The Democrat Party has changed since Harry Truman said this:

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."

'Silencing' has become a way of life for Democrats when they govern. For example, when Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, they held a hearing on 'Disinformation and Extremism in the Media.' What prompted the hearing was a letter, written by Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Jerry McNerney (D-CA), to 12 cable and satellite provider companies that carried TV shows ranging from the Food Network to Fox News. The letter began, "Our country's public discourse is plagued by misinformation, disinformation, conspiracy theories and lies." The representatives were concerned about right-wing media broadcasts, which, they claimed, was spreading 'lies' and 'disinformation.'

One question the committee asked was, "What moral or ethical principles (including those related to journalistic integrity, violence, medical information and public health) do you apply in deciding which channels to carry or when to take adverse actions against a channel?"

When Republicans perceived the committee's actions as attempted subversion of the Constitution and the silencing of news of which Democrats didn't approve, Congresswoman Eshoo said she had no intention of proposing legislation to silence conservative news outlets, that she was asking 'strong, important questions.'

Democrats don't like conservative news organizations or what they say, especially things favorable to Donald Trump. They consider it disinformation and/or extreme speech. Democrats have an agenda to silence conservative voices. They get private companies to do their dirty work, then say, "Our hands are clean" and "We didn't abridge anybody's First Amendment rights."

Democrats are 'committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition.' They have tried to silence Trump by keeping him off ballots. The primary reason cited was that he violated Section 3 of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which bars any individual from holding federal or state office who has "engaged in insurrection." The 'insurrection,' for which Trump was neither charged nor convicted, took place on January 6, 2021.

• Colorado: Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said, "...the all-Democrat Colorado Supreme Court has ruled against President Trump, supporting a Soros-funded, left-wing group's scheme to interfere in an election..."
• Arizona: U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes ruled that (Republican presidential candidate) John Castro's challenge had no 'standing' because Castro was 'not genuinely competing' with Trump for votes in the GOP primary.
• California: Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis wrote a letter to Secretary of State Shirley Weber urging her to 'explore every legal option' to remove Trump from the ballot.
• Maine: Secretary of State Shenna Bellows removed Trump from its primary ballot.
• Michigan: the state's Court of Appeals ruled the Republican Party controls who appears on its primary ballot.
• Minnesota: the state's Supreme Court ruled the Republican Party decides which candidates appear on its primary ballot.
• Rhode Island: An attempt to remove Trump from the Republican primary ballot failed in Democrat Rhode Island.

Lawsuits have been filed in other states as well to keep him off state ballots: Alaska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Vermont, and Virginia.

Fortunately SCOTUS stepped in and ended the nonsense.

On the evening of January 24, on which Donald Trump won the Iowa caucus, MSNBC anchor Rachael Maddow silenced Trump's voice. She refused to air Trump's speech after his landslide win, saying MSNBC couldn't air "lies."

Maddow claimed it was 'not an easy decision' and that MSNBC and other news networks were interested in telling [a Democrat version of] the truth. "But there is a cost to us, as a news organization, of knowingly broadcasting untrue things. That is a fundamental truth of our business and who we are. And so, his remarks, tonight, will not air here live."

The 'Hush Money' trial, in which Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison, is being prosecuted by a Democrat, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (who has made this a federal case) and (conveniently) a former Biden Justice Department official. Another silence factor is that Alvin Bragg has no authority to enforce federal law. Trump also had to deal with a lawsuit brought by another New York Democrat, Attorney General Letitia James. He faces charges brought by Democrat district attorney Fani Willis. Trump also faces two indictments from the Biden Justice Department's chosen Trump prosecutor, Jack Smith.

In the 'Hush Money' trial, which began on March 25, Democrat Judge Juan M. Merchan cited Trump's prior comments about him and others in the case in granting the prosecution's request for what it termed a 'narrowly tailored' gag order barring Trump from making certain out-of-court statements. Prosecutors cited what they called Trump's 'long history of making public and inflammatory remarks' about people involved in his legal cases when it asked for the gag order.

Further damaging Trump's ability to campaign and raise funds, Judge Merchan ruled that Trump must be in court when it's in session. Merchan gave a warning "...that if Trump disrupts the proceedings, he could face jail time."

In what has to be the greatest case of chutzpah ever, Marchan said, "There’s no agenda here. We want to follow the law. We want justice to be done. That's all we want." He also said he is certain of his "ability to be fair and impartial." He said that despite the facts he's contributed to Democrats and his daughter is a party consultant.

Democrat operatives have done a very good job by bringing a total of 88 felony counts against Trump. They have managed to put Trump in a box designed to (a) cripple Trump's ability to campaign; (b) bankrupt or force him to use campaign funds for legal bills; and (c) erode Trump's appeal to swing voters who might be less likely to vote for him if he's convicted.

Democrats, learn from Harry Truman. You're going 'down the path of increasingly repressive measures.' What's being perpetrated today is exactly what Truman forecast over seventy years ago. Does ideology cloud your vision and thinking so much you can't see what's going down? Your voices will be silenced next, and it won't be Donald Trump doing the silencing.

Warren Beatty has created a web page that facilitates quick responses and/or comments to anything you consider outrageous: quick-rant.atwebpages.com

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