There's truth and then there's the narrative

David Rice and I speak about the narrative the local media seeks to spread about what is happening at the Christian County Library.

Springfield Daily Citizen's Narrative Journalism by David Rice

Does Susan Wade meet a fair journalistic standard or has her efforts reached a new standard in fake news?

Read on Substack

All Politics is Local

By Gretchen Garrity

David Rice has written a scathing article on his Substack, Hick Christian. It was a long time coming. I can identify with David's anger because I've experienced similar situations as a local writer who reports on politics.

Politics is a very dirty business, even among virtuous people. Politically active constituents sometimes get tangled up in the drama. The best of motives can go bad very quickly. It is fraught with good and bad intentions, with desire for power, influence, money. The stakes are high, even in local races. It is easy for politicians to lose their way almost from the start.

Try being a conservative writer in this atmosphere. Reporting a truth that doesn't make a local politician shine can make a lot of people uneasy and angry because there is so much at stake. Elections, re-elections, personal relationships, favorite issues, pet political projects, lobbyists, PACs--the list is endless, and the easy solution is to write fluff, to not report controversy, to protect your party's darling. In short, the temptation is to...play politics.

Most people are aware that the local, state, and national press are all bought-off propaganda outlets. No one really reads them to get any news. At best, these organizations occasionally print enough truth that if you read three or four articles from different outlets you might have a good idea of what is going on with one issue or another.

On the other hand there are numerous local "chitchat" Facebook pages that allow some local news to be shared. However, most anything controversial is immediately censored. Right to Win Ozarks was quickly deemed "domestic terrorists" right out of the gate. Nowadays we've been downgraded to "Spam." Any account that tries to link to our blog is blocked from doing so. It's a shame.

The same thing is happening to David Rice. Local groups are not courageous enough to allow his article, "The Truth about Rep. Jamie Gragg" to be published. In Christian terms, they are pleasers of men. They have not the courage of their convictions. Are they not as committed to free speech as their forefathers?

We live in a world where British citizens are being jailed for social media posts that merely question the out-of-control immigration to their country. Do our local chitchat groups think this kind of Orwellian censorship and persecution is not headed here? Is it not already here, both with government and big tech censorship, and the craven self-censorship of local social media accounts?

After reading David's article, perhaps readers might reflect on what they look for in a politician. How should our elected officials behave when they get some bad press? What do you expect from them? How should they react when they are held to account for a bad vote or behavior? And who is to hold them to account, since the "press" is no longer functioning in its proper role?

Click through and read David's article. He's being censored. Share it around. And be damned glad there's a few voices out there willing to speak up.

The Truth about Rep. Jamie Gragg by David Rice

I was asked to assassinate the character of a fellow journalist who spoke out against a bill Gragg supported. I looked into the bill. It was unconstituional. When I said so, he turned on me.

Read on Substack

Missouri Liberty Radio Tonight!

 

The subject on Sam's radio show tonight from 6-9 p.m. is censorship. Link HERE. 

CALL IN LINE - 314-698-4615

Missouri Freedom Initiative Livestream at 7:30 p.m.

 Tonight's livestream includes the admonition from Patrick Holland that "Americans MUST focus on their own backyards rather than be distracted by the media and things they cannot change. Investigate your LOCAL and STATE candidates BEFORE the primaries."

Even the Politicians are Joining in on the Censorship

Politicians who seek to censor individuals or the free exchange of information and ideas are not the kind of people you want in office.

Censorship. Silencing opposition. The LGBTQ+, radical democrats, the teachers union and @RepMarkMcBride joined forces to silence Oklahoma parents. Much like the efforts against President Trump, this is an unprecedented political attack. pic.twitter.com/NV58pfoy4v

— Superintendent Ryan Walters (@RyanWaltersSupt) May 31, 2024

Censorship Betrays Weakness

 

 

 

By Gretchen Garrity

Very early this morning, my blog post titled "Stealth Groomer Books in the Library" was removed by Blogger.com. The post was flagged. Perhaps it was the word "groomer" or "gentle grooming" that Blogger objected to. Perhaps it was the American Library Association or one of its minions who complained. Perhaps it was Christian County library staff. Perhaps it was the authors of the two books I featured, or the folks at the COOLcat catalog.

 

Whoever was behind the censorship betrayed a great weakness. They cannot fight the truth, so they must suppress it. Exposing books that harm children is considered Hate Speech. And yet, here is Blogger's guidelines on content that is harmful to children:

"More broadly, Google prohibits the use of our products to endanger children. This includes but is not limited to predatory behavior towards children such as:

• ‘Child grooming’ (for example, befriending a child online to facilitate, either online or offline, sexual contact and/or exchanging sexual imagery with that child);
• ‘Sextortion’ (for example, threatening or blackmailing a child by using real or alleged access to a child’s intimate images);
• Sexualization of a minor (for example, imagery that depicts, encourages or promotes the sexual abuse of children or the portrayal of children in a manner that could result in the sexual exploitation of children); and
• Trafficking of a child (for example, advertising or solicitation of a child for commercial sexual exploitation)."

 How does that square with Blogger's hate speech policy here:

"Hate speech is content that promotes or condones violence against or has the primary purpose of inciting hatred against an individual or group on the basis of their race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, nationality, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization."

My article objected to the sexualization of children through books that push the LGBTQ agenda and are marketed to minors. Blogger is speaking out of both sides of its content policy.

 

But I have a mustard seed, and I know how to use it. 

This post will be cross-posted at Hick Christian. Also, it is likely that Right to Win Ozarks will be deleted. However, we have contingency plans and you will be able to find us again soon if the blog is deleted.

Censorship Doesn't Work

 

Deplatformed repeatedly from every platform, targeted by the WH and CDC and dragged into a UK court hearing by media ‘watchdog’ agency OfCom, all seeking to censor me and those who ‘platform’ me. And I just passed 400,000 followers on X. As I proved in my Oxford DPhil thesis:…

— Dr Naomi Wolf (@naomirwolf) May 26, 2024

Suppressing Free Speech

 By Gretchen Garrity

"Students who live under a regime of censorship are being taught that freedom of speech and government accountability are disposable values that must give way to 'making the school look good.' The lessons these students learn about the First Amendment--lessons they will carry with them into their adult lives--are that people with power get to control what is said about them, and that viewpoints should be suppressed by the government if they challenge prevailing beliefs. This is not only bad preparation for journalism, it is bad preparation for citizenship."

 In the first chapter of the reference tool, "Law of the Student Press," the editors write about censorship. Their focus is high schools and colleges, but their words apply to the larger world, where censorship is alive and well on social media platforms.

While we tend to think censorship and suppression of free speech is something Google, Mark Zuckerberg and the old Twitter indulges in, the culture of censorship has trickled down to local platforms and activists who routinely suppress and delete articles and writers they find objectionable.

Often, there is back channel chatter that attempts to demean and discredit individuals who say or publish uncomfortable truths. Even elected officials indulge in this behavior. Instead of engaging the public in a spirited debate, or pointing out errors, these individuals subvert free speech in a stealthy background campaign to censor points of view with which they disagree or find inconvenient, and to discourage others from engaging in public discourse.

It points to the larger issue in the Republican Party right now. What is a conservative? What does it mean to be a Republican? What are the values of the individuals who make up the Party? How do those values, or lack of them, affect what happens on the local, state, and national level?

In a 1988 decision that was devastating to the free speech rights of students, the United States Supreme Court ruled that students at a St. Louis, MO high school did not have the right to publish articles the school administration deemed unacceptable. You can read about the ruling HERE.

The editors of the Law of the Student Press had this to say in reference to the ruling:

"A generation's worth of legalized Hazelwood censorship has damaged the learning environment in schools, discouraged young people from meaningfully engaging in civic life, and obstructed the public's access to truthful information. As the director of the University of Arizona's journalism program told a law-school symposium reflecting on the legacy of Hazelwood, 'We are raising a nation of sheep. I don't think it's extreme to say that we risk democracy."

Meanwhile, writers are being called extremist around the state of Missouri and in Christian County. David Rice interviewed Gail Griswold and myself the other day. Judge for yourself who the extremists are:

Censorship within Conservative Grassroots by David Rice

How do Conservative Journalists survive censorship and cancel culture within the conservative movement? I ask Gail Griswold, Local Control, and Gretchen Garrity, Right2WinOzarks. We also laugh a lot.

Read on Substack