Watch The X22 Report On Video 2 video(s) found Ep 3308b – Bloodbath Stage Is Set‚ Obama Spygate Panic‚Makes Trip To UK‚FVEY‚Time To Show The People Ep 3308a -[CB] Makes [CBDC] Move Behind The Scenes‚Trump Announced [CBDC] Block‚Timing Is Everything Click On Picture To See Larger Picture The green new scam is now taking its toll on Germany and Canada. In the US‚ NY and CA are feeling the pain. The economy breakdown is accelerating‚ inflation is slowing down. There is a push for the [CB] to lower rates. Trump countered the [CB] pushing into [CBDC]. Obama is now panicking. Jordan and others have subpoenaed the Crossfire Hurricane information. Obama takes a trip to one the FVEY countries. Spygate is in the crosshairs. Trump used the word bloodbath and knew the fake news and the corrupt politicians would use it to create the narrative that Trump will have violence during the elections. The [DS] projected what they are about to do. Sometimes you need to show the people.   Economy Germany Is Running Out Of Money And Debt Levels Are Exploding‚ Finance Minister Warns German Finance Minister Christian Lindner is warning his own government that state finances are quickly growing out of hand‚ and the government needs to change course and implement austerity measures. However‚ the dispute over spending is only expected to escalate‚ with budget shortfalls causing open clashes among the three-way left-liberal coalition running the country. With negotiations kicking off for the 2025 budget‚ much is at stake. However‚ the picture has been complicated after the country’s top court ruled that the government could not shift €60 billion in money earmarked for the coronavirus crisis to other areas of the budget‚ with the court noting that the move was unconstitutional. Since then‚ the government has been in crisis mode‚ and sought to cut the budget in a number of areas‚ including against the country’s farmers. Those cuts already sparked mass protests‚ showcasing how delicate the situation remains for the government . Source: zerohedge.com https://twitter.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1769706137450844186?s=20  highest in 13 years. In January‚ small businesses faced deadlines to repay interest-free loans of ~$45‚000 given during the pandemic. Small businesses currently account for ~33% of Canada’s GDP. Is Canada bracing for a recession? GROCERY PRICES HAVE SOARED. THAT’S SPOILING BIDEN’S ECONOMIC PITCH (Bloomberg) President Joe Biden is regularly promoting signs of a strengthening economy and easing inflation‚ but when it comes to the indicator closest to home‚ it’s a tough sell. The surge in grocery prices… pic.twitter.com/2T1Re2hS6E — FXHedge (@Fxhedgers) March 17‚ 2024   since just before the Covid lockdown has been stunning: up more than 25%‚ a full 5 percentage points more than consumer prices overall. “It’s transitory” – Janet Yellen pic.twitter.com/olk0y9yvEE — Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 18‚ 2024 Didn’t we have two back to back quarters of -1.5. So what did the [CB]/[DS] do‚ they changed the calculation‚ this way they were able to report we were not in a recession.   BREAKING: Senator Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders urge FED Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates. They want a “a clear and rapid timetable for reducing interest rates‚ ideally beginning at the May FOMC meeting‚” according to a letter sent to Powell. Can you imagine… pic.twitter.com/sXD5KivOn1 — Genevieve Roch-Decter‚ CFA (@GRDecter) March 18‚ 2024   cutting interest rates with stocks and crypto at RECORD highs? WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG. Federal Reserve Declares CBDC a “Key Duty” to Congress‚ Despite Public Statements Attempting To Downplay Its Focus  Fed has only recently been telling Congress that steps leading to a digital dollar are among its “7 key duties.” This is according to Congressman Tom Emmer‚ who posted a document on X on March 14‚ explaining that his office received it as the Fed representatives were in Congress for a presentation. What caused the alarm is the mention of Automated Clearinghouse and FedNow among the “key duties‚” as these payment systems are seen as a way to move towards a CBDC.  Chairman Jerome Powell told the Banking‚ Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that adopting or even recommending a US CBDC was a something that was “nowhere near (…) in any form.” “People don’t need to worry about it‚” Powell also said.  Brainard is reported as saying a CBDC would “reinforce global dollar dominance” and be “a safe central bank liability in the digital financial ecosystem.” Source: reclaimthenet.org Donald Trump Claims He Will “Never Allow” Creation of CBDC in the US if Reelected IMF confirms some accounts were hacked following cyberattack Someone broke into almost a dozen IMF email accounts‚ but it’s yet unknown what they did with the information found there. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)‚ a UN financial agency funded by 190 member countries‚ confirmed the breach in a press release published late last week‚ as well as in a short statement given to BleepingComputer. According to the press release‚ the IMF detected the breach in mid-February this year‚ after which it brought in independent cybersecurity experts to launch an in-depth investigation and determine the nature of the breach. The investigation determined that 11 IMF email accounts were compromised. Source:  techradar.com  JUST IN: Canada-based payments company MOGO to buy up to $5 million in #Bitcoin and Bitcoin ETFs. — Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 18‚ 2024 Political/Rights Chicago Will Begin Evicting Over 5‚600 Illegal Migrants from Shelters on Saturday Chicago is set to begin evicting over 5‚600 illegal migrants from city-run shelters on Saturday. The evictions come as Mayor Brandon Johnson’s controversial 60-day limit is set to kick in‚ even though Chicago has been a “Sanctuary City” for nearly 40 years.  ” There are currently about 11‚200 migrants being housed by the city at taxpayers’ expense. There has also been an outbreak of measles at one of the shelters.   It is unclear where the evicted illegal migrants will go. Source: thegatewaypundit.com Geopolitical/Police State News item — AP is reporting that eight (8) carmakers have already removed the AM broadcast from electric vehicles … https://t.co/Uvtj5zRt93 — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) March 16‚ 2024  TAKE A LISTEN WOW. The person who doesn’t know what a woman is‚ also doesn’t know what the first amendment is. https://t.co/Q7NoikMdt9 — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 18‚ 2024 Ketanji Brown-Jackson is concerned that the First Amendment is making it harder for the government to censor speech. That’s literally the entire point. The Bill of Rights wasn’t written to restrain WE THE PEOPLE It was written to RESTRAIN THE GOVERNMENT   "I have had two cases in the last 6 months where two people‚ unfortunately very mentally ill‚ came to try to kill me." 一 Elon Musk pic.twitter.com/W9yhKHOJwj — DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) March 18‚ 2024 SMURF SCANDAL: Interview with 16 Year Old German Girl Loretta Reported by Principal‚ Yanked From Class and BUSTED for Posting Smurf Video German police pulled a 16-year-old schoolgirl out of class and arrested her for sharing a video expressing political sympathies with the right-wing AfD party in a harmless “Smurf video” . The girl was reported to police by her principal‚ who issued a “formal police warning” against “incitement.” The incident has become a national scandal in Germany. Loretta and her mother spoke out publicly for the first time in an interview with conservative weekly Junge Freiheit. The girl feels humiliated‚ and her mother fears for political freedom and civil rights in Germany. Source: thegatewaypundit.com War Putin holds elections during the war and wins 88% of the vote… the West call it “dictatorship”. Zelensky cancels elections and blames the war… the West call it “democracy”. Funny how that works. pic.twitter.com/Q39M0oCfpY — Clandestine (@WarClandestine) March 17‚ 2024 False Flags In oral arguments before the Supreme Court over whether the government has the authority to bully media outlets into censorship on behalf of the government‚ the government’s attorney just argued that the censorship was okay because the government really wanted people to be… — Sean Davis (@seanmdav) March 18‚ 2024   bullied into getting “vaccine” shots. Never forget pic.twitter.com/JQG9EFY2qR — Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) March 18‚ 2024 CDC Finally Releases 148 Page Study on Myocarditis Following COVID Vaccine – And EVERY SINGLE WORD is Redacted!  Zachary Stieber‚ a reporter with the Epoch Times‚ released the CDC report on the frequency of myocarditis following the COVID vaccines. Zachary posted the FOIAed documents here. Every single page was redacted! EVERY SINGLE WORD!  Last September‚ nearly two hears after the introduction of the COVID vaccine‚ Dr. Anthony Fauci finally admitted the vaccines cause myocarditis.   So when did they learn this? And how severe were the results? Source: thegatewaypundit.com Over a Dozen Female Athletes File Lawsuit Against NCAA for Allowing Men to Compete in Women’s Sports a group of female athletes filed a lawsuit against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Thursday over their decision to allow “transgender” athletes to compete against them and use locker rooms for women. The lawsuit was filed by the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) on behalf of over a dozen female athletes. It alleges that the NCAA violated Title IX‚ a federal statute that guarantees equal opportunity for men and women in college sports. It seeks to prohibit biological males from competing against female athletes.  Further‚ it demands the NCAA revoke awards received by “transgender” athletes who competed against women in tournaments that were governed by the organization. ICONS said in a press release: “This lawsuit against the NCAA isn’t just about competition; it’s a fight for the very essence of women’s sports‚” said ICONS Co-Founder Marshi Smith‚ a collegiate All-American and NCAA national champion swimmer. “ Source: thegatewaypundit.com STUDY: ‘Woke’ People More Likely To Be Miserable‚ Suffer From Mental Health Problems A study out of Finland has found that people who believe in “woke” ideas of social justice are more likely to be anxious‚ miserable‚ and depressed. The study‚ entitled “Construction and validation of a scale for assessing critical social justice attitudes‚” was carried out by Oskari Lahtinen‚ a senior researcher at the INVEST Research Flagship Centre at the University of Turku. It sought to establish the prevalence of the “woke” worldview and the kinds of people who hold it. PsyPost‚ a publication that focuses on psychological developments‚ reported on its findings: An intriguing aspect of the study was its exploration of the relationship between critical social justice and mental well-being. Lahtinen found a correlation between higher agreement with critical social justice attitudes and increased reports of anxiety and depression. The study adds to the growing body of evidence that left-wing progressives live unhappier lives. A 2021 study from the University of Chicago found that just one in six Democratic voters described themselves as “very happy‚” while one in three Republicans felt the same way. Source: thegatewaypundit.com ‘Gloves Off’: Democrat Tennessee State Senator Calls for Riots After Republican Lawmakers Pass Pro-Police Bill (VIDEO) A Democrat Tennesssee state senator has called for riots after Republican lawmakers passed a pro-police bill. State Sen. Charlane Oliver was responding to the passing of legislation that prevents cities from restricting police officers from making certain types of traffic stops. “So yeah‚ we’re gonna fight‚” Oliver said. “Dr. King said the riots are the language of the unheard. You [sic] ain’t seen nothing yet. If you keep silencing us like this‚ what do you think our districts [sic] gonna do?” 'Gloves Off:' Sen. @CharlaneOliver (D-Nashville) Calls for Riots after TN Senate Passes @SenBrentTaylor Pro-Police Bill. "It is rooted in racism‚" Oliver said. "This is a Jim Crow bill that [Sen. Brent] Taylor brought and all his Confederates voted for it." Video @FOXNashville pic.twitter.com/F7rhyeAwzu — KWAM News Radio 990 AM Memphis (@Mighty990KWAM) March 15‚ 2024  Source: thegatewaypundit.com Q  BREAKING: Trump Unable to Secure Bond for $454 Million Judgment in NYC Fraud Case: Attorney President Trump’s lawyers  in a court filing said Trump has been unable to secure a bond in order to appeal Letitia James’ $454 million judgment. Last month President Trump offered to post a $100 million bond and asked for a stay of the $464 million judgment in Letitia James Soviet-style NYC fraud trial. “The exorbitant and punitive amount of the Judgment coupled with an unlawful and unconstitutional blanket prohibition on lending transactions would make it impossible to secure and post a complete bond‚” Trump’s defense lawyers wrote in the filing. “Appellants nonetheless plan to secure and post a bond in the amount of $100 million.” Trump must either find the cash or post a bond to prevent the state’s authorities from seizing his properties while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron’s Feb. 16 decision ordering him and co-defendants to pay $464 million in penalties and interest for misstating property values to dupe lenders and insurers. In a court filing on Monday‚ his lawyers urged a mid-level state appeals court to delay enforcement of the judgment‚ arguing the amount was excessive. Source: thegatewaypundit.com BREAKING: Judge McAfee on page 20 of his ruling tacitly invites Trump's legal team to file a motion gagging D.A. Fani Willis from making any more "legally improper" speeches or comments about the case that might taint the jury pool‚ as she did at a black church in Atlanta — Paul Sperry (@paulsperry_) March 15‚ 2024  Kamala Harris faces critic’s call to step down ‘for the country’s sake’  Vice President Kamala Harris is being called to resign from her position in order to give President Joe Biden a better chance at reelection. Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post editorial board penned the opinion editorial published Friday. Parker wrote a similar recommendation to Sarah Palin‚ John McCain’s presidential pick ahead of the 2008 election. “This is why I propose with all due respect that Harris step away from the ticket‚” Parker wrote. “Please‚ Madame Vice President‚ do it for your country.” “The Kamala conundrum comes down to this: She was picked because she was Black and female‚ a combo tantamount to job security‚” Parker wrote. “Now that she has become a burden to the Democratic ticket‚ Biden can’t fire her. He can’t risk alienating his base. Full stop. The seriousness of this situation can’t be overstated. Biden’s diminishing faculties‚ notwithstanding his relatively successful State of the Union address‚ and his increasing physical frailty are concerning.” Source: washingtonexaminer.com  Just In: Barack Obama Caught on Video Entering Home of UK Prime Minister—Why? The answer is becoming increasingly clear for anyone wondering how Joe Biden is performing his daily duties as “President of the United States.” It appears as though surrogates who were previously working behind the curtain are coming out of hiding‚ possibly to assure Democrats that despite Joe Biden’s obvious mental limitations‚ the old guard‚ anti-American radicals who’ve been running the party for almost two decades‚ are still in control. Only moments ago‚ former President Barack Obama was captured on video walking up to the official residence of Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street in London.   In another video that was taken as he exited 10 Downing Street‚ reporters could be heard asking Barack Obama‚ who was accompanied by US Ambassador to the UK Jane Hartley‚ is asked by the media‚ “President Obama‚ why should we care about democracy in Russia?” Source: thegatewaypundit.com Obama arrives at 10 Downing Street to meet with senior UK political and security officials. This unannounced trip comes just days after a bombshell report revealed he involved the UK’s intel agencies along with the CIA to spy on the Trump campaign and administration. pic.twitter.com/aeKWkenIVa — George Papadopoulos (@GeorgePapa19) March 18‚ 2024 1667 Jul 03‚ 2018 1:54:59 AM EDT Q !CbboFOtcZs ID: e429ce No. 2007911  Jul 03‚ 2018 1:52:44 AM EDT Q !CbboFOtcZs ID: e429ce No. 2007869  https://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2018/07/02/nunes-refers-ten-OBAMA-officials-to-house-judiciary-and-oversight-joint-task-force/amp/?__twitter_impression=true Re_ read drops re: Five Eyes / FVEY. Will be extremely important going forward. [UK] – primary Turn taken. FBI/DOJ to State / Hussein WH (inc C_A / other appointment Start) to Foreign Bad Actors. [RR] deadline? We have the server. Q >;>;2007869 “ Normally‚ intelligence passed on from a member of the “Five Eyes” alliance — Australia‚ Canada‚ New Zealand‚ the U.K.‚ and the U.S. — to another member comes through an official channel for intelligence sharing. However‚ Nunes‚ upon reviewing the document that formally launched the FBI’s investigation‚ said there was no intelligence shared through that official channel‚ meaning that the intelligence was shared through unofficial means.” Q 4044 May 02‚ 2020 1:45:54 PM EDT Q !!Hs1Jq13jV6 ID: b8a35e No. 9000343  01e5c73fe9ef1f769e7c7226807a5de1.jpg https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1256628709496369152 The Russia Hoax is the biggest political scandal in American history. Treason!!! Lets see how it ends???? https://t.co/VRsVdiQrsf — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 2‚ 2020 Q    When you step back and look at the board‚ this is Trumps campaign‚everything you are witnessing‚ the open borders‚ economy crashing‚ war etc… is his campaign against the [DS] New York Times: America First Legal and its allies in Congress are winning the war against censorship. pic.twitter.com/Df5cal7VAM — America First Legal (@America1stLegal) March 17‚ 2024 Biden Communications Director Michael Tyler goes on the show of (former) Biden Press Sec Psaki to spew disinformation: Tyler says Trump's bloodbath remark was an "endorsement of political violence" (He was talking about the auto industry) Tyler backs up this hoax with the… pic.twitter.com/5PCSmTEoFs — End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) March 17‚ 2024   hoax that Trump called Nazis “very fine people” NEW – MSNBC host: "These people may be stupid‚ we’re not."pic.twitter.com/RlWJXrpLcn — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) March 18‚ 2024 BOMBSHELL: Alleged clips surface of @JoeNBC repeatedly calling for bloodbaths. Big if true. pic.twitter.com/5BWWyhBnVA — Power Tie (@realPowerTie) March 18‚ 2024   https://t.co/Cf0P72wxqe pic.twitter.com/QLSrqdVbWY — John Ocasio-Rodham Nolte (@NolteNC) March 17‚ 2024 CNN Analyst Spreads Disinformation To Get Feds To Meddle In Elections Against Trump CNN National Security Analyst Juliette Kayyem said the Biden Department of Justice’s lawfare against former President Donald Trump is not enough to defeat him and called on the Department of Homeland Security to meddle in the election to stop Trump from winning. A proposal; It is good Biden is talking about the threat to our democracy coming from the violence Trump promises. We have a whole department created to address terrorism. And it would be nice to hear a plan about protecting our homeland security. DOJ is not built for this. 1/ https://t.co/n9u0gMv9iH — Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) March 17‚ 2024 Source: thefederalist.com they are projecting what they are going to do. They are trying to set it all up. Trump is going to incite violence‚ translation‚ we will need the illegals and antifa to dress up like Trump supporters when we don’t certify the elections. Remember the wrapup smear campaign The Nancy Pelosi Wrap Up Smear in action. pic.twitter.com/M2Z7C9s68S — Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 18‚ 2024 TAKE A LISTEN Record violent crime in cities…bloodbath Ukraine war…bloodbath Instability in the middle east…bloodbath Illegal aliens murdering Americans…bloodbath Fentanyl crisis…bloodbath Vaccine injuries &; deaths…bloodbath They don’t want you to know the bloodbath is already here… — DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) March 18‚ 2024 under Joe Biden   

from Sputnik News: Vladimir Putin’s victory will ensure Russia’s economic rise and military-technical development amid the ongoing global geopolitical shift‚ Sputnik’s interlocutors said‚ commenting on the presidential election outcome. Russian President Vladimir Putin was successful in his re-election bid on March 17‚ securing a new six-year term‚ having gained over 80% of votes. Over the […]

by Jim Hoft‚ The Gateway Pundit: The New York Times has published a feature article complaining about how Donald Trump and his movement are “winning the war over disinformation‚” another of way of saying that Americans still believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen. The piece begins by noting that conservatives have “unquestionably prevailed” in their efforts […]

from NEM721:  TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

by Mish Shedlock‚ Mish Talk: The CRE implosion is picking up steam. Check out the grim stats on Pittsburgh. Unions are also a problem in Pittsburg as they are in Illinois and California. Downtown Pittsburgh Implosion The Post Gazette reports nearly half of Downtown Pittsburgh office space could be empty in 4 years. TRUTH LIVES on […]

from Mark Dice:  TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

A male high school student took 10th place in the girls’ high jump in a recent national indoor track meet in Boston‚ continuing a streak of elbowing out female athletes from placing in the event.  Lizzy Cohen Bidwell‚ a Connecticut resident whose name at birth was Lucas‚ qualified for the national meet by taking first in the girls’ high jump in the regional competition. Bidwell‚ a high school junior from West Hartford‚ Connecticut‚ competed as one of six female runners representing the state March 10 in the high jump at the New Balance Nationals Indoor meet.  ?Male athlete‚ Lizzy Bidwell won the GIRLS New England Track &; Field Championship high jump title this weekend. He secured the #1 jump in CT and the #3 highest jump nationwide for high school girls. He was 1 of 2 boys in the girls' event of 32. ?Read more here:… pic.twitter.com/lrdtbT1KWI— ICONS (@icons_women) March 4‚ 2024 The male athlete placed third in the girls’ high jump and fifth in the girls’ long jump Feb. 17 at the CIAC State Open Indoor Track and Field Championships. Connecticut continues to demonstrate a disregard for women’s achievement‚ May Mailman‚ director of the Independent Women’s Law Center‚ told The Daily Signal. Her organization defends equal opportunity‚ individual liberty‚ and what it calls the legal relevance of biological sex. “Thanks to the state’s anti-female policies‚ young men continue to take records‚ roster spots‚ dignity‚ and hope away from women‚” May said. “This level of discrimination has no place in our society‚ and every coach‚ administrative official‚ and parent who condones this through their action is participating in the degradation and unequal treatment of women.” Each participating state in the March 2 regional championship‚ the New England High School Indoor Track &; Field Championship‚ was allowed to submit the names of six competitors per event‚ according to the meet program.  Bidwell was one of two transgender athletes to beat females in the girls’ high jump at the national meet. Maelle Jacques‚ a biological male from New Hampshire‚ placed 14th in the event at last weekend’s national. Jacques qualified by winning the girls’ high jump Feb. 11 at the state’s Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 championship.  “Another less than mediocre man atop a women’s podium‚” former competitive swimmer and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines wrote of Jacques on X‚ formerly Twitter‚ in a Feb. 14 post. “He must be so proud.” Maelle Jacques (male) won a state title in girls high jump this past weekend in New HampshireHe won the women's category with a 5'2" jump. This is 10 inches lower than the best boys high jump at 6'0"Another less than mediocre man atop a women's podium. He must be so proud pic.twitter.com/IXwKmCj3Jw— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 14‚ 2024 Bidwell qualified for the New England regional indoor track championship by placing in the girls’ high jump and long jump in the Connecticut State Championship‚ pushing out a female athlete in both events. For unreported reasons‚ the athlete didn’t compete as scheduled in the girls’ long jump.  Bidwell’s high jump of 5 feet‚ 9 inches at the regional made the biological male the highest-ranked “female” athlete of  2024 for indoor track at Connecticut high schools. Nationally‚ he ranks fifth-best among high school girls in the high jump.  If Bidwell had competed in the boys’ high jump‚ however‚ the athlete wouldn’t have cleared the height of 6 feet‚ 1 inch needed to qualify. Bidwell’s parents legally changed his name from Lucas to Lizzy between ages 9 and 10‚ Reduxx reported.  Bidwell’s competition in the girls’ event at the regional took an award from a biological female. That March 2 win secured the athlete a first-place plaque as Special New England Champion.  Across the nation‚ boys are taking the places of girls in sporting events designed for female athletes.  At the end of September in Maine‚ for example‚ a biological male runner who identifies as a female‚ Soren Stark-Chessa‚ went from the middle of the pack in boys’ races to winning the award for Fastest Sophomore Girl at Maine’s largest high school cross-country race.  Ken McIntyre contributed to this report. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post High School Male Pushes Females Out of High Jump Honors appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Those hoping for more open discourse on matters of national concern should not await the Supreme Court‘s decision in Murthy v. Missouri with much optimism.  During Monday morning’s oral arguments in the case‚ the justices sounded unlikely to restrict the White House’s ability to control content moderation on social media platforms such as Facebook despite evidence that the Biden administration browbeat and coerced the platforms to suppress dissenting views on issues ranging from COVID-19 to election integrity.    Murthy v. Missouri was the second time in a month that the Supreme Court heard arguments centering on the roles of government and social media in our national discourse. Like the two NetChoice cases argued a few weeks ago‚ Murthy v. Missouri is about government efforts to control the information published on social media platforms; it also is about what the platforms euphemistically called “content moderation”; and it stems from the suppression of views dissenting from those espoused by the federal government.  But there end the similarities between these cases.  The NetChoice cases concerned state‚ rather than federal‚ efforts.  When Florida and Texas attempted to regulate social media‚ they did so through the legislative process‚ tailoring their efforts to promote the broad dissemination of viewpoints.  In Murthy‚ by contrast‚ the federal government used back channels between White House officials and social media executives to suppress views‚ even factually supported ones‚ at odds with the positions taken by the Biden administration.  The White House’s barrage of demands came paired with intimations that the administration would pursue increased antitrust enforcement against the platforms should they resist the government’s desires.   Courts Aghast The parties affected by the executive branch’s effort and who brought the case include the states of Louisiana and Missouri as well as epidemiologists Jay Bhattacharya and Martin Kulldorff‚ famous for the Great Barrington Declaration that criticized mass lockdowns and advocated for targeted prevention strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. The plaintiffs uncovered reams of emails demonstrating the lengths to which executive branch actors went to ensure that views contrary to the White House’s would not be disseminated online.  The lower courts were aghast.  Having reviewed the large evidentiary record‚ District Judge Terry Doughty deemed the White House’s effort “the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history‚” and broadly enjoined executive branch agencies from communicating with the platforms.  On appeal‚ the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals narrowed the scope of Doughty’s injunction‚ but affirmed that‚ by threats and encouragement‚ the executive branch had coopted the social media platforms’ content moderation process‚ making the downgrade or deletion of plaintiffs’ posts a form of state action that violated the First Amendment.  The case received a markedly different reception at the Supreme Court‚ where the value of a public discourse informed by broad participation was not much discussed; nor were the implications of allowing officials with law-enforcement power to dampen speech because it disagreed with their own. Instead‚ the object of greater solicitude by the justices was government speech‚ the ability of officials to persuade the public to act in the manner the government thinks best.  That speech is not guaranteed by the First Amendment; rather‚ it is incidental to the federal government’s sovereign status. Public officials‚ after all‚ must communicate with the public‚ and it is naturally expected they will promote their own views of what constitutes good policy.  Lengthy Harangues Deputy Solicitor General Brian Fletcher‚ arguing for the federal government‚ maintained that persuasive speech is all that the government used when seeking to have vaccine- or lockdown-skeptical posts deplatformed.  That may be a creative recharacterization of the lengthy harangues‚ neither mild nor persuasive in tone‚ emailed multiple times a week by White House officials to executives at Facebook‚ Google‚ and X (formerly Twitter). Nevertheless‚ Fletcher’s interpretation of these messages met with little skepticism from the bench‚ save for a few probing questions from Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.  Two justices with past White House experience‚ Elena Kagan and Brett Kavanaugh‚ noted that contact between executive officials and media outlets is frequent and (in their view) generally untroubling.  Kagan‚ a veteran of the Clinton White House‚ stated (only half-jokingly) that she had extensive experience encouraging others to suppress their views‚ opining that it happens in some form or another “literally thousands of times a day in the federal government.”  Kavanaugh‚ an alumnus of the George W. Bush White House‚ worried that restrictions on government speech would inhibit the executive’s ability to demand that news outlets not publish information that put national security at risk.  Similarly‚ Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson expressed her concern that plaintiffs would be “hamstringing the government in the most important time periods.” Louisiana Solicitor General J. Benjamin Aguinaga tried to assuage these concerns by pointing out that the government could restrict speech constitutionally where it demonstrated a compelling interest and used means narrowly tailored to that interest. That concession‚ though necessary‚ bought Aguinaga little support.  The justices continued to mire themselves and Aguinaga in hypotheticals not presented by the case before them.  Could the government order platforms to censor recruitment posts for terrorists? What about viral social media challenges in which children jump from windows? That one was the product of Jackson’s fertile mind.  Of course‚ hypotheticals are a mainstay of Supreme Court arguments because they aim at uncovering the principles behind the particular facts of the case at hand.  More so than lower courts‚ the Supreme Court must take a long view and anticipate the future cases to which its holdings will give rise.  Still‚ one gets the sense that justices occasionally invoke hypothetical difficulties to avoid resolving the concrete difficulties before them.  A listener paying attention to Monday’s proceedings might fairly draw that conclusion.    Resolving the Tension As often has been the case this Supreme Court term‚ the issues animating public interest in Murthy v. Missouri are unlikely to be the basis for the court’s ultimate decision.  The high court may not even need to resolve the tension between government speech and First Amendment speech if it decides that the plaintiffs don’t have standing to bring the case. This was a route several justices‚ including Sonia Sotomayor and Amy Coney Barrett‚ seemed inclined to take.  Standing is a legal doctrine that ensures a case is litigated by a proper party with a concrete injury traceable to challenged conduct and fixable by a favorable decision. Although the plaintiffs in this case suffered past harm‚ they seek to stop the government from coercing the platforms in the future. So‚ they must demonstrate the probability of their own future injury. Because the White House laundered its censorship through nongovernment entities and because some of the content moderation policies specific to COVID-19 have lapsed since‚ plaintiffs will struggle to make that showing.  Were the high court to hold that plaintiffs lack standing‚ it would not answer the First Amendment questions.     One need not be naïve about the typical quality of online discourse to lament the Supreme Court’s now likely refusal to restrict the federal government’s role as censor-by-proxy. It is perhaps sad‚ but hardly an exaggeration‚ to call the constellation of major social media platforms the “modern public square.” Should the executive branch have free rein to determine what flourishes and what dies in that information ecosystem?  Contrary to Kagan’s comment during arguments that it “seems hard to overbear Facebook’s will‚” there is no mystery to the formula for coercing cooperation from major social media platforms. The record in the Murthy case tells us as much.  The market dominance of the major social media platforms is the product of government largesse and government-granted preferences. They are‚ thus‚ uniquely vulnerable to the loss of government favor. Reform to laws such as the Communications Decency Act or renewed interest in the enforcement of antitrust laws would be‚ as Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg put it‚ “an existential threat.”  Threaten either of these‚ as the Biden administration did repeatedly‚ and the platforms will likely bend over backward to comply with whatever standard of censorship the White House can devise.  Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post Advocates of Open Debate Online Struggle to Overcome Government Speech appeared first on The Daily Signal.