Matt Taibbi is not someone I would have praised if someone had asked me about him two years ago. I didn’t know much about Taibbi. I knew he was a Rolling Stone writer and had written some things I found offensive. I knew that our political views were worlds apart.
Then came the Twitter Files. Taibbi’s first report on the Twitter Files in December 2022 made me pay more attention to him. Although we may have different views, I realized that he, too, believed in freedom of speech and was willing to stand up for it when others were afraid. I started listening to “America This Week”, which quickly became a part of my Saturday morning routine.
In the long run, I have increasingly agreed with Taibbi’s co-host Walter Kirn. Although we may not have the same political views, we do share many of the same core values. I have also grown to respect Taibbi for his earnest belief in America’s founding principles, and his disbelief that his profession is currently at a low point.
Taibbi, among many other speakers, was featured at the “Rescue the Republic”, an event that took place in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Other speakers were Bret Weinstein, Jordan Peterson, Tulsi Gabrielbard, Robert Malone, Senator Ron Johnson (R – WI), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Russell Brand, Lara Logan, the mentioned Walter Kirn, as well as others.
You can watch the entire video here. The video below has been paused at the start of Taibbi’s speech. Warning: The end contains some salacious language.
I hope you’re watching
This is getting Pentecostal
Rescue The Republic – Join The Resistancec https://t.co/AHTGb0qyTC
— Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) September 29, 2024
It’s one of the terms that will soon be extinct. “Freedom of Speech” is often described as a stallion for hatred and discrimination. The UN High Commissioner Volker Turk told Elon Musk, “Freedom is not a pass”. In “reputable” media, speech is only mentioned as a potential vector of the informational illness known as misinformation.
The goal is not to control speech. Already, they’re doing it. The goal is to make us forget that we ever said anything.
After that, I realized that every American had a bit of an a**hole. William Blake once said: “Always speak your mind, and a baseman will avoid you.” Many struggle with this idea. Americans are born with this knowledge.
I saw the same trick in that restaurant. Someone is always trying to make someone feel bad about their weaknesses and their mistakes. Do not let it bring you down. Give it back.
Which is why I say: Kerry, Hayden, Cheney, Adam Schiff, Craig Newmark, Reid Hoffman, Pierre Omidyar, Leon Panetta, and especially that Time editor turned self-appointed censor Rick Stengel should be packed in a rocket and launched into the f***ing sun.
Be clear about your language. Madison, a famous example, refused to use the words tolerance or toleration when it came to religion. He preferred the words freedom or liberty instead. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was based on this, and the Bill of Rights followed. It’s because of this that we have freedom of expression, not “toleration” of religion or speech. The right words at the right time.
To those who suggest that voices should be ignored, because they encourage mistrust or skepticism towards authority or are obstructing a consensus: I am not encouraging you to be skeptical of the authority. I encourage you to DEFY the authority. This is the time to use that word.
All those Snoops and Nosey Parkers sitting in their Homeland Security-funded “Centers of Excellence” telling us that we must vote and think the way they say, or we are traitorous fascists who love Putin and promote “dangerous disinformation.”
Motherf***er! I am an American. This s**t doesn’t work on me. How can you question my patriotism when you are sitting on Klaus Schwab’s knee, apologizing to a group of Europeans for the First Amendment? You should look in the mirror.
I’m not the problem. We’re not the problem.
You’re the problem.
YOU SUCK.
Thank you.
Taibbi’s speech hit all the right chords, with a nod towards our history, history of freedom of speech, the Gospel of John, and the power of words — and Word. He captured what it is to be a quintessentially American — to be a free person.
