Posted on 04/02/2023 9:03:48 AM PDT by CFW
The Czech novelist Milan Kundera published The Joke, his first novel, in 1967. It traces the fortunes of Ludvik, a young student, after his politically correct girlfriend shows the Communist authorities a postcard he had written to her as a joke: “Optimism is the opium of the people! A healthy atmosphere stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky! Ludvik.” As a result of this whimsy, Ludvik finds himself expelled from the Communist Party, the university, and is eventually conscripted to work in the mines.
That’s the way things are in totalitarian societies. No jokes allowed, especially not jokes told at the expense of the regime.
Thus it is that North Korea banned sarcasm and irony.
Poor Ludvik suffered for his joke. But he got off easy compared to Douglass Mackey, a social media “influencer” who wrote under the pen name “Ricky Vaughn.”
During the 2016 election cycle, Mackey/Vaughn posted a funny meme urging Hillary voters to “avoid the line and vote from home” by texting “Hillary” to a certain number.
Who would be stupid enough to fall for such a joke? No one. But his satire was effective enough to get him banned from the pre-Elon Musk era Twitter. And the feds thought—or said they thought—that it was part of a “plot to disenfranchise black and women voters.” I guess that shows you what they think of black and women voters.
(Excerpt) Read more at amgreatness.com ...
I was reviewing the story of Alexei Navalny, one of Putin’s United Party electoral opponents of the last 20 years, who now is in prison.
The non-stop lawfare and charges against him by the Russian state are an exact mirror of what is being done to Trump by our own deep-state.
Suspicion of rigging of vote-counting machines in select ruling party “United Russia” districts? Check.
dispute of mail in votes favoring ruling party candidate? Check.
improper adjudication of mass mail votes from ruling-party voters? Check.
Charges of “rioting” and “insurrection” against supporters who questioned the dodgy results? Check.
Harassment and legal prosecution of key aides and subordinates? Check.
Unknown Street-thug harassment of him and his supporters? Check.
Charges and lengthy investigation of foreign help of his campaign? Check.
Charges and conviction of improper payments and money-laundering? Check.
Attempts to disqualify him by declaring him a felon? Check.
State run / corporate media campaign against him? Check.
Russian social media banning his posts? Check
The USA has lost any moral standing or right to lecture others about “democracy.”
“...it was part of a “plot to disenfranchise black and women voters.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.