The Golden EIB Microphone Falls Silent for the Last Time

 

     

     It was sometime in the middle of May about twelve years ago; a warm summer breeze blew in my open window as I sat leaning out of it on the second floor of the house, directly above my grandmother who sat in her rocking chair on the patio below. A cold class of sweet tea sweated slightly in my hands. The radio was tuned to AM 750 and Rush Limbaugh’s rich voice was filling the air. This is only one of many cherished memories I save of the famed talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh who passed away this past Wednesday, February 17^th after 33 years on the radio. Rush continued to do his show even up until the final days of his battle with lung cancer; if it were ever said someone had a calling, Rush was certainly following his. Rush had such a profound impact on my life and the lives of millions of people across the United States. His willingness to stand up for conservative principles, even in the face of massive opposition from establishment media and other opponents, is nothing short of inspiring. Rush spoke for the part of America belittled and forgotten by cultural and political elites. He single handedly shaped and influenced the political beliefs of multiple generations of Americans. To say that Rush’s career fits right into the definition of the intersection between media and politics would be an understatement; Rush’s show was the intersection of media and politics for something like 20 million weekly listeners across his syndicated radio show. So much so, for example, that the newly elected 1994 Republican controlled House of Representatives made Rush Limbaugh an honorary member of their caucus as they felt he had such a profound impact on the success of the Republican party in the election.

     Rush’s conviction to stand up for what he believed in all while entertaining millions with his humor and wit will forever establish him as the “greatest of all time” as his wife Kathryn put it in her remarks after his passing. Rush regularly said he was having “more fun than a human being should be allowed to have” during his introductions as his show returned from break; I can say that he certainly was. Rush taught me to be endlessly curious, and inspired me to stand up for the principles I believe in. I will miss his three hours of radio, his booming voice, his energy, his positivity, his humor, and his unique take on the state of American politics and culture.

     Rush always maintained he was gifted with “talent on loan from God.” I’m sure he is thrilled he finally gets to return that talent to the one who granted it to him.

Rest in Peace, Rush. You will be dearly missed.

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Gina Carano Fired by Disney, Joins Forces with the Daily Wire

 

   

     Ex mixed martial arts star turned actress, Gina Carano, was fired this week by Disney from the show The Mandalorian over her controversial political tweets. In November Gina posted several controversial tweets one of which joked about mask wearing and another which suggested there should be investigations into the voting processes in every state across the country and urged for stricter voting laws to ensure the integrity of elections. The last straw appears to have been Gina’s recent tweet which compared the early attacks on Jews in 1930’s Germany to the treatment of people who are right of center in the contemporary United States (This post has since been deleted). The post went viral and social media backlash ensued peaking as the hashtag “#FireGinaCarano” trended on Twitter on Wednesday February 10^th.

     Since Gina’s ousting, there has been an outpouring of support from the political right who decry the move as another example of the excesses of  “cancel culture” in the United States. One of the critics of this move by Disney, conservative pundit and co-owner of the Daily Wire, Ben Shapiro, appears willing the put his money where his mouth is in fighting back against the cancel culture. Only two days after her ousting, the Daily Wire and Gina announced that Gina would star and produce a film in partnership with the Daily Wire. Gina touted the new partnership on Friday saying “I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them.”

     Will this recent episode of cancelation then un-cancelation be the start of a new trend in American media and politics? The right side of the political isle has been decrying what it perceives as a bias against conservative viewpoints in the media for decades. It now appears that large uber-successful companies like the Daily Wire have finally built up enough infrastructure to stand against what was once a monolithic media entertainment machine run by Hollywood elites. Will the partisan divisions which seem to be dividing right from left in the America more than ever cause the creation of a whole separate media, news, and entertainment industry which accepts those that may be deemed too right-wing or conservative for traditional Hollywood? It is an interesting question to consider. If the recent success of the Daily Wire’s first major film “Run Hide Fight” is any indication of the potential for another film produced by the company staring Gina, then this may certainly be the beginning of a new force in the media industry.

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Do You Have a Right to be Wrong?

 

     What to do about disinformation spread on social media and other platforms is a pertinent issue as of late. Elected leaders, government officials, academics, journalist, big tech, and everyday media consumers alike all seem to be searching for possible solutions. One of the journalist at the forefront of this discussion, Kevin Roose, wrote an article for The New York Times addressing what the Biden administration and others like big tech could do to help pull media consumers away from disinformation, hoaxes, and harmful conspiracy theories. After speaking with several experts on these topics, Roose reports several possible solutions that these experts believe may help alleviate the issue with “information ecosystem” in the United States. Some of the most interesting suggestions include Harvard research director for the university’s Shorestein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Survey, Joan Donavan’s suggestion to set up a “truth commission” which would “investigate the planning and execution of the Capitol siege on Jan. 6.” Donavan also suggested creating more specific labels for different types of extremist movements in order to better differentiate between higher and lower risk individuals and communities online. Another suggestion offered to Roose was the Biden administration creating something similar to a Director of National Intelligence but for online platforms. This new positional would be dubbed a “reality czar” and would essentially act as central point in the government from which disinformation, conspiracy theories, extremist groups, and their adherents could be monitored. As Roose reports, the reality czar and their task force “could also meet regularly with tech platforms, and push for structural changes that could help those companies tackle their own extremism and misinformation problems. (For example, it could formulate “safe harbor” exemptions that would allow platforms to share data about QAnon and other conspiracy theory communities with researchers and government agencies without running afoul of privacy laws.)” Lastly, Roose reports the suggestion that the Biden administration should force big tech to allow the government to examine their algorithms and possibly create repercussions for ones that promote extreme content. Despite the rather Orwellian sounding nature of these proposals, they are not unreasonable things to suggest given that Roose and these experts seem to already accept the fundamental notion that disinformation, conspiracy theories, and the trafficking thereof is an evil which needs to be addressed through governmental action.

     This brings us back to our headline; do you have a right to be wrong? Is having an opinion that is not supported by evidence now considered to be a moral and even legal problem? Does free speech no longer include speech that is untrue or questionable? The speech that Roose and these experts are considering cracking down upon may be wrong, offensive, misguided, and even deliberately misleading. However, this does not mean that the government should be involved in solving the “problem” that is disinformation online. There are already laws that address things like libel and slander, and there is ample case law which address the freedoms of speech, expression, and assembly. It seems as though, in a likely sincere effort to create a more hospitable and fact-based online discourse and information ecosystem, Roose and others may be taking a step too far. When you are talking about creating a “reality czar” responsible for establishing what is “true,” it may be time to reflect on exactly what that means especially considering that the position of power you create to squelch speech and people who you deem to be problems will undoubtedly be used against you when the pendulum of power in American politics swings back the other way. It is hard to imagine a scenario in which some of the more outlandish suggestions reported and tangentially endorsed by Roose end the way one might hope. The best solution to this problem is not less speech, it is not the government deciding what is truth and fact, it is more, regular people, standing up for what they can best determine to be the truth. It is the responsibility of every American to push back against conspiracy theories, disinformation, and lies. In order to ensure that this can continue to happen however, we have to accept the idea that people have a right to be wrong, just like they have a right to speak the truth.

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