On Thursday evening 5.19.2022, Donald Trump Jr., son of deposed President Donald J. Trump, took to the proverbial stage to inspire a group of several hundred conservatives. While there were a few youth and some younger adults in the audience, it is fair to say that the majority of those in attendance were in the 50-plus category. After signing books for attendees, Don Jr. spoke energetically without notes or without a teleprompter. His comments presumed that he was in a friendly audience, and he knew it. During the Q&A after his talk, this writer for MHProNews/MHLivingNews was given the microphone to ask a question. After mentioning that his father had personally on occasion used ‘the M word’ – monopoly – and noting that the Trump Administration had launched some serious antitrust efforts, Don Jr was asked: how important is antitrust action in the fight to reclaim America?
Without hesitation, Don Jr. answered that antitrust action was the number two or number three top issue in the U.S. today.
He then elaborated by speaking about big tech as an example that millions have become quite aware of due to what is widely seen as corporate censorship of free speech.
In Don Jr’s striking those notes, it has sadly become a familiar chord. Big tech has been throttling and censoring the views of mostly conservative – but also other speech – for years. That speech that has been limited or deplatformed routinely by corporate censors often could be described as running contrary to the narrative of those who backed Joe Biden.
A room full of hundreds of heads were subtly nodding in agreement with Don Jr’s comments on antitrust and the example of big tech.
There are many things that could or ought to be said about that gathering of routinely intriguing speakers and patriotic Americans. They often made it clear that they want to pass on the legacy of the American Dream of life, liberty and the ability to pursue happiness to their children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Constitutionally limited government was a backdrop to much that was said. God and prayer were not shunned topics. Inspirational personal stories were shared that in various ways reflected how God acts through human free will in the lives of individuals, raising up the unlikely to do sometimes amazing things.
From the YouTube page that has this “Better for America” video with AMAC CEO, Rebecca Weber states: “Don Jr. cuts through the BS in usual Trump fashion and talks with us about the things he knows Americans care about MOST!” That interview occurred after Don Jr. spoke to attendees.
My family and I were delighted to be invited to attend this AMAC event on several levels.
But we were far from alone in our pleasure and delight. Much to the surprise of those hundreds who came to this by invitation AMAC leadership event, instead of leaving after his book signing, speech, interview, and Q&A, Don Jr. opted to join the AMAC attendees for dinner too. He picked a table of AMAC delegates and chapter leaders, and asked them if it would be okay if he joined them for dinner? Their answer was obvious.
The Smear
Former CNN reporter turned WMAL talk radio pundit Christ Plante speaks of “information dominance.” That information dominance is occurring on the left, says Plante. A seemingly growing array of voices from the left and right are recognizing that the left has become dominated by big businesses which are routinely aligned with Democratic Party connected elected and appointed officials (see further below). It is that dominance by big legacy media – and the big tech Don Jr. referred to in his comments in response to the inquiry about monopoly-busting mentioned above – that makes smear tactics of their opponents easier.
Plante says that one of the insidious powers of the media is their power not to report something. He also speaks about what amounts to selective editing out of comments or facts that can change the entire meaning of what someone said or did. Satan himself quoted Scripture. But the devil did so selectively in ways to manipulate and tempt a person into wrongdoing.
Mimicking Democrat turned Republican Ronald Reagan, Plante has quipped that he didn’t leave the Democratic Party, but rather that the Democratic Party left him.
That ability to ignore or wrench information out of context amplified by big media and big tech makes smear tactics far more likely to succeed.
For example. Perhaps the best-known attack on President Trump has been the claim that he is a ‘racist.’ Cited in evidence of that claim are remarks he made in the aftermath of the Charlottesville incident. But the full CNBC video of his remarks – posted below – makes it clear that Trump condemned racists and neo-Nazis. He has repeatedly done so through the years. It may be recalled that while Trump was an independent, he floated the idea of running for president with black entertainer Oprah Winfrey as his vice-presidential running mate. For those who use the smear tactic, these facts have to be ignored, twisted, or selectively edited.
Ironically, it is former Delaware U.S. Senator turned President Barack Obama’s Vice President, Joe Biden, who has made racist remarks.
Those Biden comments have been captured on video, including use of the “n-word.” Several videos are posted in the report below that illustrate that assertion. Additionally, his own running mate, then Senator Kamala Harris (CA-D), herself implied Biden’s weakness on racial justice issues. See those examples in the report linked below. Why doesn’t leftist big media and big tech amplify those examples?
An essential part of propaganda is the ability to repeat a lie, even a big lie, time and again until the lie becomes believable. But what makes that possible? Media and tech dominance are factors. These are among several reasons why antitrust (i.e: anti-monopoly) action is necessary.
When people use the term “monopoly,” some think of a single company that dominates an industry. That kind of monopoly-power certainly has occurred in U.S., British, and other national histories. But the far more common type of monopolization is when a limited number of larger brands dominate a profession or industry.
Here on the MHProNews Masthead, we don’t speak for Donald Trump Jr, AMAC, or anyone else but ourselves. The editor’s or publisher’s Masthead column is editorial by nature, but we strive to provide the facts and evidence that support the editorial viewpoints.
That disclaimer noted, what is it that makes monopoly power what Don Jr. called the second or third biggest problem facing America today?
His example of big tech monopoly power was arguably spot on. When a few companies can dominate a sector, that is by definition what American thinkers, like founding father Thomas Jefferson, rejected from the earliest days of the American Republic. President Trump’s antitrust ‘top cop’ at DOJ - Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim - cited Jefferson in making his case why a vigorous use of antitrust power was needed.
That belief in the need to limit the power of big corporations motivated Senator John Sherman (OH-R) to lead the charge for what became the Sherman Antitrust Act. Antitrust laws and regulations designed to protect the marketplace are pro-free enterprise, not against it as some monopolists try to falsely assert.
The Sherman Act provides for financial sanctions, but also for possible criminal penalties that include prison for the monopolization of a market (see below). That's how seriously previous generations considered the issue of stopping and breaking up market monopolization.
Now, with those thoughts above in mind, return to the issue of big tech, big media, or other examples of modern monopolization.
The argument can be made that left-leaning media and left-leaning big tech companies are working in collusion with each other. A classic example is the New York Post story about the Hunter Biden laptop, which leftist big tech suppressed before the 2020 election, and leftist big media initially labeled as Russian disinformation. In doing so, they cited ex-intelligence officials. What went unsaid is that those intelligence officials were routinely anti-Trump. It has been said that once you are in intelligence work, you never really leave it. Be that as it may, it is an interesting point to ponder in the light of Senator Chuck Schumer’s (NY-D) remarks in the video below. Schumer said in his own words that the intelligence community has many different tools to get someone - like Trump - that they oppose. The YouTube page with this left-leaning MSNBC video below said: “In January of 2017, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer warned Trump that Intel officials 'have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.'”
What is that? It is an apparent example of government officials and agents colluding with select big business to achieve a certain outcome that are favorable to themselves. That certainly could fit the definition of the Sherman Act provisions cited below from the Cornell University Legal Information Institute (LII) website.
It also fits what one Warren Buffett told CNBC last summer (2021). Or what Buffett said as quoted in the New York Times in 2006.
We’ve covered numerous times on our MHProNews/MHLivingNews websites how affordable housing is being limited by what has been described as oligopoly-style monopoly power. Who says? Among others, Minneapolis Federal Reserve senior economist James A. “Jim” Schmitz Jr. He specifically has charged, citing his evidence, that manufactured housing specifically, and other forms of factory-based home building have long been subverted by a combination of government bureaucrats – in our industry’s case, Schmitz cited HUD – association and builders working in collusion with each other. What most Americans may not grasp is that even conventional housing owners are negatively impacted by such practices. AMAC's website has an article on their home page on this date about senior homelessness. What causes that homelessness? An obvious factor is a lack of affordable housing.
The reason that laws prohibiting conspiracy and collusion exist is precisely because sometimes conspiracies to break a law occur.
The case can be made, and has been outlined here, that for American liberty, a robust economy, and free enterprise to thrive, antitrust laws must be vigorously enforced.
The good news for those concerned that the power in Washington, D.C. is at present mostly in Democratic hands is that this can start at the state level, it isn’t just a federal issue.
If sincerely antitrust-minded candidates and politicians press this anti-monopoly power cause in the 2022 election cycle, then the stage can be set for Congressional hearings that call Biden Administration officials to account in 2023 for why they haven’t properly used that authority.
Donald Trump Jr. said antitrust is the 2nd or 3rd most important issue in the country. Think about that as you ponder the fact that the laws needed to break up the trusts that have throttled free speech and business alike already exist. When a politician says new laws are needed, why not ask:
- 'what’s wrong with using the laws we already have now?'
- Why wait?
- Who benefits from the delay of enforcing existing laws? Follow the money trail, and the answers often become apparent.
As a political independent, this writer seeks insights from across the political spectrum. The biblical principle of separating the wheat from the chaff is applied.
When public polling indicates that independents and Democrats who backed Biden are drifting toward the GOP, take note. When an NBC poll recently said that 75 percent of those surveyed believe that the country is on the wrong track, Republicans and their supporters better have a plan ready to go to straight to work in 2023 with what’s gone wrong under PINO Brandon.
There are Republican governors and attorneys general who appear to have the intestinal fortitude to take tough steps to defend their states’ citizens. Their setting the example could press state Democratic AGs to do likewise. In fairness, there is talk and some action on both sides of the political aisle on antitrust action.
But “We the People” should not be lulled into thinking we have to wait for some magical new law that may never pass. Let’s put good existing laws to work. ASAP. Let’s let our public officials and candidates know that enforcement of existing laws is a deliverable that they will be held accountable for in 2022, 2024, and beyond.
In conclusion, there are longtime Democrats who have admitted the problem described above. Some have said that there is a new feudalism rising in America. That feudalism is an apt description for the rise of tremendous power through the combination of money and information. Ponder the following examples.
Feudalism is an apt description for the oligarchs and plutocrats who have hijacked the political and regulatory processes in a manner that gives them de facto monopoly power. See the related op-ed to WND, linked below, to learn more. Don Jr. said antitrust enforcement was the #2 or #3 issue in America. Let's get to the root causes of problems instead of dancing around them. ##
https://www.wnd.com/2021/05/solution-big-tech-oligarchs/
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By L.A. "Tony" Kovach - for MHProNews.com.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing.
For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He's a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
This article reflects the LLC's and/or the writer's position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.
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