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February 5, 2021 (American Thinker) — We've heard repeated claims over the course of the Trump presidency that we're facing a constitutional crisis. We've been told that everything from executive orders to impeachment proceedings were such a crisis. Those claims were utter nonsense.
But what about when the Constitution is ignored rather than respected? In that case it will cease being a guarantee of our rights or a constraint on government overreach. Under those circumstances the Constitution will no longer have any bearing on how we conduct ourselves as a nation. It will become nothing more than an interesting historical document. That will be a true constitutional crisis and it's rapidly approaching.
The Supreme Court is supposed to be our bulwark against encroachments on the Constitution. The justices are not only to be the interpreters of the Constitution, but also its guardians. They are the robed scholars intended to understand the Constitution inside and out, and to ensure the nation remains faithful to it. They are granted lifetime appointments so that they may remain above petty politics. Justices are intended to be free of party affiliation so that they may defend the Constitution — independent of outside influences.
Somewhere along the line, the Supreme Court decided that it not only wanted to keep the Constitution relevant, but it wanted the Constitution to evolve with the times. Suddenly, we had an evolving Constitution (I hate the term “living Constitution”). We've now been introduced to “penumbras” and “emanations” — which are just legal-speak for, “We know what the Founders meant, even though they didn't write it down.” And with that, fidelity to the Constitution has been lost.
Let's compare our approaching constitutional crisis to that of an approaching comet. Astronomers assure us that avoiding a fatal impact from a comet or asteroid is relatively straightforward — if the threat is detected early enough. With ample warning, it can simply be nudged off course. However, the longer it remains undetected, the more difficult it becomes to redirect.
I submit that threats to our Constitution have been approaching for generations. Either through dereliction or malicious intent (willful violation of their oaths), the Supreme Court justices have failed to interdict the approaching threats when it would have been relatively easy. Now we've reached a point where the Constitution is becoming irrelevant, and it's not clear that the Supreme Court has any interest in defending it.
A brief history will help to illustrate how far we've strayed from the meaning of the Constitution. I'll start with Roe vs Wade. The court could have simply ruled that abortion is not a right guaranteed by the Constitution. It was the business of the states and the Supreme Court would not engage in the argument. Instead, the Supreme Court found a new right, hidden in a secret compartment somewhere in the Constitution. And just like that, the court announced, “We are open for business! If you've got something you can't get passed in Congress, come talk to us. Maybe we can help.” The Constitution evolved. Deflecting the threat would have been easy in 1973, but the court became a political player instead.
PETITION UPDATE (2/23/21) -
LifeSite has signed on to a Media Research Center (MRC) letter to all 50 state Attorneys General, calling for an investigation into Big Tech.
Google, Facebook, and Twitter have monopolized the industry, and are using their influence to collect user data, suppress content, and silence those who voice ideas and beliefs counter to their own.
As we urged prior, action must be taken to combat these efforts, and that is why we’ve joined the MRC in this fight.
Please take a couple of minutes to READ this LifeSiteNews article about MRC's initiative: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lifesite-joins-effort-asking-state-attorneys-general-to-investigate-big-tech-for-deceptive-trade-practices
Then, please SIGN and STOP using Twitter, Facebook, Google (YouTube) and Amazon to take back your privacy and freedom of speech!
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PETITION UPDATE (2/9/21) -
YouTube just completely removed the LifeSiteNews YouTube channel. This isn’t a ban, every single one of our videos is completely gone. Being completely removed from YouTube means we’ve lost access to 300,000+ followers.
This is the latest and appalling affront to free speech which is happening to many conservative and Christian organizations.
Please SIGN this petition and STOP using YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Google (owner of YouTube) and Amazon to take back your privacy and freedom of speech!
We are not going to take this lying down!
Thankfully, we have backups of all our videos:
You can watch our current videos on Rumble, here: https://rumble.com/user/LifeSiteNews
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After you SIGN this petition, please also see our 'Goodbye Google' resources to find out how to quit Big Tech and learn more about good alternatives!
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PETITION UPDATE (1/26/20) -
Twitter has again locked LifeSiteNews out of two of our accounts on the platform for displaying a message noting that President Joe Biden’s newly named Assistant Secretary of Health “Rachel” Levine is a man.
Both accounts displayed a simple message which read: “Biden names transgender ‘woman’ as Assistant Secretary of Health. ‘Rachel’ Levine is a father of two who divorced his wife in 2013 after 30 years of marriage.” The tweets also included a link to LifeSite’s article Biden names transgender ‘woman’ as Assistant Secretary of Health, and contained part of the opening sentence of that article, “Joe Biden has announced his intention to appoint a gender-confused man” as Assistant Secretary of Health.
For stating biological or Biblical truths, Twitter and Big Tech are trying to shut down conservative voices.
Therefore, it is now more important than ever to consider dumping Twitter, Google (who own YouTube) and Facebook. To be clear: LifeSite is still using Twitter and Big Tech to encourage others to migrate away from these illiberal platforms.
This is not the first time that LifeSiteNews has been censored by Twitter. In December 2019, Twitter indefinitely suspended our account for a tweet that linked to an article on transgender activist Jonathan “Jessica” Yaniv.
At the time, Twitter gave LifeSite the option to delete the tweet and reactivate our account right away. LifeSite remained steadfast that the tweet did not violate any of the company’s “rules and policies,” and sought several appeals with Twitter, while looking into legal action against the company.
And, while LifeSite's account was eventually restored, we must now consider what course of action we will pursue in this case, over and above appealing the ban.
Meanwhile, since taking office on Wednesday last week, Joe Biden has already signed an executive order which will force women’s athletic programs, restrooms, and locker rooms to be open to men. He has also turned back the Trump administration’s policy protecting women’s sports programs in schools.
Last week, LifeSite was banned for two weeks from our YouTube channel, after the site determined that one of our videos about vaccines violated YouTube’s “community guidelines.” We are also in the middle of appealing this ban.
Please considering SIGNING and SHARING this petition. Thank you!
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Twitter just deplatformed President Trump premanently! And, other conservatives, including General Flynn and Sidney Powell, were also summarily deplatformed.
Conservatives, Christians and freedom-loving Americans of all political persuasions must now take a decision to preserve their free speech AND their ability to peaceably assemble by dumping Twitter and Big Tech, and by finding other good alternatives to communicate with each other and share their opinions.
Please SIGN our petition-pledge to Dump Twitter and Big Tech, and take back your freedom of speech and privacy. [CLICK HERE for our "Goodbye Google" resources page to find good alternatives to Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, and Google!]
When you use Twitter or Facebook to communicate, and, or, Google and Amazon to search for something online, these companies can stifle your ability to share your thoughts and opinions and manipulate your search results, threatening your privacy, your freedom of speech, and even our democracy.
Evidence suggests that Twitter and Facebook's 'community guidelines' are selectively enforced against conservatives and Christians, while Google rigs their search algorithms to direct traffic away from conservative and Christian websites, effectively choking traffic to those sites.
Simply put, Twitter, Facebook, Google (who owns YouTube) and Amazon appear to be actively suppressing access to pro-freedom, pro-family and pro-life news and opinion.
Don't contribute to this assault on democracy: Stop using Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon as your default social media platforms and search engine! [CLICK HERE to find a good alternative to Google.]
To repeat: a few liberal and completely unaccountable computer programmers in Silicon Valley are dictating what we do and do not see in our Twitter and Facebook feeds, and in our Google searches.
We, here, at LifeSite, also recently had our Twitter account suspended by the company over "misgendering" a man who claims to be a woman.
LifeSite has also experienced a fall-off in Google search-related traffic since the company updated its search algorithms at the beginning of May.
And, since the November election, Twitter and Big Tech appear to have dramatically INCREASED their censorship of conservatives and Christians as the President Trump disputed the results of the election and when evidence of election fraud began to mount.
Now, it seems likely that they are trying to cut-off conservative leaders (like President Trump) from conservatives on the ground, and effectively exclude us from the national conversation.
But, this tactic will not work. Because Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon are not the only game in town! There are a good number of excellent alternatives which we list in our 'Goodbye Google' Resources page.
The great irony is that, while Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon executives talk a lot about maintaining freedom of speech and diversity, in fact, these hypocrites are ATTACKING free speech point-blank!
This kind of manipulation poses a lethal threat to our democracy, but as we see so clearly now, Twitter and Big Tech have shown no hesitation in excluding conservatives and Christians from the public square.
So, at this point, the only way to stop Twitter, Facebook, Google and Amazon is to quit using their platform.
Please SIGN and SHARE this petition to pledge to stop using Twitter and Big Tech. Then, please CLICK HERE to find alternative search engines and social media platforms. Thank you!
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'BREAKING: Twitter permanently bans President Trump from platform' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/breaking-twitter-permanently-bans-president-trump-from-platform
WATCH LifeSite's exclusive series - 'Big Tech vs Free Speech' - of interviews with experts on how Big Tech censorship is killing free speech: https://www.lifesitenews.com/bigtech/
From YouTube to social media and beyond, online censorship is rampant. Read the latest articles covering this ongoing struggle: https://lifefacts.lifesitenews.com/goodbye-google/censorship/
Fast forward to 2012. The court had been playing around with which laws it likes and which it doesn't for years. But in 2012, one of its most notorious rulings landed on the American people. The affordable Care Act (aka ObamaCare) had been challenged on the grounds that it was unconstitutional for the government to require citizens to buy products from private companies — and fine them if they failed to do so. As part of the argument supporting ObamaCare, the drafters of the legislation argued that the fine was not a tax. In spite of this, the court ruled that ObamaCare was constitutional because the government has the right to levy taxes, and the fine was really a tax, even though the legislation said it wasn't. At this point, the Supreme Court wasn't just picking the laws it liked and disliked, it was writing the legislation itself. It was doing so by saying the legislation meant something other than what it actually said. That meteor was getting kind of big in the sky — No?
Let's jump forward to the Trump administration. Since the judicial branch has become a political player, judge shopping has become standard practice. If there's something your side wants from a court, you may simply select a sympathetic judge — rather like an a la carte menu item. That has brought us the phenomenon of rogue judges. It became commonplace for district judges to issue nationwide injunctions against presidential orders — regardless of the constitutionality of those orders.
We also saw judges unilaterally appropriating the powers of Department of Justice (DoJ). The DoJ has the sole authority to decide when, and when not, to prosecute someone. Yet when DoJ decided to drop charges against Michael Flynn, Judge Emmet Sullivan decided to appoint his own prosecutor and continue the proceedings against Flynn. He became judge, prosecutor, and jury — all wrapped up in one robe. As judging goes, what could be more out of control (rogue) than that?
The Supreme Court could have reined in rogue judges with clear rulings about the inappropriateness of their behavior. But it didn't, and equal justice under the law is no longer a given. The comet was still approaching.
The end of Donald Trump's first term brought us to the election of 2020. One of our most sacred rights is the right to vote in free and fair elections. In response to COVID-19, numerous election officials announced their intent to conduct the election contrary to applicable laws. The Supreme Court had a chance to say no. But instead, it took a pass. After the election, with a mountain of irregularities, the court again had a chance to ensure election integrity – through a public hearing of the evidence and unbiased adjudication of its implications. The Supreme Court again took a pass. In doing so, the justices effectively announced they had no interest in defending the citizenry's right to fair elections. Let that sink in — Our constitutional guardians opted out of defending our constitutional rights. How honorable of them. That comet is getting awfully close!
It's now 2021 and we've seen our free speech rights threatened by censorship. Our right of assembly has been suspended for COVID-19 lockdowns. Members of Congress have called conservatives “insurrectionists” and demanded our re-education — for having the temerity to protest. The Department of Homeland Security has even issued a domestic terrorism alert because “right-wing radicals” might question the authority of the president. Is it possible that the Patriot Act may be used to surveil and curtail conservative political movements? Before you say no, remember the IRS targeted the Tea Party and the FBI spied on the Trump campaign. That approaching rock is starting to block out the sun.
Lawsuits challenging censorship and domestic surveillance are undoubtedly on their way. Will the Supreme Court choose to get involved? Or will it take a pass again? Isn't it disturbing that this is even a mystery? Time is short. The crisis is here. The justices may either fulfill their oaths, or the rest of us will need to brace for “deep impact.”
John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Star Idaho. He is a retired engineer with over 40 years of experience in the areas of product development, quality assurance, organizational development, and corporate strategic planning. He can be reached at [email protected]
Published with permission from the American Thinker.