Campus Protest at the University of Wisconsin

There’s an old saying that the measure of a man’s character can be seen in the things he does when no one else is looking. I believe the opposite holds true in media. A man or woman’s true character can be seen in the things they do and say when everyone is looking. Unfortunately, the mainstream media as we know it is controlled by a very small group of corporations. These multimedia giants ultimately work in concert to maintain extremely limited, pre-approved discourse on their networks, which encapsulates the majority of news intake by Americans.

Although there is an unprecedented rise in independent media, these platforms are heavily targeted for suppression and censorship by corporate media, which throws its weight around to incentivize social media companies to silence voices that contradict mainstream media narratives. This leaves platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to act as mere extensions of these corporations, which, by extension, act as tentacles of the state. They merge to act as one enormous roadblock to the additional information and perspectives that most Americans need to create informed opinions, and thereafter, make informed decisions.

Anyone who uses social media can easily relate to the excessive “fact checking” and “misinformation” labels that have become a regular part of their virtual experience. Even posts that list mere definitions of words, phrases, and laws, such as the “Nuremberg Codes” are hit with “missing context” fact checks, accompanied by Covid-19 safety advisories. These overt measures to inundate you with limited perspective while characterizing otherwise valuable information as deceptive, disingenuous, or “missing context are an egregious dereliction of journalistic integrity and ignore the notion of unbiased allowance for free speech.

One glaring example of this is the tidal wave of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube suspensions of everyday users, independent journalists, accredited medical professionals, and as of late, Republican elected officials and/or conservative leaning voices. People are being banned from social media for political and ideological reasons under the guise of “misinformation.” This bodes as problematic, considering medicine (and people’s personal medical decisions) has become so highly politicized. But, even more troubling is the clear partisan bullying that is taking place from Democrats and left leaning media. Many of us were incessantly told for four years how much of a “bully” Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell and Republicans were. But, now that Democrats control all branches of government, we are seeing an unprecedented level of bullying, not only in government policy, but in media propaganda and censorship.

If fact checkers were a real thing, legacy media would also be subject to the same fact-checking as the rest of us. There has been so much misinformation delivered to the public from networks like MSNBC and CNN, shows like “The View,” and most other so-called leftist media. However, we have yet to see any of their videos that contain that misinformation labeled, or taken down by Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter. CNN ran stories blatantly lying about Joe Rogan using “horse paste” to treat Covid-19. In September 2021, Rachel Maddow reported that “patients were overdosing on ivermectin and backing up emergency rooms and ambulances in Oklahoma.” That didn’t happen (She later walked it back, but the original tweet still remains). MSNBC recently posted about Covid-19, with Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel saying “kids are either going to get the vaccine or they’re likely to get a serious condition of omicron,” which is blatant medical misinformation. Research clearly shows that for children without a serious medical condition, the risk of dying from Covid-19 is so low, it’s difficult to quantify. However, after being called out for the lie by multiple independent media sources and elected officials, Emanuel corrected his statements, saying he “misspoke.” Interestingly, a fact check by Reuters concluded that Dr. Emanuel’s statements were “missing context,” although they were incontrovertibly false. So, the question is…who are these facts checkers, and who fact checks them? Also, why are mainstream media contributors allowed infinite “updates” to their false assertions without ever facing social media suspensions or misinformation labels?

The way that so-called liberals have handled political discourse, policy, and the entire response to Covid-19 exposes the hypocrisy of liberal politics in the United States. What we have seen is authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and fascist behavior and policies. We have watched people who once stood on moral high grounds suddenly devolve into the rabid, hostile, hate-spewing “undesirables” they once accused conservatives of being. When liberal voices are calling for unvaccinated organ transplant recipients to be denied life saving organs, we have witnessed a level of moral deficiency and irredeemability never seen before. There is no forgiveness in today’s liberal politics. There is no room for open discussion or alternate perspectives. There is no room for FREEDOM. The only thing Democrats and liberals demand today is compliance. Therefore, we must face the fact that the political landscape in the U.S. has changed, and we must re-evaluate and re-adjust. Or, better, yet…try something completely different.