Letters to the Editor: 09/14/23
The Absurdity Of Fact-checkers
A couple of years ago I shared a post on Facebook that mocked misinformation. The photo allegedly showed a 206 year-old Tibetan monk who had just been discovered alive in a mountain cave. The caption said he had been in a meditative state called “takatet” for years. It continued, “Among his things, they found an old scroll that read, ‘Stop believing all the crap you read on Facebook.’”
Recently the post popped up as a memory on my Facebook page and I shared it again. This time, though, independent fact-checkers blocked it writing, “Independent fact-checkers say this information has no basis in fact.” Well duh!
Last Friday the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the Biden administration’s suppression of information on social media platforms including Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter regarding posts related to COVID-19 and allegations of election fraud. The ruling specifically applied to the White House, surgeon general, CDC, and FBI.
Before the 5th Circuit’s hearing, a lower-court judge had ruled that “U.S. officials illegally coerced” social media platforms into censoring those posts. The 5th Circuit agreed writing that such coercion violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections. The panel wrote, “the government is not permitted to advance these interests to the extent that it engages in viewpoint suppression.”
Initiated in July, 2016, Crossfire Hurricane was likely the most egregious example of information suppression and manipulation. The FBI operation occurred at the end of the Obama administration to smear Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign for president and inaugurate Hillary Clinton as president.
After four years of continual media and Democrat charges of Russian collusion, Special Counsel John Durham was appointed in October 2020 to investigate the origins of Crossfire Hurricane. Durham’s final report was released May 15, 2023. It documented the roles played by Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, James Comey, and a host of other top administration officials to smear Trump with a “Russian Hoax” from the summer of 2016 to the end of his term in 2021.
President Biden didn’t miss a beat on January 21, 2021, when he began tearing down all that Trump had accomplished during his four years in office. Of course, as we have seen, Biden and his administration worked hand-in-glove with a complicit media to suppress all information that contradicted the establishment’s mantra about COVID-19, election interference, and the party favorite Climate Change.
What can we expect between now and November 2024? We’ll see national emergencies that will serve as pretense for suspending 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, and 10th Amendment rights. As we’ve seen, the courts have ruled the Biden administration has violated American’s right to freedom of speech. The right to bear arms has been under continual attack. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham just decreed a temporary gun ban in parts of her state commenting that the 2nd Amendment is not absolute.
And, what about our protection from illegal government search and seizure (4th Amendment)? Or, our 5th Amendment right to Due Process? Ask January 6 prisoners about their rights to a speedy trial as well as excess bail or fines and cruel and unusual punishment (8th Amendment).
The Bill of Rights protects Americans only as long as the government respects and abides by its constitutional limitations. It’s absurd to give fact-checkers positions of adjudication.
Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@ gmail.com.
