Required reading from around the web of the best, most interesting, or most though provoking things we’ve read:
Barria: Trump Has Changed How Teens View the News
“There is increasing evidence that this skepticism, exacerbated by the president’s relentless attacks, is trickling down to the next generation of voters. A 2017 poll of 52 people between the ages of 14 and 24, conducted by Data & Society and the Knight Foundation, found that many young Americans believe the news is biased and are skeptical of its accuracy. ‘There was no assumption that the news would convey the truth or would be worthy of their trust,’ the study reported.Teenagers, in particular, appear to be increasingly questioning the credibility and value of traditional media organizations.”
Vadum: Smoking Gun Memo Laid Out Left’s Assault on Conservatives
“A strategy memo compiled by George Soros-funded activist groups as President Trump was being inaugurated last year foretold and seemed to lay the groundwork for many of the political difficulties Trump now faces and the politics-related strife now roiling the nation. The memo takes on a heightened importance as the politically-driven censorship of conservatives by the gigantic, unregulated social media corporations controlled by the Left is moving into high gear while the crucial midterm congressional elections of Nov. 6 approach. […]. . . The document spelled out the Left’s plans for impeaching President Trump, filing lawsuits against the fledgling administration, and using social media to delegitimize Trump’s presidency and hurt Republicans. ‘Right now, our institutions are among the critical few that stand between the America we love and the abyss,’ the memo stated. ‘We must protect and defend our democratic values. We will not back down. We will only move forward.’ […] The document ‘was nothing short of a plan to turn Google, Facebook and other social media into hyper-partisan Democratic Party activists, promoters, cheerleaders, and off-the-books donors in an effort to turn the country into a one-party state.’ The memo outlined left-wing activist David Brock’s four-year plan to undermine the Trump administration and Republicans using . . .”
Peterson: Protect Political Speech from the Tech Oligarchs with The Civil Rights Act of 2019
“If conservative leaders and Republican office-holders had pushed back consistently against the 30-year process that has brought America to this sorry point, perhaps we could have avoided the necessity of a statutory cure. But, as on so many other fronts, they failed their voters and the nation. Now, nothing less than a great new reaffirmation of First Amendment freedoms by Congress and the president can restore the unfettered right to open public inquiry and political discourse on which the United States was founded. Where We Are: Some Examples Specific manifestations of America’s astonishing new repression are legion. They give some idea of the scope of the crisis.”