Free Speech

Let’s “Ban” Some Books

Featured image Lately, Democrats have tried to posture as free speech advocates by denouncing “bans” of various books. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz went on a tirade at a press conference, claiming that Florida–the Left’s bete noire these days–has “banned” various books like, for example, Of Mice and Men and Lord of the Flies. It turned out that Walz just made it up, as usual. More broadly, the whole “book ban” controversy is »

Inside the Stanford shoutdown

Featured image I have repeatedly noted the role played by the National Lawyers Guild chapter at Stanford in the shoutdown of Judge Duncan at the March 9 Federalist Society event that has disgraced the law school several times over. The National Lawyers Guild is an old Communist front group that seeks to spread the old-time religion despite the fall of the Soviet Union and the Communist International. Alan Dershowitz now reviews the »

Ramirez on the Stanford disgrace

Featured image The great Michael Ramirez has turned his easel to the Stanford disgrace featuring the shoutdown of Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan. We have followed the reporting of Aaron Sibarium and the opinion of the editors at the Washington Free Beacon on this deeply disgusting story. It is a disgrace without bottom. Michael’s cartoon of the day is posted at his Substack site under the title “Stanford Universilly” along with links »

Memo to Supreme Court: Save the First Amendment!

Featured image The First Amendment is under unprecedented attack, as the Democratic Party has weaponized one federal and state agency after another to go after its opponents. An important instance of this phenomenon is the effort by Democratic banking regulators to deprive disfavored organizations of access to our financial system. The issue is raised in NRA v. Vullo (the link goes to Eugene Volokh’s discussion of the case). The facts underlying the »

Notes on the Twitter Files (19)

Featured image In the nineteenth installment of the Twitter Files, Matt Taibbi has posted a 45-part thread. It can be accessed via the first tweet in the thread below. 1.TWITTER FILES #19The Great Covid-19 Lie MachineStanford, the Virality Project, and the Censorship of “True Stories” pic.twitter.com/v41dyC26ZR — Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) March 17, 2023 In this installment the authorities confront a crisis of disbelief in the teachings of Lord Anthony Fauci. As President »

Inside Stanford’s disgrace: Judge Duncan speaks

Featured image Judge Michael McConnell to the contrary notwithstanding, we seek to publicize the ringleaders, perpetrators, and administrators involved in the shoutdown of Kyle Duncan at the March 9 Stanford Law School event sponsored by the school’s Federalist Society chapter. To borrow a phrase from Bob Dylan, we seek to tear the rag away from their face. Judge Duncan himself is not inclined to let it ride. The Wall Street Journal has »

Inside Stanford’s disgrace

Featured image Having closely followed events, the Washington Free Beacon has now posted an editorial on the disgrace of Stanford Law School arising from the shoutdown of Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan at the March 9 event sponsored by the Federalist Society chapter. It is a reported editorial that takes us inside the aftermath. Note the attempted intervention of Federalist Society adviser (former Tenth Circuit judge) and Stanford Law School Professor Michael »

Censoring the Panic

Featured image Some Democrats are suggesting that talk about possible bank failures should be censored, lest there be a run on the banks. Jonathan Turley reports: While some rushed to get their money after the collapses, at least one leading Democrat is pushing for censorship of those who do not have faith in the banking industry. *** Subjects from climate change to gender identity to COVID to elections have been gradually added »

The tears of Tirien Steinbach

Featured image Megyn Kelly covered the disgrace of Stanford Law School on her Sirius XM/podcast show yesterday. She invited Tim Rosenberger to discuss the disgrace. Rosenberger is the president of Stanford Law School’s Federalist Society chapter and hosted Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan at the shoutdown. In the video of the segment below, Megyn Kelly mocks Stanford DEI Dean Tirien Steinbach. Rosenberger does a good job discussing the event. Kelly deserves some »

A Stanford deviation

Featured image The revolution continues at Stanford Law School. The students would prefer not to let the mealymouth administration get away with its public relations treatment of the shoutdown of Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan. Aaron Sibarium reports at the Free Beacon: Hundreds of Stanford student activists on Monday lined the hallways to protest the law school’s dean, Jenny Martinez, for apologizing to Fifth Circuit appellate judge Kyle Duncan, whom the activists »

The Stanford misalignment

Featured image Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan was shouted down at Stanford Law School event sponsored by the Federalist Society chapter. The disruption of Judge Duncan’s remarks was supported at the event by Associate Dean of DEI Tirien Steinbach. Steve posted the audio here. Judge Duncan commented bluntly on his close encounter of the inclusion kind in remarks I posted here. Now Ed Whelan reports that Stanford has issued an apology. Stanford’s »

A Twitter Files footnote (14)

Featured image Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger are two of the journalists who have participated in the Twitter Files project. They testified at the Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on the Twitter Files conducted by the House Judiciary this week. I posted the text of Taibbi’s statement here yesterday. The New York Post has adapted Shellenberger’s statement in “‘Censorship-industrial complex’ uses gov’t power to threaten democracy.” Shellenberger testified: The »

Judge Duncan comments

Featured image The Washington Free Beacon’s Aaron Sibarium covers the plight of free speech in higher education. He contacted Fifth Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan after he was made the object of the Two Minutes Hate at Stanford Law School with the support of one Tirien Steinbach, the law school’s associate dean of diversity, equity, and inclusion. As Steve Hayward noted in “Stanford University disgraces itself,” Judge Duncan was beyond inclusion. His inclusion »

Notes on the Twitter Files (18)

Featured image I think the Twitter Files revelations are the most important story out there. Yesterday morning journalists Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger testified at the Hearing on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on the Twitter Files conducted by the House Judiciary Committee. This was Taibbi’s opening as posted at his Racket News site (C-SPAN video of the hearing is posted below in its entirety — Taibbi’s statement begins at about »

The Democrats Make War On Twitter [Updated]

Featured image Today the House’s Weaponization Committee held a hearing in which Democrats attacked Twitter and the “so-called journalists” who revealed the Twitter Files: “Twitter Files” reporters Matt Taibbi and Michael Shellenberger held firm Thursday against an onslaught of attacks from Democrats who referred to them as “so-called journalists” and demanded they give up their sources during a tense House subcommittee hearing. “The Republicans have brought in two of [Twitter CEO] Elon »

Lockdown Files: UK Government Ordered No Discussion of Lab Leak

Featured image I wrote here about the Lockdown Files, leaked WhatsApp messages among Britain’s politicians and bureaucrats regarding that country’s covid shutdowns. The files show that Britain’s government deliberately instilled fear in order to justify lockdowns (“When do we deploy the new variant?”). But the latest revelation is among the most significant yet. The Telegraph reports, with links in the original: Matt Hancock was censored by the Cabinet Office over his concerns »

Gleichschaltung, Biden style

Featured image The Biden administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to torturing new Twitter under Elon Musk into silence. Those damn Twitter Files have gotten under someone’s skin and the FTC is on the case, demanding that Twitter “identify all journalists” who have had a look. That should get someone’s attention. The FTC demand is part of a broader investigation on which the Wall Street Journal reports here (“The FTC is also »