Fantastically apropos thread:
It was only a question of time before the all-out war on Rogan began. He's way too big and off-key to permit him to keep going. The concept of free speech in the US is a mirage: you have it right up to the line where it matters or can threaten power centers, then you don't.
Every major institution is united to destroy Rogan, including the WH. The Press Secretary -- speaking on behalf of the US Govt -- demanded Spotify do more to stop him, and this is treated as normal and benign. Ask Julian Assange if *effective* dissent is permitted.
The power derived from controlling the flow of information is immense. That's why every tyrant and authoritarian wields censorship power. Tyranny can't exist without it. And as Orwell and Chomsky have both said, the most effective form isn't jailing dissidents but voluntary suppression.
Orwell said censorship in the UK during the war was so much more effective than the overtly autocratic regimes that just imprisoned dissidents. The British didn’t have to: they had their compliant media unite to punish and destroy the reputation of dissidents.
We're at the point where we also arrive in these cycles. If you object to the attempt to silence Rogan, then you will be instantly tarred with the same brush used to try to destroy him: You're a racist, anti-vax, etc. etc. That's the enforcement mechanism to keep everyone quiet.
This racism charge, from splicing together a bunch of context-free snippets over the years, reeks of desperation but it, too, was inevitable. Racism accusations are the central toy to every silencing game in the US. You can make anyone look racist with it
By far the most important part of what's happened in this Rogan melodrama is that WH weighed in, demanding Spotify "do more." It's part of a long line of Dem politicians using their domination of DC to coerce censorship: a clear violation of the 1st Am.
If you actually think that finding old clips of someone using the n-word is proof they're a racist, then you would find this
infinitely more alarming and important given that he is kind of more powerful than Joe Rogan. But you don't think that: it's just a game to silence him.
Everyone knows that if Spotify removes Rogan, he will move to a new platform with his millions of listeners. The points of this:
1) Deny him the credibility of a major corporate platform.
2) Vilify and ostracize him to prevent further growth.
3) Create an example for others.
Good time to post one of Barack Obama's best moments, where he denounces what he calls "woke" activism as the superficial and self-serving delusion that it is, explains that it's just about the self-esteem of the denouncers, and mocks the idea that silencing people is activism.
https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1 ... 29473?s=21
Also a good time to let people know that Joe Rogan has an adopted black daughter for the past 20 years. She’s a singer. Rogan has financially taken care of her since 2001. Here’s a video of her song:
https://youtu.be/drzBNFjfF4k
But just like with ACB, nothing matters to the left other than power; god help you if you’re in their way.
infinitely more alarming and important given that he is kind of more powerful than Joe Rogan. But you don't think that: it's just a game to silence him.
