Censorship & The 1st Amendment: Evil Twins

 

The Death Of The 1st Amendment

 

Because of our immersion into this 21st Century soundbite world, many today believe that the 1st Amendment in the United States is now under threat. 

The truth is that it’s always been under threat by those in power, but efforts to circumvent our freedom of speech got big boosts in the 1970’s with the advent of the World Wide Web, or ‘internet’ for short. Its creation was an intelligence effort spearheaded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), in concert with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and later the CIA and NSA.   

The initial goal wasn’t so that you and I could show our cat pics, selfies, and spread fake news, but rather it’s goal was to handle huge data transfers for military, national intelligence agencies, and create an effective method for surveillance of the masses.  

That’s it in a nutshell.  There’s no shortage of documentation for anyone interested to see how this monster was created, nurtured, and developed into the sadistic outlier that it is today. 

Fast forward to today. 

This morning I noted an article about the CEO’s of Facebook, Google, and Twitter being slated to once again testify before a Senate Commerce Committee on October 28th, just five days prior to the election.  

GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri has called for the breakup of Facebook. It’s not the first time this call has been made.  Even Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren has parroted similar demands along with other representatives on both sides of the aisle. If only it could or would happen. 

The danger is in thinking that these rumblings of FINALLY taking a stand against the scourge of (un)social media is a good thing. They may simply be an election cycle smoke screen. My opinion is that there’s a pattern to all this double talk. 

The previous two times that Zuckerberg has testified before Congress were in October 2018, and April  2018, BOTH times during an election cycle. I believe that this is nothing more than smoke and mirrors or a dog and pony show.  Take your pick. But we plebeians are being led to believe that the government is looking after our best interests and the 1st Amendment by pointing fingers at the very (un)social media platforms that it uses to disseminate propaganda and misleading memes, especially during election cycles. Furthermore, these (un)social media platforms are the very ones that individual representatives use to spew their own policies and lies. At the cynical best it is a show of vote pandering by BOTH parties. 

The fact of the matter is this:  Google’s creation some 20+  years ago was the result of serious funding from the intelligence community to ultimately take control of the digital information network. It was, as described by former director of legislative and public affairs at the National Science Foundation, Jeff Nesbit, a deliberate creation of the the mass-surveillance state.  That isn’t only Google, but other internet platforms as well.  

This week we turn to Mark Zuckerberg and the evil (un)social media platform he and his cohorts created.  Mr. Zee has been again exposed for the hypocritical tool that he is when it comes to allowing hate groups to continue their presence on Facebook, while at the same time using AI to monitor and shut down peons like me with censorship for innocuous comments on Facebook posts. 

Yes, I was warned by the FB police in August that a comment I wrote on a friend’s post were in violation of  their policies against “hate speech.”  I wrote an egregious response on a friend’s post, answering a question about whether restaurants were open here in the US.  But Facebook’s  sanctimonious AI programs picked-up on the words “American” and “idiots” in the same sentence.  Lord have mercy. 

Click image to read: 

When another box popped up allowing me to dispute the warning, I did so, and their final answer was an instantaneous pop-up again, saying that their first decision would stand.  I knew it was a computer generated process, but the idiocy of it all made my blood boil. 

Click image to read: 

The hypocrisy of Zuckerberg’s views, and his comical attempt to be simultaneously sanctimonious and ignorant about hate groups on Facebook -  And this week’s governmental bullshit about breaking up the (un)social media platform - all combine to make me want have a Howard Beale moment. 

Icing on the cake is this quote by Zuckerberg during a speech On October 19, 2019 at Georgetown University:  “As a principle, in a democracy, I believe people should decide what is credible, not tech companies.”   He’s either a cunning liar, ignorant, or both.  

Everyone should be aware that the 1st Amendment of our Constitution is being used as a political tool that has NOTHING to do with yours or my exercise of free speech. It is being tossed around by corrupt politicians and their butt boys like Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Sundar Pichai  to dismantle actual free speech and further the agendas of the mass surveillance state and Marxist organizations such as BLM that will keep the masses - us - properly censored and in our places. It will also preserve the billionaire status of those CEO’s so that they may continue doing the government’s divisive activities on (un)social media that help keep them in power.  

The death of free speech is written on the faces of Democrats, Republicans, Socialists, Marxists, and all of the billionaires of our insidious (un)social media world.  Enjoy what we have of it while you can, before you’re damned by the wrath of an AI despot.  

The death of free speech is also plastered on the face of Facebook’s own Col. Data who’s playing the testimony game to his best advantage, but to the public’s detriment.  At some point, the 1st Amendment may become nothing more than an illusion, and one that most Americans will not even be able or intelligent enough to see. 

©️Rick Burnett Baker

October 18, 2020

Rochester, New York 

 

Green Green, It's Green I Say, On The Far Side Of The Hill...

 

Junk Shops, Communists, and Political Parties, Oh MY!

Decisions decisions. Another “most important of our lives” presidential election cycle is just days away from coming to a close. At least we hope.

And coming into the home stretch of this horses ass race, some folks must decide which candidate they will vote for. Will it be the Republican, the Democrat, the Libertarian, or the Green Party? OR will it be any one of the 1,218 actual candidates who’ve filed to run for president?

Yes, you read that correctly: One thousand two hundred eighteen registered candidates.

I suspect that once again, Democrats and Republicans are holding their noses as they vote. I do have a number of friends, actual and virtual, who have stated they will vote for the Green Party.

GREEN PARTY. Oh yes! Clean air, clear water, bushy forests, plastic-free seas…..Whoa! Hold on a New York nano-second! I’m kidding!

The Green Party is none of that. That party should be rebranded as the Communist Party.

Yes, you again read that correctly.

The Green Party presidential candidate is Howie Hawkins. He has been a member of the Socialist Party USA since 1973, although he describes himself as an “eco-socialist”, inspired by Marxism, anti-capitalism, and anti-private property, just to list a few. In 1993, he favored what’s called, “anarcho-communism” which also promotes the abolition of state, capitalism, wage labor, and private property, and promotes common ownership (READ, Government ownership) of production.

His VP running mate is Angela Nicole Walker, also a socialist, but seemingly one who wittingly or unwittingly, embraced capitalism (ooooh, strike me with lightening!) by deciding to be a bus driver rather than teacher because of more money. For shame!

Currently, she’s a dump truck driver. Socialist, of course. In 2014 she ran for sheriff as an independent socialist in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. The frightening thing about that is that she actually won 20% of the vote.

That just goes to reinforce my belief that many voters in this country are simply too uninformed to be responsible voters.

The Green Party platform reads like a 21st Century Marxist/Communist party bio: Ecosocialist Green New Deal, Peace policies, Socialist economy, political democracy, social, criminal & civil justice, and others, none of which are economically feasible, nor doable in the ridiculous nine year timeframe listed.

So if your wife, husband, father, mother, significant other, or other other tell you they’re voting “Green” point them to the Green Party website, or perhaps, this nifty 1949 movie. I found the poster in a junk shop. You know, the kind the Green Party should be found in!

©️Rick Burnett Baker

October 16, 2020

Rochester, NY

Silence As Political Theater

Silence Is Violence: 

A Walk Down Pennsylvania Avenue

Photo: Rick Burnett Baker Rochester, NY

Usually, Democrats like Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and others would be condemning the recent mass shooting in Rochester, NY and playing the gun control anthem at full volume.  Don’t misunderstand me - I believe that we need solid, comprehensive gun control measures on a national level that cover all 50 states.  But that’s not the reason for this essay. 

My opinion about the aforementioned representatives is that this latest shooting event, and any shootings from now until after the election, will play into the Democrat’s strategy of defeating Trump.  This Rochester shooting is yet another criminal event during this year of protests, riots, and BLM that will allow them all to say that this is “Trump’s America.”  

And there’s truth in that.  Trump has done nothing to calm the national dialogue, nor has he taken actions that might help reduce crime in our country.  His 4th Grade verbal spew and on-going Twitter shit fest attest to that.   But it’s also Schumer’s and Pelosi’s and Obama’s, and to some extent every other past representative’s and administration’s America. Nowadays, particularly during a national election cycle, it’s useful, shameful, political theater.   

Nothing meaningful has been accomplished through all these years to stop gun violence in the United States. Apparently, there has been nothing notable done in the way of police vetting, training, and accountability in police departments around the country. Hence, we find ourselves at this familiar intersection of protests, riots, and anger.  

The Rochester shootings this past weekend offer a clear example of how silence IS violence, to parrot a common protest sign seen in cities across the country these days. 

The morning after the Rochester mass shooting that left two dead and some 16 others injured, the recently formed ROC Freedom Riders seem to have had no comment on that tragic event.  That morning I witnessed a group of these “Freedom Riders” in front of the downtown police station protesting by shouting “Black lives matter” and “Say his name: Daniel Prude” over and over again.  I heard nothing about the shooting. 

Interesting, too, is the statement by Rashad Smith, co-founder of ROC Freedom Riders, as reported on September 17, 2020 to WXXI News that “we’re not just riding for issues that are impacting us nationally, it’s now in our own backyard and now the fight is more intense.”  

It doesn’t get much more intense than a mass shooting in the back AND front yards of Pennsylvania Avenue in Rochester, NY.  To date, I haven’t seen, nor have I heard any comments from these local organizations. I’ll be appreciative to be shown otherwise.  

Yes, silence IS violence:  So take note BLM and ROC Freedom Riders.   

For any of you who are also parroting the BLM mantra, and displaying those PC black & white signs in your front yards, know this:  BLM isn't much concerned about mass shootings in Rochester, Chicago, or any other city in America, for that matter.  BLM is a well-funded, international Marxist political movement who’s platform is clearly stated on its website, and often discussed by the three avowed Marxist co-founders of the so-called “grassroots” organization. 

Don’t pretend to be shocked, ignorant, or incensed over that last statement. Anyone “woke” (what a tragically stupid word) enough to claim to have critical thinking skills should be fully educated and versed in the socio-political movements they choose to support.  This has been stated cogently by Olympic athlete and NFL star Herschel Walker, who this week brought the Marxist foundation of BLM to the forefront of conversation regarding teams proudly wearing BLM  shirts before games.  

Welcome to the American form of dystopian ignorance.  It’s an outgrowth of our collective bias, fear, and reticence over meaningful and practical change. 

Some will disagree with these comments. But the First Amendment hasn’t yet been overturned.  Again:  Silence Is Violence. 

Consider:  The road from Pennsylvania Avenue in Rochester, NY to Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC is a short one.  Don’t blink.  

©️Rick Burnett Baker

September 21, 2020

Rochester, NY 

#pennsylvaniaavenue  #ROCfreedomriders #silenceisviolence  #marxism  #guncontrol  #juveniletrump #sneakydemocrats #silentGOP 

  

https://www.redstate.com/alexparker/2020/09/20/herschel-walker-sunday-morning-futures-fox-news-black-lives-matter-marxism-christianity/

https://thebl.com/us-news/black-lives-matter-founder-admits-groups-creators-are-trained-marxists.html

https://nypost.com/2020/06/25/blm-co-founder-describes-herself-as-trained-marxist/

https://www.wxxinews.org/post/roc-freedom-riders-spread-their-message-hope-and-racial-justice-fringe-audiences

Trumpers To America: Screw You!

 

Photo: Rick Burnett Baker, Sept. 8, 2020

MAGA And Up Yours! 

If Trump’s sophomoric tweets and 4th grade mentality weren’t enough to antagonize normally rational humans, we have to deal with his followers. 

While those on the left of the political spectrum often talk about how divided our country is, many of Trump’s supporters are working diligently to make that irrevocably so. This image is a case in point. 

This post may come across as being a broad, sweeping generalization of Trump supporters, but having seen NO condemnations of this type of political sloganeering from more rational Trumpers, I’ll go with it and let my supposition stand.  Frankly, this isn’t the kind of sentiment that I want to represent me as a citizen on a personal or national level, regardless of political party or candidate.  

The grand idea that Trump himself might see and condemn this type of sloganeering is nothing more than fantasy.  The sad reality is that he would probably agree with this 100%.   I’d say to these Trump supporters, “You’re better than that!”  The truth is, they’re not. Until I see a widespread condemnation of this type of rankish behavior, my opinion about Trump supporters stands. 

It’s disturbing to think that a large percentage of Americans may think like this…Even more disturbing to think that they actually vote. 

I’m tempted to say broadly, “We’re better than this.”  The scary truth may be that we’re not.  

©️Rick Burnett Baker

September 11, 2020

Rochester, NY 

Like & Pledge Before It's Removed...

 

I PLEDGE

Some people, mostly on the conservative side of the political aisle, often get riled-up about those words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. They love to post memes of the flag and the Pledge AS IT WAS WRITTEN on Facebook and do the ‘ol “Like & share  because Facebook keeps removing this,” routine.  Or, “Let’s flood Facebook with this image before they take it down again.” 

Of course, Facebook hasn’t and isn’t removing images of the flag, pledge, or that Marine who lost a leg, for that matter. 

But conservatives have a bad habit of latching onto any and nearly all conspiracy theories that support their particular narrative of the God, Guts, and Guns mantra.  I’ll talk another day about how many liberals are devious kings and queens of Marxist economic theory while sucking-up to the logos on the blue portion of the flag photo above, all the while promoting the systematical dismantling of our nation’s constitutional foundations.  Mind you, I’m not saying that some conservatives aren’t aiding and abetting in that dismantling with their tin-foil hat fears and militia bullcrap, but that’s all for another screed. 

Today, I saw the above-mentioned meme about sharing the Pledge “…as it was written…” showing the words “under God” as part of that narrative. 

That’s false, of course. 

Written in 1892 by Christian Socialist minister, Francis Bellamy, the original Pledge did not contain those words “under God”.  And Rev. Bellamy was a Baptist minister, no less.  Christian Socialist Baptist minister. Moving on….

“Under God” was officially inserted into the pledge in June of 1954.  It is often described as being an effort that would distinguish the United States from the atheistic Soviet Union during the Cold War. As history has shown, that effort really made a huge difference in bringing about world peace and our own national unity.  Moving on again…

For better or worse, the flag above is probably the most representative banner that we could actually have as our United States flag. Both conservatives and liberals pledge their power hungry souls to that flag.  

Perhaps the Pledge of Allegiance should be amended again.  MoveOn dot org., BLM, The Lincoln Project, Democracy Now, The Tea Party, the NFL, MLB, MLH, NBA, and every other socio-political group could form a coalition to write a new pledge that would satisfy everyone and no one. (Good luck with that.)

They could even come up with a third salute to the pledge, like kneeling or some other sanctimonious  action to express our love for Pledge, Flag, and Country.  

Speaking of the salute to the Pledge, the original Bellamy Salute is a long suppressed memory of  what school kids and adults use to use to show love for country when reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  It’s illustrated below in the breathtaking images found online.  Heil Amerikka! 

The truth is that as millions of Americans clammer for commerce to reopen, the salute or pledge that holds any real meaning today is represented in that flag I saw hanging on a middle-class front porch, along a bucolic Americana neighborhood in Rochester, New York. 

Pledging  allegiance to the Corporatocracy of America is an idea for a meme that Facebook would NEVER try to remove.  

©️Rick Burnett Baker

August 6, 2020

WORDS MATTER - THEY STAB LIKE A KNIFE

“I’ma stab you.” 

Graffiti photo, Cobb's Hill Park water tanks.  R. Baker 2020

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me…..OOOHHHHH….deep dark depression, excessive misery…”

That old Hee Haw TV show song could be the new theme song for a Harvard student, Claira Janover, who this past week posted a Tik Tok video of herself ranting against anyone who dared to say that all lives matter.  It was obviously her higher educational way of supporting Black Lives Matter, and protesting against systemic racism.  She failed.

“I’ma stab you.”   That, from a Harvard graduate.  Brilliant.

 Photo from New York Post, 7-3-20

She was fired from her job at accounting firm Deloitte. Good.  Corporations should take a stand against this vocal idiocy to protect their bottom lines, with policies that prohibit these moronic rants by people who have graduated from racist schools such as Harvard, and obtain presumably lucrative careers with international corporations. After all, she did say that she worked really hard to get her job.  It took no effort at all, however,  to spew her shallow-minded words on unsocial media and damage her career.  Clearly that isn’t the sort of thing they teach students at fancy pants schools like Harvard - you know, that words and actions have consequences.  If her parents paid all that money for her lack of education, I’ll bet they’re really proud. 

The larger aspect of this latest racist episode, however, isn’t this poor child’s misfortune that has been brought on by her own stupid choices and racist rant.  It’s a reminder to everyone that this type of behavior, and more concerning, this attitude of violence towards those with different beliefs, can and does come from both sides of the socio-political fence.  

In THIS particular instance, these words of violence - and Ms I’ma Stab You’s subsequent  refusal to apologize - comes from the side of the fence that supposedly believes in tolerance, diversity, and inclusiveness.  

And let’s not forget what this segment of “woke” (I hate that word) society is continually saying to and about the right side of the fence:  WORDS MATTER.  Remember that, Miss Janover, next time you jump into the shallow end of the unsocial media pool. 

Rick B. Baker 

July 3, 2020 

©Rick Burnett Baker 

Sticky Wickets & Feathers

“The capture of the Alamo, in spite of its attendant disasters…gave us a prodigious moral prestige.”

-Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna

Addressing his fellow citizens about 

His battles, including the Alamo, 

And his capture at San Jacinto

Less than two months later.

May 10, 1837

Sam Houston Monument, Houston, Texas. R.Baker 2017

A Feather In His Cap

Once again, the Confederate statue confabulation has presented itself after a  confluence of recent racial social events and issues. It is the result, as it usually is, of particular groups emoting rather than cerebrating over a cause that certainly deserves serious consideration. 

Clearly there are many Confederate statues that should not have a platform of presenting the subjects as heroes, and should be removed and placed in an educational setting. Others, such as the Sam Houston statue in Houston’s Hermann Park represent mixed messages about legacy, and should possibly be preserved. Protestors-turned-rioters in Philadelphia even attacked the statue of abolitionist Matthias Baldwin, who fought for black voting rights and helped establish a school for African-American Children in Philadelphia in the 1830’s. He paid the teachers’ salaries out of his own pocket for many years after, during the horrors of slavery years. Presumably, that statue was attacked because Baldwin was white. 

What is lacking in all this hoo-haw of muddled anger is actual dialogue, debate, and critical thinking. 

As stated by former American Civil War Museum CEO Christy Coleman in a 2017 USA Today interview, “It’s a sticky wicket. I’m a public educator, and, like ’em or not, these things have a story to tell.″⁣

Let’s briefly consider just a few of these events.  

The statue of John C. Calhoun, Vice President of the US 1825 - 1832, was removed this week in Charleston, South Carolina after the unanimous vote by city officials. 

Before you Confederate flag wavers blow your “can’t erase history” gaskets, let me presume this:  NONE of you know diddly-squat about John C. Calhoun. He was a staunch slavery promoter his entire life and insisted that one of his escaped slaves who was captured be imprisoned and tortured with 30 lashes. 

Calhoun’s philosophy was summed-up in his Senate floor speech of Feb.6,1837:  

“I hold that in the present state of civilization, where two races of different origin, and distinguished by color, and other physical differences, as well as intellectual, are brought together, the relation now existing in the slaveholding States between the two, is, instead of an evil, a good—a positive good…”

Calhoun’s philosophy holds undertones of Hitler’s “master race” thinking, that we heard during the 20th Century. 

John C. Calhoun was not a decent man.  He was no hero. He did not deserve a statue. His racist, hateful legacy should be taught in all history courses in all schools.  That should satisfy all those who are clamoring to save our history. 

Anyone who disagrees with the notion that the Calhoun statue should have been preserved to “teach” history is just plain wrong. Period.  May you all be reminded that the entire world - THE ENTIRE WORLD - knows all about the history of Adolf Hitler, yet there isn’t even one statue of him in Germany. 

Then, there’s good ‘ol Sam Houston. 

 Sam Houston Statue, R. Baker 2017

The history of the namesake of our country’s 4th largest city is interesting as it is confusing. The day before I shot the photos of the Sam Houston statue in Houston’s Hermann park in 2017, protestors were demanding that the monument be torn down. 

I dare say that would spark a second civil war, or at least another Texas revolution, should it ever come to pass.  Texans are a funny breed.  They’ve been up in arms over the expansion and renovations proposed for the Alamo for several years, changes that I personally think would greatly enhance the Alamo experience. But that’s another discussion. As for tearing down the statue of the 1st President of the Texas Republic _ just wipe that notion out of your cerebrum post haste!  

Sam Houston was an enigma of sorts. He championed Native American rights, was made an honorary Cherokee, fought and ultimately set free Mexican General Santa Anna after the Battle of San Jacinto at the close of theTexas Revolution, became the first president of the new country, and voted against the expansion of slavery into new territories while serving in the US senate.  He was also an alcoholic and slave owner. 

Houston did not shrink from his nasty drinking habit and considered it his own misfortune.  In James L. Haley’s book, “Sam Houston”, Sam was described as a “…man of action, one who would ride to battle with a feather in his cap,” alluding to the idea of a warrior adding a new feather to his headwear after a successful battle or achievement. Houston did not make excuses for his flaws. 

I’ll admit to more than a bit of bias here about Sam:  I’m a Texan, born and raised. My opinion is that his legacy isn’t equivalent to that of men such as John C. Calhoun. This is where those notions of dialogue, debate, discussion, and critical thinking should come together in our body politic. 

One last point for discussion is that of Stone Mountain in Georgia.  This massive bas-relief of Confederate soldiers Jeff Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Stonewall Jackson has been a source of controversy for many years. 

Stone Mountain, Georgia.  R. Baker, 2017

Prepping for my 2017 exhibit, “The Architecture of Grief & Redemption”, I visited Stone Mountain in April of that year.  It was interesting and perplexing to witness hundreds of visitors gathering in the open space facing the carvings, while they waited for the nightly laser show. It was a quintessential American scene of a community gathering for a festive event. 

The compelling and striking aspect of this scene was the racial/ethnic/religious composition of the hundreds of people gathered:  Caucasian, African-American, Naive American, Indian, Asian, European, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, and I assume atheists.  

There were mixed-race couples with their children walking the grounds, throwing frisbees, eating vendor candy, ice cream and popcorn before the event. No one was arguing, protesting or complaining - just people living and enjoying life on a calm, warm evening together. 

What are we to make of that? 

That dialogue and discussion is far more complex than the discussion about Sam Houston. After all, Stone Mountain was commissioned to be carved by a sculptor who was associated with the KKK.  

The questions surrounding the blasting away of this massive Stone Mountain carving isn’t as obvious as it might seem to those who emote rather than cerebrate.

What leaves this discussion open to interpretation and debate, then, is exactly the way Ms Colman described it in the quote above:  “…Like ‘em or not, these things have a story to tell.”

How we choose to tell those stories should preclude the wholesale toppling of every monument, Confederate or otherwise.   

Another perspective was posited in 2015 by the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP president, Richard Rose:  “It is time for Georgia and other Southern states to end the glorification of slavery and white supremacy paid for and maintained with the taxes of all its citizens…The heritage we should be celebrating is the US heritage. We’re not a separate nation.”

On might argue that the obvious flaw in Mr. Rose’s statement is that the commission of , displaying of, and meanings behind these monuments are also part of all citizens in the US.  Whether we like it or not. 

The larger question going forward, if we are to move forward, is perhaps found in the words of General Santa Anna.  What, indeed, will offer all of us a sense of prodigious moral prestige?  That, is truly the “sticky wicket.”  

The challenge for all of us going forward is to approach these national issues as a nation, collectively, with feather’s in ALL our hats. 

Rick Burnett Baker

June 26, 2020

Rochester, NY 

©Rick Burnett Baker