OPINION| Mark Sidney| It wouldn’t be a day in ‘neoliberal’ America without another citizen who is fighting to remove corrupt actors from the power structure being silenced by the ‘Speech Cartel.’
If you are a reader of our blog, or even if you are not but you’re on social media and a Trump supporter, you are likely well aware of, what I see as, the ever increasing viewpoint and identity based censorship by the ‘Tech Left.’
Well, now Twitter has allegedly permanently banned the account of Danielle Stella, a young woman who is looking to unseat accused Qatari asset, Ilhan Omar.
As I am sure you are aware, a Kuwaiti born, Canadian businessman, Alan Bender, reportedly accused Ilhan Omar of taking money from Qatar and passing along information that eventually ended up in the hands of the Iranians in a sworn deposition in a Florida court.
It should be noted that these allegations are just that, allegations, and many sources, including the Daily Caller, have voiced concerns about the veracity of the story.
A rep of Ilhan Omar responded: “Since the day she was elected, Saudi Arabian trolls and mouthpieces have targeted Omar with misinformation and conspiracy theories. The latest, outlandishly absurd story from a Saudi-funded media outlet is, of course, false and only the latest in that trend.”
The Daily Caller’s concerns about the truthfulness of the story are as follows:
“-The story is based on the claims of Alan Bender, a self-described fixer for the Saudis, who are Qatar’s sworn enemies. He claims Qatari officials summoned him and divulged their innermost secrets.
-The accusation appears to be part of a campaign by “Imam of Peace” Mohamad Tawhidi, who positions himself as a western-friendly, anti-extremist Muslim, but who studied under an ultraconservative cleric.”
I have met the ‘Imam of Peace‘ and have followed his work for sometime now. I personally believe the man to be honest in what he says, but I have been wrong in the past. It is also possible that he has been feed incorrect information. There are many more possibilities, including the theory that the allegations against Omar are true.
I have to admit that the idea that this is a plot to draw attention from the seemingly more easily proven allegations that Omar funneled $370,000 to her alleged lover’s consulting firm from her campaign funds, sounds pretty plausible.
Although the Qatari story was confirmed to me by three separate sources with direct knowledge of the players involved, I must admit I am still not convinced that the story is not a distraction.
Regardless, the allegations against Ms. Omar are as serious as allegations can be, and thus deserve investigation. Hopefully the charges turn out to be false, as I do not think anyone wants the truth to be that a Congresswoman is on the payroll of a hostile foreign power.
Why is this all relevant? Well, the Gateway Pundit explains:
“The campaign account belonging to Danielle Stella, the Republican hoping to unseat Ilhan Omar in 2020, has been permanently banned from Twitter for saying that the representative should be tried and hanged for treason if she passed sensitive information to Iran.
The 31-year-old candidate also posted the same sentiments on her Telegram channel and on Facebook.
Stella’s tweet was in response to reports about a testimony from Kuwaiti-born Canadian businessman Alan Bender given before a Florida judge during the trial of Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad al Thani. He claimed that Rep. Omar is a “Qatari asset” and acted as a conduit for information to Iran.”
…
A spokesperson for Twitter told The Hill on Wednesday that “the account was permanently suspended for repeated violations of the Twitter Rules.”
Stella’s official campaign account was also removed from the platform.”
https://twitter.com/22CB22CB/status/1199776512985010177
Now, we all know that calling for violence against a person or group of people is not Constitutionally protected speech. Had Ms. Stella said something along the lines of ‘we must hang ***** **** at once’, I would agree that, that speech is reprehensible and should be removed from the platform.
However, that is not what Danielle said. She said:
‘IF’ she is proven to have committed these crimes against the Republic, she should be ‘hanged.’ Yes, this is provocative, and it is not what I would have said, however, I do believe this speech is Constitutionally protected and is a legitimate opinion. I am well aware that the CDA section 230 does allow for the removal of speech, even ‘Constitutionally protected’ speech. However, I believe this section of the statute will eventually be struck down as unconstitutional.
The Wikipedia entry on ‘Treason’ read as follows:
“In the United States, there are both federal and state laws prohibiting treason.[1] It was defined in Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution. Most state constitutions include similar definitions of treason, specifically limited to levying war against the state, “adhering to the enemies” of the state, or aiding the enemies of the state, and requiring two witnesses or a confession in open court.[2] Fewer than thirty people have ever been charged with treason under these laws.[3]
Constitutionally, citizens of the United States owe allegiance to at least two sovereigns. One is the United States, and the other is their state. They can therefore potentially commit treason against either, or against both.[4] At least fourteen people have been charged with treason against various states; at least six were convicted, five of whom were executed. Only one person has ever been executed for treason against the federal government: William Bruce Mumford, who was convicted of treason and hanged in 1862 for tearing down a United States flag during the American Civil War. However, this was under martial law, not Article Three of the United States Constitution.[5]“
Now, it seems historically consistent to suggest ‘hanging’ as a punishment IF, and only IF, the allegations of Mr. Bender were to be proven BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT, IN A COURT OF LAW.
Again, I am not a fan of this type of rhetoric, especially from someone running for office. However, Ms. Stella’s comment was not incorrect, factually speaking. Like it or not, if Ms. Omar did in fact commit treason, a possible outcome would be the death penalty.
The bottom line is that Danielle Stella now has no chance of winning, or even competing in the election against Omar, without access to the public forum known as Twitter. This is way too much power for a corporation to have, and illustrative of just how much sway over our elections the ‘Speech Cartel’ has.
President Trump, the time act was years ago when this tyrannical cartel began trying to unduly influence our elections, and other elections,around the globe.
However, even though we missed that opportunity, you can still act NOW! Each day you wait, the chances of America maintaining her sovereignty, and the authoritarians being defeated, declines exponentially.
Mr. Trump, you and you alone have both the power to stop this technocratic, corporate cartel from controlling elections on a global scale.
This will either be your biggest accomplishment, or your biggest, most devastating failure. I have confidence that you, as you always seem to do, will rise to the challenge and crush the barbarians at the gate. America will be watching.