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Posts tagged ‘Cancel Culture’

The New York Times Denounces Cancel Culture . . . After Fueling Cancel Culture for Years


By: Jonatan Turley | May 12, 2024

Read more at https://jonathanturley.org/2024/05/12/the-new-york-times-denounces-cancel-culture-after-fueling-cancel-culture-for-years/

For those of us who have criticized the cancel culture in higher education for years, the attacks and shunning have been unrelenting. The media has played a role in that culture and none more prominently than the New York Times. Recently, however, the mob came for liberal professors and media who have remained silent for years as conservatives and others were targeted on campus. Suddenly, there is a new interest in free speech and academic freedom, including by the Times editors who blamed cancel culture for the recent demonstrations and disruptions on campus.

Until good liberals were targeted on campus, cancel culture was treated as free speech. It did not matter that preventing others from speaking or being heard is the very antithesis of free speech.

The New York Times reached true infamy in the controversy over publishing Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R., Ark.) op-ed where he argued for the possible use of national guard to quell violent riots around the White House. It was one of the lowest points in the history of modern American journalism. Cotton was calling for the use of the troops to restore order in Washington after days of rioting around the White House.  While Congress would “call in the troops” six months later to quell the rioting at the Capitol on January 6th, New York Times reporters and columnists called the column historically inaccurate and politically inciteful.

Reporters insisted that Cotton was even endangering them by suggesting the use of troops and insisted that the newspaper cannot feature people who advocate political violence. One year later, the New York Times published a column by an academic who had previously declared that there is nothing wrong with murdering conservatives and Republicans.

Later, former editors came forward to denounce the cancel culture at the Times and the censorship of opposing views. At the same time, the Times has embraced “advocacy journalism.” Former New York Times writer (and now Howard University Journalism Professor) Nikole Hannah-Jones is a leading voice for advocacy journalism. Indeed, Hannah-Jones has declared “all journalism is activism.”

Now, however, liberal professors and writers are being targeted. After years of turning a blind eye to conservative and libertarian figures being purged from faculties or canceled in events, the Times is alarmed that …students and other demonstrators disrupting college campuses this spring are being taught the wrong lesson — for as admirable as it can be to stand up for your beliefs, there are no guarantees that doing so will be without consequence.

What is most striking is how the editors chastise administrators for lacking the courage that they have not shown for years in standing up to their cultural warriors:

For several years, many university leaders have failed to act as their students and faculty have shown ever greater readiness to block an expanding range of views that they deem wrong or beyond the pale. Some scholars report that this has had a chilling effect on their work, making them less willing to participate in the academy or in the wider world of public discourse. The price of pushing boundaries, particularly with more conservative ideas, has become higher and higher…

It has not gone unnoticed — on campuses but also by members of Congress and by the public writ large — that many of those who are now demanding the right to protest have previously sought to curtail the speech of those whom they declared hateful.

It is certainly good to see the “Old Gray Lady” have second thoughts about cancel culture. However, she might want to look inwardly before casting more cultural stones.

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Education, Law, Media, Political

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John Stossel Op-ed: Canceling Cancel Culture


John Stossel / @JohnStossel / November 08, 2023

Read more at https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/11/08/canceling-cancel-culture/

“I self-censored,” says 23-year-old Rikki Schlott about how she handled being a right-leaning libertarian at New York University. Pictured: People walk past NYU on Oct. 30, 2023, in New York City. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

“I was not genuine in my own beliefs,” says 23-year-old Rikki Schlott in my new video. “I self-censored.”

Why? What did this college student believe that was so unacceptable that she felt she had to hide it?

The fact that she’s a right-leaning libertarian.

“I was afraid to have Thomas Sowell and Jordan Peterson books on my bookshelf.”

If her classmates at NYU saw that, she says, she might have been “verbally attacked on social media, maligned as whatever ‘ist’ or ‘ism’ people might attack me with.”

So Schlott kept her mouth shut, eventually dropping out of NYU.

I ask her, “If you were doing it again, you’d speak out?”

“I did speak out! Here I am!” She responds.

By “here,” she means my TV studio, where I interviewed her about a new book she co-wrote titled, “The Canceling of the American Mind.” It details how cancel culture grew into a serious problem on campuses.

Examples:

  • A teacher in Virginia lost his job for calling a transgender student “she.”
  • At Hamline University, an art history lecturer lost her job simply for showing a painting of Muhammad.
  • A University of Virginia med student was banished from campus for merely questioning the importance of “microaggressions.”

Then such idiocy spread beyond campuses.

  • A Levi Strauss executive felt she had to resign because employees objected to her tweets criticizing COVID-19 school closures and mask mandates for children.
  • The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top editor was forced to resign after approving an article titled “Buildings Matter Too,” after Black Lives Matter rioters burned down buildings. Some at the paper called his headline “extremely inappropriate” and “tone-deaf.”

And so on.

Now some want to punish people who defend Hamas. Others want to silence Israel’s defenders.

Schlott argues that America needs more free speech, even if it’s hateful. “Being a true free speech champion does require that you defend speech that even you disagree with.”

Schlott’s co-author on “The Canceling of the American Mind” works for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. FIRE argues that everything can be said, as long as it’s not direct incitement of violence, willful negligence, or defamation.

Schlott tells me, “You are well within your First Amendment rights to cancel people and to malign them on social media. But the question is, ‘Do we want to live in a culture where that is our first reaction?’”

She points out that her generation started tweeting when they were kids, and many posted stupid things.

“Young people need to be able to screw up.”

Maybe. But based on what I see on my news feeds, it’s people her age who are most eager to “cancel” people.

“It is true that younger Americans tend to be more pro-cancel culture,” she replies. “Millennials have the most positive view, and as you get older, it goes lower and lower. But Gen Z (ages 11 to 26) completely switches that around. Only 8% have a positive view of it. That’s because if you’re a young person who grows up in a graceless society, you’re always looking behind your back. You see friends torn down on social media. You’re not going to want to live in a world like that.”

I push back. “But they perpetuate a world like that!”

“It’s a tyranny of the minority,” she replies. “One squeaky wheel scares the life out of everyone else. Then we self-censor.”

She did that in college.

Students like her kept their mouths shut because they didn’t want to be reported as “biased.” NYU officials, like the secret police in East Germany, even encouraged students to report on others.

She tells me, “When I got to NYU, the first thing I had to do was go pick up my ID card. I found on the back the emergency number, in case you’re in danger, and a bias response hotline in case you’re offended. The university itself sanctioned the idea that you can snitch on your peers.”

She says it’s time for students to push back against school censorship.

“We need to say we want to live in a free speech culture. … Courage is contagious. As soon as I spoke out at NYU, people came out of the woodwork to say, ‘Thank you for saying that! I completely agree with you.’”

COPYRIGHT 2023 BY JFS PRODUCTIONS INC.

COMMENTARY BY

John Stossel@JohnStossel

John Stossel is the creator of Stossel TV videos, and author of “No They Can’t! Why Government Fails—But Individuals Succeed.”

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Culture, Opinion

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California mom says she lost her job 10 days after speaking against LGBTQ materials at school board meeting


By: CARLOS GARCIA | August 29, 2023

Read more at https://www.conservativereview.com/california-mom-says-she-lost-her-job-10-days-after-speaking-against-lgbtq-materials-at-school-board-meeting-2664621693.html/

Image Source: KGO-TV YouTube video screenshot composite

A mom in California says she was the victim of “cancel culture” over her politically incorrect comments made during a school board meeting about LGBTQ materials being included in other school curricula.

Janet Roberson told KGO-TV that she lost her job 10 days after speaking at a meeting of the Benicia Unified School District school board in April. She has three children attending schools in the Benicia school district.

“It’s not a choice. People are not gender fluid, and to teach our children this is not okay,” she said during the meeting.

Roberson said that people who disagreed with her contacted her employer, a large real estate company based in New York, and publicized her comments. She said she was called bigoted and racist over the comments.

“I thought, gosh, as a mom speaking at a school board meeting, you should be able to do that without losing your job,” said Roberson.

The company, Compass, released a statement denying that its staffing decision had to do with her political beliefs.

“Compass does not make decisions about agents’ affiliations with the company based on their personal political or social beliefs,” the company said.

Roberson said that, as an independent contractor, she had no legal recourse.

“We should all be able to have our opinions without trying to cancel each other. I think I’m really trying to come out strong against this whole kind of cancel culture,” she explained.

Benicia Unified School District Superintendent Damon Wright defended the district’s policy to include LGBTQ materials in school curricula by saying, “Parents and guardians have the right to opt out of all or part of sexual health instruction.”

Roberson told the Daily Wire that she would have done it all again.

“For me to lose a job is horrible and not okay, but I would be willing to do it again,” she said. “Absolutely. To speak the truth and to stand for freedom and for what our Constitution stands for — 100%.”

Roberson says she was able to find a new job.

Here’s a local news report about the incident:

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Education, Family, LGBTQ+ AND TRANSGENDER, Political

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YouTube removes Jordan Peterson’s interview with RFK Jr., citing vaccine ‘misinformation’


By: JOSEPH MACKINNON | June 20, 2023

Read more at https://www.theblaze.com/news/youtube-removes-jordan-petersons-interview-with-rfk-jr-citing-vaccine-misinformation/

Image composite, source: Twitter video, @JBPpod – Screenshot

YouTube has removed Dr. Jordan Peterson’s recent interview with Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from its platform, claiming the conversation was in violation of its “general vaccine misinformation policy.”

The duo — whose dialogue the Google-owned platform determined should not be heard by prospective voters — have been joined by countless critics in denouncing the move. In the 95-minute interview published on June 5, entitled “Rekindling the Spirit of the Classic Democrat,” Peterson, a clinical psychologist, broached various topics with the presidential candidate, including Kennedy’s candidacy, COVID-19 vaccines, the collapse of the mainstream media, woke ideological capture, the environment, and the possibility of salvaging the Democratic Party.

HERE IT IS ON TWITTER:

Some in the liberal media have taken issue in particular with Kennedy’s suggestion that the “soup of toxic chemicals,” including “endocrine disruptors,” that children are allegedly being exposed to may be linked to “a lot of the sexual dysphoria that we’re seeing.”

The Independent highlighted Kennedy’s suggestion that “There’s atrazine throughout our water supply. … Atrazine, by the way, if you in a lab put atrazine in a tank full of frogs, it will chemically castrate and forcefully feminize every frog in there. And 10% of the frogs, the male frogs will turn into fully viable females able to produce viable eggs. If it’s doing that to frogs, it could, there’s a lot of other evidence that it’s doing to human beings as well.”

YouTube said in a statement Monday, “We removed a video from the Jordan Peterson channel for violating YouTube’s general vaccine misinformation policy, which prohibits content that alleges that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities.”

The platform’s vaccine misinformation policy states, “Don’t post content on YouTube if it includes harmful misinformation about currently approved and administered vaccines.” Discussions of vaccine safety, particularly “content alleging that vaccines cause chronic side effects, outside of rare side effects that are recognized by health authorities,” along with remarks about the efficacy and ingredients of vaccines are verboten.

For instance, YouTube forbids the suggestion that vaccines can cause cancer or diabetes; do not reduce the risk of contracting illness; “contain substances that are not on the vaccine ingredient list, such as biological matter from fetuses”; and that vaccines can cause chronic side effects such as infertility.

Kennedy, the 69-year-old son of assassinated former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of assassinated former President John F. Kennedy, stressed that this censorship amounts to “blatant interference in the electoral process” and further evidence that YouTube is a “propaganda outlet.” He also thanked Elon Musk, noting that Twitter continues to host the video.

In a Sunday Twitter thread, the Democratic presidential candidate wrote, “Maybe you can help me figure out what ‘misinformation’ was in this interview. … Do you really need Big Tech censors to decide what you would hear? Or would you prefer to be treated as a competent adult who can listen to various viewpoints and come to his or her own conclusions?”

Peterson denounced the “commissars” at YouTube for what he similarly regarded as election interference, adding, “If there were any real journalists left among the legacy media they’d be up in arms about this.”

Extra to chastising the mainstream media for its apparent indifference to the silencing of a presidential candidate by a corporate behemoth, Peterson called out Democrats, stating, “The slippery slope is now headed your way and you richly deserve it.”

It would appear some Democrats are happy to see Biden’s top Democratic opponent silenced.

Bakari Sellers, a CNN commentator and former Democratic state representative in South Carolina, recently told The Hill that Kennedy “is probably the best example of an apple falling from the tree and rolling into a whole other orchard — parroting Putin talking points and so on. He is not John, he is not Robert, and he is more associated with the likes of [podcaster] Joe Rogan and Elon Musk than he is with James Clyburn or Hakeem Jeffries.”

“You can’t let cancers metastasize,” added Sellers.

YouTube’s excision of Kennedy’s interview from its platform is not the first time Silicon Valley has attempted to squelch the speech of Biden’s rival. In February 2021, Instagram shut down his account, claiming Kennedy repeatedly shared “debunked claims about the coronavirus or vaccines.” That ban was reversed after Kennedy announced his presidential bid in April.

Last summer, Instagram and its parent company Facebook removed the accounts for Kennedy’s nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, from their platforms, again claiming they had advanced “misinformation” during the COVID-19 pandemic, reported the New York Times.

Kennedy has invited the American public to “make a video and post it to @YouTube telling them what you think” as it pertains to the platform’s apparent decision to remain a “propaganda outlet” rather than “a modern-day public square.”

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Political

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It’s OK to be WHITE, Maybe


By: Lawrence Johnson | March 13, 2023

 Read more at https://theblacksphere.net/2023/03/its-ok-to-be-white-maybe/

homer Simpson, cancel culture, Kevin Jackson

“Why, you little… I’ll teach you to laugh at something that’s funny!” -Homer Simpson

As a society, we understand very well the term, “free speech isn’t free.” This double-entendre statement has arguably been more applicable in the past several years than in any other time in history. That all freedoms come at a cost, most understand, but the freedom to say what you believe or think, is literally under siege these days.

In such cases, due to terms like, ‘misinformation’ and ‘disinformation,’ it need not even be a lie; an imagined slight is all it takes. This quote from “The Simpson’s movie” back in 2007 references an ideology that at the time, seemed far-fetched. However, as life imitates art in 2023, simply laughing at something funny or speaking unpopular truths can end a career.

During the last weekend of February 2023, the popular comic strip “Dilbert” was dropped by nearly 80 newspaper outlets across the country after what many considered a ‘racist rant’ by its creator, Scott Adams.

According to News One, “It followed an incident in which Adams, on his program “Real Coffee with Scott Adams,” reacted to a recent survey by Rasmussen Reports that concluded only 53% of Black Americans agreed with the statement “It’s OK to be white.” If only about half thought it was OK to be white, Adams remarked, this qualified Black Americans as a “hate group.” “I don’t want to have anything to do with them,” Adams added. “And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is to get the hell away from Black people, just get the f— away  because there is no fixing this. This can’t be fixed.”

Adams later doubled down on his statements, writing on Twitter that “Dilbert has been canceled from all newspapers, websites, calendars, and books because I gave some advice everyone agreed with.”

According to Forbes, this was the timeline of events:

  • February 22: Adams spends several profanity-laden minutes telling white people to “get away” from Black people after reading a Rasmussen poll that found that only 53% of Black respondents agreed with the statement, “It’s okay to be white.”
  • February 24: Some newspapers and publishing groups, including the USA TODAY Network and Advance Local Group, decide to stop publishing Dilbert, removing the cartoon from over 200 papers across the country.
  • February 25: The Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Antonio Express-News, among others, drop Dilbert.
  • February 25: Adams expands on his remarks in an almost two-hour interview with online personality Hotep Jesus.
  • February 26: Adams links to Saturday’s interview and tweets he’s only accepting criticism from people who know the full context, claiming that much of the coverage against him is “fake news.”
  • February 26: Elon Musk tweets support of Adams, claiming: “For a *very* long time, US media was racist against non-white people, now they’re  racist against whites & Asians.
  • February 26: The National Cartoonists Society disavows “all forms of racism and discrimination” (Dilbert won the Society’s highest honor, the Reuben Award, in 1998).
  • February 27: Adams is dropped by publishing company Andrews McMeel Universal, whose chairman and CEO tweeted that the company supports free speech but not “commentary rooted in discrimination or hate.”
  • February 28: Portfolio, an imprint of Penguin Random House, cancels the September release of Adams’ Reframe Your Brain, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Cancel Culture Gone Crazy

Though Adams has been derided for his outspokenness before, this was something new. In a matter of only four days, an iconic comic strip with millions of devoted readers is erased from newspapers all over America. Amazing how damaging thinking aloud can be.

Whether audiences of media, social and otherwise realize it, we are at an inflection point. While it may appear hyperbolic, unless you’ve been sleeping- we should all be concerned. One of the best things that Americans and those seeking to be citizens of this country once appreciated was our Constitution.

Within that document sits a list of Amendments, and these contained rights that bestowed freedoms on every American. Among those are rights against illegal search and seizure, the right to bear arms, and of course- the freedom of speech.

No doubt most of us have watched over time as those rights (mentioned and not mentioned) have not just eroded, but rather, simply been taken away. If the adage, “absolute power corrupts absolutely” tells us anything, our Constitution, as is, may have a shelf life, with a looming expiration date.

Weighing In

While this writer does not agree entirely with Scott Adams’ feelings or assessment, he has every right to say it, much like a Klansman in full-hooded garb, can, and has the right to walk into an all-black-neighborhood and yell, “I HATE NIGGERS!” from the top of his lungs- at his own peril. And while “The Simpsons” is not anyone’s paragon of virtue, hope or even familial example, Homer’s words still ring no less true.

As we watch black-and-white films of civil rights attacks from the 60’s, and cringe at the Holocaust atrocities of the 40’s, we dare not be so naïve to miss the fact that history is repeating herself. However, don’t be fooled. It isn’t through angry words and rhetoric that this is occurring, and not even because of those colleges and venues that boycott and allow the shouting down of speakers.

It won’t be due to judges being mocked and bullied from outside their own homes, or pro-lifers being accosted because of praying in front of abortion clinics. No, it will be because of those that knew it happened, those
that heard it happened, those that saw it happen, and those sat by as it happened-and did nothing.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time this has happened; stay tuned.

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Culture, Political

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Crazed Left-Wing Course Listings at the University of Chicago Signify the Downfall of the American Mind


Reported BY: EVITA DUFFY | JANUARY 27, 2022

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2022/01/27/crazed-left-wing-course-listings-at-the-university-of-chicago-signify-the-downfall-of-the-american-mind/

“Marxism, Anarchism, and the Black Radical Tradition,” “Witchcraft and the Cultural Imagination,” “Trans-bodies in Horror Cinema,” “The Problem of Whiteness,” and “Transnational Queer Politics and Practices” are not course titles invented by “The Babylon Bee” to mock the state of America’s universities. Rather, they are real classes I came across this year while scrolling through the course listings for the University of Chicago’s winter quarter. 

As a senior, I had flexibility in my schedule to take a class simply for the joy of learning, irrespective of whether it fulfilled a graduation requirement. This should have been an enjoyable experience. Instead, the process left me fearful of the close-minded young people being inculcated by my school and so many other academic institutions. 

As a politically conservative student, I am accustomed to being in the classroom minority. To be clear, I was not looking for a course that would reinforce my conservative beliefs (even if I was, “conservative” classes simply do not exist). All I wanted was to take a class that was not explicitly partisan by its very title or course description. I desired to be in a class where I would actually learn, with the help of a fair and open-minded professor who is intellectually confident enough to include multiple perspectives in his assigned readings. Unfortunately, it was incredibly easy to find swaths of leftist courses but quite difficult to come across classes aimed at genuine intellectual exploration.

There is a reason explicitly leftist courses like “The Problem of Whiteness” are prevalent, but it is impossible to take “conservative” classes and hard to even find open-minded ones. In recent years, conservative or middle-of-the-road professors have been weeded out or forced into self-censorship by a rigid, punitive academic culture. If a professor does not agree with the majority of his colleagues or dares to depart from left-wing orthodoxy, he is threatened and punished by fellow educators and students (even in the STEM fields).

While it is demoralizing for conservative students to never have our views and ideas discussed, much less validated, we at least have the advantage of constantly being intellectually challenged. Sadly, I cannot say the same for my leftist peers, who can fill their entire course schedule with classes that reaffirm their preconceived worldviews. 

Graduating after being virtually unchallenged for four years is not only a disservice to students; it’s dangerous for our country. A 2017 study by P. J. Henry and Jaime Napier showed that “education is related to greater ideological prejudice,” finding that the higher one’s education level, the stronger his political intolerance. This is the obvious byproduct of leftist thought saturating the academy—more time spent there necessarily fosters a one-sided sense of intellectual superiority. A more recent 2021 study done by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found that 66 percent of students said they supported shouting down speakers. Shockingly, 23 percent of student respondents support using violence to stop a speaker. Both numbers have spiked since 2020. 

By indoctrinating and coddling young people, American universities are breeding intolerance. We are already seeing the effects of this indoctrination. Young leftists have disavowed our founding documents and fathers, and they censor, fire, harass, and publicly slander anyone who dares think differently from them.

Consider that our federal bureaucracies, the chambers of Congress, and the boardrooms of America’s most powerful corporations have only received the first wave of woke young people. Subsequent waves will be even more intolerant. Thanks to their immersion in the left-wing academic monoculture, the next generation will undoubtedly cement the downfall of the American mind and limit frighteningly more liberty in their wake.

This story was originally published in the Chicago Thinker. 

Author Evita Duffy profile

Evita Duffy is a senior contributor to The Federalist, co-founder of the Chicago Thinker, and a senior at the University of Chicago, where she studies American History. She loves the Midwest, lumberjack sports, writing, & her family. Follow her on Twitter at @evitaduffy_1 or contact her at evitapduffy@uchicago.eduEVITA DUFFYVISIT ON TWITTER@EVITADUFFY_1MORE ARTICLES

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Education, Political

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Today’s NINE Politically INCORRECT Cartoons by A.F. Branco


A.F. Branco Cartoon – Science for the Lambs

A.F. BRANCO | on

Rachel Levine refuses to answer Rand Paul’s question on Hormone therapy for minors as young as 3years old.

Rachel Levine Gender TherapyPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Fearless Leaders

A.F. BRANCO | on

Rather than work on solutions, the Minneapolis city council finds it easier to give themselves a raise.

Minneapolis City CouncilPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Blind Trust

A.F. BRANCO | on

There’s no end in sight for lockdowns and mask way into the future according to Dr. Fausi.

Fauci Lockdown PredictionsPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Ouch Potato

A.F. BRANCO |  on

Cancel Culture attacks Mr. Potato Head but at the last minute, Hasbro has decided to keep him.

Mr. Potato Head Canceled Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Custody Battle

A.F. BRANCO | on

Biden immigration policies would not help protect children from human trafficking at the border.

Biden Border Kids Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – The Love Gov

A.F. BRANCO | on

The Media seems much less interested in Cuomo scandals than Republicans, bias much?

Cuomo WomanPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Red Handed

A.F. BRANCO | on

Biden’s Immigration policies are spreading human trafficking, COVID, Death, and violent crimes.

Biden Blood on His Hands Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Vive la révolution

A.F. BRANCO | on

The Democrats and the left will never stop with their woke cancel culture attacks on America.

Woke Cancel Culture Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – The Enemy Within

A.F. BRANCO | on

The Wall around the Capital building in D.C. is only there as a political prop to use against conservatives.

Capitol WallPolitical cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Road Trip

A.F. BRANCO | on

Honor the Earth Minnesota purchased a gas-guzzling van to spread their “Save the Earth” Message.

Stop line 3Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.

A.F. Branco Cartoon – Superspreader

A.F. BRANCO | on

Biden Calls red state governors Neanderthals for opening their state while he opens the border.

Biden Neanderthal Comment Political cartoon by A.F. Branco ©2021.
 

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Political

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Army chaplain under investigation over Facebook posts critical of transgender troops


U.S. Army soldiers pray on September 11, 2011, during a protestant service at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan. Ten years after the 9/11 attacks in the United States and after almost a decade of war in Afghanistan, American soldiers gathered for church services in prayer and solemn observance of the tragic day. | John Moore/Getty Images

A U.S. Army chaplain based in Texas faces an investigation after he made a social media post suggesting that transgender individuals are “mentally unfit” to serve in the military.

In a Jan. 26 tweet, the Army’s Security Force Assistance Command announced that “the recent comments posted to the Army Times Facebook page by Maj. Andrew Calvert regarding President Joe Biden’s policy on transgender service members are “under investigation.”

“How is rejecting reality (biology) not evidence that a person is mentally unfit (ill), and thus making that person unqualified to serve?” asked Calvert as he commented on a Facebook post from the Army Times.

A Twitter user flagged Calvert’s posts and argued that Calvert “cannot be trusted to support soldiers for another minute.”

In his post, Calvert argued that there is “little difference” between those who believe in transgenderism and “those who believe and argue for a ‘flat earth’ despite the overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

“The motivation is different, but the argument is the same,” the chaplain stated. “This person is a MedBoard for Mental Wellness waiting to happen. What a waste of military resources and funding!”

In his Facebook profile, Calvert describes himself as a “Christian, Husband, Father, Pastor, Army Chaplain.” His profile also notes that he is employed as a brigade chaplain at the 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade, located in Fort Hood, Texas. In a subsequent Facebook comment, Calvert argued that his position was “not extreme in the slightest.”

“The most nurturing counsel I can give to someone who is under the delusion of transgenderism (gender dysphoria) is to recommend professional counseling to assist in the healing process,” Calvert reportedly wrote in the post. “To not do so, and merely pander to make-believe social whims of the moment, is not only damaging but idiocy.”

Calvert’s Facebook posts came after Biden, who took office on Jan. 20, announced the reversal of  President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military. The former president cited the “tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail” as the justification for his decision. By doing so, Trump reversed an Obama-era policy allowing openly transgender individuals to serve in the Armed Forces.

Additionally, the Security Force Assistance Command’s post instructed members of the Army to “Always remember to ‘Think, Type, Post’ when it comes to engaging in conversation on social media platforms.”

“We are soldiers 24/7 and that means always treating people with dignity and respect,” the tweet reads.

A Christian professor has also faced consequences for his criticism of Biden’s reversal of Trump’s military transgender policy. Professor Robert Gagnon of Houston Baptist University was locked out of his Facebook account for 24 hours after referring to transgender ideology as a “religious cult” and a “pseudo-science” in a comment defending a friend’s satirical commentary about Biden’s reversal of the transgender military ban.

In addition to Calvert and Gagnon, prominent conservative organizations were also quick to criticize Biden’s executive order. Tony Perkins, president of the socially conservative activist organization Family Research Council, asserted that by signing the executive order, Biden was “diverting precious dollars from mission-critical training to something as controversial as gender reassignment surgery.”

Perkins added that “the military cannot focus its efforts on preparing to fight and win wars when it is being used as a vehicle to advance the far-left agenda.”

“After considerable study, the previous administration found gender dysphoric people attempt suicide at about nine times the rate of the general population,” said Lt. Gen. Tom Spoehr, the director of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense.

“Service members diagnosed with gender dysphoria are also nine times more likely to have mental health encounters with a professional.”

Spoehr contends that it would be “immoral” to place individuals at higher risk from mental injury in situations “where they are likely to experience extraordinary stress.”

Calvert is hardly the first Army chaplain to face the prospect of punishment for holding to biblical Christian beliefs about marriage and sexuality. Scott Squires, who served as an Army chaplain at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, faced the possibility of “career-ending punishment” in 2018 after telling a lesbian couple that they could not participate in a marriage retreat he was hosting because his religious beliefs taught him that marriage was a union between a man and a woman.

Ultimately, the couple was allowed to attend the retreat after another chaplain was tapped to host the event. While the U.S. Army initially recommended that Squires be charged with dereliction of duty, the chaplain was cleared of all charges a year later.

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Facebook bans Christian prof. from platform for opposing Biden’s transgender military policy


The Instagram and Facebook logos are displayed at the 2018 CeBIT technology trade fair on June 12, 2018, in Hanover, Germany. | Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

A Christian university professor has been suspended from Facebook for voicing disagreement with President Joe Biden’s executive order allowing trans-identifying individuals to serve in the U.S. military.

Robert Gagnon, who teaches New Testament theology at Houston Baptist University and is a renowned scholar on the subject of sexuality, was locked out of his Facebook account for 24 hours on Tuesday after he posted a comment in defense of a friend who posted a satirical commentary about Biden’s executive order. Facebook suspended Gagnon’s account for what it deemed as “incitement” to violence.

In his post, Gagnon said the executive order will endanger women, and noted that those who promote transgenderism are allowing males to invade women’s athletics and shelters. He also likened transgender ideology to a “religious cult” and said it “is indeed a pseudo-science,” in that it forces people to reject basic biology. That Facebook suspended his friend for similar comments proves the cult-like dimension, he said.

Facebook subsequently sent Gagnon a notice, informing him that his words violated their “Community Standards on violence and incitement.”

“There was absolutely no incitement to violence on our part. We abhor violence done to any person,” Gagnon told PJ Media on Tuesday. “This is just a thinly veiled and pathetic excuse for censorship of any critical views toward trans-tyranny over our consciences, religion, and reason.”

“Only one point of view is being allowed,” he continued. “Trump was not the great danger to the Republic. Left-wing canceling is.” 

After the day-long Facebook suspension was lifted, Gagnon posted on his page Thursday: “We are in the midst of rapidly accelerating public censorship of our views (with compelled speech) but we are not the victims. Neat trick.”

Gagnon’s friend, Laurie Higgins of the Illinois Family Institute, who was also banned from Facebook, had expressed her exasperation in a Facebook comment in which she pointed out that women who signed up to serve in the Armed Forces will now have to shower and bunk with males as a result of the executive order. Higgins referred to transgender advocacy as a “cult” whose goal is to spread “alchemical pseudo-science” globally “before the truth can pull up its pants” and continue to accuse Republicans as being “science-deniers.”

Higgins was banned from the social media platform for seven days and remains locked out of her account as of Thursday. The Christian Post reached out to Gagnon for additional comment on this article but did not receive a response by press time.

Conservative critics of Biden’s executive order have said that the change in policy imperils military readiness and that it’s tantamount to “social engineering.” Opposition to the order, however, spans the political spectrum.

In comments sent to CP earlier this week, Miriam Ben-Shalom, the first lesbian to ever be reinstated to the U.S. Army after being dismissed from service on the basis of sexuality, said she would “bet that no one thought to ask military women how they’d feel having an intact [male] in their barracks, showers, etc.”

“Military women already face difficulties when they serve — witness the recent spate of murders and the shocking statistics on rape in the military. Now, men have had the lack-witted brainlessness to add to the burden of military women. And wait until a female to trans wants to serve in the men’s barracks. What will the military do when such a woman is raped or assaulted — or killed?” she said.

Ben-Shalom, who describes herself as a “moderate independent” added that the move is a “slap in the face” to the military.

“This is pandering to a community that has many, many problems in terms of mental health and stability. This is pandering to Big Medicine, Big Pharma, and Big Money,” she said.

The Pentagon has said that approximately 9,000 service members identify as transgender, though independent estimates have put the number at around 16,000, according to The Wall Street Journal. Fewer than 1,000 have received a formal diagnosis of gender dysphoria.

In 2016, the RAND Corporation published a study on Pentagon medical expenditures and found that the costs incurred by U.S. taxpayers to pay for trans-identifying service members’ medical costs fell somewhere between $2.4 million and $8.4 million each year. 

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Totalitarian Left Promises Purges And Punishment For All Trump Voters


Reported By NOVEMBER 10, 2020

Read more at https://thefederalist.com/2020/11/10/totalitarian-left-promises-purges-and-punishment-for-all-trump-voters/

If 2020 didn’t already feel enough of a Kafkaesque nightmare, the latest bit of depravity from the “hate has no home here” totalitarian left is a ghoulish scheme announced by three former Barack Obama and Pete Buttigieg staffers on Twitter last week called “The Trump Accountability Project.” Aspiring apparatchiks Emily Abrams, Michael Simon, and Hari Sevugan lauded the website whose stated mission is to “never forget those who furthered the Trump agenda.”

According to the now privatized site, whose internet archives were captured, anyone associated with the Trump administration, including those who elected him, staffed his government, funded him, endorsed him, worked in law firms for him, and who supported him in general, should be “held accountable.”

The site includes a comprehensive list of “known collaborators,” including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, White House Chief of Staff Mike Meadows, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, campaign advisors Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon, and the 56 federal judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by President Trump. No one is spared: assistants, receptionists, stenographers, calligraphers—our diligent Comrades know how to name names.

The idea of punishing people who have supported Trump also surfaced among media types including Jake Tapper of CNN and Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post. All of them have called for at least social recriminations such as keeping the “guilty” from being able to support themselves and their families through paid employment.

So what exactly are these Trump deplorables going to be “held accountable” for? The reasons cited are the administration’s purported assault on democracy, separation of children from their families, encouragement of racism, and “the country’s failed response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Is this reasonable? Has the Trump administration, aided and abetted by its staff, supporters, donors, endorsers, and even independent judges, produced so horrific an environment that, even as we enter our glorious post-Trump One Party era, we should implement a program of purges and punishment?

The allegations regarding democracy are preposterous. The Democratic Party’s various policies and tactics since 2016 overwhelmingly surpass the most exaggerated allegations of Trump “authoritarianism,” and the left knows it.

Also questionable are factually selective cries about children being separated from their parents. A border policy of removing children from their rightful parents is wrong and should never have been implemented. But the complicated and grim reality is that some parents are the ones doing the separating, paying human smugglers to traffic their children over the border. Some don’t want their children brought back to their countries of origin.

Furthermore, the moral outrage over this issue is particularly disingenuous considering the left’s support for obscene abortion laws that butcher close to 1 million babies, give or take, each year. And these policies are racially targeted. Almost 80 percent of Planned Parenthood’s surgical abortion facilities are located within walking distance of black neighborhoods. Roughly a third of all babies aborted each year are black, even though black women represent approximately 7 percent of the U.S. population.

The claim of “antisemitism” is similarly ludicrous. Under Trump, the U.S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem, a promise made under previous presidencies but never delivered. A historic diplomatic accord was recently signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and subsequently Bahrain. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the agreement heralded a “new dawn of peace.” It’s no wonder that President Trump is the overwhelmingly preferred presidential candidate for the Israeli Jewish public.

As for the administration’s COVID response, the pandemic took everyone by surprise. Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi were still accusing Trump of fear-mongering and xenophobia weeks after he closed the borders to China. Since then, and despite rapid mobilization efforts under Operation Warp Speed, Democrats and their media allies have consistently slammed Trump for not being able to magically control a new virus.

Yet Biden has not yet been able to articulate what exactly he would do differently, other than imposing a national lockdown. Considering that the most devastating economic impact has been felt in blue states where governors have stubbornly kept their economies shut down, this sort of strategy would be a calamity.

But none of this can get in the way of some good old-fashioned witch hunting. How will these Trump deplorables be held accountable? A consideration of Soviet communist tactics offers some interesting possibilities. Farcical show trials were held to liquidate perceived national traitors and thereby eliminate political opposition.

In Czechoslovakia, the children of shopkeepers, professionals, and intellectuals were barred from higher education. As for the judiciary, Communists resolved the problem of ideologically suspect pre-war appointed judges by issuing decrees that subordinated the judiciary to state ministries of “justice.”

Proponents of Trump purges have proposed their own ideas. Comrade Sevugan tweeted on Friday that CNN’s Kaitlan Collins “reported WH staff are starting to look for jobs” and warned that “employers considering them should know there are consequences for hiring anyone who helped Trump attack American values.” So-called “pro-democracy” commentator Rubin tweeted that those questioning the election results and making claims of voter fraud should “never serve in office, join a corporate board, find a faculty position or be accepted into ‘polite society.’”

As if that perversity wasn’t enough, she appeared on MSNBC’s AM Joy over the weekend and argued that “it’s not only that Trump has to lose, but that all his enablers have to lose.” She added, shockingly, that “we have to collectively in essence burn down the Republican Party” because “if there are survivors… they will do it again.”

Evan McMullin, a budding Stalinist dressed up as a defender of the republic, proposed that “we should keep and publish a list of everyone who assists Trump’s frivolous and dangerous attacks on the election.” For the good of the country, we should “name and shame forever,” he said.

Not surprisingly, socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is totally on board with implementing this “accountability” agenda. She tweeted concern that “Trump sycophants” might “downplay or deny their complicity” by deleting tweets, writings, and photos. Fortunately for her, the lists are already being tabulated.

Had we not just spent the better part of a year battling a host of assaults on individual, religious, and political freedoms, we would not have believed such an outrage possible. Indeed, once upon a time in 2019, sane people on both sides of the political spectrum would have regarded this sort of garbage as a blatant rights and basic decency violation. Now, once presumably normal people are salivating over the prospect of purges and punishment, a tactic that is rooted in communist propaganda: the enemy narrative. According to this pernicious lie, our very existence is under such threat by an evil adversary, that the erosion of human rights and undemocratic seizure of power are justified.

For the Soviets, the villain was capitalism and the parasitical Western imperialists; for today’s Totalitarian Left, the enemy is the Orange Man in the White House and his racist supporters. Comrades Sevugan, Rubin, and McMullin are spewing the same bile that communists have used to poison millions: the evil must be stamped out and its enablers humiliated and exiled to protect our very existence.

We must pray that this roadkill of an election is cleaned up and truth and freedom preserved so the circling vultures find some other carrion to gnaw. Resorting to Soviet-style tactics to intimidate their 70 million fellow Americans who support President Trump is despicable. And it only reinforces the widespread belief that the totalitarian left has officially abandoned any pretense of a commitment to democratic freedoms and rule of law.

Carina Benton is a native Australian living in Washington state. She is a practicing Catholic and has taught for many years in Catholic and Christian schools. She is a mother of two young children.

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Report: Anonymous Berkeley Professor Debunks BLM Narrative, Scolds Academics


Reported By Michael Austin | Published June 15, 2020 at 6:14pm

URL of the originating web site: https://www.westernjournal.com/anonymous-berkeley-professor-debunks-blm-narrative-scolds-academics-pushing/

A protester holds a Captain America Black Lives Matter shield while four symbolic funeral processions converge in downtown at the intersection of 1st St and Broadway on June 8, 2020, in Los Angeles.

It’s never been clearer that far-left ideologies have overtaken American universities. Political correctness, critical race theory, Marxism, gender theory and social justice are all concepts being taught mostly radical, leftist academics.

A person purporting to be a University of California, Berkeley professor has had enough of these ideologies, however, and decided to speak out against them in an anonymous letter. The letter was first shared on Twitter by Tracy Beanz, editor in chief of UncoverDC. Wilfred Reilly, an assistant professor of political science at Kentucky State University, who is referenced in the letter, confirmed to The Western Journal that the letter had been sent out, but could not confirm the identity of the sender.

“I can’t confirm the sender. I was sent the letter, and will note that it contained direct e-mails for me, [economist Thomas Sowell] (via National Review), and what looked like much of the Berkeley History Department,” Reilly told The Western Journal in an email.

The letter began with the alleged professor apologizing for the need to remain anonymous, citing the prevalent nature of cancel culture in modern-day America.

“I am one of your colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley. I have met you both personally but do not know you closely, and am contacting you anonymously, with apologies. I am worried that writing this email publicly might lead to me losing my job, and likely all future jobs in my field,” the anonymous party wrote.

“In your recent departmental emails you mentioned our pledge to diversity, but I am increasingly alarmed by the absence of diversity of opinion on the topic of the recent protests and our community response to them.”

The letter then went on to explain the illogical reasoning behind critical race theory, the academic theory that played a major role in the popularization of ideas such as white privilege and systemic racism.

“The explanation provided in your documentation, to the near exclusion of all others, is univariate: the problems of the black community are caused by whites, or, when whites are not physically present, by the infiltration of white supremacy and white systemic racism into American brains, souls, and institutions. Many cogent objections to this thesis have been raised by sober voices, including from within the black community itself, such as Thomas Sowell and Wilfred Reilly,” the letter read.

“Black people are not incarcerated at higher rates than their involvement in violent crime would predict. This fact has been demonstrated multiple times across multiple jurisdictions in multiple countries. And yet, I see my department uncritically reproducing a narrative that diminishes black agency in favor of a white-centric explanation that appeals to the department’s apparent desire to shoulder the ‘white man’s burden’ and to promote a narrative of white guilt.”

The purported professor then proceeded to take the Black Lives Matter movement head-on, explaining his rejection of its “problematic view of history.”

“I personally don’t dare speak out against the BLM narrative, and with this barrage of alleged unity being mass-produced by the administration, tenured professoriat, the UC administration, corporate America, and the media, the punishment for dissent is a clear danger at a time of widespread economic vulnerability. I am certain that if my name were attached to this email, I would lose my job and all future jobs, even though I believe in and can justify every word I type.”

“The vast majority of violence visited on the black community is committed by black people. There are virtually no marches for these invisible victims, no public silences, no heartfelt letters from the UC regents, deans, and departmental heads. The message is clear: Black lives only matter when whites take them. Black violence is expected and insoluble, while white violence requires explanation and demands solution. Please look into your hearts and see how monstrously bigoted this formulation truly is.”

Rather than contending with the many counterpoints that the alleged professor made to the Black Lives Matter narrative, the U.C. Berkeley history department openly condemned the letter as “against our values as a department and our commitment to equity and inclusion.”

UC Berkeley History@UCBHistory

An anonymous letter has been circulating, purportedly written by a @UCBHistory professor. We have no evidence that this letter was written by a History faculty member. We condemn this letter: it goes against our values as a department and our commitment to equity and inclusion.

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By dismissing the letter’s arguments out of hand, the department all but proved the writer to be correct in his or her evaluation of U.C. Berkeley and other Black Lives Matter advocates. The least Berkeley’s faculty could have done was put together a thoughtful rebuttal, but even that seemed to be too much to ask of them.

James Lindsay spoke to The Western Journal about the reported professor’s letter and what it meant for the social justice movement at large. Lindsay is a mathematician, political commentator and co-founder of the website New Discourses, an apolitical resource for those opposed to political correctness and the various ideologies of social justice.

When asked if this open condemnation of social justice politics was a trend in the right direction for American colleges, Lindsay seemed unconvinced.

“Colleges are not yet trending in a positive direction. It is probably the opposite, but there is still time to reverse that course if more academics and professors speak up like this. This is the kind of reply scholars should be making and then debating,” he told The Western Journal in an email.

When asked about claims made by the letter, he affirmed the anonymous professor’s assessment of critical race theory.

“I cannot speak to the specific data-driven claims, but the academic theory he cites (Critical Race Theory) is accurately described in terms of how poisonous, anti-intellectual, anti-society, and even intrinsically anti-black it is.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Austin
Michael Austin graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s in English before joining The Western Journal.

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