"Big tech has made a big mistake. Swept up in a wave of political correctness and the fallout from the Russia investigation, many of the largest online platforms have embarked upon a fruitless adventure in censorship that can only further divide rather than unite the nation. These internet companies have lost sight of the most basic principle underlying the First Amendment, that no matter how uncomfortable it makes us, we must put our trust in the power of a free market of ideas. ...

"Just yesterday I personally received a notice from Google disallowing an ad I placed on its platform, one that has been running for weeks, with a cryptic notice mysteriously referring me to the guidelines for political advertising. Only it was not political advertising at all. I placed an ad for a political game, Two Seventy, that I built with friends for fun that allows people to reenact campaigns. But Google's computers saw the names of political figures and, bingo, I was censored, given no one to call and asked to fill out a form to try to lift this unfair restraint on my speech. This is what will happen with increasing frequency. The automated bots on online platforms can become roving censors unable to understand the true context of what they are reading and, yet, wielding enormous power to delete, downgrade or hide words, pictures and information.

"Until now, the big tech platforms like Google, YouTube, and Facebook stayed out of censoring. They preached the benefits of an open and connected society. If they were going to delete material, it would mostly be on a very limited basis, using a scalpel, not a machete. Sometimes they even tolerated too much freedom on their platforms and were fined for accepting fake drug ads, and for failing to police their platforms of sex trafficking and other crimes. They also have not always been vigilant enough to catch bots and fake accounts. They made some mistakes that they could and should fix to the best of their abilities. ...

"The big tech companies will only find themselves enmeshed in a growing public crossfire if they become active arbiters of content, purveyors of speech codes, and forerunners of a 'Bladerunner' future. Congress should remove the content liability exemption from companies exercising too much power over user content. Or, better yet, the industry should adopt a uniform published code with clear standards mirroring the Supreme Court and have tough cases judged by a panel that genuinely has equal numbers of liberals, moderates, and conservatives. Maybe we should have an internet freedom amendment to the Constitution.

"As the ACLU once understood well, the very essence of the First Amendment is tolerating speech we hate, and standing up for it takes courage. We need some more of that kind of courage today."

Read entire article here.

"Our current agency directors and cabinet are rightly calling universal attention to the ongoing threat of Russian espionage efforts. ...

"Such concern for the national security is fine and necessary. ...

"For some reason, many still in the current FBI, CIA, DOJ, NSC, and State Department are incapable of accepting that their agencies in the Obama years were weaponized to alter a U.S. election and were directed to do so by many top dogs in their Washington hierarchies.

"Until we get the truth, an accounting, and some sort of justice, we will not quite become galvanized by those who rightly warn us of real Russian interference.

"The reason?

"We always expect Russian skullduggery, but we never anticipated election interference from those entrusted with protecting us and our institutions from our enemies.

"The police were not policed -- and so became like the enemies they warned us about."

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"Elizabeth Warren is branching out.

"The Massachusetts senator who has made a career of unfairly maligning bankers and other alleged capitalist malefactors is now smearing the criminal justice system, too.

"In a speech at a historically black college in New Orleans, she declared that 'the hard truth about our criminal justice system: It's racist ... I mean front and back.'

"Her riff is a sign that the Democrats are going to leaven their lurch toward socialism with a condemnation of America as fundamentally racist. After helping fuel Trump's rise in 2016 with loose rhetoric about the bigotry of cops, Democrats hope to dislodge him in 2020 with even more sweeping accusations of systematic racism."

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"Since nobody else takes The Washington Post seriously anymore, the newspaper of record for The Swamp has had to pick up the slack and take itself even more seriously.

"The (com) Post has become consumed by hatred of President Trump, its reporting having turned so distorted and delusional that the paper can no longer separate just the facts from 'fake news.'

"No longer pretending to be fair or unbiased, the (com) Post has lustily joined the zany campaign to destroy the president and portray his administration as some kind of criminal enterprise. The (com) Post should change its name to 'The Gaslight Gazette.' Instead, the paper came up with a new slogan for their rabidly anti-Trump coverage.

"'Democracy Dies in Darkness.' It is not clear where the 'darkness' comes since the Trump administration is nothing short of a constant supernova of news.

Perhaps, 'darkness' is a funny reference to their own deluded stupidity. 'Democracy Dies in Dimwittedness' would be a better slogan.

"But still, the (com) Post is giving itself far too much credit. Honestly, Democracy does not really give a crap what the (com) Post has to say about anything. Democracy canceled its subscription to the (com) Post long ago."

Read entire article here.

"The Trump administration has finally come out with its proposal to reverse Obama-era regulations on vehicle emissions. This is welcome, for current standards make cars unnecessarily expensive and limit choices while producing scant environmental benefit.

"The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which jointly administer the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) program, unveiled eight options for fuel-economy standards for vehicles made between 2021 and 2026. Of those, the agencies recommend freezing standards at 2020 levels through 2026 as the best option.

"If accepted, this would block mandatory yearly increases, which were ordered under Obama. The practical outcome will be to save car buyers about $2,340 per new vehicle, according to the administration. A separate 2016 study found that Obama's fuel regulations had already cost consumers at least $3,800 per car for the 2016 model year.

"That higher price stymies some people who want to buy new, safer cars and thus forces manufacturers to make cars that buyers can't afford and don't want."

Read entire article here.

"It's begun. We're having a debate over socialism.

"Not over whether it's fair to call Democrats socialists. Not over whether socialism has been good for Venezuela or some other faraway, unfortunate country. But no-kidding socialist policies right here in the United States.

"The press attention to a new study of the costs of Medicare for All, or universal health coverage paid for by the government that goes much further than ObamaCare, is a sign that it is a live issue.

"Popularized by the socialist Bernie Sanders, Medicare for All is not just a fringy left-wing talking point anymore. It's a fringy plank of a growing element of the Democratic Party. A raft of prospective Democratic presidential candidates have endorsed the policy, while about a third of Democratic members of the House have joined a caucus devoted to it. ...

"It's hard to see Medicare for All as a plausible health care agenda even if Democrats swept all elected branches of government in Washington in 2020. But the first step toward achieving any policy goal is creating a national debate over it and swinging one of the major political parties behind it. Bernie Sanders has had considerable success in that effort, and the allure of 'free' health care -- like free anything -- can't be discounted.

"Republicans need to continue to develop and push their own ideas to reduce health-care costs, and adjust to the new reality where socialism doesn't simply represent a laugh line, but a battle that needs to be won."

Read entire article here.

"With another judge confirmed Tuesday by the Senate, President Trump and Senate Republicans are leaving an ever-expanding imprint on the judiciary, nudging powerful appeals courts rightward through a determined effort to nominate and confirm a steady procession of young conservative jurists.

"The confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court would tilt the balance of the nation's highest court, but, already, the president and the Senate have proved strikingly efficient at installing judges to lifetime appointments on appeals courts that handle far more cases.

"The narrow, 52-to-46 appeals court confirmation on Tuesday of Britt C. Grant, 40, a Georgia Supreme Court justice who was once a clerk for Judge Kavanaugh, was Mr. Trump's 24th circuit court appointment -- more than any other president had secured at this point in his presidency since the creation of the regional circuit court system in 1891, according to an analysis of judicial records by The New York Times. The Senate did not confirm President Barack Obama's 24th nominee to the regional circuit courts until the fourth year of his presidency."

"When our team of auditors at OpenTheBooks.com reviewed the most highly compensated employees at every level of government in Florida, we found more than 35,000 state and local government employees brought home six and seven-figure salaries, costing taxpayers $5.5 billion annually.

"Since last year, the headcount of these high-compensated Florida government workers jumped by nearly 4,000 employees.

"The list of high earners includes an airport director accepting retirement payments and a working salary; a city attorney making $436,918; a junior college president making $386,578; and a county administrator making $346,722. There are even 26 small-town, village, and city managers out-earning every governor of the 50 states. ...

"Florida was ranked the number one fiscally responsible state in 2017. However, with public higher education employees bringing home six and seven figures, numerous small-time municipal leaders earning more annually than state governor, and a history of high earners accepting pensions and active paychecks at the same time, perhaps its practices are worth reevaluating."

Read entire article here.

"Therapists around Washington, D.C., are noticing a sharp increase in patients describing symptoms of what has been called Trump Derangement Syndrome.

"'There is a fear of the world ending,' said DC Counseling and Psychotherapy Center founder, Elisabeth LaMotte, referring to some of President Donald Trump's decisions. 'It's very disorienting and constantly unsettling.' ...

"Urban Dictionary defines Trump Derangement Syndrome as 'a mental condition in which a person has been driven effectively insane due to their dislike of Donald Trump, to the point at which they will abandon all logic and reason.'"

"Henry Kissinger suggested to President Donald Trump that the United States should work with Russia to contain a rising China.

"The former secretary of state -- who famously engineered the tactic of establishing diplomatic relations with China in order to isolate the Soviet Union -- pitched almost the inverse of that idea to Trump during a series of private meetings during the presidential transition, five people familiar with the matter told The Daily Beast. The potential strategy would use closer relations with Russia, along with other countries in the region, to box in China's growing power and influence."

Read entire article here.