I remember when people derided the very notion of "vaccine passports"... and now we have them. There's video footage of various politicians and government officials saying mandatory vaccinations would not come to pass or even be constitutional... and now we're here. There's plenty of lies and misinformation that multiple outlets spread that get a pass. Incessant war propaganda comes to mind. While I don't believe in flat earth, or astrology, or faked moon landings, I don't see silencing those voices as a positive development. If the Covid debate is about the harm misinformation can do, then I want the standard applied uniformly.

@WilliamCharles I really don't see what the fuss is for about vaccinating for Covid. In the USA school systems, various inoculations have been mandatory for any child who wants to attend a public school. It has been this way for as long as I can remember, and I'm pretty fucking old. The anti-vax stance on this particular vaccination is so politically driven that there is no mistaking it. It's irresponsible to fail to vax up for people who are physically able to do so.

@Deb57 - I'm anti-mandate on this. Body autonomy is important and there's enough legitimate concern over this one that the choice needs to be up to the individual. Plus, the fact that it's mutating to a point where it is becoming endemic also factors in.

If the US government was serious about their concern being the health and lives of its citizens, they could enact universal healthcare. Instead, they chose to further strain people's financial well-being with their pandemic measures with little safety net.

@WilliamCharles I'm anti mandate, too. But I still judge the hell out of people who spread misinformation and who choose to spread a potentially deadly virus, rather than get the jabs and take the simple precautions. It shows an unforgivable level of selfishness, irresponsibility, and cowardice.

@Deb57 - I'm for conversations where people are willing to concede when in error. Bring on opposing views. Have them face off in real time. Fact check on the spot. Mostly what I see is guilt by association. Our MSM gladly turns people into Emmanuel Goldsteins on a regular basis. When I see finger-wagging by the likes of MSNBC who host the likes of "Bloody Bill" Kristol on a regular basis (so much blood on his hands) or any other Rethuglican POS as long as they talk ill about the Orange Shitstain, I seriously want to hurl. To trust these people to act with integrity is a grave mistake. I hate bagging on Biden all the time because "our" shitheads are slightly less rapacious than their shitheads, but the irony of Jim Crow Joe making his campaign largely about what a liar the Cheeto Benito is was laughable. Joe's got a long track record of lies including those that had him dropping out of the '88 primary (and he hasn't improved with age). Lying less than the other candidate (particularly less than the Mango Manchild) is a low bar indeed.

@WilliamCharles Indeed. I agree with all of this, although I don't watch any of the 24 hour news networks, so I miss all the opinions disguised as truths from all directions. Bias is never helpful. When I want to know what government officials are doing in our government, I watch CSPAN.

Personally, if one was to do the research it would not surprise me to find that the Conservatives are behind wanting to get him off the air, he does not support Trump. He has said so many times and he did not vote for him.

A Ministry of Truth is always a bad precedent. The arena of ideas should be a free-for-all. Call out lies to be sure, but silencing voices creates its own set of problems. Wasn't it Washington Post that had a regular presidential fact checker column for the Orange Shitstain, but discontinued it for Creepy Addled Jim Crow Joe?

@williamcharles if you want to call it that we used to have a ministry of truth... Then republicans got rid of it and fox news was born.....

@Redneckliberal - I'm all for bringing back equal time.

@WilliamCharles A "Ministry Of Truth" would be a government institution, not a private organization.

@FearlessFly - During the Hollywood Blacklist, it wasn't the government that censored these artists directly, but rather fearful studios essentially doing their bidding. Tech giants in many ways are repeating this pattern, particularly in their use and applications of algorithms.

@WilliamCharles Your OP is a (Greenwald opinion) blog. (confirmation bias? )
. . . so far no verifiable/credible source(s) for "fearful studios doing their bidding" or "repeating their bidding"

@FearlessFly

"The blacklist really did exist. It was an organized effort to remove people from the movie industry for their political opinions, and the federal government played a major role in launching it. Anyone who cares about free expression should object to that sort of censorship by proxy, both as it manifested itself in the early days of the Cold War and as it threatens to re-emerge in social media today."

[reason.com]

@WilliamCharles . . . I hadn't made the Blacklist connection . . .
The Cold War/Red Scare was a huge fear back in the day.
I dubious of the Blacklist <---> Big Tech giants 'repeating this pattern' 'analogy'.

@FearlessFly - You continue to make my point. It was a huge fear... yet being a member of the communist party wasn't illegal. Despite this, people were sanctioned.

"First they came for the communists... "

~ Martin Niemöller

@FearlessFly - Tech giants are indeed distorting the debate in many ways as they exercise their control. If it's dismissed as merely something they are free to do as private companies expect an increase of more of the same.