By Zach Stieber of The Epoch Times

Pennsylvania rules that require mail-in ballots to be dated are legal, a federal appeals court has ruled.

A state law that says voters must fill out, date, and sign envelopes containing the ballots is not prevented by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a majority said in the March 27 ruling.

The act bans denying “the right of any individual to vote in any election because of an error or omission on any record or paper relating to any application, registration or other act requisite to voting.”

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and other groups appealed Judge Baxter’s ruling, arguing that her conclusion was wrong.

“This is a crucial victory for election integrity and voter confidence in the Keystone State and nationwide. Pennsylvanians deserve to feel confident in the security of their mail ballots, and this 3rd Circuit ruling roundly rejects unlawful left-wing attempts to count undated or incorrectly dated mail ballot,” Michael Whatley, the RNC’s chairman, said in a statement after the new ruling was handed down.

Groups that sued over the law expressed disappointment.

“If this ruling stands, thousands of Pennsylvania voters could lose their vote over a meaningless paperwork error. The ballots in question in this case come from voters who are eligible and who met the submission deadline,“ Mike Lee, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. ”In passing the Civil Rights Act, Congress put a guardrail in place to be sure that states don’t erect unnecessary barriers that disenfranchise voters. It’s unfortunate that the court failed to recognize that principle. Voters lose as a result of this ruling.”

The ruling can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the groups have not yet indicated whether they’ll appeal.

Justice Samuel Alito has said that the Pennsylvania law did not appear to violate the Civil Rights Act provision because it did not deny people the right to vote.

“When a mail-in ballot is not counted because it was not filled out correctly, the voter is not denied ’the right to vote,’” he said previously. “Rather, that individual’s vote is not counted because he or she did not follow the rules for casting a ballot.”

Several other justices supported his view, offered in a dissent when the rest of the court initially said Pennsylvania counties could keep counting undated ballots.

Continue reading on the Epoch Times

Imprisoned rap mogul Suge Knight opined on recent happenings involving hip-hop rival Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, whose houses in Miami and Los Angeles were raided last Monday by Homeland Security in connection with a federal investigation into sex trafficking, sexual assault, and the solicitation and distribution of illegal narcotics and firearms.

“We believe that there is a disturbing history of sex trafficking,” a DHS officer told The NY Post on Thursday, following the raid which resulted in the seizure of hard drives, phones and other evidence.

“We are responding to concrete, detailed, explicit allegations. This is not random. We didn’t choose his name out of a hat. We had allegations that we’re following up on,” the officer continued.

Knight Speaks

In response to the raid, Death Row Records co-founder Marion Hugh Knight Jr., aka “Suge Knight,” said during a Friday episode of his “Collect Call” prison podcast (!) that Combs needs to watch his back since he has “secrets” involving a “secret room.”

“It’s a bad day for hip-hop…for the culture…Black people, because if one looks bad, we all look bad. That’s definitely not nothing to cheer about,” said Knight.

“But I’ll tell you what, Puffy: your life is in danger.  Your life is in danger ’cause you know the secrets, who’s involved in that little secret room you guys are participating in. They gonna get you if they can.”

While Diddy hasn’t been charged with a crime and has vehemently denied breaking the law, Knight – who’s serving a 28-year prison sentence for a 2015 hit-and-run incident, recommended that the rap impresario ‘surrender’ to authorities.

Listen:

Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,

The US did not share all the information it had about a terrorist plot in Russia ahead of the shooting at a concert hall outside of Moscow that killed over 140 people, The New York Times reported on Thursday.

The paper said that the “adversarial relationship between Washington and Moscow prevented US officials from sharing any information about the plot beyond what was necessary, out of fear Russian authorities might learn their intelligence sources or methods.”

In response to the report, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he was unaware of information about the US withholding intelligence and cast doubt on the report. “The information of The New York Times, citing sources, is information that should be treated with great caution,” he said.

The US Embassy in Moscow issued a public warning on March 7 that specifically warned Americans in Russia that “extremists have imminent plans to target large gatherings in Moscow, to include concerts” and to avoid large gatherings for 48 hours.

The US also passed along the warning to Russia privately, which Russian FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov said was “of a general nature.”

Sources told the Times that Russia tightened security after the warning but may have relaxed it after an attack didn’t happen in the 48-hour window. The report said it was unclear if US intelligence was wrong about the timing of the attack or if the perpetrators noticed the heightened security and decided to wait.

ISIS-K, the Islamic State affiliate based in Afghanistan, took credit for the massacre, and the US has backed their assertion. Russia has pinned the blame on “Islamist extremists” but has also said there is a link to Ukraine and, by extension, the US and the UK.

Another video capturing the initial moments of the terrorist attack at “Crocus” has been released by Baza. pic.twitter.com/lDvlTyGvQK

— Russian Market (@runews) March 22, 2024

Both the US and Ukraine denied any involvement in the attack, but the Russian Investigative Committee said Thursday that the attackers had links to “Ukrainian nationalists.” Four Tajiks have been charged in Russia for carrying out the shooting.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) was confronted by a mourner during the wake for slain NYPD officer Jonathan Diller Friday afternoon, after which a round of applause could be heard as she left the scene.

Hochul, who has come under fire over New York’s controversial bail reform – which law enforcement blames for the rise in crime, could be seen in the confrontation with an unidentified man dressed in black, who clearly gave her what for as onlookers gathered outside the venue.

Watch:

TIME TO GO: Crowd claps as New York Gov. Kathy Hochul leaves slain NYPD officer’s wake just minutes after arriving. The incident comes a day after a police union president called on anti-police politicians to stay away from the wake and funeral. https://t.co/ZVThe4Jy97 pic.twitter.com/aSEy7vPGKh

— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 30, 2024

According to the NY Post, Hochul arrived at the Massapequa Funeral Home on Long Island for the second day of viewing around 1:45 p.m., after asking the NYPD, the NYPD Police Benevolent Association, and the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association about attending.

Diller’s widow also appeared to be “telling [Hochul] off,” one witness told the Post. “It didn’t look like the widow had a kind word to say.“

Another source suggested that Hochul made a “brief respectful visit,” and “was not asked to leave.”

Hochul’s visit came one day after former President Donald Trump paid his respects during the first day of viewings – staying around 40 minutes, during which he spent time talking to Stephanie and the couple’s young son, Ryan.

President Trump: “We have to stop it. We have to get back to law and order…because this is not working. This is happening too often.” pic.twitter.com/k5MQutyEsw

— MAGA War Room (@MAGAIncWarRoom) March 28, 2024

Diller’s brother-in-law shared a picture of Trump embracing a woman in the family line-up.

Diller was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop in Far Rockaway, Queens on March 25. The suspect, Guy Rivera – who has 21 prior arrests and was found to have a shiv in his rectum during the shooting – shot Diller once in the stomach below his bulletproof vest. He was rushed to Jamaica Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

The person driving the car with Rivera during the shooting, Liddy Jones, is an ex-con who was arrested after a second gun was found in his car.

On Tuesday, New York Mayor Eric Adams – a former NYPD captain, slammed Albany over its approach to bail reform.

“What’s interesting is that our practices, laws and policies are not going after these issues,” said Adams. “We’ve always had a problem with recidivism, it’s always been a problem but we’ve really never zeroed in on it with case after case.”

Prior to the wake, Sergeants Benevolent Association President Vincent J. Vallelong warned City Council members not to attend.

“Adrienne Adams, Jumaane Williams and their cohorts should stay home,” he told the Post, calling out the lawmakers who pushed the council to reject Mayor Adams’ veto on the “How Many Stops” act in January.

“They detest cops and have no appreciation for what they do. They should stay home and not pretend they are grieving. They have caused enough heartbreak and destruction,” said Vallelong, adding that their presence at the services “is a stain on the legacy of a true hero who made the ultimate sacrifice.“

Via The Cradle

US President Joe Biden said at a campaign event on Thursday that Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, are ready for a full normalization of ties with Israel. During the event – which was meant to show unity in the Democratic Party ahead of US elections in November this year – Biden was joined on stage by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

“I’ve been working with the Saudis and with all the other Arab countries, including Egypt and Jordan and Qatar. They’re prepared to fully recognize Israel. There has to be a post-Gaza plan, and there has to be a trade to a two-state solution. It doesn’t have to occur today. It has to be a progression and I think we can do that,” Biden said. 

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, which has resulted in a reported over 32,000 mostly civilian deaths, Saudi Arabia has repeatedly stated that normalization with Tel Aviv is still on the table.

However, Riyadh has doubled down on its demands for concessions to the Palestinians, including, most prominently, the demand for the eventual realization of statehood. 

Washington has been devising a plan for post-war Gaza, which includes the idea of a “reformed” Palestinian Authority (PA) assuming control over administration in the strip. In late February, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a similar plan, which included demilitarizing Gaza, forming a local governing authority, and a broader normalization pact with Arab states, including the Saudis. 

Politico reported on the same day as Biden’s campaign event that the White House, State Department, and Pentagon are discussing the potential establishment of either a “multinational force” or a “Palestinian peacekeeping team” to oversee the affairs of a post-war Gaza. 

Yet Israel has yet to achieve its goal of dismantling the Palestinian resistance and is continuing brutal and incessant airstrikes daily. “There are too many innocent victims, Israelis and Palestinians,” Biden added at the event. 

“We’re in a position where Israel’s very existence is at stake. You had all those people massacred,” the president said about 7 October, adding: “It’s understandable Israel has such a profound anger and Hamas is still there, but we must in-act, stop the effort that is resulting in significant deaths of innocent civilians and particularly children.”

Anti-war protestors interrupt prominent Biden political fundraiser event

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters, including Jewish activisits, disrupted a high-profile fundraiser for US President Joe Biden at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Thursday night.

The fundraiser… pic.twitter.com/hQ6vKw1B0G

— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) March 29, 2024

Several pro-Palestine activists erupted in chants throughout the campaign event, accusing Biden of complicity in the ‘genocide’ being carried out against the Palestinian people in Gaza. 

The president’s approval ratings have suffered significantly in recent months as a result of his handling of the war in Gaza, particularly due to Washington’s continued fueling of the Israeli war effort with funds and munitions.

Obese Americans have flocked to weight loss drugs, such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound. Surging demand for both drugs has led to shortages across the country. 

Bloomberg spoke with nine pharmacists and technicians at CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart in six states, who said Zepbound was on backorder.

Shannon Lucero failed to fill her Zepbound prescription at eight pharmacies in San Diego, California. One pharmacy responded and said the GLP-1 drug was out of stock until the end of the first week of April. 

In Monroe, Michigan, Rachael Altenburg spent days searching for pharmacies to fill her order for the weight loss drug. 

Angela Fitch, who operates an obesity clinic in Boston, said the supply situation for GLP-1 drugs is painful for patients and doctors due to limited supply and soaring demand. 

“Patients are mad at my staff, my staff are upset,” Fitch said in an interview, adding one of her patients had to spend the day and call pharmacies around the Boston metro area, and after hours of calling, finally found one that could fill her prescription. 

“It’s like The Hunger Games,” she said, adding, “Well, actually more like the anti-Hunger Games.”

Goldman analysts recently told clients that upwards of 15 million Americans could be on GLP-1 drugs by the end of the decade. Other Wall Street analysts forecast the weight loss drug market could be worth $100 billion by 2030. 

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have communicated to investors that production of their GLP-1 drugs will be ramped up after a round of new investments into production facilities this year. 

“We cannot supply to an uptake that just continues growing,” Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told investors during a conference call earlier this month. He said lower-strength starter doses for the US market are necessary to safeguard supplies for current patients. 

Despite patient reports and pharmacies telling Bloomberg that Zepbound supplies are either low on stock or out, an FDA spokesperson said, based on the current information from Lilly, “there is currently adequate supply” of the weight loss drug. 

It seems like the American healthcare system’s only solution to obesity is a miracle drug. After all, there’s no money for big pharma and doctors to tell obese folks that eating healthy and working out is a safe alternative to taking drugs. 

Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

So the Deep State is good, but the Total Surveillance State is even better.

The Deep State and The Total Surveillance State are viewed unfavorably for self-evident reasons: the unelected Deep State is anathema to democracy and the Total Surveillance State (and its oh-so-profitable handmaiden, Surveillance Capitalism) are anathema to democracy, freedom and personal liberty.

Let’s play devil’s advocate and consider the positives of the Deep State and the Total Surveillance State. As devil’s advocates we must set aside our negative emotions and assessments, and conjure up a case for favoring the Deep State and the Total Surveillance State.

A recent attempt to cast a favorable light on the Deep State breezily conflates public/civil service with the Deep State, a purposeful misdirection of the definition of the Deep State: the Deep State is not the sum total of public/civil servants or federal employees; it is the unelected governmental structure that makes decisions on behalf of the nation’s citizenry without their knowledge, input or approval.

It Turns Out the ‘Deep State’ Is Actually Kind of Awesome (NYT.com)

The Deep State’s job is to keep the Imperial Project humming along regardless of whomever has been elected to the Presidency or Congress. The protocols of the Republic require some appearance of oversight by the elected branches of the state over the unelected branches of the state, but elected officials aren’t about to shut down the Imperial Project–the maintenance and expansion of all forms of cultural, economic, financial, diplomatic and military power, a.k.a. soft and hard power. Oversight boils down to “don’t do anything which embarrasses us optically.”

The positive potential of the Deep State lies in the asymmetry of competence and functionality between the elected and unelected branches of the state. If the elected state devolves into a circus of incompetence, PR charades, self-aggrandizement and dysfunction, then having a competent, well-managed Deep State is a very good thing, as the incompetent, dysfunctional elected state can provide entertainment value without doing irreparable damage to the nation.

The problem, of course, is that since we never really know what the Deep State is up to, it’s impossible to tell if it is operationally competent or not. But since we know the political circus is dysfunctional and corrupt, the possibility that the Deep State is still competent and less compromised by corruption is cheering.

A recent video posted by an American visiting China made a splash by summarizing the positive changes that have transformed China in the past five years. The 7 major ways China has changed between 2019 and 2024. The seven positive systemic changes: 1) widespread automation of services and transactions, 2) rise of EVs (electric vehicles); 3) cleaner air; 4) public behavior is “more civilized” (given China’s role as a wellspring of civilization, I would rephrase this as “more courteous”); 5) fewer foreigners; 6) manufacturers are selling directly to consumers, and 7) everything is more harmonious and better.

While extolling the advance of public courtesy, comparing it favorably to famously polite and well-ordered Japan, Mr. Hart mentions public campaigns promoting civil behaviors and the role of automation in reducing the opportunities for ripping off consumers.

He did not mention the primary driver of improved public behavior, China’s transformation into a Total Surveillance State, the happy marriage of Surveillance Capitalism and the Surveillance State, in which millions of cameras record and identify citizens’ behaviors, and those who break the rules find their ability to buy a train or airline ticket has been rescinded, or they get a friendly invitation from the local police to “come by for tea” to receive a suggestion to clean up one’s act lest life becomes much less pleasant and much more difficult.

Where rudely cutting in line once generated no real consequence, now it does. So cutting in line now offers a very poor risk-return ratio: the gain is minimal compared to the potential costs / consequences. Given humans’ keen alertness to windfalls, gains and losses, cutting in line is no longer a common transgression.

It is thus unsurprising that the public broadly approves of the Surveillance State’s social credit system penalizing anti-social behavior. Bad behavior diminishing benefits everyone, and it provides employment to all those public servants staffing local police stations, monitoring video, screening social media, and so on. What’s not to like?

The tricky part, of course, is who gets to define anti-social behavior? Those in charge of the Total Surveillance State tend to view criticism of their efforts as undeserved ingratitude, and so criticism of the Surveillance State becomes a form of anti-social behavior that must be stamped out.

Other potential threats to those in charge slide easily into the programming of automation and surveillance, and so dissatisfaction is no longer expressed in action (protests, etc.) but inaction: people drop out of being productively employed, marrying and having children.

There are many reasons for the collapse of marriage and birth rates in East Asia and elsewhere, but courteous public behavior, automation, EVs, cleaner skies, factory-to-consumer supply chains and a well-ordered society don’t seem to have the power to reverse this mass opting out.

So the Deep State is good, but the Total Surveillance State is even better. Everyone obeys the rules, society becomes harmonious, and for reasons that escape those in charge, people give up on work, marriage and having children. Other than that, it’s all blue skies for Deep States and Total Surveillance States.

Deep States and Total Surveillance States share one consequential structural characteristic:

*  *  *

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The federal government authorized $60 million for salvage efforts for the 1.6-mile-long Francis Scott Key Bridge at the Port of Baltimore, which collapsed on Tuesday after being struck by a large container ship. A massive CIA-linked floating crane has arrived in Baltimore, Maryland, along with other cranes, and it will soon begin clearing the mangled bridge from the shipping channel, which has paralyzed the entire port.  

The salvage operation may not begin as seamlessly as government officials hoped. As Captain John Konrad, CEO of gCaptain, a website specializing in tracking the shipping industry, states, the 984-foot Singapore-flagged container ship Dali is apparently “sitting atop a high-pressure underwater gas line.” 

“Sources at ICS reports ship salvage effort will likely be delayed while line is surveyed and additional risk can be assessed,” Konrad wrote on social media platform X. 

BREAKING: MV DALI IS POTENTIALLY SITTING ATOP HIGH PRESSURE UNDERWATER GAS LINE

Source at ICS reports ship salvage effort will likely be delayed while line is surveyed and additional risk can be assessed

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 30, 2024

He said, “The weight of steel/concrete pinning down bow of the vessel is estimated to be 3-4 thousand tons.” 

weight of steel/concrete pinning down bow of the vessel is estimated to be 3-4 thousand tons

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 30, 2024

Konrad reported this late Friday night. He said this news will soon be released on the “state of Maryland’s website.” 

No. That’s why is breaking news

But was told it will be posted to the state of Maryland’s website

— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) March 30, 2024

The National Pipeline Mapping System database shows Konrad is correct about an underwater natural gas pipeline under the bridge. 

Here’s a regional view of the NatGas pipeline network. 

Besides fears about salvage delays, there are mounting structural concerns about the vessel’s hull and whether it’s still seaworthiness. 

Next week, President Biden will travel to the Francis Scott Key Bridge. Biden has been criticized for not visiting disaster sites in a timely fashion, including the toxic train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. 

Authored by Mike Shedlock via mishtalk.com,

The Biden administration just issued a new directive. If 25 percent of a school is low income, then everybody gets a free lunch.

Free Lunch for Everybody

The Wall Street Journal comments on Biden’s Free Lunch for Rich Kids

There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but the Biden administration insists otherwise. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to provide free lunches to children—including many whose parents earn six-figure incomes—year-round.

As usual, this story begins with a supposedly temporary program. As schools closed in 2020, Congress allowed states to send extra payments to families whose children qualified for free and reduced-price school lunches. The following year, it added summer payments to the package, depositing money directly onto families’ electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, cards, which are used for food stamps. Finally, in December 2022, Congress made this “Summer EBT” program permanent—beginning in mid-2024. The USDA would automatically enroll millions of families and create a separate, means-tested application process for others.

The White House is now exceeding what Congress intended. In September 2023, the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service finalized a rule that expands the number of students who qualify for reduced lunches during the school year.

[New Rule] If a mere 25% of a public school’s students meet the requirements, 100% of its students will be eligible to receive the benefit. The rule imposes no income limits, meaning middle- and upper-class children will get subsidized meals. The Biden administration also is preparing to add the summer months to the expansion.

No Means Testing, Just Free

Biden’s goal is free lunches for everybody, including summer programs, and he just found a way to do it for all the big cities.

Rich suburbs and parochial schools may be on the outside, but that’s about it.

The cost of this boondoggle is not yet known, but it will cost something, at least tens of billions of dollars. And with that, Biden just usurped power that belongs to Congress.

These executive orders and administrative rulings by decree have been very difficult to challenge because of standing.

A Question of Standing

Before the Supreme Court will hear a case, it must find that the parties have a tangible interest at stake in the matter, the issue presented must be “mature for judicial resolution” or ripe, and a justiciable issue must remain before the court throughout the course of the lawsuit. The final point means there must be a clear, easy remedy.

The Court has ruled that taxpayers do not have standing, nor do third parties not directly involved. It is on this point many lawsuits fail.

Who Has Standing Here?

Conventional wisdom suggests no one has standing in these maddening decrees.

I am not a constitutional lawyer (nor lawyer of any kind), but logic says this is an easy case to pursue, and with this set of Supreme Court justices, arguably winnable.

Q: So, who has standing by my reasoning?
A: Anyone in Congress.

Congress has a “tangible interest at stake in the matter” because Biden repeatedly and flagrantly usurps budget powers that the Constitution says reside with Congress, not the executive branch.

I await the day a Senator or House member files suit in a friendly district and wins. The ruling will be challenged in an unfriendly appeals court and the Supreme Court will have to take the case.

Perhaps this is not the ideal case for reasons I do not understand. But I am positive Biden has provided ample cases. Someone in Congress needs to pick the correct case to fight.

Politically Speaking

Politically speaking, the timing may not be correct.

People like perceived free lunches even though someone always has to pay for them.

The Left Is Suddenly Going to Like a Supreme Court Abortion Ruling

The question of standing also came up yesterday.

For discussion, please see The Left Is Suddenly Going to Like a Supreme Court Abortion Ruling

Standing is a copout though. I expect a wider ruling.

This will benefit Trump by taking some of the steam over the Dodd decision if he either stays out of it or better yet says the matter is up to the courts.

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Brownstone Institute,

On May 5, 2021, White House press secretary Jen Psaki issued a mob-like warning to social-media companies and information distributors generally. They need to get with the program and start censoring critics of COVID policy. They need to amplify government propaganda. After all, it would be a shame if something would happen to these companies.

These were her exact words:

“The president’s view is that the major platforms have a responsibility related to the health and safety of all Americans to stop amplifying untrustworthy content, disinformation and misinformation, especially related to Covid-19 vaccinations and elections. And we’ve seen that over the past several months. Broadly speaking, I’m not placing any blame on any individual or group. We’ve seen it from a number of sources. He also supports better privacy protections and a robust antitrust program. So, his view is that there’s more that needs to be done to ensure that this type of misinformation, disinformation, damaging, sometimes life threatening information is not going out to the American public.”

On the face of it, the antitrust action against Apple is about their secure communications network. The Justice Department wants the company to share their services with other networks. As with so many other antitrust actions in history, this is really about the government’s taking sides in competitive disputes between companies, in this case Samsung and other smartphone providers. They resent the way Apple products all work together. They want that changed.

The very notion that the government is trying to protect consumers in this case is preposterous. Apple is a success not because they are exploitative but because they make products that users like, and they like them so much that they buy ever more. It’s not uncommon that a person gets an iPhone and then a Macbook, an iPad, and then AirPods. All play well together.

The Justice Department calls this anticompetitive even though competing is exactly the source of Apple’s market strength. That has always been true. Yes, there is every reason to be annoyed at the company’s hammer-and-tongs enforcement of its intellectual property. But their IP is not the driving force of the company’s success. Its products and services are.

Beyond that, there is a darker agenda here. It’s about bringing new media into the government propaganda fold, exactly as Psaki threatened. Apple is a main distributor of podcasts in the country and world, just behind Spotify (which is foreign controlled). There are 120 million podcast listeners in the United States, far more than pay attention to regime media in total.

If the ambition is to control the public mind, something must be done to get those under control. It’s not enough just to nationalize Facebook and Google. If the purpose is to end free speech as we know it, they have to go after podcasting too, using every tool that is available.

Antitrust is one tool they have. The other is the implicit threat to take away Section 230 that grants legal liability to social networks that immunize them against what would otherwise be a torrent of litigation. These are the two main guns that government can hold to the head of these private communications companies. Apple is the target in order to make the company more compliant.

All of which gets us to the issue of the First Amendment. There are many ways to violate laws on free speech. It’s not just about sending a direct note with a built-in threat. You can use third parties. You can invoke implicit threats. You can depend on the awareness that, after all, you are the government so it is hardly a level playing field. You can embed employees and pay their salaries (as was the case with Twitter). Or, in the case of Psaki above, you can deploy the mob tactic of reminding companies that bad things may or may not happen if they persist in non-compliance.

Over the last 4 to 6 years, governments have used all these methods to violate free speech rights. We are sitting on tens of thousands of pages of proof of this. What seemed like spotty takedowns of true information has been revealed as a vast machinery now called the Censorship Industrial Complex involving dozens of agencies, nearly one hundred universities, and many foundations and nonprofit organizations directly or indirectly funded by government.

You would have to be willfully blind not to see the long-run ambition. The goal is a mass reversion to the past, a world like we had in the 1970s with three networks and limited information sources about anything going on in government. Back then, people did not know what they did not know. That’s how effective the system was. It came about not entirely because of active censorship but because of technological limitations.

The information age is called that because it blew up the old system, offering hope of a new world of universal distribution of ever more information about everything, and promising to empower billions of users themselves to become distributors. That’s how the company YouTube got its name: everyone could be a TV producer.

That dream was hatched in the 1980s, gained great progress in the 1990s and 2000s, and began fundamentally to upend government structures in the 2010s. Following Brexit and the election of Donald Trump in 2016—two major events that were not supposed to happen—a deep establishment said that’s enough. They scapegoated the new systems of information for disrupting the plans of decades and reversing the planned course of history.

The ambition to control every nook and cranny of the internet sounds far-flung but what choice do they have? This is why this machinery of censorship has been constructed and why there is such a push to have artificial intelligence (AI) take over the job of content curation. In this case, machines alone do the job without human intervention, making litigation nearly impossible.

The Supreme Court has the chance to do something to stop this but it’s not clear that many Justices even understand the scale of the problem or the Constitutional strictures against it. Some seem to think that this is only about the right of government officials to pick up the phone and complain to reporters about their coverage. That is absolutely not the issue: content curation affects hundreds of millions of people, not just those posting but those reading too.

Still, if there is some concern about the supposed rights of government actors, there is a clear solution offered by David Friedman: post all information and exhortations about topics and content in a public forum. If the Biden or Trump administration has a preference for how social media should behave, it is free to file a ticket like everyone else and the recipient can and should make it and the response public.

This is not an unreasonable suggestion, and it should certainly figure into any judgment made by the Supreme Court. The federal government has always put out press releases. That’s a normal part of functioning. Bombarding private companies with secret takedown notices and otherwise deploying a huge plethora of intimidation tactics should not even be permitted.

Is there muscle behind the growing push for censorship? Certainly there is. This reality is underscored by the Justice Department’s antitrust actions against Apple. The mask of such official actions is now removed.

Just as the FDA and CDC became marketing and enforcement arms of Pfizer and Moderna, so too the Justice Department is now revealed as a censor and industrial promoter of Samsung. This is how captured agencies with hegemonic ambitions operate, not in the public interest but in the private interest of some industries over others and always with the goal of reducing the freedom of the people.