Webster’s defines the verb censor as: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything thought to be harmful or dangerous.
Censor the noun is : an official who examines publications or communications for objectionable matter.
And Censorship is: the institution, system, or practice of censoring or of censors.
Well, there certainly is a lot of gray area in those definitions, isn’t there? You can call it by any name you want to, but a rose by any other name is still a rose. The real question is: Who decides? Who is anointed with the duty or power to suppress or delete? To decide what is objectionable? To create systems or institutions for the purpose of censoring?
I am no historian, but I do know that Ministers of Propaganda and Information have caused a lot of havoc, and destruction, over the centuries. Censorship is within their purview, and Censorship usually leads to persecution. It is a road to hell.
Hence, in our Bill of Rights, we are guaranteed Freedom of Speech. You can say and write what you like–even if people despise it, even if people counter it, even if people think you are crazy. No matter how abhorrent some people find your thoughts, mindset, and words to be, you have the right to express them. PERIOD!
You are not allowed to cry “fire” in a crowded theater, but that was not adjudicated by a “censor.” It was adjudicated in a court of law. See how this whole Rule of Law things ties together?
When I asked that question, I was asking it of whoever Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and various other mainstream news agencies have assigned to silence any thought they deem objectionable.
I for one will pit my intellect, and fair-mindedness, and Constitutional adherence against any 35 year old “woke” genius at these companies. You can think what you like, and you can say what you like. But, don’t censor me! And don’t censor those whose opinions you disagree with, or whose influence you want to diminish!
To watch wholesale censorship of the President of the United States is stunning. It is repulsive, and it is dangerous! That is not a mere embarrassment–as some would have you think. It is a disgrace. And I would hold that opinion even if the “shoe was on the other foot” and the candidate was not “my candidate.” Equal protection under the law applies here.
So, when you hear that Twitter accounts are blocked, when posts are censored, when they are hidden, when editors of newspapers are fired for allowing an opinion piece to be published, you know you are dealing with people who would do very well in any regime that seeks to control you, to suppress you, and erase you.
Speak up, while you still have the chance!
Call your state representative today would be my recommendation. No matter what state you live in. Tell them you will not support him or her unless they stand with the President, and the right of the candidate to go down legal and constitutional avenues. It is constitutional in a contested election for one person to pursue legal redress, recounts, etc. And, in this election, I am one of 72.3 Million Americans (that’s a LOT of people) who does not have confidence that the vote I cast was properly recorded–or if it were, that it was not cancelled out by planned late voting.
We must slow down, and get this right, for future elections, and generations.
Amen!