Episode 22 Show Notes- Troubling Trends in America & Calling Out the News Media

 

Episode Description

In this episode, Professor Giordano examines some troubling trends within the United States. Examining the latest data, more and more Americans are turning against the founding principles of America. From amending the idea of free speech to the rise of socialism, there are many seeking to undo what makes America great. Compounding the problem is an advocacy news media seeking to promote an ideology rather than facts. It is time sound the alarm, and insure our basic liberties are protected. Visit The PAS Report.

Intro

Welcome everyone to another episode of The PAS Report Weekly Roundup Podcast. This is your host Nick Giordano.

This is an important episode and we are going to highlight some very troubling trends within the United States. One of the most profound questions will be are these trends just blips in a moment in time or is there something bigger going on? How do we preserve a system that has served us well for 230 years against those that seek power and control? What are our responsibilities in this great country?

As always, if you want to see the show notes go to thepasreport.com.

A quick note on impeachment

Speaker Pelosi has announced that she would be holding a formal impeachment inquiry vote on Thursday. This is a result of failed leadership and a flawed impeachment process from the start. Everything should have been public from the beginning. I will reserve any judgement until the actual resolution is released and I can read it.

However, the resolution should clearly make it a fair process in line with previous impeachments proceedings. In addition, any testimony that was done should be released immediately, and those witnesses should be called back to testify in public. We will see where it goes, but I think so much damage has been done, and the process has been tainted from the start. I’m not sure you can undo that. And the fact that Schiff will still lead the inquiry tells me nothing is really going to change.

Media & ISIS

First, I want to congratulate and thank the brave men and women of our armed services for the daring raid and the killing of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi over the weekend. This was a great victory for the United States and the world, and it cannot be emphasized enough.

So now the important question is what happens next with ISIS. Al-Qaeda is an organization designed to withstand the loss of a leader. They have clear succession policies, and they know who is in-line next.

While ISIS was born out of al-Qaeda, its structure is not as clear. Al-Baghdadi was the Caliphate. He was the organization’s soul. This is a fairly young organization, and all they have known is al-Baghdadi as their leader. While I have no illusion that ISIS has been destroyed, and they certainly have a succession policy as well, the two questions are who takes over, and now that the al-Baghdadi is dead, do some seek to abandon the organization?

We know the answer of who takes over. Reports have it that Abdullah Qardash, a former military officer under Saddam Hussein, will be the new leader of ISIS. (Newsweek) While we know who the leader is, we do not know whether he will command the loyalty and respect of ISIS fighters. Time will tell what happens with ISIS, but remember, the military victories are important. However, we must destroy the ideology to make radical Islam unappealing and a losing proposition.

Here’s President Trump announcing the death of al-Baghdadi. (Play Clip)

I wish that we could put politics aside and just be grateful for the sacrifices our men and women make day in and day out.

Unfortunately, the media coverage was disgusting to watch. The advocacy news media and the pundits should be ashamed. Instead of them putting aside their hatred of the President, and just stating what a great day it was for our troops, America, and the world, they took the opportunity to bash the President.

Take a listen to Chuck Todd (Play Clip)

And here’s James Winnefeld and Mike Morrell, two former Obama officials (Play Clip)

I mean seriously? I am glad President Trump humiliated al-Baghdadi. We need to show the followers that this is your fate. You will not achieve glory, and you will die in humiliation. I have no qualms about calling al-Baghdadi what he is- a monster and a coward that deserves to burn in the pits of hell.

Some of the writings and headlines were even more disgusting.

The Washington Post headline read, “Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, austere religious scholar at helm of the Islamic State, dies at 48.” They later changed the headline after being called out (The Hill).

A NY Times correspondent Rukimi Callimachi wrote on Twitter, “We are familiar with the atrocities his group carried out & are used to thinking of Baghdadi as a criminal & a thug. But those who knew him as a teen & as a young man described him as having a spiritual gift.” (Twitter)

The Daily Beast headline read, “Donald Trump Turns Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi Killing into a Reality Show.” (The Daily Beast)

A CNN headline reads, “The 41 most shocking lines from Donald Trump’s Baghdadi announcement.” (CNN)

What the hell is wrong with these people? Sadly, I can go on and on. Even when there is good news, when something happens that Americans can be united about, they find a way to divide us. These people are horrible, deranged and don’t realize how much damage they are doing to this country.

They have no problems calling President Trump a traitor, a criminal, someone who has committed treason against the nation, Putin’s lap dog. Yet, when it comes to al-Baghdadi, they say we cannot humiliate one of the biggest mass murderers in history. They say he should be treated with respect so we don’t inflame tensions.

Sorry, but these people would chop off your head if they could. They would burn you alive. Drown you. I don’t need to treat these animals with any respect. We should have never given bin Laden a proper Islamic burial, and I hope they don’t give al-Baghdadi one. Do these morons believe that if President Trump made nice statements about al-Baghdadi that ISIS wouldn’t want to kill us? President Obama tried the respectful approach, and I am not criticizing him, but al-Qaeda still wants to attack and kill.

Troubling Trends
Switching gears, over the last couple of years, I have noticed some troubling trends that need to be examined and called out.

On Thursday, I was reading an article where a study concluded that more than 60-percent of Americans agree on restricting speech, and 51% want to amend the First Amendment. Almost 60% between the ages of 21 and 38 say that the Constitution, “goes too far in allowing hate speech in modern America” and should be rewritten.” And 54% said violators of “hate speech” should face jail time. (The Washington Free Beacon)

This is disturbing on so many levels and coincides with other studies. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education found more than 50% of students want to see educational institutions restrict “intolerant opinions.” (The Washington Examiner)

66% of Americans want social media companies to remove “offensive” content from their platforms. (Pew Research Center)

At the same time, we see this move towards restricting speech, it is important to examine other polls as they are all related to one another.

Gallup poll shows only 47% of people are extremely proud to be Americans. (Gallup)

61% of those between the ages of 18 to 24 have a positive view of socialism, and 55% of women would rather live in a socialist country. (Axios)

A Washington Post study found that 36% of Americans are not proud of how democracy works in the United States. (Washington Post)

70% of millennials say they are likely to vote socialist. Only 57% of millennials believe that the Declaration of Independence provides more freedom and equality over the communist Manifesto. 1 in 3 millennials has a favorable view of communism. (Victims of Communism)

When asked who is the biggest threat to world peace, 27% of millennials selected Donald Trump, 22% selected Kim Jong Un, 15% selected Vladimir Putin, 13% selected Xi Jinping, and 0% selected Nicolas Maduro. (Victims of Communism) Really? President Trump is a bigger threat than Putin? I thought Putin was destabilizing the world.

60% of these same people agreed that “government should be able to take action against newspapers and TV stations that publish content that is biased, inflammatory, or false,” and 46% supported possible jail time. (The Washington Free Beacon) Obviously, we are not producing Einstein’s with the ability to think critically. If they believe that President Trump is the biggest threat to world peace, why would you want to give him power over the media?

10% of millennials believe that President Trump is responsible for more deaths and human rights abuses than Soviet leader Joseph Stalin or Nazi leaders Adolph Hitler. (Victims of Communism)

Why are we seeing this major shift

These polls are directly tied to the failures within our education system. As discussed in the podcast episode, Exploring the Collapse of America’s Education System, which if you haven’t listened to that episode, I suggest you do as the numbers are stunning. Only 11% of graduating seniors are proficient in American History and 23% are proficient in government and civics.

The reason younger generations are souring on the American system is that they don’t know the American system. They don’t realize that they hit the lottery just by being in the United States. I’m not trying to diminish anyone’s real-life problems or say anyone has it easy. However, if you are living in the United States, you are shielded from the ugliness of the world.

You are shielded from the death, destruction, and chaos that exists. You are shielded from the brutal tyrannies. Every day is not the fight for survival as it is in Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, China, Russia, Venezuela, or many other places around the world.

The constant negativity and hostility towards the United States

Americans are consistently bombarded with false information that America is a horrible country founded on the principles of hate and racism. From Native Americans to African Americans, there are those that like to portray America as an evil country.

They fail to put things in context and apply 21^st century standards to people that lived in the past. They present inaccurate, false and misleading arguments like the founding fathers were all racist. But they never tell you that 2/3rds of the founding fathers did not have slaves, and that slavery was abolished fairly early on in the northern states. Americans committed genocide against the Native Americans. What they don’t tell you is that some Native American tribes were allies and became extremely wealthy, while others suffered.

They argue that the system is unfair. You have 1% vs the 99%. They consistently try to pit blacks against whites against Hispanics and vice-versa. They consistently push the narrative that all women are treated unfairly and get paid less than men and that men and women are treated differently. They use simplicity in their arguments and present no depth to back up their claims.

All they do is divide America. This is nothing more than the Saul Alinsky tactics that can be found in Rules for Radicals. Think about it this way. Divide Americans, pit all the classes against each other, make it as if it is the system has been corrupted from the beginning and then they argue to give them the power to build a more just and equitable society.

The tactics are working

The scary part is it seems to be working. Showing disdain for the American political system has now become commonplace. The loudest voices, while in the overwhelming minority, have now become the dominant voices that have given rise to people like Congresswomen AOC, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Senator Bernie Sanders, and morons like Beto O’Rourke. Just ten years ago these people would have been fringe players.

What has happened is conservatives, republicans, and blue dog and moderate democrats, said these people are crazy and their message will never gain traction. Most of them largely ignored these people because they are so radical, no one thought they would be able to make inroads. However, we see the results of staying silent. They are gaining steam. Their message is resonating with entire generations who have not been properly educated on the greatness of America. American exceptionalism has become taboo.

Too many Americans are now willing to give up the freedoms and liberties that previous generations fought so hard to establish and sustain. Previous generations protested, fought and died for our liberties, and you have newer generations, having sacrificed little, saying that what the United States represents isn’t worth it.

The divide and conquer strategy is working. In Federalist 10, Madison warned us about factions. He also warned there will be those that try to divide us along with class.

He wrote, “But the most common and durable source of factions has been the various and unequal distribution of property. Those who hold and those who are without property have ever formed distinct interests in society. Those who are creditors, and those who are debtors, fall under a like discrimination. A landed interest, a manufacturing interest, a mercantile interest, a moneyed interest, with many lesser interests, grow up of necessity in civilized nations, and divide them into different classes, actuated by different sentiments and views.” (Federalist 10)

Same arguments, same results

History is our guide and an important lesson for us all. History is replete with examples of the same arguments and the disastrous results that followed. Class warfare gave rise to the Bolsheviks and the rise of the Soviet Union. The Nazi’s ran on a campaign of socialism, anti-Semitism, and anti-capitalism. They reorganized the education system to promote the idea of collectivism.

We saw it in Cuba with the rise of Fidel Castro, and China with the fall of Chiang Kai-shek. Venezuela with Chavez. Turkey with Erdogan. Slowly chip away at liberty, and by the time you realize it, a tyranny has taken hold.

Warnings of losing Free Speech

Free speech one of the corners of the foundation of our country along with the right to assemble, freedom of religion, and freedom of the press. When you break the foundation, the structure can no longer hold and collapses. The same holds true for our country. As I stated before, we have seen the results of people democratically elected only to curb limits on speech and descend into tyranny.

Free speech is difficult. It means you have to listen to opinions you may not like. That you may disagree with, and you may find offensive. Free speech includes hate speech. I do not condone hate speech or things like racism, but I would rather racists have free speech so we can mock and ostracize them. See I’m confident that I can debate the merits of the issue.

I don’t like how President Trump was booed at the World Series game or that people put up signs about impeachment, but I will defend their right to do it. It’s dumb and disrespectful, but I would rather live in a country where people can express how they feel, rather than being targeted for what they believe.

Too many people do not realize the ramifications of limiting or curbing speech. They don’t realize that it will ultimately be used against them. Who will be the ones to determine what can be said and what can’t be said? Who are the ones who determine what is hate speech or offensive speech? Do you think it won’t be weaponized? Just look at how almost every aspect of our government has been weaponized.

Think about the advances we have made in our society all because of freedom of speech. Idiots say that freedom of speech promotes hate and intolerance. Yet, look at the improvements- freeing the slaves, ending segregation, women gaining their natural rights. These were because of freedom of speech, not in spite of. While we still have some problems, there is less hate, less racism, less bigotry, and less misogyny today than ever before.

The calls to limit speech have nothing to do with hate or offensiveness. The push for socialism begins with the loss of free speech, and quickly moves to curb the limits of a free press. Once again, just look at history. It starts with limits on speech. Then those in the media who dare to do a negative story on the country’s leadership will be shutdown.

Censorship

Free speech is under attack from all angles. It is a sad state of affairs when we have to censor our thoughts and what we want to say because of how it may be perceived or out of fear that people may be offended. I tell my classes that it is my job to ask questions. To press them. To bring up arguments that make them uncomfortable. I explain how I will offend all of my students at some point throughout the semester because that’s part of the real world. There are no safe spaces in the real world.

People are currently using threats of boycotts in order to silence opinions they disagree with. Groups like Sleeping Giants threaten advertisers on conservative platforms as a way to silence those that disagree.

Thankfully there are organizations rising up to fight back. I want to give a shout out to my friend Rick. He started an organization called Giant Slayers. This organization is designed to fight back against Sleeping Giants and censorship. They want to make sure all voices are heard and businesses are free to advertise on whatever platform they want without fear of boycotts. You can follow them on Twitter @GiantSlyers and @Politick_Rick

Closing

It is time that we fight back. For too long, conservatives, Republicans, moderates and blue dog Democrats have been silent as we witness this rise of the extreme far-left. The assault on some of the basic freedoms we have is unprecedented, and by remaining silent, we have allowed for the far-left to put out misinformation which is influencing entire generations.

Many of us are complacent thinking that our way of life cannot be really altered. However, history is replete with examples of democracies chipping away at liberty only to descend into tyrannies.

We have personal responsibilities to protect our ideals and values. While Democrats and Republicans may disagree on the issues, both must be held accountable to uphold the Tenets of the American Creed. This is bigger than political parties.

What have we done in our own individual lives to make our communities and this country a better place? We are morphing into a society that places all the responsibility and burdens on government, and we, as individuals, are no longer involved in civic engagement. Many previous generations made sacrifices in order to strengthen the country. Unfortunately, newer generations have disengaged from our society and the political process.

If our schools aren’t educating our children, then we must be willing to provide education at home. We can no longer rely on the education system. It is incumbent on every parent to teach their children what the school’s are not. Every parent should be instilling the American values within their children. Recognize the bad we have done, and show how we have grown. Highlight the great things our country has done, not only contributing to American greatness but improving the world as well.

Promote the idea of the core American liberties. The liberties given to us by God that our government is sworn to uphold. These groups are making progress, and we cannot allow them to succeed. We should be calling them out and fighting back against this power grab. While it would be very difficult to amend the First Amendment, these people have been successful in forcing us to censor ourselves. They have also forced a myriad of organizations and businesses to condone censorship.

As George Washington once said, “If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”

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As always if there is a topic or issue you would like me to focus on, send an email to podcast@pasreport.com.

Thank you for joining us, stay safe, and I’ll be back next week.

 

 

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