{"id":2206182,"date":"2024-03-26T03:28:02","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T07:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-free-speech-doesnt-survive-ruling-class-demagoguery-neither-will-democracy\/"},"modified":"2024-03-26T03:33:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-26T07:33:05","slug":"if-free-speech-doesnt-survive-ruling-class-demagoguery-neither-will-democracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-free-speech-doesnt-survive-ruling-class-demagoguery-neither-will-democracy\/","title":{"rendered":"Without the preservation of free speech, democracy cannot endure under the influence of ruling class demagoguery"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fif-free-speech-doesnt-survive-ruling-class-demagoguery-neither-will-democracy%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2206182&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses Meg Whitman&#8217;s views on democracy, focusing on its endurance and vulnerabilities, particularly\u200d in \u2062America. It highlights the perceived threats to democracy and free speech posed by ruling elites,\u2062 citing examples from \u2063recent events. The narrative raises concerns about the erosion of democratic principles worldwide due to\u2063 elite demagoguery and authoritarian actions.\u200d The article delves into Meg Whitman&#8217;s insights on democracy, shedding light on its resilience \u200dand susceptibilities, especially in the American\u200b context. \u200cIt \u2064underscores the dangers to democracy and freedom of speech attributed to elitist influences, drawing on contemporary illustrations. \u200cThe piece expresses apprehensions about the\u200d global decline of democratic \u2064values due to elitist manipulation and authoritarian\u200d tendencies.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Back in 2016, former eBay and Hewlett-Packard CEO (and, of course, failed California gubernatorial candidate) Meg Whitman gave a stirring <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2016\/08\/clinton-woos-republicans-wins-over-meg-whitman.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview<\/a> to The New York Times about democracy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Democracies, Whitman said, have rarely lasted longer than a few hundred years, with the implication being that for America, which will celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026, the clock is ticking. Whitman said anybody who thought American democracy would last forever was being na\u00efve.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2125666386\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7e9c4e37578db029de91956688258e0b fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-7e9c4e37578db029de91956688258e0b\"><\/div>\n<p>Of course, at the time, Whitman was talking about Donald Trump, the \u201cdemagogue\u201d that elites from both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/canadian-parliament-votes-unanimously-to-recognize-chinas-genocide\/\" title=\"Canadian Parliament Votes Unanimously To Recognize China\u2019s Genocide\">major political parties<\/a> said would drag America away from a constitutional republic and toward dictatorship \u2014 the bogeyman that even enlightened Republicans like Whitman refused to support.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They were wrong: Despite his flaws, Trump was never a threat to democracy. He did not cancel elections like some claimed he would do. He did not crack down on civil liberties. When he did go too far, America\u2019s institutions \u2014 especially the courts \u2014 checked those abuses. California <a href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/california\/story\/2020-08-28\/california-100-lawsuits-trump-administration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed<\/a> more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration. That\u2019s the way American government is supposed to work.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For good measure, voting rights also expanded while Trump was president. More people voted in the 2020 presidential election than any other election in American history.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Whitman was right: American democracy is under attack. All Western democracies are under attack. And we shouldn\u2019t assume they\u2019ll survive. But Trump is not the threat. The elites themselves are the threat. They are the demagogues. And their hypocrisy and hierarchy are undermining the very institutions they purport to support.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10db4573fc53753c8a106e3a35b70802 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-10db4573fc53753c8a106e3a35b70802\"><\/div>\n<p>The Democrat Party\u2019s blatantly political prosecutions of Trump and Trump associates \u2014 done while fretting about Trump using the DOJ to target his political opponents if he wins this year \u2014 are the most obvious and chilling examples. They crossed a Rubicon from which we may never recover. But other examples abound.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One was on display last week at the U.S. Supreme Court, as multiple justices <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/03\/22\/what-scotus-should-have-heard-on-federal-censorship-in-murthy-v-missouri-oral-arguments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">made excuses<\/a> for the federal government\u2019s effort to remove dissenting viewpoints from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/well-be-watching-more-than-200-high-profile-women-demand-big-tech-stop-pandemic-of-online-abuse-against-women-and-girls\/\" title=\"\u2018We\u2019ll Be Watching\u2019: More Than 200 High-Profile Women Demand Big Tech Stop \u2018Pandemic Of Online Abuse Against Women And Girls\u2019\">digital town square<\/a>. It was chilling to listen to the court\u2019s three Democrats \u2014 women who, just a few generations ago, would not have been allowed to vote, much less sit on that bench \u2014 talk about how the law should be interpreted to protect the government when it tries to silence its critics. I wonder what dissidents like Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. would think of that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, last week was as bad a week as we have ever seen for free speech. It started with the disastrous <em>Murthy <\/em>arguments but was followed by a shocking story about Scotland\u2019s new Hate Crime Act. That law, which was enacted in 2021 but has yet to be enforced, criminalizes the act of \u201cstirring up hatred.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What does that mean? Apparently, local police get to decide, and the victims get to play an outsized role in that decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-53f7f076f91cc7bc7109efdb37c1ad21 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-53f7f076f91cc7bc7109efdb37c1ad21\"><\/div>\n<p>The law\u2019s vague language and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/watch-this-will-decimate-policing-as-we-know-it-detroit-police-chief-tears-into-george-floyd-justice-in-policing-act\/\" title=\"WATCH: \u2018This Will Decimate Policing As We Know It\u2019: Detroit Police Chief Tears Into George Floyd Justice In Policing Act\">knee-jerk reaction<\/a> to anything alleged victims complain about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiked-online.com\/2024\/03\/22\/scotlands-hate-crime-act-is-an-authoritarian-monstrosity\/\">endangers everybody<\/a>, including Scotland\u2019s most famous thought criminal, J.K. Rowling. The <em>Harry Potter<\/em> author correctly believes there are only two sexes: male and female. She believes, correctly, that the trans activism so in style with the elites often impinges on women\u2019s rights. Like many, she often says so. Unlike many, she has the money and clout to (for the most part) avoid the cancel culture that silences other dissidents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So now law enforcement may be coming after her, with The Telegraph revealing a Scottish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.telegraph.co.uk\/news\/2024\/03\/20\/police-accused-of-attacking-jk-rowling-at-lgbt-event\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">police training exercise<\/a> centered on a \u201cfictional\u201d writer named \u201cJo\u201d who makes public comments like \u201cthere are only two genders.\u201d Being accused of a hate crime for stating a scientific fact must be the peak of wokeness.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t assume the crackdown on speech is limited to small countries with overeducated bureaucrats like Scotland and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/jonathan-turley-warns-canada-doubling-down-push-restrict-free-speech-not-likely-end-there\">Canada<\/a>, either. Take Germany. That European democracy is in trouble, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.trtdeutsch.com\/politik-inland\/umfrage-schock-76-prozent-unzufrieden-mit-ampel-regierung-16649488\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">some three-quarters<\/a> of Germans saying they do not like Chancellor Olaf Scholz\u2019s regime, the highest level of German discontent reported this century.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How did the German elites respond? They proposed something called a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spiked-online.com\/2024\/03\/23\/germanys-dangerous-crackdown-on-dissent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cDemocracy Promotion Bill.\u201d<\/a> Sounds nice, but the bill mostly focuses on fighting \u201cextremism\u201d in arbitrary ways like creating an online portal where Germans can report their fellow citizens for conservative speech such as saying, you guessed it, \u201cThere are only two sexes.\u201d The Stasi must be smiling somewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This crackdown on free speech represents the most egregious assault on human rights since World War II. And it exposes the hypocrisy of the elites who champion it. After all, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/en\/about-us\/universal-declaration-of-human-rights#:~:text=Article%252019,media%2520and%2520regardless%2520of%2520frontiers.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to the UN<\/a>, that bastion of elite globalism, \u201cEveryone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Not anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Of course, the criminalization of free speech is not the only example of elite hierarchy. These are also the people who crow about trusting \u201cscience\u201d but refuse to acknowledge the scientific fact that there are only two sexes, no matter how somebody feels inside. They are the ones who drone on about voting rights while trying to keep their political opponents off the ballot. (And, no, I am not talking just about Trump but about anybody who challenges the status quo, including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2024\/01\/12\/federal-judge-rejects-attempt-to-place-dean-phillips-on-florida-primary-ballot-00135417\">Democrats<\/a>.) They are the ones who lecture us about civility but show incredible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=TwVrg6UtxXQ\">vitriol<\/a> to those who disagree with them. The ones who fret about corruption while their own family members <a href=\"https:\/\/oversight.house.gov\/the-bidens-influence-peddling-timeline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rake in millions<\/a> from shady foreigners. The ones who crow about bodily autonomy when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sacbee.com\/news\/politics-government\/capitol-alert\/article262863783.html\">on-demand abortions<\/a> are at stake but are the most aggressive in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.ca.gov\/2021\/10\/01\/california-becomes-first-state-in-nation-to-announce-covid-19-vaccine-requirements-for-schools\/\">pushing<\/a> Covid shots on those who don\u2019t want them.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>No wonder ordinary people across the Western world are unhappy. That\u2019s why the crackdown on free speech is so dangerous. How can people gather, organize, and kick the elites out of office without it?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t. And that\u2019s why we need to rally against this crackdown now. America is the most successful democratic government in human history. It has spawned democratic governments across the world. But it won\u2019t last forever. The first freedom falling may be the last straw.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0a692d88355fb0cf960116de577fad17 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0a692d88355fb0cf960116de577fad17\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a 2016 interview with The New York Times, former eBay and Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman discussed democracy, highlighting its historical longevity. Whitman noted that democracies often endure for only a few hundred years. As America nears its 250th anniversary in 2026, the conversation about the sustainability of democracy gains renewed relevance<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1334,"featured_media":2206183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screenshot-2024-03-25-at-2.07.54%E2%80%AFPM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2206182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Screenshot-2024-03-25-at-2.07.54%E2%80%AFPM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1334"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2206182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2206183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2206182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2206182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2206182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}