We are often told by progressives that unfettered free speech is somehow irreconcilable with genuine equality and social justice. Whereas the traditional view of free expression emphasizes an open marketplace of ideas, in which vigorous debate reveals the quality of competing viewpoints, the progressive approach stresses the need to limit harmful content such as misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation — fact-based information used irresponsibly. Unfortunately, the corporate news media has adopted the progressive view, which has spawned censorship and propaganda. The following examples illustrate that sad reality.
In January 2023, then–Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy announced that he would remove Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, from the House Intelligence Committee. Both the Democrats and the legacy “news” media portrayed this decision as uncalled for, but McCarthy remained firm. When they refused to move on to a different topic, he told reporters, “If you got the briefing I got from the FBI, you wouldn’t have Swalwell on any committee.” He added that the FBI had “red-flagged” Swalwell during the previous Congress, when the Democrats controlled the House, yet then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi had kept him on the committee.
Consequently, when Swalwell dropped out of the California gubernatorial race and resigned from Congress due to multiple allegations of sexual assault, Pelosi was asked if she and other Democrats knew what he was doing and turned a blind eye to it. She vehemently denied the charge: “Absolutely not true!” The interviewer pressed, “You had no idea?” She answered, “None whatsoever.” Similarly implausible denials have been peddled by Swalwell’s close friend Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona: “Eric Swalwell lied to ALL of us.” Such claims directly conflict with what was clearly an open secret within the Beltway. As Politico phrased it:
The broad contours of Swalwell’s alleged behavior, if not the specifics, did not come as a surprise to many working in and around politics, especially in Washington. The 45-year-old cable news darling and Trump antagonist had developed a reputation for unsavory and sometimes unwanted behavior toward women. Those warnings were shared in whisper networks but rarely traveled outside the circle of political insiders…. That is, until Swalwell sought a promotion to lead the nation’s most populous state.
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