David French wrote a whole column whining about Justice Thomas' brilliant Big Tech opinion

But I want to focus in on this passage right here

Simply put - he's defined "free speech" so broadly that it would eviscerate civil rights law
If social media moderation decisions are free speech - EVEN in the face of laws like section 230 that explicitly say the platform is not the speaker - then any act of exclusion is free speech

Meaning that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is unconstitutional on free speech grounds
When French says that the companies are merely "creat[ing] communities that reflect their own private visions of what a marketplace of ideas should look like"

He should think about how that would apply to Jim Crow restauranteurs and hotel owners
On these massive platforms with essentially infinite user-created data, no one thinks the platform is speaking

That's the thrust of 230

What this is is a conflict between the right of Americans to speak on Twitter/Facebook vs. their right to free association
And we've already settled the question of whether corporate free association rights are absolute in this country

They aren't
You're exactly right, French would say that "race is a protected class"

But that's just a descriptive statement about current law

It doesn't do anything to undermine the normative weight of the argument that political affiliation *should* be protected

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More from @willchamberlain

10 Apr
Any Dem who has even the slightest issue with what Tucker Carlson said recently should take it up with Julian Castro
Democrats have 1) gloated about how immigration will turn states blue and 2) advanced policies to decriminalize illegal immigration

They do not like Texas' electorate - and rather than persuade Texans, they seek to change the composition of that electorate
And as Tucker explained, this isn't about *race*

It's about *citizenship*

Our immigration policy should prioritize the interests of American citizens over those of non-citizens

Instead, Democrats seek to use non-citizens to disenfranchise citizens
Read 5 tweets
9 Apr
"ceaseless assemblage of negotiations and compromises."

Is it like Thesaurus day or something? This is incredibly awkward usage
For the English nerds:

"ceaseless" connotes something happening over time

"assemblage" has nothing to do with time

Better word choice would be "ceaseless procession"
Even better word choice would be "endless negotiations and compromises."

Omit needless words
Read 5 tweets
9 Apr
Hi @davidfolkenflik!

Are you going to apologize for this bs hit piece on @EmmaJoNYC, suggesting her massive scoop on Hunter Biden's laptop was disinformation?

Because you certainly owe her one

npr.org/2020/10/17/924…
Other people who owe @EmmaJoNYC an apology:

Katie Robertson of the New York Times

nytimes.com/2020/10/18/bus…
And @petersterne at New York Magazine:

nymag.com/intelligencer/…
Read 4 tweets
8 Apr
I think this is going to get cross-examined into oblivion

It's a snapshot, you can't see where Chauvin's other knee is, and it looks like he's leaning a little bit to one side (which is enough to take a LOT of the weight off of the other side
Also this is an area where the prosecution expert doesn't really have expertise

What in his training gives him the ability to analyze a photo and figure out how weight was distributed?
This was also the moment where I realized how ideological the expert was

He was on solid ground talking about how the knee in the back and the handcuffs being pushed into the mans back could constrain his breathing

But this is just spitballing, and Nelson will catch it
Read 9 tweets
8 Apr
Today is a crucial day in the Derek Chauvin Trial

Prosecutors just called their first medical expert witness: Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist working at Loyola University Medical Center

Expect him to testify that George Floyd did not die of an overdose

#ChauvinTrial
Tobin testifies that the combination of one of the officers pushing Floyd's handcuffs into his back, combined with Chauvin's knee on Floyd's *back*, made it so Floyd couldn't breathe out of his left lung

#ChauvinTrial
I don't necessarily think this is great testimony for the prosecution: they've spent almost the entire time saying that it was Chauvin's knee on Floyd's *neck* that was excessive force
Read 7 tweets
7 Apr
Wow

Chauvin's lawyer just played a short excerpt of George Floyd - while being held on the ground - screaming out "Ahhh! I ate too many drugs!"

This trial shouldn't be happening
You don't understand the defense at all

Drug use isn't the justification

It undermines *causation*

Chauvin didn't cause Floyd's death, an overdose did

Read 4 tweets

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