A Primer For CONFUSED Conservatives On The First Amendment And Free Speech On Social Media

Two weeks ago, my op-ed at The Daily Caller titled “SORRY, CONSERVATIVES: You Don’t Have Free Speech On Facebook Or Twitter” ignited fierce discussion about the First Amendment and social media.

The op-ed served to reiterate conservative values allowing businesses to decide what happens on their property. These values likewise allow online services to remove content that violate their policies — Facebook, Twitter, and Drudge Report can all remove content and posts they find objectionable.

Unfortunately, many comments in response to the op-ed were replete with misconceptions, specifically about the workings of the First Amendment and the “public square doctrine.” To create a better discussion on our right to free speech and expression, these misconceptions must be addressed.

The first misconception from many is that the First Amendment applies to regulation of speech by private actors. The First Amendment protects against governmental limitations on expression. Governmental here means limiting government action, not the expression of private individuals or organizations.

For example, the First Amendment protects against a president shuttering The Daily Caller because she does not like an article written about her. The First Amendment prohibits lawmakers from limiting speech, whether liberal or conservative, and whether online or offline.

The First Amendment does not entitle a liberal journalist to demand publication in a conservative magazine. The First Amendment also does not require a cable news television station to feature balanced coverage.

Nor is it a violation of the First Amendment for an online platform to remove content it doesn’t like. Rather, that is the operators of the online platform exercising their First Amendment rights.

This is something conservatives usually recognize, even as recently as the Sinclair fake news bulletin scandal, where the network was accused of pushing out a political message via its locally owned media stations. Conservatives were quick to defend the media company, acknowledging its right to regulate content.

The Daily Caller’s Anders Hagstrom said, “If you don’t like what Sinclair is selling, there are 1,780 TV stations in the U.S. – change the channel.” The same could be said of conservative critics of Facebook who insist on using the platform regardless.

The second misconception used to argue against my prior op-ed is about the “public square doctrine.” This court-created doctrine flows from the First Amendment and maintains that in certain public spaces, such as in parks or on streets and sidewalks, the government cannot regulate free speech.

Facebook is not a “public space” though. Facebook is unquestionably a private business.

As conservative principles dictate, none of us are entitled to do what we want on Facebook any more than we would be in a coffee shop or bar. We wouldn’t require a coffee shop to maintain bulletin board postings it doesn’t like. Why would expect that behavior of Facebook?

Conservative Supreme Court Justices Rehnquist, Scalia, Thomas, and White ruled in a 6-3 decision in International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee that even government-funded spaces like airports may restrict speech. Conservatives have historically been unpersuaded that the “public square” doctrine should be broadly expanded, especially to private businesses.

This principle should not change just because a current example is found online.

http://dailycaller.com/2018/05/29/conservatives-confused-on-free-speech-and-social-media/

Media Spreads Two New Lies Aimed At Smearing ICE, Trump

Multiple journalists, activists, and former Obama administration officials spread blatant falsehoods during Memorial Day weekend aimed at smearing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Trump administration.

The first false claim involved a news report showing photos of children in detention centers lying on floors that CNN's Hadas Gold, former Obama official Jon Favreau, Shaun King, and Linda Sarsour all shared and promoted as being recent when, in fact, the photos were from 2014, during the Obama administration.

Amazing pic.twitter.com/rMX3E38LS3

— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) May 27, 2018

Gold later took down her tweet because she claimed that it "gave [the] impression" that the photos were recent, despite the fact that she said in her tweet that the photos were recent.

No you did not “give the impression”. You flat out said it. pic.twitter.com/kGJ2PmPVgT

— EducatédHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) May 27, 2018

The second falsehood promoted by the media came from ABC13 Houston's Antonio Arellano, who tweeted a photo of a bus that is used at a detention center.

Arellano wrote: "ICE's largest family detention center, Karnes County Residential Center in Texas, run by contractor GEO Group, has a prison bus just for babies."

ICE's largest family detention center, Karnes County Residential Center in Texas, run by contractor GEO Group, has a prison bus just for babies.https://t.co/j282oqp0W8 pic.twitter.com/MYtPAYGNzN

— Antonio Arellano (@AntonioArellano) May 27, 2018

This is a blatantly false statement. The link he included in his tweet even states that the bus was used to take children who were being detained on field trips. Also, the photo was taken in 2016, during the Obama administration.

This is a bus that takes children in immigration detention on educational field trips. That seems like a good thing. Also, the photo is from 2016. https://t.co/ipSgoJtPPD

— David Martosko (@dmartosko) May 28, 2018

ABC13 Houston did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire.

Arellano's false claim was also spread by left-wing activists, celebrities, and journalists who used it to attack ICE and the Trump administration:

This is what we've come to under Donald Trump. Men and women of conscience, raise your voices. THIS IS WRONG. https://t.co/g651l75CmL

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) May 28, 2018

A prison bus just for babies. https://t.co/M1axulAEJj

— David Roberts (@drvox) May 28, 2018

Y'all, what kind of country are we living in? This is crazy. https://t.co/suc32RZZs8

— mark riffenburg (@ItsJustMarkNV) May 27, 2018

Crimes against humanity… https://t.co/Q6wqvzU7B9

— Michael Deibert (@michaelcdeibert) May 28, 2018

TAKE A GOOD LOOK, FOLKS! #WhereAreTheChildren? This is Trump's America & the GOP is complicit. #VoteBlue & #FireTheGOP https://t.co/NKtFYLb9D6

— Chet Powell (@ChetPowell) May 28, 2018

These deceptive claims come just after the media spread three blatant falsehoods over the past two weeks: falsely suggesting that Israel was shooting innocent civilians, that President Trump called all illegal immigrants "animals," and that the school shooter at Santa Fe High School used an "assault rifle."

https:// www.dailywire.com/news/31155/media-spreads-two-new-lies-aimed-smearing-ice-ryan-saavedra

More Disturbing Details Come To Light About 'Sex Cult' Tied To 'Smallville' Star

In the first episode of A&E's "Cults and Extreme Belief" series, a former high-ranking member of the notorious NXIVM "philosophical society," who was initiated into its secret "sex slave" sorority, tells her story, bringing more dark details about the cult to light.

The cult has again come under heightened public scrutiny after the arrest of the cult's alleged leaders Keith Raniere (whom his followers call "Vanguard") and "Smallville" star Allison Mack, who allegedly headed up the secret sorority. Authorities ramped up pressure on the group following the publication of an expose by The New York Times in October 2017, which included allegations from actress Sarah Edmondson.

A&E's new series features Edmondson, who presents some of her story to host Elizabeth Vargas. Describing the "Jness" track of NXIVM, which she says cost her $15,000 for three eight-day training sessions specifically designed for women to learn about "who we are at our core," Edmondson tells Vargas that the overarching point of the indoctrination overseen by Raniere and Mack was that women need to be subservient to men.

"In the process of understanding our indoctrination, he is slipping in a new indoctrination," said Edmundson of Raniere. "I actually remember the last training I took with Jness. I was like, 'Wow, I'm not obedient enough.'"

After The New York Times broke the story open, Edmondson wrote a detailed account published by Vice in November in which she recounted her nightmarish experiences in the cult, which began with an innocuous invite to a self-help group that got increasingly controlling and twisted the deeper into the indoctrination program followers like Edmondson went.

Edmondson said that sometime in 2011 or 2012, NXIVM implemented its Human Pain program, an eight-day "level two" training program that introduced the ideas of "collateral and penance," which required you to do certain predetermined acts of penance for failing to meet goals. "For women, penance was largely about calories. I remember there was one woman I saw once on a 300-calorie diet, because of some breach she had done," Edmondson says. "She was only eating mashed frozen zucchini and tomato stew."

Things took a darker, more overtly sexual turn when the actress was asked to take nude photos as "collateral" by the daughter of the president of the company, Lauren Salzman, who was also Edmondson's "confidante" and the godmother of her son. Salzman told the actress that she was going to introduce her to a new program exclusively for women. This was the horrific inner group for which Mack allegedly helped recruit and oversaw, and for which Raniere indoctrinated the women to become his "submissive" sex slaves. After 10 eight-day training sessions, Edmondson received her "tattoo." Here's her horrifying account of the initiation imaged above:

Edmondson describes herself dissociating as she underwent the excruciating process of being branded imaged above:

Mack, who along with Raniere has been charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor, is reportedly negotiating with prosecutors over a plea deal.

https:// www.dailywire.com/news/31153/more-disturbing-details-come-light-about-sex-cult-james-barrett

>>1574300

The only point of posting this article is this:

Everyone has an opinion, whether it be professional or personal, the author of this article is credentialed here:

Carl Szabo is general counsel for NetChoice, a trade association of eCommerce businesses and online consumers. Facebook is a member of NetChoice. Szabo is also an adjunct professor of privacy law at the George Mason University Antonin Scalia Law School.

Nothing is black and white, there are some reasonable points he makes here. Side by Side, or what I used to call a Franklin Close would do well in this instance to see where it should be with what you see here. Like anything in life this is an opinion, and we all have differing ones at times as you can see.

Republican high noon: Time for a Capitol Hill showdown

After the 2016 election, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., welcomed “the dawn of a new unified Republican government.” Reince Priebus, who was to be President Trump’s first chief of staff, declared that it was time “to put up and show up.” Vice President Mike Pence warned lawmakers to “buckle up.” For the second time since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the GOP controlled the House, Senate, and White House at the same time.

More than a year later, they have far too little to show for this rare conjunction of executive and legislative control. And now, they’re on vacation.

Republicans have less than six months until the midterm elections to convince voters to renew their majorities. They will point to tax cuts (bravo) and to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch (again, bravo). But these accomplishments do not add up to a job well done. Some will even point to the limited rollback of the Dodd-Frank financial regulation, and they can legitimately point to the more extensive cutting of red tape. Each is a significant achievement, to be sure. But none lives up to the pedal-to-the-metal, no-holds-barred, Mach-10 pre-inauguration hype.

Legislative malaise is palpable on Capitol Hill. Promises to repeal Obamacare have been broken. Talk of fiscal responsibility is a bad joke. Republicans have decided they won’t even try to pass a budget this year.

A proposal to work through August recess from Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., is welcome but underwhelming. The freshman senator told Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that he and more than a dozen of his colleagues are ready to roll up their sleeves and get down to legislating. They are even prepared “to work Monday and Friday, nights as well as weekends.”

Going to work on Monday and Friday in the last quarter of the 115th Congress doesn’t make up for its ineffectiveness in the past 17 months.

Republicans will protest at this chiding. They will bellyache about the Democrats’ obstruction. They will say that control of both chambers of Congress and the White House is not enough. They will say they need an even bigger majority in the Senate.

But if Republicans can’t do the easy little things, what confidence does the country have that they will do the difficult big things?

Consider an uninspiring episode that occurred earlier this month in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A crop of seven nominees for circuit court judges was up for consideration. The committee rambled for the better part of two hours as one by one, Republican senators headed for the exits. By lunch time, there weren’t enough senators present for a vote, and the nominees languished needlessly in limbo for another week.

So many staffers have started rescheduling their vacation plans that it seems McConnell will cut August recess back by a couple weeks or even scrap it all together. But the prime directive of the Republican majority appears to be avoid difficult votes at all costs.

Political headwinds face the GOP in November. There are signs that the blue Democratic wave may be less overwhelming than it seemed two months ago. But the odds of losing at least one chamber are high. Republicans ought to use every parliamentary tool at their disposal, such as budget reconciliation, and take on every big issue, such as Obamacare repeal. Success isn’t guaranteed, but failure is inevitable if Republicans don’t even try.

And if they don’t even try during “the dawn of a new unified Republican government,” it might already be high noon, and November may prove to be dusk.

https:// www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/republican-high-noon-time-for-a-capitol-hill-showdown

>>1574367

Truly disgusting, I have no words really!

>>1574300

Just 2 questions, why do we ban anon's or shills here? Should there be a penalty to the board owner or those who impose the ban for such an action?

>>1574450

This is exactly what I was getting at, nothing is black and white, there will always be gray matter. We have choices, which might not be convenient for all, but this is exactly why they exist. I always say if you don't like what you are seeing or the way you are being treated then don't give them the pleasure of your presence. There can be another FB, TW, and there should be competition is what makes all of us better no matter where we are in life.

Trump sees Congress buck tradition of legislative loafing, make significant progress on agenda

While much of America wasn’t looking, President Trump and Congress actually have been getting some work done together.

Congress passed three significant bills before the Memorial Day recess that Mr. Trump has signed or will sign into law in coming weeks, including a partial rollback of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial industry regulations, a move that supporters — including many Democrats — say will spur lending by small banks in small towns nationwide.

As he signed the regulation-cutting measure late last week, the president said lawmakers are bucking the tradition of legislative loafing in a midterm election year.

“For a Congress that they say, you know, won’t be doing much because we have an election coming up, I think we’re doing an awful lot,” Mr. Trump said. “I think we’re doing more than any Congress in a long time.”

Andrew Busch, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College in California, agreed there has been “a flurry of legislative activity recently,” including the Dodd-Frank overhaul, legislation to reform Veterans Affairs services and a “right to try” measure allowing terminal patients access to drugs that haven’t received final approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

“As a general rule, it is often more difficult to pass bills in election years, midterm or presidential, because both sides are afraid of letting the other side gain good publicity,” Mr. Busch said. “However, it really depends on the balance of power in Congress, how each party perceives its electoral interests and the nature of the issue.”

The numbers back up the president. Mr. Trump has signed 57 laws so far this year, compared with 34 by President Obama at the same point in the midterm year of 2014, when Mr. Obama was contending with a House Republican majority. In April of that year, Mr. Obama complained it was “the least productive Congress in modern history.”

In the midterm year of 2010, when Mr. Obama was working with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, he had signed 46 bills into law by Memorial Day.

Mr. Busch said very little happened in 2014 because control of Congress was divided “and there was general gridlock.”

“On the other hand, 2010 saw the passage of Obamacare because Democrats had sufficient numbers in both houses to push it through, and politically they were afraid — probably wrongly — of the electoral consequences of coming up empty,” he said.

Although Congress hasn’t passed any legislation this year as important as the tax cuts that were approved in December, the recent bills aren’t all about renaming post offices. The Dodd-Frank rollback, the VA measure and the “right to try” legislation each address campaign promises made by Mr. Trump.

And none received much media coverage in a week dominated by the president’s on-again, off-again summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and the revelation of an FBI informant in the Trump presidential campaign in 2016 — a story promoted relentlessly by the president himself as he continues to fight back against special counsel Robert Mueller’s long-running investigation.

“Often with all that’s going on internationally, and some of the coverage of continuing investigations, perhaps palace intrigue, there’s a lack of focus on all that’s actually getting accomplished legislatively,” said Marc Short, director of legislative affairs at the White House. “I think we’ll look back on this Congress as being incredibly productive.”

It’s not clear whether these legislative victories for Mr. Trump and the GOP will have any impact on the midterm elections, in which Democrats need to flip 23 seats to reclaim the House and Republicans are defending a two-seat majority in the Senate.

“The Dodd-Frank reform is really important for the banking community, particularly small banks, but it’s not the kind of thing that normally penetrates the public consciousness,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, founder of North Star Opinion Research.

Success after success

He said voters tend to notice “major bills that affect many people in the country, like the tax cut.”

https:// www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/28/trump-agenda-congress-passes-dodd-frank-veterans-a/

>>1574630

I will refer you to my comment here

>>1574600

Trump campaign store now selling patriotic 'Make America Great Again' woman's swimsuit

“Make a YUGE splash poolside or at the beach this summer with our new swimwear!” advises the official store for President Trump’s re-election campaign, which has introduced the Make America Great Again women’s swimsuit.

It is sleek and patriotic, in red white and blue, and emblazoned with the phrase once made famous by Mr. Trump’s signature red hat. The suit is $55 and made in the U.S. — just like every other item in the cheerful and extensive online shop. Men’s suits and matching beach towels are also available.

The Trump campaign retail line has been expanded to include all matter of T-shirts, watchcaps, mugs, flags, pet wear, signs and rally gear.

The store is having 25 percent off Memorial Day sale on Monday and advises that “Remember” is the discount code word on check out.

https:// www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/may/28/trump-campaign-store-now-selling-patriotic-make-am/

>>1574696

These are fantastic! Great Job Anon!

>>1574739

Not so, bigger companies have fallen by the choice of the people no longer frequenting them, because they had choices. Someone found a way to build a better mouse trap didn't they. There will always be competition, you can't stop that. There are alternatives to You Tube, Google and many more, choice is the operative word, and we all have it like it or not.

>>1574786

Back your statements up with facts and I can take you more seriously. I backed up mine, interesting how you resort to name calling instead of an intelligent dialog..just saying!

>>1574814

Really no alternatives to Goog or You Tube??

Not sure what your business acumen is, but there are many more than you realize. You are an intelligent anon, dig for yourself.