By SJ Otto
This must be a hard time for Donald Trump supporters. It is hard to know what Trump really planned or thought would happen when he encouraged his followers to march on Congress. I’ll bet he was not expecting the results he got after his followers stormed the Senate. So far, many of his allies in Congress have turned against him. Twitter, Apple and other media outlets have tried to shut him down.
So far one web site I went to had some comments that focused on the violation of Trump’s freedom of speech. They used the following Picture[1]:
And
they followed with the following
comments:
I just read apple is
going to block Parler from all their devices. They are at the core of
censorship !!! Such evil!!!....
Socialism/communism
there is no freedom of speech. It has already begun. This is an absolute threat
to
For companies to do
that to President Trump. Sad. Incomprehensible arrogance and disrespect. Beyond
the pail!.....
But we are now dealing
with those who do not respect or believe in our Constitution.
I really don’t mind when right-wingers make a freedom of speech issue of these things. I for one have been a staunch supporter of freedom of speech. Ever since I followed Frank Zappa[2] and his song lyrics, I have followed in his foot steps in opposing just about all censorship. That is hard to do now or in the past. There are always those issues where people wan to support free speech but there is hesitation at times. I consider myself a libertarian when it comes to freedom of speech. Anyone who goes to my web site, Otto’s War Room, will notice that I allow people to post comments to my blog—free of censorship. I don’t censor people’s opinions—even when I strongly disagree with them. However, even I have my limits. I have deleted comments that are personal attacks, such as calling my wife “a whore.” I figured it is my blog and there is no reason for me to tolerate calling me or my wife names. What bothers me the most is when conservatives try to blame socialism and communism for a decision made by US corporations.[3]
Over the years I have defended freedom
of speech against some abuse that was hard to ignore. In
There is talk about impeachment, for a second time, and this time some Republicans have joined in. There is also discussion on removing Trump using the 25th amendment.
According to CNN:
“on Wednesday, a growing number of Republican leaders and Cabinet officials told CNN that they believe Donald Trump should be removed from office before January 20. Four of them called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked, and two others said the President should be impeached.”
So for all the true, hard core Trumpsters, these are hard times. The press, most Republicans in Congress and even some of his cabinet have turned against him. So what about the foot soldiers—those supporters who have dug in their heels and refuse to abandon team Trump? Some of that has been explained at Axios:
“You
can't understand
The
big picture: The right's favored media — conservative TV, websites
and social networks — offered
an alternate reality in which everyone but pro-Trump rioters were to blame for
the mayhem at the Capitol.
Here's
the version of
events a good chunk of
- Instead of condemning the pro-Trump mobs
that stormed Washington, right-wing media outlets mostly blamed left-wing
activists, the media, Vice President Pence — and even police officers —
for the riots that some suggested were the start of a "civil
war" in America.
- Hosts on Fox News, One America News Network and Newsmax went so far as to
baselessly suggest that the unlawful protestors at the Capitol may have
been members of Antifa.
- Conspiracy theorist Lin Wood tweeted to his
over 1 million followers before having his account suspended: "Mike
Pence @VP @Mike_Pence is a TRAITOR, a Communist Sympathizer & a Child
Molester. Lock him up."
Even
when it became obvious that the riots were becoming destructive,
right-wing networks downplayed the severity of events, calling those marching
on the Capitol mostly peaceful protestors.
- Presenters on OANN argued the riots were
nothing compared to racial-justice protests over the summer.
- One meme that was posted to
TheDonald.win, a fringe-right alternative social network, featured
a cartoon of a police officer telling a Black Lives Matter protester,
"Please stop, we can work this out" — while holding a police
shield, but holding a gun up against a white MAGA protestor….”
For the future of Trump supporters, some will dump him as his allies, political and press, and former corporate backers. Others will stick with him as he is a basic cult leader and he has his die hard supporters who would never drop him for any reason.
__________________
·
They are private companies but the banning of a
Censorship
threatens the very freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. Americans of all
political stripes should be alarmed by these moves to silence opposing
viewpoints. #PrayThinkAct.
[2] I don't agree with Zappa on a lot of other issues, but we both have been advocates of free speech.
[3] Such corporations rarely support socialism or communism (if they ever support them?).
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