Here was the headline and subheading on a post at Red State this past Monday:
Milwaukee TV Stations Refuse to Air Pro-Life Ad
Management opposes ad, so it can’t air during the news
Many conservatives have encountered Facebook’s censorship, and now Twitter is in the news for the same reason.
Few are surprised that liberals want to shut down debate and keep Americans in the dark about alternatives to big government and cultural decay. During the past seven years, the old and new media as well as social media outlets have been increasingly audacious in their efforts to squash the conservative message.
So, what’s to be done?
It seems clear that if American conservatives can no longer wait around for the elected officials or campaign consultants or think tanks or issue advocacy organizations to effectively reach the uninformed with the policy solutions offered by our side.
“But I’ve got a life to live. A job. A family.”
Yes, you do, and God bless you for it.
“I’m too busy.”
You poor thing.
Here’s how George Washington would answer that:
It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.
Highest ambition? I think it’s safe to say it’s not an ambition at all for too many conservatives today. Who wants more trouble in their life? Politics is so contentious, it’s best to be avoided. Everybody prefers to heed the old admonition that used to only apply to Thanksgiving Day dinners: avoid the topics of religion and politics when you’re with family and friends.
Our side had better get over that aversion and fast. The radical political left never hesitates to inject their opinion. You’d be hard pressed to find one area of public life where left-wing views can’t be found. Leftist thinking even invades light-hearted films and situation comedy television shows. Why is it that they aren’t concerned about controversy or contention?
While George Washington said it should be our highest ambition to extend our views beyond ourselves, his fellow Virginian, Patrick Henry, was a bit harsher. In his famous “give me liberty or give me death” speech in 1775 he said this:
Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.
“Through fear of giving offense.” Yep, Patrick Henry not only thinks that not wanting to upset anyone is a bogus excuse — he thinks it’s treasonous. Sorry. The stakes are too high now and they’ve gotten that way because our side holds its tongue for fear of offending. Let’s save the country, persuade the persuadable, and leave the offended to their growing up process.
Everyone has family and friends that rank among the low information crowd. Through conversation and email and the right use of social media there are countless opportunities to bring them out of darkness and into the political light.
Where are the networks of citizens ready to help disseminate the truth when the media censors, lies or covers up the facts? We had better develop them soon if we want to both win elections and enact much needed reforms.
