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https://brownstone.org/articles/brownstone-institute-at-two-years/

Brownstone Institute at Two Years  

The crisis of our times has deep roots but came to a head with the appalling decision in March 2020 to forcibly shut down life itself in the name of virus control. It’s a wonder anyone believed this would work. Elites deployed one nostrum after another – shutdowns, travel restrictions, church and school closures, restrictions on gatherings, oceans of sanitizer, Plexiglas and officious signage, and finally untested shot mandates – to control the microbial kingdom. 

They failed but they are still in power and not admitting error. Many of the original lockdowners are retired, fired, or otherwise out of public life. But they are replaced by their students, colleagues, and networked cronies. This is true in politics, media, tech, and the Deep State. 

The goals are simple. Keep the cover-up going for as long as possible. Deny the obvious. Smear the truth tellers. Censor dissidents. 

This is the core reason for the perpetration of multiple crises in every aspect of public and private life. It has hit literacy, health, economic well-being, investor confidence, psychology, demographics, and of course politics and trust generally. None of us wanted to live in such times but it is undeniable that they are here. Tracing cause and effect is imperative and so is assigning blame. It’s the only way out. 

It is tragically true that most official institutions went along with the destruction. That’s especially true of the world of ideas, which bore a dreadful blow from the combination of career-minded cowardice and censorship. That was followed by a purge of the non-compliant that was only superficially related to vaccine mandates. The real purpose was to seek and destroy those who would not go along to get along. 

Brownstone Institute posted its first round of responses two years ago this week. Since then, we’ve published 1,831 pieces, some opinion, some research, some history, and some inspiration, covering public health, economics, psychology, philosophy, education, law, media, and technology. Publishing under a commons license, we’ve welcomed all reprints and translation, since the point is to get the word out. 

In this time, we’ve also held 24 events, including large gatherings, supper clubs, film screenings, and retreats for scholars and fellows. The Fellows program seeks out writers, thinkers, and doers who merit and need support. The goal is to provide sanctuary and community in times of incredible professional upheaval. Each fellow has a story of the cost of courage. In addition, we’ve published six books with more on the way. 

Part of the ambition of Brownstone Institute was to reinvent the research institute on a model of integrity and efficiency. We all know how most nonprofits run: huge and expanding management structures, cost overruns, and minimalist goal orientation. We set out with a different model: tiny staff, minimalist costing, and maximum focus on mission and goal. Two years later, we have the same model, with each expansion entirely devoted to the original vision. 

It’s making a massive difference in private and public life. We receive notes of gratitude daily for content that is rigorous and accessible, perfect for sharing with others who seek answers and solutions. Our many thousands of supporters have been generous in supporting the need for an alternative understanding. It’s been a lifeline for this institution because we receive no support from government or Deep-State connection sources of money. 

Covid was of course the original driving impetus but a government and its connected interests became intoxicated with power, using the confidence they gained in lockdowns for other nefarious acts. As a result, we quickly moved to the broader crisis over civil liberties, censorship, digital invasiveness, and the unleashing of the administrative powers of the state. Daily, the ruling class is drumming up new excuses to retain the power they gained and expand it. 

Behind the entire mess is an epic debate about the initial pandemic response. As you know, they are sticking by their story regardless of the evidence. Not even hard proof of deception and deceit makes the news, much less rocks the establishment. That is left to dissidents like us to get the word out. 

There can be no real healing from this episode without truth. Our wonderful team of writers and researchers agree and work toward finding it daily, with every confidence that it is out there and with every determination to reveal it in ways that can be understood. As a publishing outlet and a source of support for thinking differently, Brownstone does stand out. 

This is a time for truth. There is no time to waste. This might be our only choice. It’s not maudlin or exaggerated to say that civilization is at stake. This generation faces a real choice between freedom and barbarism with a digital face. We need to choose wisely and with courage in the face of evil. 

This is the work of Brownstone Institute. We and our donors have every reason to be proud of what we’ve accomplished in such a short time but there is a long way to go. Thank you for being there for this great work

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https://brownstone.org/articles/the-censors-henchmen/

The Censors’ Henchmen

The ongoing release of the Facebook Files reveals the target of the White House’s collusion with Big Tech: you. Censorship is not a targeted attack on speakers; the objective is to deny you, the citizenry, your right to access information. 

Journalists including Michael Shellenberger have exposed what they dub the “Censorship Industrial Complex,” a tangled web of the world’s most powerful government agencies, NGOs, and private corporations that work together to stifle unapproved narratives.

The henchmen who implement this system receive little publicity. Few Americans study Albert Burleson, Woodrow Wilson’s Postmaster General who intercepted mail that the White House deemed subversive. Frank Wisner’s name is absent from history books despite overseeing Operation Mockingbird, a CIA program to infiltrate, influence, and control American media outlets. 

Likewise, today’s public is generally unfamiliar with their information czars, the government officials charged with carrying out assaults on the First Amendment. Like soldiers in The Sopranos, they demand compliance with threats of retribution from their boss. 

The powerful enact censorship for their own interests while claiming it is for the good of the public. They use abstract fear-mongering to evade accountability. 

In the case of Julian Assange, they eviscerated his right to free press under the guise of national security; in doing so, they attacked your right to know the truth about America’s War on Terror. 

In the Biden Administration, they’ve used mantras of public health to strip you of your First Amendment rights in the Covid era. Thanks to the Facebook Files and Missouri v. Biden, we now have a better understanding of the individuals behind the censorship regime. Rob Flaherty exemplifies the arrogance inherent to the assault on the First Amendment. 

America’s Thought Police: Rob Flaherty

After serving on the failed presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Beto O’Rourke, Flaherty joined the Biden White House as Director of Digital Strategy in January 2021. 

In that role, he repeatedly worked with Big Tech companies to suppress political opponents’ speech. “Are you guys fucking serious?” Flaherty asked Facebook after the company failed to censor critics of the Covid vaccine. “I want an answer on what happened here and I want it today.”

At other times, Flaherty was more direct. “Please remove this account immediately,” he told Twitter about a Biden family parody account. The company compiled within an hour. 

Flaherty made it clear that he was concerned with political power, not veracity or disinformation. He demanded Facebook stifle “often-true content” that could be considered “sensational.” He asked company executives if they could interfere with private messages containing “misinformation” on WhatsApp.

Flaherty later demanded to know how Facebook would address “things that are dubious, but not provably false.” In February 2021, he accused the company of fomenting “political violence” by allowing “vaccine skeptical” content on its platform. 

His desire to control Americans’ access to information meant eliminating critical media sources. He demanded Facebook reduce the spread of Tucker Carlson’s report on the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine’s link to blood clots. “There’s 40,000 shares on the video. Who is seeing it now? How many?” Like Burleson’s censorship of the mail, Flaherty’s attack on the First Amendment was not directed at the speaker – the objective was to protect political power by denying citizens the right to access information.

“I’m curious – NY Post churning out articles every day about people dying,” he wrote to Facebook. “Does that article get a reduction, labels?” He suggested that Facebook “change the algorithm so that people were more like to see NYT, WSJ… over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people.” Flaherty was not subtle in his objective. “Intellectually my bias is to kick people off,” he told the company executive. 

In April 2021, Flaherty worked to strong-arm Google into ramping up its censorship operations. He told executives that his concerns were “shared at the highest (and I mean the highest) levels of the WH.” There’s “more work to be done,” he instructed. He had the same talking points with Facebook that month, telling executives that he would have to explain to President Biden and Chief of Staff Ron Klain “why there is misinfo on the internet.” 

In nearly every case, the social media companies caved to the pressure of the White House. 

Jenin Younes, litigation counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance, wrote in The Wall Street Journal: “These emails establish a clear pattern: Mr. Flaherty, representing the White House, expresses anger at the companies’ failure to censor Covid-related content to his satisfaction. The companies change their policies to address his demands. As a result, thousands of Americans were silenced for questioning government-approved Covid narratives.“

Protecting the government-provided Covid narratives were Flaherty’s primary focus. “We are gravely concerned that your service is one of the top drivers of vaccine hesitancy—period,” he wrote to a Facebook executive. “We want to know that you’re trying, we want to know how we can help, and we want to know that you’re not playing a shell game. . . . This would all be a lot easier if you would just be straight with us.”

Flaherty’s censorious thuggery mimics mobsters’ interrogation tactics. We can do this the easy way or the hard way- it’d all be a lot easier if you would just be straight with us. Nice company you have here – would be a shame if something happened to it.

“Key Parts of Our Covid Strategy”

Of course, the La Cosa Nostra approach to free speech violates the First Amendment.

Flaherty sought to control who could have a Facebook account, determine what they could post, and influence what they see. He didn’t own the company or work for Mark Zuckerberg – he used the threat of government retribution to impose censorship.

It is “axiomatic” under American law that the state cannot “induce, encourage, or promote” private companies to pursue unconstitutional aims. “Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea,” the Supreme Court held in Gertz v. Welch. “However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries, but on the competition of other ideas.” 

There is no misinformation carve-out to the First Amendment or Pandemic exception to Constitutional Law. Yet Flaherty spearheaded the Biden Administration’s assault on free speech, and he now appears unremorseful for his role in the censorship apparatus.

In March 2023, Flaherty participated in an hour-long discussion at Georgetown University on his role in “how governments use social media to communicate with the public.” 

An audience member asked Flaherty about his emails encouraging Facebook to censor private WhatsApp messages. “How do you justify legally telling a private messaging app what they can and cannot send?” 

Flaherty declined to answer. “I can’t really comment on the specifics. I think the President has sort of made clear that one of the key parts of our Covid strategy is making sure the American people have access to reliable information as soon as they could get it, and, uh, you know, that’s all part and parcel to that, but unfortunately I can’t go too far into the litigation.” 

Three months later, Flaherty stepped down from his position at the White House. President Biden remarked, “The way Americans get their information is changing, and since Day 1, Rob has helped us meet people where they are.” 

President Biden was right – Americans’ access to information changed. The internet promised a liberating free exchange of ideas, but bureaucrats like Flaherty worked to implement informational tyranny. In Flaherty’s words, this was all “part and parcel” to the White House strategy. On behalf of the administration, he demanded companies remove true content; he called on social media groups to remove journalists’ accounts; he suggested censoring citizens’ private messages; he institutionalized the abuse of the First Amendment. 

If there were any remaining doubts about the federal government’s censorship activities, this new evidence should settle every question. During the Covid years, the government effectively nationalized all the main social media portals and converted them to become propaganda vehicles for bureaucrats while demoting or completely blocking contrary views. There is simply no way this practice can survive serious juridical scrutiny.