Interviewed on Tuesday on MSNBC, Hillary Clinton recommended the leveling of either civil or criminal charges against anyone found guilty of spreading Misinformation or Propaganda. But while there is definitely online speech that warrants prosecution, the criteria used by Hillary and the Left in general entail the cancellation of America’s First Amendment itself.
To me, the entire Leftist narrative is a delusional piece of nonsense rooted in an inane refusal to admit the very real Diversity of the species. The Genders are in fact significantly different. Some Races have achieved in ways that radically transcend the achievements of others. These assertions are rooted neither in misogyny or racism but in Objective Reality. While every citizen of every Democracy ought to be deemed equal before the law, the Egalitarian Left demands Equality of Outcomes that utterly defy the facts of Human Nature! I have cited on several occasions John Ralston Saul’s insistence in “Voltaire’s Bastards” that Reason ought not to be the arbitrator of our Ideas and Values. But I would suggest that as Sentiment has in fact become the informing “cognitive” principle of the Left, the vast majority of its beliefs can literally be dismissed as little more than misinformation or propaganda!
As Trump built his wall to stem the tide of illegal immigration, he was repeatedly denounced as a racist. But the multitude of problems caused by the influx of more than 10 million illegals has led even many liberals to conclude that maintaining the integrity of a nation’s borders is a perfectly rational policy. Was the attack on Trump no more than an expression of hatred? Does not the Left’s insistence that the “oppressed” from around the world have every right to invade the wealthy nations of the West, entail a ludicrous indifference to the pragmatic imperatives of reality? Are those who supported Britain’s Brexit just a bunch of racists or is the preservation of their Culture a goal worthy of pursuit? Does the insulting notion of “White Privilege” adequately explain how Western Man came to enjoy his present status in the world, or does it entail a grossly simplistic refusal to acknowledge the simple facts of Human Achievement?
As is evident to myself and the multitude of rational “conservatives” I admire, the contemporary Left is intent on trashing the fundamental Principles and Values which have made Western Civilization what it is. I repeat for the thousandth time, no one is suggesting Western History is without its villains. But the woke, contemporary, Neo-Marxist thesis that everything the West has achieved is rooted not in Merit but in its abuse of Power, is the product of a ridiculously simplistic, ridiculously biased reading of History. Ought those guilty of flogging that narrative to be prosecuted for spreading disinformation?
The answer is obviously No! The principle of Free Speech as endorsed by the First Amendment is rooted in the belief that Man is endowed with the capacity to discern truth from nonsense; that out of the never ending dynamic of conflicting viewpoints, those most conducive to human fulfillment will ultimately prevail. To the Ancient Greeks it was the Dialectical Process, a process evident in the history of the West. To those of a dictatorial bent, it is a threat to their sovereignty! Absurdly, the “liberal” Left would seem to be of that mindset, denouncing everything it disagrees with as “disinformation,” while its entire narrative is rooted in a simplistic, deceitful, Neo-Marxist disregard for the Facts of the Human dynamic!
So, Hillary, let’s let the free expression of opposing viewpoints continue in the hope that Woke Sentiment [i.e., Non-Reason] will ultimately be exposed as the fraudulent vehicle to the Truth that it most definitely is! And perhaps you might wish to contemplate the irony of the fact that as a defender of Democracy, your impulse to criminalize those who disagree with you is utterly Undemocratic!