Episode 187: “The Federal Government Is Using Twitter to Censor Speech” with Jenin Younes and John Vecchione
Release Date: 05/17/2022
Episode 193: "Gun Control Myths" with Dr. John Lott
The Bill Walton Show
We've all been appalled by yet another school shooting, this time in Uvalde, Texas. We want these tragedies to stop. We want to do something. Of course the cries to “do something” almost always means doing something about guns. Yet, the gun bill just signed into law by President Biden is unlikely to prevent future school shootings. There's a lot of evidence to show why it won't work, especially when existing gun laws appear to cost more lives than they save. So says Dr. John Lott, my guest on this episode, and the nation’s leading expert on guns and gun laws. Dr. Lott, with a PhD...
info_outline
Episode 192: "National Security Realities: Threats and Solutions" with Brandon Weichert
The Bill Walton Show
From the moment President Joe Biden’s administration took office, the world has grown a more dangerous place, and the pace is accelerating. There’s a long list of national security worries that didn’t used to be of concern to everyday Americans, but now are, or should be. Russia, Ukraine and the prospects of a nuclear war. China’s mounting threat to envelop Taiwan, a world leader and supplier of semiconductors and information technology. Collapsing political stability in the Middle East thanks to the administration’s blunders that have helped Iran's quest to obtain...
info_outline
Episode 191: "Lessons from the Street: Stephen Schwarzman's Book Prompts Bill to Compare Insights into the World of Money” with John Tamny
The Bill Walton Show
In this episode, my friend John Tamny interviews me about legendary Wall Street leader and Blackstone founder Stephen Schwarzman’s book What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence. There are many fascinating insights and lessons in Steve’s book which we can all benefit from. A few highlights: Steve Schwarzman started Blackstone with a unique strategic plan. There’s a tremendous lesson in how he approached building his firm. For any young man or woman who wants to build a business, or any type of organization, Steve Schwarzman’s book would be a great place...
info_outline
Episode 190: "Cancel Culture Comes to Banking” with Todd Zywicki and Paul Watkins
The Bill Walton Show
Have you ever thought about what your life would be like if you were denied access to a bank account or a credit card or access to any kind of digital payment system? Well, it's happening and it's happening to an increasing number of people and organizations. Cancel culture has come to banking. PayPal, major credit card networks and banks have already stopped processing payments for organizations they deem “hate groups.” Remember “Operation Chokepoint”? Well, it’s evolved and gotten even more draconian. And cryptocurrencies, which some thought might be a safe haven, well, maybe not...
info_outline
Episode 189: “Ukraine Explained, Taiwan Explained” with Dr Stephen Bryen
The Bill Walton Show
Russian’s war on Ukraine, and China’s aim to take over Taiwan. Joining me is one the wisest national security experts around, Dr Stephen Bryen. With 50 years of experience in foreign relations and national security, he’s seen it all. Called the Yoda of the arms trade, he was the Pentagon's top cop, the man whose job it was to ensure that sensitive technology would be kept from enemies, potential enemies and questionable allies. Stephen is the driving force behind the Center for Security Policy’s just published Stopping a Taiwan Invasion. It’s proposals, if adopted, will discourage...
info_outline
Episode 188: "Why Are We Investing American Retirement Dollars in China?" with Frank Gaffney and Roger Robinson
The Bill Walton Show
The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is once again planning to allow federal employees’ to invest their retirement savings into companies controlled by the Chinese Communist Party. The FRTIB has decided to ignore directives by both President Trump - and President Biden - as well as strong opposition on Capitol Hill, to open a ‘Mutual Fund Window’ in June which would make available to Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants the opportunity to invest up to 25% of their savings in some 5,000 mutual funds. The problem? These funds would include businesses involved in the...
info_outline
Episode 187: “The Federal Government Is Using Twitter to Censor Speech” with Jenin Younes and John Vecchione
The Bill Walton Show
Is this right and lawful? Well, we now have a test case to find out. In a first-of-its-kind First Amendment lawsuit against the federal government, attorneys Jenin Younes and John Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, argue that the government acted wrongfully when it “directed social media platforms, including Twitter, to censor alleged “misinformation” about COVID-19.” Both Jenin and John join me on this episode to explain the suit and what’s at stake for free speech. To recollect, in May 2021, the White House began a coordinated and escalating public campaign to...
info_outline
Episode 186: John Tamny and I Don't Agree About Everything, and That's OK
The Bill Walton Show
Author John Tamny joins me on this episode for a freewheeling back and forth about some of today’s big concerns. John, a free market fundamentalist and original thinker, almost always has a contrarian take on things. John’s books include Who Needs the Fed, When Politicians Panicked, Popular Economics and The End of Work. Some of the questions we get into: Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter Why credit's never there when you need it What it means when Jeff Bezos says your margin is my opportunity Has social media censorship been overstated Have social media companies created a market...
info_outline
Episode 185: The Behind The Scenes Story Meeting with The Bill Walton Show Team
The Bill Walton Show
Listen in to a behind the scenes story meeting as the Bill Walton Show team speculates on what’s going on in the world. Starlink satellites and all the junk flying around in space, Elon Musk vs Jeff Bezos, Ukraine, the domino theory, Biden’s open borders, Alyona’s Kazakhstan take on Russia, media’s monolithic coverage of Ukraine, inflation, cooking oil and fertilizer prices, the insane (perhaps) Shanghai covid lockdown, the fragmenting world order and the dollar’s reserve currency status, what’s going on with China and Russia, corporate profits at all time highs … and more. Send...
info_outline
Episode 184: “A Final Report Card on the States’ Response to COVID-19” with Phil Kerpen
The Bill Walton Show
We’re more than two years into the Covid-19 pandemic. So by now, we should know enough to assess what we’ve learned about the measures our governments took to mitigate the virus? What worked? What didn’t? Fortunately, we now have a comprehensive comparative study, published as a working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research, authored by University of Chicago economist Casey Mulligan - and Steve Moore and Phil Kerpen of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity. They compared Covid outcomes in the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on three variables: the...
info_outlineIs this right and lawful? Well, we now have a test case to find out.
In a first-of-its-kind First Amendment lawsuit against the federal government, attorneys Jenin Younes and John Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, argue that the government acted wrongfully when it “directed social media platforms, including Twitter, to censor alleged “misinformation” about COVID-19.”
Both Jenin and John join me on this episode to explain the suit and what’s at stake for free speech.
To recollect, in May 2021, the White House began a coordinated and escalating public campaign to stop what it called the flow of purported “health misinformation” related to Covid-19.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki went so far to say that the President believed social media platforms have a responsibility to censor health “misinformation” related to Covid-19 vaccinations. She then added ominously that by not doing so social media companies were responsible for American deaths.
Next, the U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) directed social media platforms including Twitter to censor alleged “misinformation” about Covid-19. They also demanded that the tech companies turn over information about individuals who spread such “misinformation,” a clear intimidation tactic that HHS has labeled a “Request for Information”.
And “after the Biden administration started their campaign to silence Covid policy opponents, there’s been a massive increase in Twitter suspensions.”
The speech ban has included information the Government later conceded was true but that conflicted with the Government’s messaging on Covid-19 at the time.
This censorship strikes at the heart of what the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was designed to protect—free speech, especially political speech.
But the heart of the matter is that by instrumentalizing tech companies, including Twitter—through pressure, coercion, and threats—to censor viewpoints it deemed “misinformation,” the Surgeon General has turned Twitter’s censorship into state action.
And this has to be brought to an end.
Jenin Younes and John Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance explain why and how it can be done.