“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”
—George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"
It is hard to find something good to say about America under the present administration. One thing you can say is that at least we are not Australia — at least not yet. Give Biden and his people four more years, and we should be right up there with the Land Down Under. I give it until November.
Australia was roundly criticized for how it enforced its COVID-19 regulations on its people. Now, the Australian government has taken it upon itself to determine what the world can and cannot view on X.
For a bit of background, earlier in the month, I wrote about an incident in Australia in which a member of the clergy was stabbed during services on April 15:
On Monday, Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was stabbed during services at the Christ the Good Shepherd church in Wakeley, Australia, a suburb of Sydney. He is part of the Assyrian Orthodox Church. Branches of Orthodoxy, while maintaining many common beliefs, can widely vary — Orthodox faith leaders, even more so.
Emmanuel is extremely conservative and has a strong presence on various social media platforms, particularly TikTok and YouTube. I've watched several of his videos. He preaches with vigor, has been an outspoken opponent of the LGBTQ agenda, and was vocal about the COVID-19 lockdowns. Several news agencies have referred to his branch of Orthodoxy as "ultra-conservative." "The UK Telegraph called Emmanuel a "fire and brimstone preacher."
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the Bishop was stabbed six times, and four people suffered non-life-threatening injuries. They were all taken to the hospital. You can view a video of the attack here. News.com.au said that authorities took a fifteen-year-old boy into custody.
The video of the attack was posted on X, which has made the government of Australia none too happy. The Blaze reported that the Australian government informed X that the video needed to be removed from the platform.
While the platform appeared willing to accommodate the Australian eSafety Commissioner regionally, that apparently was not enough for the Australian state, which has since demanded global censorship of the video.
So the Australian government not only wants to control what people see there but in the rest of the world as well.
Musk told Australia, "No deal." Tasmanian Sen. Jacqui Lambie is outraged. She told Sky News that she wants Musk jailed and that she has deleted her X account. She is calling on the rest of the Australian Parliament to do the same.
When you want to lead by example, it has to happen from here, so start switching off X. I think he's a social media knob with no social conscious, he has absolutely no social conscious.
Someone like that should be in jail and the key be thrown away. That bloke should not have a right to be out there on his own ideology platform and creating hatred, showing all this stuff out there to our kids, and doing all the rest. I'll say this to everybody else, I'll be switching off X today, I'll be doing that before I get to the airport this afternoon, and I suggest that the other 226, there's 227 members of Parliament, do the same thing. Show him that you mean business. (sic)
Is the call for bans and blocks arising out of a sense of decency and a belief that people should not be subjected to videos or images of violence? I am sure that is what the powers that be in Australia would have us believe. But X has long been a cesspool of all sorts of things, including abusive language and even pornography.
While Musk has been working to resolve those issues, I don't remember the benevolent rulers of Australia demanding that someone do something about those problems, Lambie included. Where has the hue and cry been over these things? Why this? Why now?
The Blaze may have the answer. The attacker was a young man complaining about insults to the Prophet Mohammed. It turns out that the crime was an act of terrorism that was motivated by religion. Unfortunately for the people in power, the video does not conform to the accepted narratives.
The video raises issues about violence, tolerance, and immigration that most Western governments, including the U.S., would just as soon avoid. It is stark and rough proof that reality does not always line up with the propaganda. If the Australian government is anything like those in the United States, Canada, and the U.K., there is only one official demographic capable of violence and bigotry.
You should keep in mind that it is fashionable these days for governments and their approved sources to be the arbiters of truth. It is the job of the people to watch, nod along, and occasionally wipe the drool from their uneducated mouths. Don't believe your eyes. Listen to your government.
Musk's refusal to kowtow to Australia's demands has undoubtedly ruffled some feathers and bruised some egos. Too many elected officials quickly forget that they are servants and anoint themselves as rulers. No wonder Lambie is upset.
Yes, the U.S. is close behind Australia. We are probably already there. We just don't know all of the details yet.
The video is graphic. So is life, and the truth is not always pretty. The video is evidence. Evidence can lead to questions. Questions can lead to accountability. And accountability can lead to changes in government.
And who wants that?
Join the conversation as a VIP Member