Kirsten Powers Thinks CNN Was Totally Justified In Going After Trump/WWE Meme Maker

Way to miss the point, Kirsten.

Kirsten Powers – who is admittedly one of the more sane and rational people on the left – kind of doesn’t understand how this whole “free speech” thing works. Even if people say things that you find terrible and offensive, they get to say them. You certainly don’t have to agree or even condone their words. You could even fight them tooth and nail over whether those words have a place in polite society. But that does NOT mean they should be bullied or silenced or even blackmailed for saying them. Yes, there is a fine line between the two, but the line exists.

Back to Kirsten – here’s what she said about the whole #CNNBlackmail thing. And… it looks like she’s siding with CNN here –

He’s not 15 years old + how did someone who posts anti-semitic, racist & anti-gay content become a victim for ppl to rally around? 1/2 https://t.co/SrsQ2kl73c

— Kirsten Powers (@KirstenPowers) July 6, 2017

Oh… here we go.

You know what the really scary thing about this story is? Not that this guy said these mean things or even whether he’s 15 or 50 (his age hasn’t been confirmed and I really don’t want to know any personal information about him). The guy could be made of swastikas and burning crosses, but he’d still have the right to free speech. And we’re not “rallying” around him as the approved “Victim of the Week.”

No. The scary part of this story is that a gigantic media corporation who has been actively hostile to at least half of the country in their reporting (given how hard they’ve worked to make it look like Trump’s election was illegitimate, thus ignoring the votes and voices of millions of Americans) went after a nameless, faceless guy on the internet because he made a joke at their expense.

And not only that they went after this guy – that they’re PROUD of having bullied, intimidated, and even blackmailed him into promising he’d never do it again.

So, if CNN can go after one guy for things he posted on the internet, who else are they going to go after?

Even my left-leaning friends aren’t happy with CNN’s actions. I had one acquaintance I know through social media (who does not share my politics at all) ask what the deal was with #CNNBlackmail trending on Twitter. I explained the bare facts to him, without offering my opinion on the topic – that CNN’s report made it sound like they were blackmailing and threatening this guy. And this acquaintance, who is no fan of Trump, said that it was disappointing that CNN thinks they can police the internet and bully people like this.

YES. Exactly the point!

That’s why these “meme wars” – as silly as they may seem – are so important. CNN wants to silence dissent and mockery, but people don’t have to put up with their crap. They don’t WANT to put up with CNN’s crap. Thus, the internet gets FLOODED with memes and gifs and videos mocking CNN (language warning on that last link, but it succinctly expresses this entire situation).

It’s funny and entertaining, but it also serves a further purpose. The message: You might have bullied one person, but you can’t bully EVERYONE.

As much as CNN thinks that they’re still this great and prestigious news outlet, they have actually lost all credibility outside of their own left-wing news bubble. Travel out of New York or DC, and CNN is pretty much a joke – they’re the only ones who haven’t seemed to realize what’s happened. Or they simply refuse to face reality.

Either way, it’s a both a lesson in basic free speech rights AND a source of endless entertainment.

(h/t Twitchy)