That tweet is a response to the news: "Simon & Schuster Cancels Plans for Senator Hawley’s Book/The publisher faced calls to drop the Missouri Republican’s upcoming book, 'The Tyranny of Big Tech,' following criticism of his efforts to overturn the presidential election" (NYT).‘You’re not entitled your book contract,’ can quickly become ‘United doesn’t have to let you onto its planes’ ‘Marriott doesn’t have to let you stay at its hotels,’ or ‘Visa doesn’t have to let you use its cards.’
— Abigail Shrier (@AbigailShrier) January 8, 2021
And maybe that’s the point.
“We did not come to this decision lightly,” Simon & Schuster said in a statement. “As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoints: At the same time we take seriously our larger public responsibility as citizens, and cannot support Senator Hawley after his role in what became a dangerous threat.”...“This could not be more Orwellian,” he said. “Simon & Schuster is canceling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition... We’ll see you in court."...
The subject of Mr. Hawley’s book... is not about the election or Mr. Trump, but about technology corporations like Google, Facebook and Amazon. Its cancellation was remarkably swift and raised questions about how publishers will approach future books by conservatives who have supported Mr. Trump’s efforts to invalidate the election....
ADDED: Here's Hawley's full statement:
I'm not sure what his "First Amendment" theory is, but I'd love to see his explanation. There's a folk meaning of "First Amendment" that simply means "freedom of speech," but Hawley is a Yale Law School graduate who had a clerkship with Chief Justice John Roberts, so we must attribute the highest level of constitutional law understanding to him. I await the explication!My statement on the woke mob at @simonschuster pic.twitter.com/pDxtZvz5J0
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 7, 2021
ALSO: Hawley's book about the "tyranny" of Google, Facebook, and Amazon ought to discuss the problem of the repression of freedom of speech, and for all I know, he's got some sophisticated First Amendment theory in there. Send me a PDF of your book, Josh — or just the pages with the First Amendment material. I will give it a sympathetic read!
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207 comments:
1 – 200 of 207 Newer› Newest»The parallels to 1933 Germany are unmistakable.
I couldn't sleep last night.
My husband keeps using phrases like, "So this is it, the United States is done," and then telling me to be calm. I don't get that...
Think about the Burlington WI teacher fired because he discussed the questioning of the validity of the election process with his students!
How far? I mean, under the Obama administration, uppity journalists were wiretapped and banks were pressured to abandon commerce with gun companies.
Let's not pretend that the riots at the Capitol are the reason the left will try and un-person the right. They've been doing that for at least a decade, maybe more if you include the violence used to silence campus speakers.
They'll go as far as the people will allow them, and considering calling for purges of Republicans and Trump supporters is all the rage on social media, it's an open question of exactly how far they'll be allowed to go.
Why would they want to try to sell a product that won't earn back what it cost?
Hawley tanked the value of his product this week.
I’ve wondered for some time how the prof is trying to protect her own platform.
Scott Adams speaks at great length about how he tailors what he says, particularly in regard to Trump, to avoid de-platforming.
Althouse, I’m sure, sees the mob coming one day for her. I’d imagine she’s being somewhat circumspect in anticipation of that day.
“As a publisher it will always be our mission to amplify a variety of voices and viewpoint"
Well, not always. Sometimes. Definitely sometimes. Okay, you got us. Maybe once in a while.
The leftwing totalitarianism should cause no more than minor dypepsia at Meadhouse. Until you get doxxed and face home invasion for hosting open commentary by conservatives. Then you may need those shooting lessons.
Jamie said...
My husband keeps using phrases like, "So this is it, the United States is done," and then telling me to be calm. I don't get that...
There is anger, hate, etc. But it serves no purpose to visibly demonstrate it except as a means of communication. When you are around like-minded people remain calm. Your executive decision making process is made chemically in your brain through your brain's emotional centers. That does need to be accepted.
I believe the problem right now though is that we have been peaceful the last 30 years while the other side has been violent and vicious and we have failed to communicate the gravity of our emotions.
What this has done is it has pushed people like Ann to accept the ministrations of the leftists because she thinks that it will lead to peace and calm which is what our animal instincts lead us to seek.
The long arm of the CCP and its tech allies reaches deep into every aspect of our lives.
China Joe will be our first CCP installed president. Will he be the last?
Welcome to Ireland, 1916. Which side are you on?
The explosions didn't stop until I was an adult. It's that deep.
Blogger Mark said...
Why would they want to try to sell a product that won't earn back what it cost?
Hawley tanked the value of his product this week.
1/8/21, 6:22 AM
--------------------------------
I'd think just the opposite. That his notoriety would increase sales. I does for everyone else.
The policies, ideas, goals of leftists have never been instituted through debate and consensus.
The leftist of the world have never been able to support their desired goal in a logical, reasoned debate. Their only tactic is lying, propaganda, gaslighting, and always the demand others be silenced.
I watch The Five, if I'm not otherwise engaged. Their resident leftist is Juan Williams. About once a week we repeats the lie that Trump called the KKK fine people. He always gets corrected, but within days he repeats it again. The left don't care they are knowing lying. Sowing propaganda is the goal, not honest debate
My guess....
To the ends of the earth....it’s like they want war
Hawley tanked the value of his product this week.
The traditional view in publishing is that controversy sells, and the more controversial the better.
So, you’re wrong. In the midst of the BLM, Antifa rioting, lefties published one crazier book after another lauding and justifying the violence.
Iowan, no one here seems to have any compunction about lying about the election results.
Althouse dismissed your claims, but yet weeks later you still insist Trump won.
Not much a leg to stand on there.
"Succeed on what basis?"
Contract law.
Chuck said...
"Lawsuits I hope will succeed..."?
Succeed on what basis? Althouse, you glossed over Hawley's invocation of the First Amendment. What part of the Constitution says that Simon & Schuster must publish what Josh Hawley wants to publish?
Chuck inadvertently gets to the crux of the problem.
The United States was founded on principles that include Free Speech. Everyone had a right to speak. Everyone had a right to be criticized for what they said. The Government can't tell Publishing companies that they Could or couldn't publish Hawley's book. They never had to. Everyone accepted that everyone had a chance to speak and every viewpoint was treated equally by the system.
Chuck and Mark and the rest of the leftists do not accept this principle.
You cannot have a free country with people like Chuck and Mark in charge.
What part of the Constitution says that Simon & Schuster must publish what Josh Hawley wants to publish?
So I went back to look at the post...yep, right there in the post, 'book contract canceled.
This retard claims to be a lawyer.
Hawley won't sue on first amendment grounds, more likely simple breach of contract. Will depend on whether the contract has cancellation provisions.
Are there no neutral or conservative publishers out there, or others that are not so easily cowed, that will jump at the chance to pick up and publish Hawley's book?
S&S did not say they were canceling Hawley for financial reasons. They listed moral reasons.
Defend the Cathedral or don't, but please leave gaslighting at home.
@iowan2
Juan did it again just yesterday. I think Gutfeld and Waters have reached their limit with Juan. Lots of screaming over each other.
Gateway Pundit story today 010821,
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/01/political-director-abc-news-talks-cleansing-america-trump-supporters/
“Even aside from impeachment and 25th Amendment talk, Trump will be an ex-president in 13 days. The fact is that getting rid of Trump is the easy part,” Klein wrote in his popular blog.
“Cleansing the movement [Trump] commands, or getting rid of what he represents to so many Americans, is going to be something else,” he added, drawing comments that it sounded too much like Hitler.
"Althouse, I’m sure, sees the mob coming one day for her. I’d imagine she’s being somewhat circumspect in anticipation of that day."
I believe I'm the biggest blog on Blogger. Why would Google leverage me into crazy new prominence? If I'm dealt that hand, I will play it.
Meanwhile, I will turn 70 years old on Tuesday, so getting deplatformed by Google is only one of many things I might be "circumspect in anticipation" of.
If someday I'm not here on Blogger, you should wonder whether I'm anywhere!
I'll take a stab at Hawley's First Amendment argument. I think he's claiming viewpoint discrimination. For example, there is no doubt that despite Cuomo encouraging violent insurrection (insisting they need to neither be polite nor peaceful), no one doubts that Simon and Schuster would not cancel a contract with him. Now, that technically doesn't apply here (this is a pure matter of contract law as far as I can tell.) But, Americans agree that yes, only the government can truly silence you, but there's also a tradition in America of not using the heckler's veto against people you don't like, and certainly, not engaging in a campaign to silence people who are peacefully speaking. There's a publicly accepted view that in the public square, people are allowed to talk, peacefully, on their soap box. You can ignore them; you can argue with them. But, it is morally wrong to silence people and attempt to control the speech of others. That, moral argument, I think, is also part of his argument.
Mark said...
Iowan, no one here seems to have any compunction about lying about the election results.
Althouse dismissed your claims, but yet weeks later you still insist Trump won.
Not much a leg to stand on there.
Most people like Alhouse don't really understand Math. They get their information from "good" sources etc. They respond to appeals to authority like the one you just made. Really Ann has earned the authority in this situation to the average house cat.
Once you kicked the poll observers out the election was invalid.
Period.
You cannot say there was no fraud because you are unwilling to look. The entire system is completely unwilling to have a transparent election.
So at that point you are useless to the conversation. I am not going to listen to an innumerate loser who has no rational arguments. If you are unwilling to adhere to a system that 75 million of us will trust you are just going to have to deal with us not accepting it.
The fact that your stance is indistinguishable from the National Socialist Party in 1930's Germany make you my enemy.
I didn't mention the First Amendment initially because I didn't realize Hawley's full statement included that term. I thought the NYT had used it carelessly.
How’s the Biden Unity Administration looking today?
Did yesterday’s TelePrompTer reading live up to the promise?
"Are there no neutral or conservative publishers out there, or others that are not so easily cowed, that will jump at the chance to pick up and publish Hawley's book?"
Regnery has made a very lucrative business on this, and likely will pick this up and make more money in the end. The cathedral must not be soiled. That's the point from S&S, and they can virtue signal at trial. What matters according to the law is what the contract said.
It's an opportunity to keep track of whether this nation is still adhering to the rule of law, though that may elicit laughter from some here. We'll see how long the power that be allow the public display of that kind of humor.
Workers of the World Unite, tovarich.
Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom.
well, he supposedly knows about the Constitution. Maybe he needs to go back to law school and repeat the course on contracts.
I don’t know what Hawley’s book contract says, but part of the beauty of contract law is that you’re free to breach contracts as long as you’re willing to pay damages for the breach.
@Matt Sablan: I think Ann’s point has to do with lack of state action.
I agree, but I think several rights are considered important American values and that even individuals and organizations should be careful about "taking" those rights from people. For example, people are naturally wary of businesses deciding what you are allowed to post or not on your social media accounts, but people would be livid if they fired you because they were listening at your door and heard your private thoughts shared with your spouse. There's a level of "First Amendment freedoms" that we expect to be granted from our fellow Americans, even if they aren't state actors. For example, if I wanted to hold a book club in a public park, and individuals came to try and scatter our bookclub, there would be a natural inclination to say that's un-American because we have a right to meet and discuss freely, and that even those people weren't state actors, there would be a natural feeling that they were interfering with our rights.
Ann Althouse said...
I didn't mention the First Amendment initially because I didn't realize Hawley's full statement included that term. I thought the NYT had used it carelessly.
The First amendment was meant to enshrine a principle in the national social fabric.
A free country is possible only if the people in it can be trusted to act properly with freedom. If you need police to around to keep you from breaking the law then you are a police state.
Freedom of Expression can only happen if the vast majority or platforms do not discriminate based on viewpoint. If the government is forced to make companies allow free expression then you have lost the entire point of the First Amendment.
You cannot have a free country with companies like Simon and Schuster.
"The Government can't tell Publishing companies that they Could or couldn't publish Hawley's book."
Bake me a cake.
S&S will probably just pay him the full contract amount and just not print the book after a few rounds with the lawyers.
EH: I'm way more cynical. S&S probably has a poorly defined "morality" clause in their contracts that they selectively enforce and will try and use that to get out of paying anything, and mattering on the court they try it in, will probably win.
Matt Sablan: The added benefit of paying the contract for S&S is that he can't publish the book with someone else then.
Ann Althouse said...
Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom.
Humperdink said...
"The Government can't tell Publishing companies that they Could or couldn't publish Hawley's book."
Bake me a cake.
A lot of people need to start thinking more deeply about what they think they believe.
You cannot have a free country with people that force you to bake cakes.
You cannot have a free country with companies like Simon and Schuster. Or Facebook. Or Twitter. Or Google. Or ABC.
You cannot have a free country with non-transparent elections.
We are not a free country.
There are those who are obviously in favor of this cancellation - some of them comment on this blog. This kind of action goes beyond "I don't like Trump." It goes well beyond "I don't like Hawley." When you favor eliminating voices of which you don't approve, it means "I don't like living in a free society."
A free society is one that does not need to rely on the 1st amendment or any other legal strictures; a free society welcomes free debate and encourages it. That is not the society we live in, not anymore. We all know that voices large and small can now be silenced; each cancellation leads to another, because the motivating ethos is "We got away with it. Let's do some more."
No need to engage with people who oppose what you believe or oppose what you are doing if they aren’t truly in your way. If you’re driving from New York to Los Angeles there’s no need to go down to Dallas and have a skirmish. Secondly, the most real and important thing in your life at any moment is the bilateral relationship with the person then physically closest to you or on the other end of your voice or writing. Or put differently, there are only in the world bilateral relationships between two people, all else are merely constructs. What somebody said in Washington, or in New York, or in the state capital, or somewhere else, is so secondary compared to the person that’s right there in the room with you, that such hardly deserves any attention. Third and finally, the press has a way of amplifying things to get your attention. That creates a false impression that everything is going to hell in a handbasket, when in fact there are far more people around you have good hearts and good will, with whom you can mutually live “the golden rule” to treat each other as you’d like to be treated.
My two cents: I have found a large key to my being able to live with peace in these times is to get out of the business of worrying about what other people are doing or saying, worry more about what I am doing and saying and about whether I love truth and can find the right balance between justice and mercy in each situation requiring choice. And above all l try daily to resist the urge to struggle in a prideful competition with others to come out on top in some way.
Notice the leftist hear are big fans of silencing debate.
Mostly because their point of view always fails on close examination, and they have no core values.
Free speech is a core value of mine. That does not mean not silencing others. It mean I, personally strive to hear those I disagree with, and challenge a premise as a path to better understanding.
Leftist have no core values. How they feel is largely dictated by their tribe, and "winning", means the ends justifies the means. Hence no standards constrain their "opinions"
Mostly peaceful protest are the bedrock our Representative Republic. That's what the leftist told me January 20, 2017. When riots and fires raced through the streets of Washington DC. That's what I was told June 1, 2020 when leftist lectured me about how "mostly peaceful" protesters were unjustly removed from Lafayette Park. Just the same way leftist have been celebrating the ruination of mom and pop businesses across the nation in 2020, the summer of love.
Good for you Althouse! At least you didn’t have to vote for that icky orange guy. And who can deny the appeal of your future blog when it’s limited to talk of Dylan and vaginas!
Now you know what it was like to be a Jew in Germany in 1939. You are viewed as less than human by the usual suspects. Not deserving of the benefits of the state.
Good. Now I know where I stand with the state and its sycophants.
Ann said "Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom."
At the time the Government was the only entity that they could conceive of having the power to curtail free speech. Now corporations have more power than the government to curtail free speech. That is not a problem if they reserve that power for isolated instances - child porn for example. But when they use that power to stop expression of political opinion they have crossed a dangerous line.
Ironically, the seeds of the left's destruction are being sown in their censorship. Stopping all discussion of election fraud only serves to confirm they are hiding something. Stopping all criticism is an indication that your world view is a lie. It also encourages violence as a last resort; if people cannot blow off steam in the public discussion eventually some will resort to violence.
Of course, Harris became our next president on the strength of all the Antifa violence this year so obviously it works...
Freedom of Expression can only happen if the vast majority or platforms do not discriminate based on viewpoint. If the government is forced to make companies allow free expression then you have lost the entire point of the First Amendment.
You cannot have a free country with companies like Simon and Schuster.
Worse, because every business has some ties to the government, there is some lever which may be used to force them to deplatform conservatives. Operation Choke Point was a test run.
"Is anybody presuming that Simon & Schuster is withdrawing from Hawley's book project based on the content of what Hawley's manuscript has in it? I am not. I cannot imagine that the content of Hawley's manuscript is even at issue. Rather, I expect that Simon & Schuster is making a judgment about how an association with Hawley, after his subversion of the election, makes their company appear to the book-buying public."
-- It's also possible, after riotous insurrectionists attacked Hawley's home, that S&S fears they might be next on the list if they don't wisely surrender to the mob. If, you know, we're just spitballing ideas here.
Chuck said...
Is anybody presuming that Simon & Schuster is withdrawing from Hawley's book project based on the content of what Hawley's manuscript has in it? I am not. I cannot imagine that the content of Hawley's manuscript is even at issue. Rather, I expect that Simon & Schuster is making a judgment about how an association with Hawley, after his subversion of the election, makes their company appear to the book-buying public.
Chuck's position is indistinguishable from the 1930's Nazi Party Platform of government/corporate collusion.
You just can't have a free country with people like Chuck being any sort of political influence.
Hawley is a target of Big Tech because he's one of the few who dares to take them on and loudly proclaim their danger to this Republic. For those who say there was no election fraud or election rigging, or dismiss it all as baseless, you can look at the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop information and Tony Bobulinkski interview by all media, led by Big Tech going into the election. And Facebook's huge investment in mass ballot mailings. Big Tech swayed this election in front of everyone. Hawley is screaming about it so...
Big Tech is having him silenced.
But...publishers, professors, corporations, and pretty much everyone who runs media, entertainment, and universities have been censoring or banning Conservatives for years now. It started slowly. It's flooded into the sports world now as well. It's now time to be in all of our faces.
The Left screams "Fascist" all the time. But they have brought it to our door. As they always do. The Left, after all is said and done, has always been totalitarian throughout it's history. It's who they are.
That anyone in the media would think this is a fine thing and approves of it, is disgusting. If this is fine, where do you choose to draw the line? Which group/tribe/collective do you approve of, and which do you not? Tell me now. I have my yellow star ready and can sew it onto my jacket to make it easier for you to pick me out.
I see a different legal angle...
Simon & Schuster is canceling my contract because I was representing my constituents, leading a debate on the Senate floor on voter integrity, which they have now decided to redefine as sedition... We’ll see you in court."...
S&S is breaking a contract in order to influence the lawful, official actions of an elected representative of the US government.
A reverse bribe, in other words, meant to interfere with his official duties.
Perhaps You can get a 666 tattoo on you right hand or forehead to show that you didn't vote for Trump and are therefore are allowed to engage in commerce at all.
"I expect that Simon & Schuster is making a judgment about how an association with Hawley, after his subversion of the election, makes their company appear to the book-buying public."
Cowardly, sniveling, bowing, scraping, craven and (fundamentally) in the wrong business. These are a few of the ways their company appears to this member of the book-buying public. The people at S&S are gutless turds who want to either join or step out of the way of the cancel culture rather than fight it. Maybe they can set up a new subsidiary in the book-burning industry.
Publishers are so used to laundering bribes to grateful politicians with book contracts perhaps they have never thought of the "reverse bribe" implications of a pissed-off politician whose book contract was cancelled?
70 on Tuesday? Hell...all my friends are 70 and I have to say I don't get it. I'm still 23 and cannot figure out how they all aged.
If I miss it, Happy Birthday.
And yes...when one hits a certain age you do include other thoughts not previously a part of your scope of thought. But take heart. 70 is the new 55. Or so. Heh.
You guys talk about the law and the Constitution like it still has some power. That's cute, like dressing up as cowboys and Indians.
You let it crumble. You watched and told yourself it couldn't happen, but it did.
It seems to me that nearly every prediction by the Right about the detrimental effects of the left's actions have come to pass over and over again, while nothing promised by the Left ever comes true. Intelligent people would see that and act and think appropriately, but telling yourself you know shit has replaced learning. I pity those who have not prepared themselves for the decoupling that will be forced or chosen by necessity. There will be two factions that you will be forced to choose between: quiet compliance or resistance and rebellion. The messy confusion of revolution and counter-revolution is becoming real life in America.
We had incredible promise just a year ago, with unprecedented success and prosperity, but it could not be accepted, because some couldn't let the wrong people get any credit for it. They would prefer disaster to that. There is a reason we call certain mindsets "spoiled". It's the perfect word. They become unproductive and unhealthy. They ruin the good around them and will eventually spoil the whole lot.
Where you start to worry is when the Democrats/media become so smug and condescending that the opposition stops talking and the only thing left is a deep burning silent hatred of the new administration. This is kind of where we were in the summer of 1776 between the English and their colonists. I see no common ground. Google, Facebook, and these publishers are accelerants.
Shouting Thomas said...
The long arm of the CCP and its tech allies reaches deep into every aspect of our lives.
China Joe will be our first CCP installed president. Will he be the last?
1/8/21, 6:25 AM
Rhetorical?
How long to you actually think they will allow china Joe to pretend to be POTUS before "Doctor of Education" Jill Biden looses what little juice she has left and they install "Kneepads" Harris to that position?
I believe in free markets. Simon and Schuster made the deal with Hawley for the simple reason that they expected to make money from it. Another company will now see the same opportunity. Maybe even a new entrepreneurial company with fresh ideas.
That being said, Hawley has every right to sue the pants off of them.
Win win.
-- It's also possible, after riotous insurrectionists attacked Hawley's home, that S&S fears they might be next on the list if they don't wisely surrender to the mob.
Yes Charlie Hebdo might be controlling here.
Listening to the DC denizens peeling away from the Trump administration, and the FOX talking heads, lots of people are desperate to denounce, in order to get a position in DC. Working in DC must be worse than being on Meth. Tells you who wields the real power in DC. The SWamp. Those unelected that control the inner workings. They are the people that either allow, or block the figure heads that pretend to have power.
So job offers, and party invites, are what all these defectors desire.
They will go as far as the Left wing Universities taught them to go. Cancel Culture. Elimination of Free Speech. Accusations and no due process. All College Campus values. What is it you are perplexed about Ann? I’ve never seen you play so much make believe in nine years of following this blog, and you have in the last three months.
How far will the Left go?
They will step on our throats. Total victory.
No, no, no. Not the throat. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever.
Arbeit macht frei eh untergruppenfuhrer Chuck.
Our Chuck cheerily says “buckle up for pain conservatives!” I have ignored him but he is a perfect specimen of cretin. A true asshole among assholes, in love with the misery of others. A true deplorable.
Can’t wait for things to return to normal now that Trump has lost.
The publisher is doing what the mob forces them to do. Courage will be rare, as the price of it continues to rise. We all have to decide if we will be that person or the other. There are no safe choices, and that also goes for you who think compliance or licking the kings boots will protect you. Those hiding in the shadows will be forced into the light and told to choose, and when they do, both sides will be listening.
Biden's statement yesterday showed how good his word is. How long ago did he say he would be President of everyone?
In other news, lots of people reveal where they stand on the subject of speech:
"Facebook, YouTube, Shopify All Move to Deplatform Trump and Questions About 2020 Election."
"Michelle Obama Wants Big Tech to Permanently Ban Trump."
"AOC’s Comms Director Asks Twitter To Ban Users From Citing AOC’s Support For Violent Riots."
And finally from our lords at Facebook: "We’ve already removed over 600 militarized social movements from our platform.” Do you think this includes BLM? Antifa? Not on your life.
These goddam imbeciles seem to think people have forgotten the shitshow that went on on the streets of DC when Trump was inaugurated in early 2017 and every day thereafter.
I would give my life to help ensure my children and grandchildren would not be subjected to the sick, perverted mindset of the Left.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
"Can’t wait for things to return to normal now that Trump has lost."
Isn't boring just wonderful? Where is Jeb Bush when you need him?
Matt Sablan said...
I'll take a stab at Hawley's First Amendment argument. I think he's claiming viewpoint discrimination. For example, there is no doubt that despite Cuomo encouraging violent insurrection (insisting they need to neither be polite nor peaceful), no one doubts that Simon and Schuster would not cancel a contract with him. Now, that technically doesn't apply here (this is a pure matter of contract law as far as I can tell.) But, Americans agree that yes, only the government can truly silence you, but there's also a tradition in America of not using the heckler's veto against people you don't like, and certainly, not engaging in a campaign to silence people who are peacefully speaking. Sorry, that ship sailed at least 2 decades ago. The left NO longer shows even passing respect for that position. There's a publicly accepted view that in the public square, people are allowed to talk, peacefully, on their soap box. Again, not lately in America. Campus cancelling of Conservative speakers is a full contact sport and has been for at least a decade. You can ignore them; you can argue with them. But, it is morally wrong to silence people and attempt to control the speech of others. Not when the left believes that words are violence. Oh, and silence is also violence. Quite the quandary. That, moral argument, I think, is also part of his argument.
1/8/21, 6:40 AM
I've noticed Chuck and others like him are like the Grinch Who Stole the Election.
They're not content with simply enjoying what they've stolen.
No, they bend their ear, because what they really want is to hear...
...the Whos down in Whoville all cry boo-hoo!
"That's a noise," grinned the Grinch, "that I simply must hear!"
He paused, and the Grinch put a hand to his ear.
How sad Chuck must be whenever he hears instead "Fahoo forays, dahoo dorays" on the Althouse blog!
Unfortunately, I don't think Chuck's heart will "grow three sizes," today or any day.
Another company will now see the same opportunity. Maybe even a new entrepreneurial company with fresh ideas.
Any other company will face the same pressures from the mob, the same hostility from woke employees. And good luck starting a new publishing house when the banks won't lend to you because they don't want the headache of the mob coming after them.
That being said, Hawley has every right to sue the pants off of them.
He'll be laughed out of court, or his lawyers will be harassed just like Trump's lawyers were harassed.
Maybe Hawley is a devotee of Morris Cohen, and believes that rights of contract and property are only delegated from the state, so that the First Amendment sweeps more broadly than liberal legalism acknowledges.
Admittedly, that runs into the legal realist problem that the courts do not, in fact, reason that way. But there's no inherent meaning in the First Amendment. Prof. Althouse pointed out many years ago that if feminists want to use "discrimination" to cover pornography, or is Muslims want to use it to cover criticism of Islam, there's no inherent meaning in the word which prevents them, if they can persuade enough people to use it that way.
Ann hopes the lawsuit will succeed as a breach of contract case but she hasn’t read the contract I assume. Maybe the contract specifically gives the publisher the right to cancel in circumstances such as this. He agreed to that and presumably benefited from doing so.
Althouse, are you really going to complain about Simon & Schuster "canceling" Hawley's book when you cancel almost all of my comments? (Comments that are on-point and directly and civilly related to the content of your blog posts.)
"... they install "Kneepads" Harris to that position?"
I hope the women of America learn from her example of how to get a head. Thankfully, I have no daughters to explain it to.
"Althouse, are you really going to complain about Simon & Schuster "canceling" Hawley's book when you cancel almost all of my comments?"
Sucks huh? Imagine if you made a living off them. Maybe you do.
Not content with just cancelling books, the latest acceleration is putting anyone who was in DC Wednesday on the NoFly List.
We're in moral panic territory. It's fascinating to watch. I'm glad I have no part in it.
Let’s remember a mob went to Hawley’s house the same day a Trump supporter was killed by Capitol police. No one is wringing their hands about what happened at his home.
"My husband keeps using phrases like, "So this is it, the United States is done," and then telling me to be calm. I don't get that..."
When you have accepted the Constitution as the basis of your society, and perhaps to a substantial extent of your life, it is difficult to come to terms with the fact that it has become "inoperative", as Nixon's men put it. It is obvious that everything has changed, but it is not obvious how one should respond to that change. Perhaps a good analogy would be having your spouse tell you that he wants a divorce. You may have seen it coming, but you still weren't ready for it. Should you get a lawyer? Change the locks? Take the kids and flee? Get a gun and blow his fucking head off? Stay calm.
@Bagoh at 7:42
Lol. Perfect.
Of course the contract gives them the right to do this. It's 2021. It's the landscape we walk now, and every contract will have that clause.
Chuck,
Althouse didn't "complain." She just saw an actionable legal remedy to a breach of contract, which you don't have with this blog. She questioned Hawley's 1st A claim.
As to why Althouse deleted you, see my comment @ 7:36am.
Slightly off-topic off topic but not really: I watched Netflix's "The History of Swearing" which is divided into several short episodes for each word. The series is deadpanned hosted by Nicholas Cage. In the third episode concerning the episode "bitch," there is a thoughtful discussion of how using the word bitch is A-OK for women and and gay men, but definitely off-limits for straight white men. The justification for this is blandly hidden behind one word: "semiotics." Look into it, people. I found it a bit disturbing. It's blatant thought control in the present tense. This is Big Corporation thought control.
Ann Althouse said...
Meanwhile, I will turn 70 years old on Tuesday, so getting deplatformed by Google is only one of many things I might be "circumspect in anticipation" of.
If someday I'm not here on Blogger, you should wonder whether I'm anywhere!
We all thought that's why you married a younger man?
So we'd have a way of finding out!
;-)
We now know exactly who the fascists are...Antifa should start attacking THEM......if they really want to get rid of Fascism.
Further to my last post, I see this whole wokeness thing as self defeating. For many reasons too involved to get into here and now. But a fundamental one is that it puts its own against each other. One example: biological boys cheating woke young women out of sports championships that they worked hard to earn. Everyone knows this is fundamentally wrong. Women's rights against gender rights.
It goes on and on.
"I pledge allegiance, to the flag, of the United States of America. And to the Republic, for which it stands, one --"
Wait. What the Fuck was that? Why am I standing here with my hand on the left side of my chest?
"How far will the anti-Trump forces go in crushing their opposition?"
As far as possible. They will scorch the earth.
My husband keeps using phrases like, "So this is it, the United States is done," and then telling me to be calm. I don't get that...
Or as I used to tell my wife (we're in our 50s), "Don't worry. By the time things get really bad in this country, we'll be dead."
Then came 2020, and the timetable has been sped up. Exponentially.
How far will they go? As far as they can. These folks are suffused with self righteousness. I've known others who participated in such events, both Communists and Nazis, and there is no reason to think it can't happen here. The only thing standing in the way is the Federal structure. It is time to give some thought to how to resist.
Bravo, Achilles.
This particular blog post by Althouse and the comments is the best example I have seen of missing the forest for the trees.
In general, I think it's a bad idea for a company to antagonize a sitting US Senator.
Publishers have a right to turn down books and authors can take their manuscripts else; There are plenty of right wing publishers. In the mean time I think Harley should be required to clean up shit the Trump fellows literally left in the hallways. Of Congress.
I'm not sure what his "First Amendment" theory is, but I'd love to see his explanation.
I'm no lawyer, but I'd guess it's right there in the Penumbra of the Constitution
How far will they go? All the way to Zyklon-B showers.
Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom.
The right to bear arms is an exceedingly important value. The text of the Second Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom.
Chuck said...
Huh? Are you talking about the incident at Hawley's home...?
"In my home! My home! Where my wife sleeps... Where I come to play with my toys.
Chuck, what's the deal with the big dick in your mouth? Has someone told you that you can't lie unless you have a big, fat, warty dick in your mouth? It's not true, Chuckles. Look at your friend Igna. She lies like John McCain rotting in state in the Capitol Rotunda, and she doesn't have a big, smelly dick in her yap. Freder Frederson can lie out both sides of his mouth at once, something you're not likely to pull off with that big dick wallowing around in there.
C'Mon, Man! Spit it out! You life-long lying shit-weasel. Get with the program.
Althouse dismissed your claims, but yet weeks later you still insist Trump won.
I hope that's the dopiest thing I read today.
MadisonMan said...
In general, I think it's a bad idea for a company to antagonize a sitting US Senator.
1/8/21, 7:57 AM
Sorry but in the general sense, I disagree. They all are supposed to work for us. They should be a little afraid of us, not the other way around. I know reality does not reflect that but that is also why some of them sometimes need reminding...
"...but it is not obvious how one should respond to that change [of the Constitution being inoperative.] "
Yes it is obvious. You live by it. You encourage others do to the same. You vote for people who do and will.
How far will they go? Gulags. Concentration camps. They'll be here faster than anyone here currently believes, probably even me.
"But that could never happen here!" On the contrary, the people who like that sort of thing and made it happen all over the rest of the world want to see it happen here most of all.
“ ... his role in what became a dangerous threat ... “
First of all, if it became a dangerous threat later, after other things happened and other people said things to turn it into a dangerous threat, that cannot really be pinned on Hawley. That’s a lot of mental gymnastics, right there.
Secondly, those Antifa tactics to infiltrate the pro-Trump peaceful folks won the battle for hearts and minds, obviously.
From https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/01/worrisome_signs_the_capitol_breach_was_planned_to_discredit_trump_supporters_an_eyewitness_account.html :
“Based on what I saw and read, I have no doubt that dozens and possibly even hundreds of Antifa and/or other provocateurs had infiltrated the rally in order to carry out violent acts and suck impressionable Trump supporters into their antics.”
"The text of the Second Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom."
Heckler & Koch's veto.
Even though the Senator went to law school, the unpaid intern lackey that runs his twitter apparently did not.
Hawley is an articulate, civilized spokesman for a point of view of which Trump was an inarticulate, uncouth representative. You would think the establishment would welcome his civil discourse analyzing problems that are real and are not going away, of which Trump was a symptom: the essence of which is that our current trade and immigration policies (based on free mobility of labor and capital around the world) are undermining our middle-class democracy. [Diagram that sentence, Ann.]
There is also our failure to enact new wage and hour laws to offset the decline in the demand for unskilled labor caused by the never-ending stream of new labor saving technologies. A family friendly six hour day (with triple pay for overtime to show we mean business) is long overdue.
But apparently the plutocrats who fund both political parties like things just the way they are. Which is why they prefer identity politics instead. It keeps the electorate divided.
That's my take anyway.
Luke Lea said...
There is also our failure to enact new wage and hour laws to offset the decline in the demand for unskilled labor caused by the never-ending stream of new labor saving technologies. A family friendly six hour day (with triple pay for overtime to show we mean business) is long overdue.
1/8/21, 7:57 AM
OK, what caused you to throw that bomb of crazy into what was otherwise are fairly neutral and reasonable post?
The government (any) should NOT be in the position to dictate personal contract details. That is what a job is, a contract or agreement between two parties. One supplies labor/effort and the other compensation. If the two parties come to an agreement on terms, what business is it of the government as to what those terms are as long as none of those terms violate any human rights or laws?
The actual minimum hourly wage is ZERO and the more that government forces up the legal minimum wage, all the more people earn the actual minimum wage due to the government pricing their unskilled labor out of the market.
You know who LOVES minimum wage laws? Unions, as many/most of their contracts use minimum wage as a base scale. So when minimum wage goes up, they all automatically get raises without having to renegotiate AND they price their competition farther out of the market.
Please read some Adam Smith and/or Milton Friedman. Minimum wage laws ALWAYS hurt the folks you are told it is done to help (like MOST government programs).
I have given Simon $ Shyster some serious money over the last year for their Pimsleur's Greek language program. I was planning on keeping on but now that I read this, I'm definitely going to find an alternative.
It's beginning to sink in that what they have taken away is something they had a right to take away. There was an agreement, you do X and I'll do Y. And they've just said, "Nah, I'm tired of doing X. Deal's off."
So, OK, deal's off. But that means there is no deal. And that means nobody owes anybody anything. We're all free as birds. I have no responsibilities to them, nor they to me. I have no rights that they will respect, and they have no rights I am obliged to respect. They can take my stuff, and I can take their stuff. So, I just need to kill them first, before they can kill me. That shouldn't be so difficult. I have the means, and they're a bunch of weaklings and idiots. Except, somehow ...
stevew said... 1/8/21, 6:37 AM
"Are there no neutral or conservative publishers out there, or others that are not so easily cowed, that will jump at the chance to pick up and publish Hawley's book?"
Nope.
All of the big publishing houses, all of the big TV and movie studios, all of the big internet content providers and distributors -- they're all in line with Cancel Culture.
No doubt, Hawley will be able to publish his book, either self-published or with a smaller publisher, but it will then lack all of the promotional advantages of a big publishing house. It won't appear on the the NY Times Best Seller list, regardless of how well it sells, and won't pop up as a suggestion for you to read on Amazon, even if you've read similar books in the past. And he won't be doing a promotional book tour of the talk shows -- not even on Fox.
President Trump has succeeded in filling the federal courts with judges that will keep the federal government from directly censoring content. It won't matter. Private industry will do the censoring for them. Just like the phone companies will voluntarily do the spying for them and just like banks will continue to expand the companies they won't do business with -- it won't just be gun shops for long.
Politics is downstream of culture.
For what it's worth...
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away
We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look, what's going down?
roesch/voltaire said...
"Publishers have a right to turn down books..."
I think Hawley's point is that they didn't turn down his book. They apparently issued a contract for the book. Perhaps your statement should be "Publishers have a right to abridge contracts."
Funny how mom and pop bakeries must not only serve customers with opinions that they disagree with, but must perform acts for those customers the owners disagree with.
But huge corporations can discriminate with impunity.
Bake that cake, Simon and Schuster.
The good news is that one non-violent protest by the Right is a lot scarier than a year of burning, smashing, beating, rioting and killing by the left even though the Right CHOSE to be non-violent and non-destructive. They can choose differently. Imagine how scary that will be. The left will decry that of course, but the Right will likely feel about as much guilt as the Left did in starting this fire.
We all know who the media will always support and lie for, and we know the new electoral system guarantees Dem wins wherever needed. We also know how rare courage is in the face of willful, even gleeful destruction of people for political motives or not saying the right thing. That makes for a useless political system for Conservatives. They are given little choice in how to be heard now. This is not their doing, but it is done.
Gahrie wrote: The right to bear arms is an exceedingly important value. The text of the Second Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom.
There will always be μολὼν λαβέ
This is fast becoming Vichy France. How many of us will dare to be the Resistance?
"Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom."
So does Smith & Wesson. The thing that had the media and the left crapping in their pants about the congressional invasion is that they were dependent on the good will of the protesters to clear the building. Bear in mind these were unarmed protesters who were not really violent towards anyone, at least not the type of violence toward the public and the police as was observed in the leftist insurrection this summer. If employers start to retaliate against individual employees for participating in a "mostly peaceful" demonstration, if the Left decides they will destroy anyone who voted for or supported Trump, if things should go as the Shyster from Michigan eagerly anticipates, then what do the deplorables have to lose from returning to the Capitol accompanied by Mr Smith and Mr Wesson? The Shyster, himself, is a perfect example of the futility of expecting any type of compromise with the Left. He is so consumed by hatred he cannot be accommodated, and he is so confident in his invincibility that he can't imagine any outcome other than total surrender by the deplorables. So what solution does that leave? I think I know, but the Shyster is so smug he talks about using laws and courts to trample on the deplorables when he should be introducing himself to Mr Smith and Mr Wesson because if things get to where he seems to want, this won't be settled by a bloviating barrister and courts won't come into play until it's time to hang the losers, whichever side that may be.
How far will the anti-Trump forces go?
I don't even think it's safe to continue to honestly comment here any longer. Is there value worth the risk? If there was, it would be shut down quickly. The value will come to our good friends on the left who will gladly run to their masters to point out our unacceptable and dangerous comments to the authorities. Does anyone doubt that?
The DNC-Media-Tech complex is using the term “insurrection” as if they don’t know the meaning, and “inciting” a thing that didn’t happen by “saying” things that weren’t said is a poor excuse for their long-desired purge of wrongthought. Their one-day “riot” is such a weak example of insurrection, given the Democrats explicit vocal and monetary support for rioters in 2021, that only a massive gaslighting campaign can hope to convince a battered public of their absurd claims. Organized oppression is evil and obviously progressives delight in being evil to their fellow Americans as punishment for not accepting their crazy rule over us. Big tech and wokish corporations join this pogrom at their own peril. The viciousness with which the swamp has reacted betrays how fearful they are of Americans who reject their yoke. We have not even had time to evaluate the damage from the insane lockdowns. Do they not understand the desperation this wholly unnecessary economic pain has ALREADY caused? The anger is being properly focused on DC incompetence. Finger pointing at Hawley et al won’t keep the real perps from the backlash building.
Yes bagoh2o, I seriously doubt anyone cares what the rag tag Althouse community write in the comments. Clearly you are suffering narcissism by proxy.
Your failed coup attempt blew up in Trump's face and now the entire government is against him except for a few dead enders and sycophants. You lost Dan f****** Crenshaw. Good luck with that
clint said...
stevew said... 1/8/21, 6:37 AM
"Are there no neutral or conservative publishers out there, or others that are not so easily cowed, that will jump at the chance to pick up and publish Hawley's book?"
Nope.
All of the big publishing houses, all of the big TV and movie studios, all of the big internet content providers and distributors -- they're all in line with Cancel Culture.
I don't understand the ignorance here. I posted a comment that Regnery's President and Publisher has already stated an interest in Hawley's book. And it is Regnery that has elected to disassociate itself from the New York Times bestseller lists. The Times never barred Regnery publications. There has been some controversy with those relationships. But by all accounts, never any bans.
"There will always be μολὼν λαβέ".
Yeah, well. The problem is, I've seen that movie, and the Good Guys all die in the end. The Enemy have no intention of taking our guns themselves. To them, our guns are a Demon-sent pretext they can use to drive a wedge between us and the police, while pretending to be concerned about "Black Lives". They're thinking they just stole a ringside seat for Cops vs. Constitutionalists, and they're already popping the popcorn.
>>I don't even think it's safe to continue to honestly comment here any longer.
I understand your point of view. Our company monitors what we say, on our own time, on social media. They've made it clear we can be disciplined for violations of our corporate policies, even in our personal posts.
I use an alias here, but I suspect that my company either has or could easily determine who I am.
>>who will gladly run to their masters to point out our unacceptable and dangerous comments to the authorities. Does anyone doubt that?
I have no doubt at all. We are becoming a nation of Karens, who feel empowered to punish those who "offend", but somehow are immune from punishment if their actions are offensive to others.
I don't know much about the book publishing business... but aren't there competitors to simon and shootster?
Bear in mind these were unarmed protesters who were not really violent towards anyone, at least not the type of violence toward the public and the police as was observed in the leftist insurrection this summer.
Ah, the "mostly peaceful" canard. Are we doing that one now?
Reportedly a cop died after being bludgeoned with a fire extinguisher. We'll see if it turns out to be true....
"Yes bagoh2o, I seriously doubt anyone cares what the rag tag Althouse community write in the comments. Clearly you are suffering narcissism by proxy."
You would be one of the ones to do it, all the while pretending it didn't happen. The person being ratted on doesn't have to be powerful or important. That's the point - make everyone feel vulnerable. Teenage students are kicked out of school, employees fired, even elementary school kids are punished now for wrongspeak. Don't pretend you give a shit about anyone being too innocent to make use of.
And so the "cleansing" begins ... the Left's take on "How to Win Friends and Influence People".
Trump just gave his legacy a tremendous send-off. He got his supporters to storm the Capitol after he failed in the courts. He called into question the judgment of two truly brilliant senators, Hawley and Cruz, and he chased off some of his best appointments, Barr, Mulvaney, and DeVos. He managed to denounce his loyal vice president, Pence, who proved to be a steady, thoughtful leader.
Trump is a reckless fool who had many great accomplishments that he vaporized in an afternoon. Holman Jenkins said it earlier this week: politics is chess; Trump plays checkers.
I'm very sympathetic to Matt Sablon's larger point. The Bill of Rights constrains only the Federal government because that's the subject of the Constitution. But the Bill of Rights flows from from a general conception of what is right preexisting the Constitution. That this should be the case in general principle throughout the republic was presumed, just not codified.
As to Hawley's use of first amendment, yeah he's a lawyer, but he's here as a politician on twitter speaking to the public, not in court. I think taking him to task on this is worth an aside, but emphasizing this over the larger picture is nit picking.
Howard said...
Yes bagoh2o, I seriously doubt anyone cares what the rag tag Althouse community write in the comments. Clearly you are suffering narcissism by proxy.
You forget the reverse, Howard.
It'll be somebody outside the blogg who hates you that comes looking for a way to harm you any way they can.
Even you.
Are you prepared to prove your loyalty if a fellow leftist comes for you, your job, your life?
Do you think you'll be able to display all your left-leaning comments before the assembled mob in order to exonerate that one comment that is taken out of context by a committed foe?
Who's the one "suffering narcissism"?
Trump is still exercising his super-powers:
Have Trump’s Lies Wrecked Free Speech?
"A debate has broken out over whether the once-sacrosanct constitutional protection of the First Amendment has become a threat to democracy."
Via here.
There are only a couple of major publishers and they are all headquartered in Manhattan. They are the subsidiaries of larger companies. Their major channel is Amazon. And their staff, editors, etc is to the left. And they have used book advances as legal bribes for politicians such as Obama, Hillary, etc. and The NY Times best seller list is not based totally on volume, but is curated...
I’m amazed a photographer can be forced to do a gay wedding, a cake shop to bake a cake for a gay wedding or be destroyed, gun dealers be discriminated by banks, and yet:
Shopify an e-commerce site killed the Trump store.
Facebook banning Trump
Twitter silencing Trump
YouTube censorship
LinkedIn
Google slanting their search results
And these outlets allow all the hatred against Trump supporters.
Ann Althouse said...
"Freedom of speech is an exceedingly important value. The text of the First Amendment disempowers Congress from abridging that freedom."
First Amendment? To what?
Amadeus 48 said...
Trump just gave his legacy a tremendous send-off. He got his supporters to storm the Capitol after he failed in the courts. He called into question the judgment of two truly brilliant senators, Hawley and Cruz, and he chased off some of his best appointments, Barr, Mulvaney, and DeVos. He managed to denounce his loyal vice president, Pence, who proved to be a steady, thoughtful leader.
Trump is a reckless fool who had many great accomplishments that he vaporized in an afternoon. Holman Jenkins said it earlier this week: politics is chess; Trump plays checkers.
Please don't forget that Trump's wild political malpractice also cost the Republicans their Senate majority.
Amadeus 48 said...
Trump just gave his legacy a tremendous send-off. He got his supporters to storm the Capitol after he failed in the courts. He called into question the judgment of two truly brilliant senators, Hawley and Cruz, and he chased off some of his best appointments, Barr, Mulvaney, and DeVos. He managed to denounce his loyal vice president, Pence, who proved to be a steady, thoughtful leader.
Trump is a reckless fool who had many great accomplishments that he vaporized in an afternoon. Holman Jenkins said it earlier this week: politics is chess; Trump plays checkers.
1/8/21, 8:55 AM
OK, here is a super wild take (feel free to ignore, just throwing it out there).
Trump [some have said] plays a GREAT game of 5D chess. What if this final "melt down" was specifically done to save those of his admin that can be saved? What if he threw himself under the bus to give the rest of the survivors the cover and ability to jump ship and save themselves?
He has all the money he needs. He has been POTUS! What is left for him? Why would he NOT do just that?
Discuss...
Why would he NOT do just that?
Because he's Donald J. Trump.
Sorry, Howard, but a lot of us already knew Crenshaw was Controlled Opposition before this happened. Wasn't hard to tell from his votes and priorities.
Pence being a full bore traitor was a surprise, considering it was people who voted for him that he screwed over. But at least every single mask has dropped now. The Controlled Opposition has lost all credibility. Will we do anything with the knowledge of who the traitors are? That's the question.
I always believed that believed that Jon Ossoff should have a job and Ralph Warnock’s looney, racist ravings deserved national exposure. Trump accomplished so many things!
is wasn't anti-trump forces, it was free market forces.
and he knows the 1st Amendment doesn't apply...he's counting on the rubes not knowing.
>>Trump just gave his legacy a tremendous send-off. He got his supporters to storm the Capitol after he failed in the courts. He called into question the judgment of two truly brilliant senators, Hawley and Cruz, and he chased off some of his best appointments, Barr, Mulvaney, and DeVos. He managed to denounce his loyal vice president, Pence, who proved to be a steady, thoughtful leader.
This is true, with the daveat that he didn't actually ask his supports to storm the capitol. He asked them to protest.
This week will negate in many minds all the good he managed to do. Which is sad.
Surely Hawley can get his book published by another company. If they violated the contract they will owe him damages. The government doesn’t tell private companies who they must publish and who they must not. The government isn’t telling Hawley he can’t go elsewhere to get his book published. Surely Hawley knows this.
"Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world"
I'm trying to figure out what Yeats thought was "mere" about anarchy. Anarchy actually seems to be quite complicated, now that I take a look at it. And it really isn't "loosed". It's more like something else was sucked out of the world, and what remains, in the interstices, between things, is anarchy. It was there all along, but not as there as the other thing that was there. Like a vacuum. I guess you could call it "mere vacuum". It really is a very simple thing in itself, entirely nondescript. It's just that a whole lot of questions that were settled are now unsettled. That's where the complications lie. What used to be obscure is now painfully evident, and thoughts must be found to deal with it.
The government doesn’t tell private companies who they must publish and who they must not.
Yet.
And they do tell bakers who they have to bake cakes for.
Achilles said...
"I couldn't sleep last night."
Yeah, I'm up kind of early myself. I think we must be in mourning. All that "Five Stages" crap. But I think that's mostly wrong. Mourning is actually a form of shame, shame that we continue to exist. And we plan to continue existing. We're going to make coffee, and go to work.
If shame felt like rage.
The cancelers may soon discover to their horror that there's nothing more dangerous than a man with nothing more to lose.
The John Roberts Riot was the Reichstag. The Simon & Schuster move the beginning of Kristallnacht. The left wing playbook was well defined in the 1930's, they are just repeating it.
>>And they do tell bakers who they have to bake cakes for.
Well, not exactly. They don't tell Muslim bakers they have to make gay wedding cakes.'
They don't tell black bakers they must cater the local Klan rally.
This Senator is all the more silly-o in this day of self-publish, e-publish etc.
unless he want to go the route of "back-door-payment" for influence (laundered money)
And Blue Cross/Medicaid doesn't have to pay for your surgery, etc.
Slippery motherfucking slope.
If we keep heading down this road, things will get 'interesting.'
Don't know too much about Hawley, but he's not nearly as abrasive as Cruz.
But like Cruz, he's usually the smartest guy in the room.
I'm no Wisconsin law professor, but I'm guessing the angle is his contract has some sort of morals clause that the publisher is using as a reason to cancel the publication.
His argument won't be that he has a right to be published, but that he has the right to speak his mind and perform his duties (while not violating the first amendment), and therefore any morals-type clause is not enforceable.
Badly worded...but makes sense?
Yeah, Trump made those rich, white ladies in Georgia vote for the Anti Semitic wife beater.
Some people are held to a higher standard, namely Trump voters.
Trump voters in Georgia were just supposed to smile and pull the lever for the Republicans even after Mitch Mcconnell said screw you to their extra stimulus money.
But the rich, white wine moms had no agency. The Anti Semite must be voted for!
Ed Driscoll has more of the future to expect at Instapundit: "Those who knew me to be fundamentally opposed to racial discrimination started referring to me as “alt-right”, a shorthand term for white nationalist." - Andrew Doyle about creating Titania McGrath.
Of course, Twitter and Facebook are full of social comments from Democrats about how Republicans and Trump supporters should be rejected and assaulted if seen in public. It was going on before Trump was even elected.
>>Twitter and Facebook are full of social comments from Democrats about how Republicans and Trump supporters should be rejected and assaulted if seen in public.
Punch a Nazi. But the definition of Nazi changes daily. So we are left with a functional definition: If you punched them, they are a Nazi.
How far will they go? To the ends of the earth! They are so MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDdddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!!
I have the means, and they're a bunch of weaklings and idiots. Except, somehow ...
And yet, somehow, they keep winning. Something seems to be wrong with our damn ships today ...
I'm trying to figure out what Yeats thought was "mere" about anarchy.
"Mere" in this context means "pure." As in unadulterated hence unconstrained by ameliorating forces and influences. Like pure grain alcohol.
The usage is "merely" archaic.
How far will they go? They'll get newspapers to help round up undesirables. I'm impressed how quickly news media decided it was an arm of the state.
I have asserted all along that if Trump has some epic thundering evidence that will unravel the entire Democrat coup, it would actively be wise to *not* release it prematurely, to get all of the coup plotters to reveal themselves. I was getting quite frustrated once Cotton revealed himself, thinking, there can't possibly be anyone else... but given Pence, I was wrong. Whatever comes next, getting Pence to expose himself was also certainly critical.
And it very strongly seems to me that the Democrats, in their current rush to not even wait 13 days to get him out, in their current insane rush to get him out NOW, IMPEACH!, I think it's obvious that *they* think he very well might have a nuclear bomb of evidence of criminality in his hand to still play, and are trying to get him out before he can play it.
Note, also, that Nancy Pelosi's email account was just sitting, right there, unlocked, on her computer during the riot. If there were any military on Trump's side seeded in the Capitol protests... if the entire point was to go in and capture some information from Congressional computers... yeah.
It's hard to keep up hope in the face of the complete infiltration of every institution, but there are signs this may not be over yet. To take down a conspiracy this vast, full transparency of who is in on the coup is the only way it could work, and that hasn't been achieved until now (After Pence, I seriously don't know who else *could* still be exposed, beyond the 6 or 7 Senators who objected).
As to how Trump could get the word out of whatever it is he has to everyone despite the social media and MSM lockdowns... remember a couple years ago, that Presidential Emergency Broadcast that went to literally every single cell phone in the country? Yeah.
>> I'm impressed how quickly news media decided it was an arm of the state.
Not the state... the Democratic Party. Soon, that will likely be a distinction without a difference.
No one was going to buy his book, except in bulk. He must have been overjoyed by this news that will push him forward with the types who salivate over this type of thing.
'"Mere" in this context means "pure." As in unadulterated hence unconstrained by ameliorating forces and influences. Like pure grain alcohol.'
Hmmmm.... That makes sense. But I liked it better the other way. "Mere" meaning, "nothing more than". As if anarchy were a poor thing, and hardly likely to thrive.
I suppose "pure" and "nothing more than" do cover some of the same ground.
“Yeah, Trump made those rich, white ladies in Georgia vote for the Anti Semitic wife beater.”
“Some people are held to a higher standard, namely Trump voters.”
Yeah, those Trump standards of cheating on every single one of his three wives.
Abort this, cancel that. Unworthy of life. Unworthy of standing. Wicked solution. Lose your Pro-Choice quasi-religion ("ethics").
Never underestimate the ruthlessness and immorality of the Left.
Send you a pdf?
Maybe if you're interested in the subject,you BUY A COPY OF THE BOOK.
Oh, wsit, right. It has been censored. Never mind.
"Simon & Schuster" didn't cancel the contract. Unnamed human beings, fearful for their safety or their status canceled the contract.
Whenever a "company " comes out for or against a person, a group, or an idea, it is generally unnamed human(s) making the decision.
If the "company" goes against the left, those humans will be identified so the threat of mob retaliation might persuade them to see the error of their ways.
Fear of physical ,social, or monetary harm is why most commenters on the internet are anonymous.
Someone should probably tell Abigail that these institutions have ALWAYS had the right to do what she seems to think is a reversal of power. These entities, airlines, hotels and restaurants have always had the right to refuse to serve. Duh. they are not entities owned by the government.
Get a life, this is not a re4tracting of rights, these are rules that companies have had forever. It is just like the idiot who went maskless into a Trader Joe's and prostested being dragged out for not wearing a mask. Yelling that their first amendment rights were being violated. Hello, you surrender those "rights" when you step on a private property with rules.
Vicki from Pasadena
These entities, airlines, hotels and restaurants have always had the right to refuse to serve.
Masterpiece Cake Shop could not be reached for comment.
Yeah, those Trump standards of cheating on every single one of his three wives.
Is it three times? You get 2 passes before you're judged unfit? Whats the rule so you can apply it to Democrats?
You're as shallow as spit on the sidewalk
victoria said...
Hello, you surrender those "rights" when you step on a private property with rules.
Vicki from Pasadena
1/8/21, 12:35 PM
EXACTLY! As least as long as you are not a cake baker, right...
EXACTLY! As least as long as you are not a cake baker, right...
Sorry, I meant "as long as you are not a CHRISTIAN baker baker". Muslim cake bakers are A-OK.
CHRISTIAN cake baker
Mark said...
Why would they want to try to sell a product that won't earn back what it cost?
Hawley tanked the value of his product this week.
*****************
Oh really? You think conservatives no longer believe that Big Tech is a menace to our democracy and needs to be broken up? and so they won't buy Hawley's book?
You, sirrah, have the intellectual wattage of a refrigerator bulb.
victoria said...
Someone should probably tell Abigail that these institutions have ALWAYS had the right to do what she seems to think is a reversal of power. These entities, airlines, hotels and restaurants have always had the right to refuse to serve. Duh. they are not entities owned by the government.
Get a life, this is not a re4tracting of rights, these are rules that companies have had forever. It is just like the idiot who went maskless into a Trader Joe's and prostested being dragged out for not wearing a mask. Yelling that their first amendment rights were being violated. Hello, you surrender those "rights" when you step on a private property with rules.
**************
Now tell us that companies can refuse to hire a person or allow him/her to enter their premises simply because they are black. Or a Jew. Or a Muslim. Or a gay.
Then explain why it has always been OK to discriminate against people for their political beliefs. C'mon. Give it a go. Tell us why it's "the American Way".
Keep pushing it, leftists.
Keep it up.
"Sorry, I meant "as long as you are not a CHRISTIAN baker baker". Muslim cake bakers are A-OK."
Exactly. No lefties have the balls to walk into a halal bakery and demand a cake be made to celebrate a gay wedding.
The left loves 'Palestinians,' but isn't too interested in the rooftops from which they throw their trans and gay citizens.
Funny that.
Seriously, Wholelottasplainin'
Now tell us that companies can refuse to hire a person or allow him/her to enter their premises simply because they are black. Or a Jew. Or a Muslim. Or a gay.
Then explain why it has always been OK to discriminate against people for their political beliefs. C'mon. Give it a go. Tell us why it's "the American Way".
This is what you said.
You do understand that there are laws on the books to prevent just those things. That is the American way, when something is bad, you change it via the law. And please, Don't give me that bull about the Cake Baker. I didn't support the discrimination against the "Christian" cake baker at all. Still think that they conveniently use the moniker "christian" because it is just that, convenient.
Vicki from Pasadena
"Still think that they conveniently use the moniker "christian" because it is just that, convenient."
Let's talk about convenient Christians.
Biden and Pelosi et al claim to be 'devout' Catholics, yet are fully in favor of every kind of abortion imaginable, not just that which protects the mother.
Yet to my knowledge, only one current, high-ranking church official believes that Biden should be denied communion.
I guess it's convenient to be Catholic to 'garner' votes.
Jamie said...
My husband keeps using phrases like, "So this is it, the United States is done," and then telling me to be calm. I don't get that...
The peril of strong drink is that it can cause you to shoot at revenuers, and miss
Failing to keep calm has similar problems
Speaking of the anti-Semitic wife-beater (Inga's pal Warnock), I liked the online comment--I think it might have been on Instapundit but could have been here --that Georgia now has an anti-Jewish senator with a Hebrew first name.
Is Simon and Schuster planning to go out and break some of Hawley's windows and paint Trump in white paint on the rest. Oh, that's right, it was already done. Now it is time for the ritual humiliation stage.
Americans have, as Matt Saban notes, an expectation from themselves to others and for others to the rest of us, not to interfere with the speech of others, even if they disagree.
When someone does so interfere to a serious extent, it is frequently said that it's interfering with free speech.
Immediately, someone will gaslight the thing by saying if it's a non-state actor doing the interfering, there's no violation at all.
In the first case, we use a general expectation and use the term that way and everybody understands it that way.
In the second case, the general expectation is dismissed as if it's not relevant.
All the intelligent, savvy folks on this blog help me to stay sane. At least I think I'm still sane.
Heh heh. The bad machine doesn't know it's a bad machine.
Mere, when it came into English from Latin and OF, meant “pure, unmixed”, and was usually used as Yeats uses it here: mere anarchy means absolute anarchy, sheer anarchy, anarchy unmixed with order, “nothing less than” anarchy.
Mere could of course also be used with deprecated qualities, with the complementary sense “nothing more than”: mere folly is folly unmixed with wisdom, mere conjecture is conjecture unmixed with fact, and that use predominates today. Dictionaries may call this “obsolete” or “archaic”, but it is at most an archaic use, not an archaic meaning.
...
In this case, I believe the author is using 'mere' in the sense that anarchy is a state without order, a base existence. 'Mere' in this case amplifies the despair of the condition, a resolution of one's fate... At least, the way I read it.
The meaning of “mere” in Yeats's “The Second Coming”
Hawley got good reviews for his book Theodore Roosevelt: Preacher of Righteousness. There have been several one star reviews on Amazon since he took up Trump's election cause. There will be more, most from people who didn't actually read the book.
jaydub said...
“…..If employers start to retaliate against individual employees for participating in a "mostly peaceful" demonstration, if the Left decides they will destroy anyone who voted for or supported Trump, if things should go as the Shyster from Michigan eagerly anticipates, then what do the deplorables have to lose from returning to the Capitol accompanied by Mr Smith and Mr Wesson?”
Already in the works, my friend. A spokesweasel for the UMass Medical Foundation (a separate but related entity to the UMass hospital system) has already issued a statement indicating that they are “aware” of employees who traveled to DC for the rally and are “investigating”.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/08/metro/umass-memorial-health-care-investigating-whether-employees-attended-trump-inspired-violence-us-capitol/
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