America held hostage: Progressives fear losing control



In the United States, the ultimate check on the growth of power was the realization that, through elections, one side would eventually hand over whatever it had built to its political opponents. This seemed like a reasonable way to prevent tyrannical abuse. Trouble is, America’s founders did not anticipate the emergence of a distinct ruling class capable of maintaining power by capturing institutions.

Elections come and go, but institutions remain. Progressives realized that by controlling the expert class staffing the permanent bureaucracies, they could vest significant power within them without worrying about the fluctuations of democratic politics. A weak and complacent Republican Party, content just to be included, also became invested in the perpetuation of these institutions. This allowed progressives to sprinkle a few “bipartisan” appointments into the mix while ensuring these institutions stayed under progressive control.

Progressives, perhaps unconsciously, know they’ve crossed a line they can’t walk back from and fear that conservatives would be just as ruthless if given the chance.

The state could continue to grow, and Democrats could grant nearly unlimited power to these institutions without fear of reprisal — until Donald Trump arrived.

Trump, though deeply flawed and unable to deliver many of his promised changes, was treated as a mortal threat by the system for good reason. As an outsider, he was not heavily invested in the machinery of governance or the authority of the institutions that progressives rely on to maintain control. At times, particularly during moments of crisis like the pandemic, Trump defaulted to the authority of these institutions, leading to some of his failures. But the mere fact that he was willing to question the system shook the ruling elite to its core.

Figures like Mitt Romney will dutifully maintain the status quo until the left regains official power. But a leader like Trump was never supposed to get anywhere near the levers of that machine. An incredible amount of authority has been placed in the administrative state, and that power was never intended to be handed over to a true political opponent.

When Trump entered office, the institutions declared all-out war on his administration, breaking rules and disregarding norms to limit the billionaire’s ability to affect the system. The media, already hostile to Republicans, unleashed unprecedented vitriol toward Trump. A perfect storm of pandemic lockdowns, riots, and election-related changes forced the real estate tycoon out of office, and the establishment vowed to never let a populist candidate like Trump gain power again.

With Democrats back in the White House, the institutions took swift revenge. January 6 protesters faced extreme prosecution from the federal government. Anti-abortion activists encountered similarly politically motivated charges and sentencing. Those who served in Trump’s administration had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars defending themselves in court, while even Trump’s lawyers feared facing jail time.

Trump faced numerous legal challenges, aiming first to bankrupt him, then to remove him from the ballot, and finally to imprison him. When those efforts failed, some Democrats resorted to assassination attempts. The FBI increasingly acted like a Praetorian Guard serving the interests of the Democratic Party, and the weaponization of the Justice Department escalated. Under the Biden administration, opposing the institutional power of the left has become increasingly illegal.

Progressives, terrified at the idea that social media might break the hegemonic control on information that the left had previously enjoyed, launched a giant censorship industry under the banner of fighting “misinformation and disinformation.” Democratic politicians, worried that they may no longer be able to convince the existing American population, accelerated their ongoing project of replacement migration. The number of immigrants was so outrageous and the process so indiscriminate that even the leaders of major blue cities started to complain.

Trump probably did not deserve to strike that level of terror into the heart of the system, but he did, and the immune response almost killed the system itself.

Journalists now regularly draft breathless screeds warning that Trump might weaponize the Justice Department and prosecute his political enemies if he is allowed to return to office. This seems like rank hypocrisy to conservatives who have watched the Democrats treat the rule of law like a battered housewife.

But the left is doing more than just projecting its own behavior. Democrats have created an incredibly powerful leviathan and unleashed it against their political opponents. Intelligence agencies spy on regime critics, secret police harass and arrest them, and the media incites its audience to violence, sometimes even encouraging the killing of political opponents. Progressives, perhaps unconsciously, know they’ve crossed a line they can’t walk back from and fear that conservatives would be just as ruthless if given the chance.

Unfortunately, many conservatives still don’t grasp the current reality. They continue to act as if American politics follows a strict set of rules where the most convincing argument prevails and power is peacefully transferred. Their calls for civility and compromise fall on the deaf ears of a political movement that knows it has passed the point of no return.

The Democratic Party has taken the American people hostage. It has built a leviathan of immense power and recklessly aimed it at its enemies, shattering norms and undermining the rule of law. Progressives know they’ve broken the rules and fear that if they ever lose control, they will face consequences for their actions. This fear may be misplaced — many on the right lack the appetite for revenge, and Trump alternates between calls for retribution and offering the FBI a shiny new building.

Nevertheless, the possibility of a right-wing willing to stand firm still haunts the nightmares of Democrats. Like any hostage-taker, the regime’s paranoia grows by the day, and its desperation to maintain control is pushing the nation ever closer to disaster.

Steve Baker joins history's long parade of political repression



A personal note to Steve Baker: Remember Matthew Lyon.

Lyon, a congressman, was prosecuted by the John Adams administration for violating the Sedition Act — which he did by fiercely criticizing the Adams administration. When he was dubiously convicted, the federal marshal who took him to prison made a show of it, dragging him around town to let people see an enemy of the government reduced to the condition of a prisoner. Criminal justice was political theater, and not by accident. You can read a detailed description of Lyon's ordeal here or a shorter one here.

Donald Trump criticized reporters, you see, and that's unforgivable. Anyway, Mr. Baker, turn around and put your hands behind your back.

Many American writers and activists have been arrested by their government for publishing criticism of politicians or for giving speeches that expressed disagreement with officials.

The lawyer and former congressman Clement Vallandigham was arrested by soldiers and tried by a military court for (among other things) calling Abraham Lincoln a tyrannical king who had usurped power by unilaterally suspending the right of habeas corpus during the Civil War.

The administration of Woodrow Wilson shut down dozens of newspapers and magazines for criticizing American participation in World War I and questioning the use of conscription, while the socialists Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer were prosecuted for distributing leaflets that encouraged men to resist the draft.

From time to time throughout our history, the federal government arrests people for saying things the government doesn't like. It’s a tradition, like beer luge or bad cover bands.

Steve Baker is about to get the Late Federalist shaming parade for covering the January 6 protest as an independent journalist. As he recently wrote, his arrest on Friday is being stage-managed for optics: "The prosecutor informed my attorney that I am to arrive at the @FBI field office wearing 'shorts and sandals. …' Rather than issuing a simple order to appear, they seem to feel the need to give me a dose of the personal humiliation treatment."

Like Matthew Lyon, Steve Baker is getting a political perp walk from the government, in a ritual designed to demean a critic.

But what happens next is the important part. John Adams and his Federalist administration criminalized disagreement, prosecuted critics, repressed freedom of speech, and lost the presidency to Thomas Jefferson. Their crackdown on dissent was the sign of a dying party. They lashed out as they felt power slipping out of their hands.

Matthew Lyon was re-elected to the House of Representatives, by the way. From prison. Because voters were disgusted to see him prosecuted for political disagreement. Maybe you can think of some ways to apply that observation today.

We join hands across the years with Thomas Jefferson and his contemporaries. Thugs and scumbags arrest critics and journalists who work in a spirit of fearless independence, and normal people know this. Periods of political repression are followed by periods of popular repulsion and backlash. (Unless you’re Alexander Hamilton, in which case you get a Broadway musical.)

In 1798 and 1799, Federalists knew that all the finest people were Federalists, and everyone else was low-status trash. But look how the National Archives and Records Administration describes the Sedition Act today:

The laws were directed against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens. The only journalists prosecuted under the Sedition Act were editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers.

Sedition Act trials, along with the Senate’s use of its contempt powers to suppress dissent, set off a firestorm of criticism against the Federalists and contributed to their defeat in the election of 1800, after which the acts were repealed or allowed to expire.

"Count no man happy until he is dead." Today is temporary and will be followed by another day, with other prevailing opinions. And in the long run, or even the fairly near-to-medium run, most Americans loathe officials who arrest their critics and opponents. History’s clock is running. Joe Biden will be thought of poorly in the very near fut — well, OK, everybody already thinks poorly of Joe Biden.

We have many examples of political repression, and none are remembered warmly. But this is where the story turns to dark comedy. While we're remembering historical examples of journalists being targeted and the American response to it, take a moment to click on this link and remember something: Donald Trump criticized reporters during his presidency, and we heard four years of hysterical fearmongering about how vicious and repressive it was to say that Jim Acosta is an idiot.

By the way, Jim Acosta is absolutely an idiot.

Today the Biden administration takes a right-leaning journalist into custody for covering a political event, and the caterwauling adult children who told you that Donald Trump was a lot like Hitler for posting mean tweets about CNN are silent as Steve Baker is handcuffed.

Here's another glorious example, a zero-self-awareness NPR discussion of the way that the brutal monster Donald Trump behaved a lot like the appalling Wilson administration. He criticized reporters, you see, and that's unforgivable. Anyway, Mr. Baker, turn around and put your hands behind your back.

Something to remember for the transition to accountability.

Free press under fire: Steve Baker’s battle ... and ours



Steve Baker is an investigative reporter for Blaze News. He's been working on investigating the holes in the narrative of what happened on January 6. He's mild-mannered and a sweetheart of a guy. And on Friday morning, he turned himself in to the FBI. They told him he should come in shorts and flip-flops because it would be easier for them to put on the orange jumpsuit and ankle irons. Suffice it to say, he wore a suit and tie.

When I had him on the radio program Thursday, he didn’t know what he was being charged with. We do know it has something to do with January 6, but the FBI refused to tell him what his charges are because he might "tweet it out." Heaven forbid he exercise his First Amendment right and defend himself in the public square.

There are lots of people who have reported on January 6. Why is the Blaze News reporter the one they put in cuffs?

Let that sink in for a minute. The Sixth Amendment says every citizen has the right "to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation" when charges are brought against him. That's the same amendment that guarantees the right to a speedy, fair, impartial trial. I missed the exception in that amendment for reporters investigating January 6. I missed the exception in the First Amendment that ensures freedom of the press to everyone except reporters investigating the government's narrative.

Steve was in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, as a reporter. Why aren't other reporters being arrested? Or is it just that he's reporting the truth, using the actual tapes and videos, to show America what really happened? Why is the FBI after him?

When you do investigative work, it isn’t usually just one guy doing all the work. It is a team. You have to go and vet every single thing that they come back with. Some independent person on our staff has to go through Steve's work line by line, and then it goes through attorneys to make sure the legal language is accurate. We are very buttoned up.

Baker is the guy who has gotten a lot of the tape out about January 6, the guy who has been putting the pieces together before anybody else was putting them together. This man is a journalist — and an excellent one. And that's why they're after him. On Friday, the FBI arrested this journalist and put him in handcuffs without even telling him what he's charged with in advance. He could serve prison time — because he is a journalist doing his job.

I don't think it's a coincidence that it's a reporter with Blaze News whom they are arresting. There are lots of people who have reported on January 6. Why is the Blaze News reporter the one they put in cuffs? Is it because we are on to something? Are we getting closer to the truth of what happened that day? Are the elites afraid that their house of cards will come tumbling down?

When the United States government can come after individuals, that's when you know our republic is crumbling. I've always said that if they can go after Donald Trump, they will go after people like you and me. And now they are. But Steve Baker is not deterred, and neither are we.

This is what Steve said on my show Thursday as he was preparing to turn himself in to the FBI: “I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to put on my suit and tie and walk in with my head up.”

This is the type of journalist America needs right now. This is the kind of man America needs right now. And this is why your support of Blaze Media is so important to us. You make Steve Baker's work possible, and as long as you enable us, we will never compromise on the truth, we will not be deterred by the powers who want to silence us, and most of all, we will not back down. I stand with Steve Baker.

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