What does the left think would be the danger in leaving Trump’s CPAC speech on YouTube?
They’ve removed it, and they’ve suspended Right Side Broadcasting for publishing it.
The left has been banning and canceling people for quite some time, but a more blatant and extreme form of institutional (and corporate) censorship began – as far as I can recall – with the blocking of the Hunter Biden laptop story and of anyone who tried to post it or refused to pretend it didn’t exist. That was a watershed as far as I’m concerned.
What are they most afraid of concerning the viewing of Trump’s speech? I can think of a number of things:
(1) They’re afraid of Trump’s continued ability to have a platform at all to reach those who aren’t already his supporters. Actually, they’d like to stop him from communicating with supporters as well, but unless they raid and arrest everyone at CPAC they won’t be able to do that, and they haven’t done anything to CSPAN (which apparently still gives access to the speech), for example.
(2) They’re afraid of Trump’s stating the now-heretical thought that there was massive and meaningful fraud in the 2020 election.
(3) They’re afraid of the contrast between Trump’s vitality and Biden’s fragility.
(4) They’re afraid of Trump’s searing criticisms of Biden and of this administration’s programs.
(5) They’re afraid of Trump’s statements of what the right needs to do to achieve victory.
Does YouTube (to take one example) really think these thoughts can be stopped from reaching the public? Or are they just making nice to the woke and showing how virtuous they are? Do they think there’s anyone in the US who doesn’t already know that Trump thought the 2020 election was stolen? Surely this would not be news? By making this speech of Trump’s forbidden fruit expressing forbidden thoughts, don’t they enhance them and make people seek them out?
For some people, yes. But I’m going to assume that YouTube thinks that the majority of people who might otherwise watch the speech just won’t bother, and will remain in blissful ignorance of whatever Trump has said.
YouTube probably thinks, like most of the voters in my family, that it should be “illegal to lie”, and that having the right and duty to determine what is a lie, they also have the right and duty to prevent it from becoming widely known!
Freedom of speech only applies to speech they are comfortable with, they will tell you with an absolutely straight face. Such people are not qualified to be citizens of the United States, in my opinion!
And this will only get worse during the Biden-Harris regime.
Big Tech has monopoly power. Only the government can reign in monopoly power. But the current government likes the way things are going. And, of course, they’ve bribed the Dems with campaign contributions.
They think the speech will rally an army of Trump supporters to ravage the country like Nazi brown shirts. They think they are brave heroes preventing a coup.
Yeah, well, I thought you guys were all for capitalism and letting corporations do what they like.
So goes the standard Dem snark in comment sections lately.
It’s a demonstration of power.
The problem with YouTube, is that as a functioning and general content platform, it has such a head start on everyone in terms of offerings and functionality, that even knowing what it is in moral and political terms, people will not migrate to the alternatives.
In fact, if you look at it objectively, a large number of content providers have begun making a living of sorts off of their content, and will not risk placing it up on multiple platforms.
And even when they do, the results are less than inspiring in terms of viewer response.
Rumble seems purposely designed to remain a backwater refuge for a small number of conservative personalities. And it is odd in other ways. For example, you cannot even see the comments, unless you sign in. And when you check out the site greeting page as a newcomer, you see videos on cats and dogs promoted. Unbelievable … So you have Dan Bongiono’s scowling face and his incoherent Sean Hannity shouting sportscaster moron manner of broken sentence rants on the one hand, and pet videos on the other.
What is missing? Pretty much anything interesting.
And what has become interesting on YouTube in the last decade is the historical, engineering, cultural and science content there.
And I don’t see that on Rumble.
If I owned Rumble, I’d get my sss in gear and start uploading all the documentaries entertainment content I could beg, borrow, or steal. There has to be something positive to be found there other than damn pets
Leftists cannot have folks – average folks – who actually think for themselves or who have the brains / motivation to actually ask questions. Asking questions or thinking, risks having leftist sheeple (useful idiots) begin to doubt or question the leftist , pseudo-religious political dogma. This, the leftist elites cannot abide.
Much better and easier for the sheeple to hear only the “correct” view; that’s it. This way there is nothing for the sheeple to question and there is no need for the people to think; all that’s required is for the sheeple to absorb the “correct” message. In this manner the sheeple, knowingly or not, become part of the Borg.
It is very convenient and easy for the people to just believe what they hear or are told.
Those who seek absolute power – leftists or fascists – understand this and rely on this.
The leftist elites are then never questioned, never doubted.
And once this has occurred, the sheeple will believe anything at all. They will even believe that Trump is an anti-Semite despite the fact that his son-in-law, his daughter and his grand kids are jewish.
Uniformity of information and of speech, provides uniformity of thought. This is the purpose of restricting access to views inconsistent with the leftist dogma.
Keep the folks ignorant, keep plying them with the “correct” view of “reality,” and they will believe anything at all .
Just like the “good Germans” in 1930s Germany or the good Bolsheviks in 1930s – 1950s Stalinist Russia.
Apparently about half of all Americans today are no different than those 1930s “good Germans,” or those good Stalinists of the former USSR.
Having been a hippie/leftist in my youth, I’ve noticed that I retained a sort of prejudice that I’ve hardly noticed about leftists of the American bohemian stripe: I still see them as being anti-authority. It’s not really a conscious thought. And for a long time it could remain there because most of my old leftist friends still had that general vibe. But the past 5-10 years have made me realize that even they have, at bottom, the general desire of leftism for *control*. They were only anti-authoritarian because their side didn’t have authority.
I really started noticing this when Obama was elected: suddenly the government, which they used to see in the most paranoid terms, was benign and generally in the right. The covid thing has really brought it out–they’re avid supporters of the most restrictive and coercive policies and are very hostile to the idea that anything in the party line is debatable. I doubt they would object to YouTube’s action here. Or rather they would in fact actively support it. I could go on but you all know this.
Mac,
They were never anti-authority. They were simply anti-authority that they did not control. They were always authoritarians. Always.
DNW,
I find I click on youtube links less and less due to the inevitable, ensuing barrage of commercials. Someone here linked to a nifty video of a guy sailing a small sailboat from L.A. to Hawaii. 39 minutes. I was eating when I clicked on it and thought, “this might be amusing to watch during lunch.” The ads popping in about every 4 minutes caused me to give up.
What I think we will see more and more of are aggregators that link to folks’ own content on their own pages and many folks will allow others to copy their content if they attribute it. Disc space is nearly free up to rather generous amounts. If I were a content producer why share anything with Youtube? It will take time, but I think this will become the trend.
To use the example from my spoiled lunch, yesterday:
There would be an aggregator that collects interesting items about sailing and the commenter here who posted the youtube link would, instead, see a reference on the sailing themed aggregator. The link would go directly to the sailor’s own page where he had uploaded his video. The commenter here would share a link to that (cutting out youtube altogether).
I used to go to youtube often for various kinds of music. A dozen versions of Battle Hymn of The Republic. Tallis Scholars over and over. Old folk stuff. Anything could think of.
I don’t want them to benefit from my business but I’d like some version of the same access. Any ideas?
If I hit “skip ad” does that mean no revenue, or do they get revenue as print mags get whether people read the ads or not?
Any ideas?
Right, Rufus T., I said that: “They were only anti-authoritarian because their side didn’t have authority.” I would quibble with “They were always authoritarians” to the extent of saying that they did not have the acquisition of authority in mind–they were not that thoughtful. I would say rather “potential authoritarians.” But that is a quibble.
I’m not talking here about hard-core political leftists, but the easygoing dope-and-sex types. The former, the kind who became the Weather Underground, were certainly under no illusions, but I really didn’t encounter many of those. But I’m a little surprised by, for instance, Deadheads who have, for instance, pretty well embraced the FBI and the CIA as protectors. These are people who used to speak of the CIA the way Christians speak of the devil.
I suppose it’s a general human tendency, that those who don’t have power and authority would tend to seem or to see themselves as being skeptical of power and authority in themselves, and to change their tune once things are rearranged in their favor.
Having been a hippie left-leaning youth, I can assure you that if you did not toe the party line in all respects, you were suspect. And soon to be ostracized, if you persisted. No free thinking allowed.
One day, I was walking to class down Fraternity row, and realized that the hip groups I had admired were not noticeably different from the Polo/Dockers crowd. Just different clothes. Even the hair!
I doubt it was something as seriously deliberated as either Neo or the commenters imply. Rather, it’s like “doctrine” in the military sense; it’s what they are disposed to do in a given situation.
Garret Crawford: agreed. Coming to a similar realization was a factor in my getting off that particular train. I had a conversation not so very long ago (in the last decade) with an old acquaintance who is very proud of still holding to the ’60s faith. I remarked on how fundamentally conformist the hippie thing was. He got a little angry and said “It didn’t matter, as long as you weren’t part of the mainstream.”
Umm….
That was in-group policing, though. They weren’t trying to force the frat boys to get rid of their khakis. Or grow their hair out–in my college days long hair was very much still the freak flag.
Censoring Trump and conservatives is a futile attempt to control future events. Its futile because its a distraction from the reality that the left’s solutions are disastrous. All the censorship and canceling in the world is not going to lessen the calamitous tsunami that the left is fomenting. In fact, its going to increase it.
[Hippies] were never anti-authority. They were simply anti-authority that they did not control. They were always authoritarians. Always.
Rufus T. Firefly:
Not all of us. Some of us thought it was about questioning and being open-minded.
And that’s how I got thrown out of the lodge and am now typing stuff here.
I encourage all of my fellow conservatives to stop engaging in intelligent discussions with democrats, just call them racist and move on just like they do regarding to any disagreement with the republicans. if calling people racist win them elections, why don’t we just do what works for them?
Well it won’t get blatted off here anytime soon:
https://tv.gab.com/channel/realdonaldtrump/view/donald-trump-cpac-speech-2021-603c37d38ba2a880229568ac
Gab, Bitchute, DLive… You’re all going to have to Embrace the Hate and go over to the dark side if you hate having your ideas censored. I can absolutely guarantee you’ll *hate* some of the things being said on these platforms — I sure as hell don’t like everything I see — but that’s all part of playing in the Big Boys’ Sandpit — something which has not existed in any of our lifetimes.
I mean that bit about none of us having ever experienced truly free speech. You may think you have… and I certainly did… but let’s say that you grew up in a world where it was OK to speak freely about Woodpile Wombles or the Rainbow Crowd… that’s great.. but you probably experienced a no-holds barred discussion of the implications of (say) Briffault’s Law. Triggering 😛
It’s arguable whether or not Humanity can handle too much honesty or communication between disparate groups. I don’t necessarily believe that free speech is even a good thing in the longer run… but right now if you plan on surviving the coming years, it’s a good idea to pay attention to what’s out there.
YouTube is toast. Good for watching steam train videos. When it figures out my penchant for Angolan Bush War reportage from the 1980s it’s really going to give me the treatment.
Go, go, go, said the bird: human kind
Cannot bear very much reality.
–T.S. Eliot, “Burnt Norton”
Zaphod:
Not sure what you mean about free speech.
I concede absolute free speech is probably undesirable. However, as an American I’ve experienced more free speech in the past than today and I thought the past was better.
I once knew what T.S. Eliot’s bird was about. Still like the quote, though.
“Disappeared” is what they are after and they don’t have the camps or trains that their predecessors had available. And “defenestration” is tough when the modern windows don’t open.
In the mean time, if he is talkin’, he is inspiring. And proof that you can escape. Intolerable, that!
@huxley:
What I mean about free speech is that a good many of its proponents have never been on the receiving end of it good and proper.
A good many ‘Conservatives’ for example, who *think* they are in favor of free speech would have second thoughts were they exposed to Unz.com, for example.. let alone the Dreaded Chans. And, one rather suspects that the Parlers, Petersons and Pragers of this world derive part of their support and funding in order to head off any stray cattle (heh) at the pass and corral them into the gelding pens. The problem with this is that for every 1000 bonkers blood libels in Unz or 8chan, there’s likely to be one diamond bullet through the forehead flash of insight that could be the thing we all need. But it never makes it out into general circulation.
If we’re going to avoid a Yugoslavian re-run, some of the pressure has to be let out with more free speech and exchange of ideas.
The flip side of this is not the usual Cossack-Bubbe stuff… the flip side is that I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that planet-wide interconnectivity and everybody knowing everyone else’s thoughts might be the Fermi Paradox Great Filter. Too much of Each Other could just do for us all.
Getting the optimum right is not easy and I see no evidence that the ‘market’ can balance it… and no evidence that the Progressive Priesthood can balance it… and no evidence that Hillsdale College or First Things would get it right either. The more I think about this, the more confused I get… which is now officially your fault! 🙂
“That was in-group policing, though. They weren’t trying to force the frat boys to get rid of their khakis.” – Mac
That is, it seems to me, the major differentiating factor obetween the huxley-style hippies and the ones now in power.
They’re not afraid at all. They’re making an example of him to discourage others from following his lead for fear of getting banned themselves—AKA the “Chilling Effect.”
Ah… Here we are… Randomly chosen menthol mild-strength dose of the kind of post on Gab that gets a person banned from Twitter or Parler.
“Joe Biden continues his long streak of saying the quiet part out loud, yet then rescuing himself from his Archie Bunkerish-acts of noticing by declaring, “But that’s a good thing.” – @Steve_Sailer
Note that quoting the current pResident of the United States would be enough to achieve this banning:
https://gab.com/VDARE/posts/105840782790098535
Gab Post refers to this article comprised of Biden quotes + some India Today reporting —>
https://vdare.com/posts/biden-indian-of-descent-americans-sic-are-taking-over-the-country
The Left says, Trump Delenda EST!!!!!111111!!!!!!