Graham Gerritsen 🔰⬆️

When did we abandon the notion that the antidote to harmful speech is more speech? Counter that with which you disagree with speech that celebrates truth, reason, logic, and evidence. Censorship is disgraceful. Dialectic is critical. Ideas deserve discussion. #FollowTheSilence

@WSJ What is it called when the government owns stakes in private companies?

I can't think of a more glaring and revealing political irony than a politician who called his ideology "America First" proudly *boasting* that he's far more popular in Israel than in his own country: in fact, so popular there that he could be elected Prime Minister of Israel.

The Boomers of Kentucky embarrassed the United States on the world stage today. Around the world, people genuinely wondered: can an American politician survive who doesn't repeat low-IQ platitudes about Israel and the Middle East? The Boomers -- with their heterodox Christianity and FOX News propaganda -- gave their answer. Republican politics is dominated by people who for some reason still think Sean Hannity is a smart guy, and Mark Levin is a constitutional scholar. Pat Buchanan had given them the example of the learned and articulate right-winger -- and Pat was well to the right of Hannity and Levin -- but they decided to go with Tomi Lahren and Dan Bongino instead. Oh, Massie voted this way or that, people will say, and that's why he was targeted in this unprecedented way. Yet there's Donald Trump out there campaigning for pro-amnesty Mike Lawler. So I don't believe you that this is a question of Massie's voting record (which is stellar, by the way). Even if Massie had had a handful of objectionable votes, a million times more important than any Massie vote is this principle: A patriot who values his country's sovereignty cannot allow three socially leftist billionaires who represent a foreign interest to buy a congressional seat and place a ridiculous empty suit in it. Even if for some reason you don't like Massie, you as a patriot would have to dislike THAT a hundred times more. These three billionaires never once set foot in Kentucky -- Kentuckians, to them, are lower than dirt, and exist solely to have congressional seats bought from them. Put up a nonentity like "Ed Gallrein" who refuses to debate (how can any voter reward that?), have him utter a few Boomer slogans to satisfy the rubes, and otherwise hide him away. That was the strategy. Boomers (yes, I know there are exceptions) are too morally and intellectually corrupt even to understand what just happened. But the rest of us understand. Can you imagine "Ed Gallrein" leading the charge against the Covid restrictions? He would have been first in line for the damn "vaccine"! Remember, too, that the folks who voted for "Ed Gallrein" tonight are the kind of people who think Marco Rubio is an impressive person, so there was no reaching them. But the younger generations, who don't get their information from the insulting caricature of conservatism that is FOX News, aren't going to fall for the nonsense that snookered the Boomers -- and therein lies hope. Incidentally, the easiest thing in the world would have been for Massie to buckle. Nobody reading this has the remotest idea the pressure that was brought to bear against him. Not one of his detractors could have lasted a week in Massie's shoes. If Trump can sup in happy concord with Zohran Mamdani, the radical leftist mayor of New York, you'd think he could have spared a meal with Massie, whose track record proved he was not Trump's enemy. Not that you'd know it from the anti-Massie brigade (half of whom used to love Massie before they were instructed not to love him), Massie defended Trump through two impeachments, grilled Merrick Garland over FBI assets on January 6, and defended Trump during Russiagate. By contrast, "Ed Gallrein" left the GOP when Trump was elected, and came back only when Biden was in office. But since we're not completely dense, we know the real reason Massie could not be tolerated. As Glenn Greenwald put it, "If the AIPAC/Adelson crowd wants someone out of Congress for disloyalty to Israel, they will be out of Congress. "There are a few exceptions due to unusual districts, but not many. The Israel Lobby has unlimited funding and will spend limitlessly to expunge the blasphemous." I repeat that no American patriot can tolerate, much less celebrate, this grotesque and demeaning situation. The polls show that this situation won't exist forever. We will reach a point at which the foreign money (and that's obviously what it is) will at last be a mark of shame for the candidate receiving it. That will be a great day for American patriots everywhere. Thomas Massie should hold his head high: he stood up against the machine time and again, knowing that it could one day lead to this. Tonight we have to explain to our kids: in this world, the good guys don't always win. But you fight regardless of the prospects of winning. The fight for what is good and right is an end in itself. For that reason, people will remember the Thomas Massies and the Ron Pauls. Nobody will remember "Ed Gallrein," not even as the answer to a trivia question.

@raefejenkins Vote third party. It's only a lost cause until enough people start to actually vote for the cause. And the more people who "throw their vote away" on third parties the less cost there is for additional voters to join.

If I vote Libertarian, it’s a lost cause If I vote Republican, they’ll only get us in a war If I vote Democrats, this weird LGBT agenda will get pushed on kids and things will get dangerous when men aka “trans women” go into women’s restrooms So what the freak is the solution !!?

Could also support this ticket.

A ticket I could get behind.

@ChaseForLiberty Can't people write in?

I hate to burst a bubble folks, but Massie cant run as an independent or Libertarian in November. Qualifying deadlines have passed and there are sore loser laws that prevent a candidate from running in the general if they lost a primary contest I wish the LPKY had a candidate that thousands of folks who voted for Massie tonight could support, but that option is not available. Absent that choice, voters can stay home, or vote for Gallrein's opponent. Both would send a message.

@SenatorHick You don't think 4 years is enough? You don't think she was punished more for being on the right? Partisanship is killing us.

Tina Peters is guilty as sin and a disgrace to Colorado. She tried to undermine Colorado’s free and fair election system. When she was caught red-handed, she was prosecuted by a Republican district attorney and rightfully convicted by a jury of her peers. Reducing her sentence sends the wrong message to those seeking to undermine trust in our elections and it will do nothing to deter Donald Trump’s illegal attacks on Colorado. I strongly disagree with this decision.

@mtracey What you were calling for was incoherent. You were just loud and provocative. It was ugly.

This guy's gone completely loco, and has started regularly lying about me for some reason, while keeping me blocked so I can't respond directly? Anyone with bare-minimum IQ who actually watched the panel will know I never called for censorship -- I explicitly REJECTED censorship!

@jaredpolis Lol. Bill Kristol isn't pro anything but war.

Welcome to the Democratic Party! The broad tent majority party of freedom, the rule of law, limited government, and protecting all of our constitutional rights!

@jaredpolis @JesseAPaul @Konola4Colorado Hell yeah.

Why would I want to run from it or redefine it? I’ll always stand for free speech and to make sure that we live in a country that no matter what your viewpoints are, you are not incarcerated longer because of them; the very democracy our clerks aspire to protect and defend through capably administering our gold-standard election system.

Blistering reax from Colorado county clerks. “There is no escaping the significance of this moment This is now Gov. Polis’ legacy. He will not be able to run from it or redefine it later." #copolitics

@BridgetPhetasy @bonchieredstate I think it was itself a joke.

It’s not so much that he presents himself as an expert. In fact he will repeat that he’s not one. But he does rage against the “expert class” as he did on Tucker and as he did debating Murray when he said, “But what's all the appeal to authority stuff? I mean, you have to be an expert or what exactly makes you an expert?" And now he will use someone’s lack of expertise as evidence that they don’t have an informed opinion. This drives me nuts. Either people have expertise or they don’t. You don’t get to have it both ways.

In which Dave Smith, a comedian who constantly presents himself as an authority on politics, claims someone else can’t comment on a joke because they aren’t an “expert” on comedy. Beyond parody.

@briebriejoy But... Vote blue no matter who amiright?

Some falsebeliefs that are hurting the Democratic Party: 1) Republicans are better at messaging bc their audience is dumb. 2) Republicans are better at keeping together their coalition because the Democratic coalition is more "diverse." The reality is that Democrats back opaque, convoluted, marginal policy ideas because the straightforward, popular policies like Medicare for All, a living wage, tax the rich, are opposed by their donor base. The inverse conservative policies (cut taxes/cut government) can be said straightforwardly because those policies are in line with what the corporate donor base both parties share support. Democrats sound convoluted not because their policies are "smarter," but because they have to employ more sophistry to do their donor's bidding while not upsetting the base. They have to use rotating villain voting + the filibuster + rely on executive vetos + sunsetting popular policies like the child tax credit in order to make sure nothing they *say* they want sticks. To point #2: This is so racist is wrong. There is very little "diversity" of opinion among the issues that ALL Americans-- not just the Dem base -- want. Medicare for all is an 88% issue among Dems, and 49% among Republicans. The overwhelming majority of Americans want it. Dems blaming "diversity" for not running on popular, economic populist policies is wrong and downright hateful.

@gunslnger @ggreenwald @bonchieredstate What's the ninth word in the quote tweet? And what does the last line refer to about ones own gov't? You know what... I know someone else already explained this, so I'm not going to bother. Wh

@GrahamGerritsen @ggreenwald @bonchieredstate Yes, and the quoted tweets don't say anything about citizenship.

Okay, well you don’t live in the United States. So you’re freed up to condemn China and Russia without concern. Weird that you don’t.

@BretWeinstein @WebSummit That was deeply unpleasant to listen to. Worst moderator ever.

At noon, PT today, I will be explaining why “abolishing podcasts,” as Michael Tracey wants to do, is one of the five worst ideas of all time. If you’re at Web Summit, come check it out. Hopefully @WebSummit will broadcast it live, or put it up for later viewing.

@3rdpartyneeded @GumSlinger @ggreenwald @bonchieredstate Thank you for explaining this to him. Evidently it didn't get through because he doubled down 25 min ago. Annoyed tf outta me.

@GumSlinger @ggreenwald @bonchieredstate Correct, Glenn isn’t stupid but you must be retarded. Glenn referred to himself as an “American journalist” and moron’s response was you don’t live in America. Implying that he’s not American because he doesn’t live here. Can’t believe I had to type that out for you. Dumbfuck

@gunslnger @ggreenwald @bonchieredstate You do know that when someone replies with a quote tweet, their reply has to be read in the context of the quoted tweet, right?

@ggreenwald @bonchieredstate What a stupid comment. He didn't say anything about citizenship. Also, using the "c" word just makes you more of a retard.

@misteryouareso @mtracey @BretWeinstein @Lauren_Southern He is very clearly intelligent. He's an idea guy. A nerd. He's open minded and a rigorous analytical thinker. That's obviously not for everyone. Thinking is hard.

@mtracey @BretWeinstein @Lauren_Southern I don’t get people like Bret Weinstein. He seems highly intelligent but then he has all these crazy conspiracy theories

Panel with @BretWeinstein @Lauren_Southern today was a hoot. Subject: should we get rid of podcasts? My position: yes, by which I mean, we should definitely get rid of the current podcast media ecosystem, with all its warped and brain-melting incentives, disregard of any factual standards whatsoever, whirlwind of kook mysticism claptrap, and constant hysteria-fomenting. All of which gets rewarded richly by the algorithm. There is no penalty to be paid for spewing utter bullshit. That’s what I argue we “get rid of,” not by any punitive government action, but via social mores that somehow impose a reputational penalty for bullshit-peddling. I thought that because Bret happened to be on the panel, I would support my argument by citing some specific examples from his recent podcast oeuvre. Namely: his “game theoretical” postulation that Jeffrey Epstein is alive, as well as his affirmation that the Epstein Files prove incontrovertibly that scores of children were not just raped and trafficked, but “eaten.” Bret apparently took this to be an “ambush,” as he later characterized it to me. I was also chastised on stage for being overly “vituperative,” and advised that I should try being “nicer.” Which I declined 😂 Chatting with Bret after the panel, he was still huffy and sour. I offered that if he wanted to continue the conversation, in any format he wished (public or private), I would be more than happy to do so, as a gesture of good faith. He then claimed he figured out what my MO was all along: to “ride his coattails,” and jockey to get on his podcast. (I honestly couldn’t give less of a shit about appearing on his podcast.) When I told him this was obviously not my goal, he said: “I’m not stupid, Michael.” So anyway, it was fun times. 😂 I think the video should be available somewhere

@mtracey @BretWeinstein @Lauren_Southern Good God, Michael. I appreciate your willingness to be a curmudgeon and challenge people, but you need to learn how to have a conversation in good faith. That was ugly.

Fox News has long been cheering the US Surveillance State. They support renewal of the domestic warrantless spying law with no reforms. They have no problem with all data being centralized in Palantir's control. But they go to China and suddenly pretend to care about privacy.