Glenn Greenwald Profile picture
Feb 5, 2022 10 tweets 3 min read Read on X
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 doing this.
Read what Orwell said about why censorship in the UK during the war was so much more effective than the overtly autocratic regimes that just imprisoned dissidents. The British don't have to: they have their compliant media unite to punish and destroy the reputation of dissidents: Image
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.

rumble.com/vtyr34-democra…
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.

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More from @ggreenwald

Aug 26
Inacreditável que Alexandre de Moraes esteja constantemente concentrando em si próprio a figura de suposta vítima, investigador policial, promotor e o juiz - em seus próprios interesses.

Não há democracia onde uma pessoa pode investigar criminalmente o jornalismo que a reporta.
"Todos temos medo do superjuiz Moraes, menos aqueles que são os seus puxa-sacos" -- @lf_ponde, na @Folha.

Pondé sobre como Moraes não tem limites em seus poderes, e todos, exceto seus adoradores, têm medo de questioná-lo.

www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/luizfe…
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@lf_ponde @folha Aqui também: um ótimo artigo de @lygia_maria sobre a visão perturbada e perigosa de Moraes, a marca registrada de uma mentalidade tirana:

Que qualquer crítica ou questionamento feita ele é em si "um ataque à democracia" e, portanto, um crime.

www1.folha.uol.com.br/colunas/lygia-…
Read 4 tweets
Aug 17
There are few people in the democratic world more powerful or tyrannical than Moraes. He believes he is Brazilian democracy itself, and thus any criticisms of him are a criminal attack on the state.

Brazil's left views him as a deity, since he censors/imprisons their opponents.
On Tuesday, we began reporting in @Folha on a massive archive of data we obtained from his chambers between his top aides (6gb).

After the first day, the left united to defend him because they see him as infallible, and he called our reporting a plot to destroy democracy.
It's hard to explain the cult-like adoration the left has for him. No matter what he does - ban people from the internet or imprison them with no due process or trial - they go online and type "Eu autorizo, Xandão!" (we support you, Great Alexandre!).

It's sick to watch.👇
Read 6 tweets
Aug 9
Not even herd animals are this flagrant about it. You tell me how and why corporate media constantly speaks from the same exact script this way, verbatim. #KamalaIsJOY


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More here on Kamala and the Power of JOY:

washingtonexaminer.com/daily-memo/311…
There are countless large media outlets in the last 5 days alone who have all published large pieces calling Kamala's campaign THE POLITICS OF JOY.

Not happiness, not glee, not delight, not jubilation. They all have to use the same word. One more, from The Atlantic, of course. Image
Read 4 tweets
Jul 15
I find it so interesting when long-obvious truths suddenly are acknowledged in mainstream circles.

Here, in the WPost, even @TaylorLorenz (!!) admits that the hordes of #Resistance freaks and anti-Trump obsessives are as conspiratorial and deranged as what they claim QAnon is:
Here's @SohrabAhmari in the @NewStatesman on how many prominent liberals -- not anonymous Twitter trolls but major DNC donors and academics -- are deranged and drowning in moronic conspiracy theories.

This has been obvious since Russiagate insanity:

newstatesman.com/international-…
@SohrabAhmari @NewStatesman Just by the way: a non-trivial sector of the Brazilian left still believes the 2018 stabbing attack on Jair Bolsonaro was fake -- despite doctor testimony, his multiple surgeries, etc. -- and now believes the same about the attack on Trump.🇧🇷

Includes a beloved Congress member. Image
Read 4 tweets
Jun 26
Julian Assange landed today in Australia a free man.

He arrived to what the NYT described as "a hero's welcome." Australia's full political spectrum demanded his release.

The first call Assange received on landing was from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, to welcome him home. Image
The judge, when accepting his plea deal, noted that the US was **unable to identify a single victim** that this supposed crime produced.

Assange's lawyers and wife credited the Australian people for demanding their leaders secure Assange's release.

Assange has been detained for 14 years, and imprisoned in a harsh high-security British prison for 5.

He was never convicted of any crime other than a bail-jumping misdemeanor.

He had extraordinary advocates who worked 15 years to secure his freedom:

Read 4 tweets
Jun 25
There are so many lies that @kaitlancollins allowed career liar Andrew McCabe to tell in this interview about the Assange case with no pushback.

Just to highlight one: WikiLeaks reached out to Hillary's State Dept before publishing cables to ask for input, and they refused.
Whenever someone exposes USG's secret crimes, they always accuse the person of "having blood on their hands."

In 2010, McClatchy -- the only big US outlet to get Iraqi WMDs right -- documented the utter lack of evidence that Assange endangered anyone:

mcclatchydc.com/news/special-r…

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Also: US corporate media always tries to deny "journalist" status to anyone who actually does real adversarial reporting against the US Govt, rather than just doing a Natasha Bertrand of writing down what CIA orders.

Assange won multiple journalism awards around the world:👇


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Read 4 tweets

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