It’s about time right-leaning Americans stopped being discriminated against for their political beliefs. There are countless examples of conservatives, Trump supporters, Republicans, libertarians, classical liberals, Tea Party supporters and the like being unfairly treated because of their ideas. Liberalism is the ascendant cultural outlook of our time which means that freedom of speech and freedom of thought are increasingly under attack. Indeed, freedom itself has ceased to be a liberal or ‘progressive’ value. With the exceptions of abortion, gay marriage and promiscuous lifestyles, the vision of the left is to control the lives of other using various creative methods.
As a result of this shift, a philosophy that elevates freedom as a moral objective must necessarily come under attack by those who seek to control. The irony of this is demonstrated by the knee-jerk reaction of the left to any sort of perceived bias against various ‘victim’ groups, while Conservatives, who have a far stronger case to make for being the victims of ideological prejudice, largely do not advocate for government protection on their own behalf. A prominent Chapman University professor and author Dr. Robert Slayton wrote a piece in the Huffington post presenting one of the more fascinating liberal arguments regarding Institutional Racism. In the piece, he posits one example in which “there was no overt discrimination of any kind, but the results were the same as if there were”. Dr. Slayton neatly embodies the Conservative critique that left-wing ideas are not based in reality but rather flourish in the mind of the observer, who routinely exempts himself from empirical testing. Dr. Slayton further condemns prejudicial conduct by quoting fellow Chapman U. sociologist Earl Babbie “an action which is not directly discriminatory but has a discriminatory effect, whether intended or not”. In other words, White America is full of prejudice, even when it isn’t. Such battling of imaginary societal ills is routinely practiced by progressive activists.
Opponents or mere detractors of Leftist orthodoxy on the other hand, are routinely unfairly treated in quite tangible ways. This occurs partly because the liberal understanding is that they are in fact the ones perpetrating such antiquated ideas such as accusations of bigotry must be supported by demonstrable evidence. Even when these phenomena are proven, questions are posed such as “Is this case an anomaly or representative? What is the likelihood that the proposed solutions would have the predicted effect? What are possible unintended consequences for such policy proposals? How does one go about measuring and testing all of the various factors, from implementation to outcomes?” But Socratic dialogue is inimical to social justice crusading. The examples of anti-right discrimination are legion but we will look at just a few.
Silicon Valley
One of the more famous instances of intolerance against dissenting intellectual views is that of the firing of Google software engineer James Damore. The document aptly entitled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber” was a cogently argued memo, discussing gender diversity in the workplace. Damore gained the sympathy of conservatives and the ire of liberals who attacked him for incorrect scientific analyses and misogyny. Regardless of one’s opinion on the text, it should have been responded to by debate, not by a firing. Google employees routinely emailed their thought on company policy for discussion. One of James Damore’s more chilling revelations is the concerted efforts of liberal groups to infiltrate dissenting groups and destroy the lives of members. Of course, Silicon Valley is no stranger to the crushing of ideological dissent. In April of 2014, co-founder and CEO of Mozilla Firefox Brendan Eich was forced to resign from the company he created. Why? In 2008 he gave $1,000 to a ballot proposition in California against gay marriage. That cardinal sin cost him his livelihood, reputation and relative anonymity. Despite Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and other major leftist politicians holding these views throughout their political careers, the forces of liberalism did not deem it necessary to apply their same restraint to the new era. According to the Daily Caller, the online payment website Paypal was ‘forced to reinstate Conservative websites after public outrage’.
Hollywood
Having the wrong political views in Hollywood also comes with dire consequences. Forced to meet in secret for fear of blacklisting, Hollywood right-wingers have long told of opportunities disappearing and careers ended because of their political views. In his book Primetime Propaganda, Ben Shapiro exposes the behind-the-scenes dynamics of the entertainment industry and its takeover by the left. In 2011 he published a series of undercover videos of major network executives plainly pushing progressive causes. These videos also demonstrated many high-level executives both affirming and even celebrating political discrimination. Ambiguously citing ‘community guidelines’, crowdfunding website Kickstarter banned director Phelim McAleer’s initial fundraising efforts for pro-life film Gosnell. Consequently, despite being the most successfully funded campaign in Indiegogo history (at the time), Hollywood suppressed the film again – this time by refusing to distribute it. This obvious ideological snubbing is in addition to ‘soft-suppression’, including negative reviews or simply ignoring the film – which is based on the true story of America’s most prolific serial killer. Even when a film is able to break through the fog, it is still attacked by liberal operatives and may jeopardize the careers of anyone involved. Luckily, some films are able to overcome these obstacles but observers will note the message sent.
Social Media
The war against opposing ideas continues its destructive march through social media. PragerU is now suing YouTube for illegally censoring over 30 of its popular educational videos, or over 15% of their entire catalog. According to the Wall Street Journal, former California governor Pete Wilson who is representing PragerU in the lawsuit has opined “Just as on many college campuses, there has been a refusal to allow conservatives to speak”. PragerU founder and radio talk show host Dennis Prager has also been targeted in his personal life by liberal activists who mounted a campaign against him conducting an orchestra – a hobby which he pursues in his spare time. There is additional evidence that social media behemoth Facebook intentionally marginalized Conservative news, events and personalities on its platform. Social media networks have the power to manipulate what its users see and both Facebook and Twitter have been accused of using their influence against the right. In August, Eventbrite banned Milo Yiannopoulos from hosting a Dangerous book signing party on their website, again vaguely citing ‘community guidelines’. Not to be left out, the popular e-mail marketing service Mailchimp prevented Milo from using their service as well. Not satisfied by these attempts, a report by the Fox News channel illustrates seeming manipulation of search results in favor of Hillary Clinton on the search giant Google. At the 2017 Grammy awards, emerging pop star Joy Villa turned heads when she wore a body hugging ‘Make America Great Again’ dress. Not long afterwards, Miss Villa complained that YouTube had unfairly taken down her hit ‘Make America Great Again’ song from their site. Conversely, investigative journalist James O’Keefe has produced video demonstrating a YouTube employee helping left-wing group Black Lives Matter improve their position among its search results.
Mainstream Media
Stories of the mainstream media relentless discrimination against right-wingers are legion. In the 1980s, then communist Jewish intellectual David Horowitz was a front page feature writer in the New York Times. When he announced his choice to vote for Ronald Reagan, (partly because of the murder of Betty Van Patter) he was never published in the newspaper again. Despite being a New York Times bestselling author and having penned over 20 additional books, the Times refused to even review his works after his conversion. Liberal propaganda website Media Matters posted a video of Bill O’Reilly making a compelling case against the Times manipulating its best-seller list. Jewish conservative Mark Levin has levelled similar accusations against the NY Times. In 2016, Journalist Chadwick Moore was forced out of gay publication “OUT magazine” for doing a profile of Milo Yiannopoulos. Milo, also a prominent NY Times bestseller recounts being ignored by major TV stations and the lack of book reviews by any major publication. In 2014, conservative syndicated columnist George Will was dropped from major publications following an article that questioned the narrative of the rape epidemic. Both the Wall Street Journal and the Fox News Channel is noticeably absent from the lengthy list of Peabody award recipients for outstanding journalism. FNC effectively absented themselves from the Emmys presumably for reasons of anti-right bias. Ann Coulter recounts how despite being a NY Times bestseller, her agents found it impossible to find a publisher for her books.
Academia
The attitude of the leftist oppressive ideology has also infected the academic world. Alex Epstein, an energy and industrial policy theorist was targeted by unfriendly state authorities because of his stance on climate change. Author of the book “The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels”, Mr. Epstein has detailed how (democratic) Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey had unfairly demanded private emails with no legally defendable cause. Libertarian scholar Charles Murray is often protested at prestigious universities when he is invited to talks. The same holds true for speakers deemed conservative or whose ideas are unworthy of being heard. Ironically, famous world dictators are accorded honors that do not extend to their fellow Americans. Intellectual Ben Shapiro’s speech at UC Berkley required an incredible $600,000 to ‘lockdown’ the campus. Liberal television commentator Kirsten Powers has written a compelling book detailing the general assault on free speech with many examples of the use of intimidation to shut down intellectual discourse throughout college campuses. David French of National Review has written of cases where conservative professors were “fired or punished in spite of possessing superior academic credentials”. As in other cases, left-leaning academics have justified the discrimination on the grounds that the alternative viewpoints were simply too morally degraded to be given a forum.
Government
Perhaps the most egregious case of oppression against an unfriendly ideological group was the famous example of the IRS targeting, harassing and denying tax-exempt status to right-wing groups. Despite President Barack Obama calmly proclaiming that there was “not even a smidgen of corruption” regarding the behavior of the IRS, a 2013 report issued by the department of Treasury explicitly states that “Inappropriate criteria were used to identify tax-exempt applications for review”. In subsequent legal proceedings, the IRS admitted to wrongdoing and settled with various Tea Party groups for $3.5 million. In her well-researched book ‘The Intimidation Game’, Wall Street Editorial writer Kimberly Strassel outlines the strategy and illegal tactics of the left in state-sponsored oppression. In one stark example, the free-market advocacy group ALEC lost half of its donations because of governmental intimidation by left-wing politicians. The Wall Street Journal has also detailed the astonishing account of pre-dawn raids on the homes of ordinary Americans who supported the reform policies of Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin. This case saw Republican groups put under gag-orders and who families and children were invaded by policemen in the middle of the night. Businessman Frank Vandersloot became the focus of national attention when the Obama Administration targeted him for punishment after he financially supported Mitt Romney. Vandersloot details how within a few weeks he was audited twice by the IRS, twice by the Department of Labor and soon after by the Food and Drug Administration. Prior to supporting Mitt Romney, Vandersloot had never been audited before.
Other
In addition to the categories listed, political and ideological discrimination has become an undeniable facet of American life. Political violence has become a mainstay of the American left. Trump supporters being attacked has become routine. The mainstream media usually reports the incidents of violence without pointing out who the aggressors were, or occasionally blaming the violence on ‘both sides’. Of course, when ‘both sides’ engage in violence almost exclusively at Trump-supporters’ events, it is likely that the lawless protestors of the left are at fault. A bombing of a GOP office in North Carolina was hardly covered in the popular press. Several Christian small business have been destroyed for opposing the liberal agenda – a passion not equally applied to Muslims who hold similar beliefs. History-making black republicans were omitted from the Smithsonian’ National Museum of African American History with the curious justification that “we cannot tell every story”. In summer of 2017, a gunman opened fire on a baseball team of lawmakers after specifically confirming that they were Republicans. According to popular political website thehill.com, Caitlyn Jenner has stated “I get more flak for being a conservative Republican than I have for being trans”. Rush Limbaugh was barred from becoming part owner in an NFL team because of his politics.
The legal foundation and advocacy for a political anti-discrimination law should be forthcoming from all those interested in the freedom of ideas in a modern society. Until conservative and other non-left-wing people and institutions begin using all the tools available to them to defend attacks from the left, they will continue to be purged out of public life. Without needed protections, like the Jews of medieval Spain, they will continue to operate as modern day Marranos in the land of the free and the home of the brave.
