator Doug Mastriano–a combat veteran–into “time out” when they suspended his account.
After a firestorm of criticism ensued, Twitter backpedaled and claimed the suspension was “an accident.”
Um, maybe.
Just today, the Media Research Center claims Twitter has flagged Pres. Trump and his campaign 325 times since May 2018. In that same time, they have censored Joe Biden zero.
Are you tired of being treated like an infant, wondering if you or one of your favorite writers will be put in “time out”? Are you tired of being told what to believe and what not to believe, and told what you can see and what you aren’t allowed to see?
This weekend I joined Parler, and today I deactivated my Twitter after some 10 years with them. I had seen some mainstream media unload their hatred against Parler, which was encouragement for me to sign on.
Since we know tyrants want to control the narrative and silence divergent opinions, no wonder the MSM and other social media despise this new upstart, which promises a free flow of information minus the censorship. Take a look and see for yourself.
– Scott Dreyer
Sources:
https://billmoyers.com/content/the-democrat-and-the-dictator/
