Morrissey, Voltaire, Goldberg, and Rogan.
Words matter. Voices carry. Reminder - 3pm Zoom!
Reminder - Virginia FREE Fridays 3pm ZOOM.
CLICK HERE to Join! On hold videos below.
Today’s topic - My #1 observation of the General Assembly thus far from the business community following the 2021 elections.
***
I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
(Ah, those were the days…)
Who wrote those famous words?
A) Voltaire
B) S.G. Tallentyre
C) Evelyn Beatrice Hall
D) A and B
E) B and C
The unlikely answer is found here. Or scroll way down to the end.
Does it really matter that if it was or was not Voltaire who wrote those words? No, not really. They have become, or sadly - used to be, the Great Stop that diffused many arguments that edged towards violence.
No more. Nowadays, if someone utters ANYthing that makes us feel uncomfortable or God forbid makes us think, WAY too many are ready to cancel, bully, or worse.
A very ugly and anti-democratic force has taken kudzu like root in our culture and it’s quickly dimming the enlightenment.
In the past, we extolled the ability of our intellectual opponents to turn a phrase or an idea with a deeper, better thought more powerfully expressed.
Christopher Hitchens? William F. Buckley? Very dead.
And for what?
All for money, ratings, clicks, shares, votes, or some other sort of ephemeral approval.
Take ABC suspending Whoopi Goldberg for something she said about the Holocaust. Was she wrong? Yes.
She also quickly apologized.
Goldberg was still punished by ABC. Sacked for two weeks.
So why bother to apologize anymore? This is why people double down these days. There is zero upside to contrition.
Joe Rogan had a GUEST on his podcast. A guest. That guest said things some believe is misinformation or disinformation. Okay. Prove it.
Have the conversation. Engage. Go deeper. Discover. Challenge the data and yours/mine/our thinking/thoughts.
By the way, the Rogan podcast with Dr. Robert Malone, while three hours long, is fascinating and I highly recommend it. I’m only 1:45 through it.
First, I should take the time to thank Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and the rest of the Jacobin Mob for pushing me to finally download Spotify. Also to my daughters for the original nudge - only felt a little old…der. Older.
Strike Illinois Nazis. Insert virtue signaling septuagenarian Canadian folk singer bullies pressuring a Swedish streaming service in order to protect us from interesting educational programming. Toss in the Executive Branch of the American government and what could possibly go wrong?
Hi, we’re from the Federal Government. We’re here to regulate you and your quarterly reports. Now would you be a dear and…
Amendment 1.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Is this a bad time to discuss the three branches of government? Balance and separation of power?
But the mid terms…
Anywho.
Click here for Rogan's response to it all. It’s well done and worth the time.
Speaking of podcasts…
I host the VIP (Virginia in Politics) Podcast - a collaboration between VCTA - the Broadband Association of Virginia and Virginia FREE. Available on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.
Here is a recent video podcast conducted with Senator Joe Morrissey in which he discusses casino legislation, threatening to reach down a man’s throat to rip out his heart, and being pardoned by Governor Northam.
Ya know…usual stuff…
Great reporting on this breaking story from Brandon Jarvis - click here for his full report which includes Morrissey's response to being censured by the Richmond City Democratic Committee (RCDC) - it includes this amazing Won’t Back Down quote:
They’re a bunch of young, white, entitled, wannabe-wokes who took a break tonight from spray painting people’s homes, setting fire to the city, and smashing windows, in order to censure me for simply defending the honor of my wife,” Morrissey said in an interview with Virginia Scope Thursday night. “They have spent the last two years whining incessantly about their insufficient stimulus checks and unsuccessful efforts to defund the police, but on the other hand, I have spent my last two years ending the death penalty, establishing mental health dockets, banning chokeholds, and increasing the minimum wage. All of my bills – who do you think has been more successful?
Well.
Other recent podcasts include former Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran, Delegates Kim Taylor and Wren Williams, and Republican candidate for Senate District 12 Tina Ramirez, Chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPV) Susan Swecker, and Americans for Prosperity’s Jacob Fish.
See you at 3pm on the weekly Zoom!
Zoom On Hold videos:
Queen - Live Aid - Hammer to Fall
‘Til Tuesday - Voices Carry
Fleetwood Mac’s Landslide
And how the power of lyrics (our intentional words) can move
And the answer to the Big Question is?
E) S.G. Tallentyre and Evelyn Beatrice Hall - they are the same person.
Words matter and so does how we use them.