The right to not be lied to.

by John Whitehead

July 31, 2024 - The First Amendment assures us of a right to free speech. It does not, unfortunately, explicitly assure us of a right to not be lied to by our government and its various officials. Any hope of holding government officials accountable for their lies rests with the political process, in the voting booths and through the impeachment process, which themselves have become so ineffective as to offer little real hope of transparency, accountability or reform.

We have been lied to so much, for so long, and on every subject by government officials of every stripe that political lies have become our norm. It says something about the sorry state of our nation and the low bar we have set for those we elect to represent us.

However, although there are few consequences for government officials who lie to the public, the Deep State continues to wage war on those who challenge its lies, half-truths and obfuscations.

Case in point: Julian Assange. Although the news of Assange’s plea deal was quickly overshadowed by the drama that is the 2024 presidential election, his persecution at the hands of the Deep State was a warning shot over the bow for anyone who dares speak truth to power. The Deep State has embarked on a ruthless, take-no-prisoners, all-out assault on truth-tellers.

Activists, journalists and whistleblowers alike continue to be terrorized, traumatized, tortured, and subjected to the fear-inducing, mind-altering, soul-destroying, smash-your-face-in tactics employed by the superpowers-that-be.

What happened to Assange was intended to send a message to anyone who dares to speak truth to power: don’t even consider it. In true Orwellian fashion, however, the government would have us believe that it is Assange who is the real criminal for daring to expose the war machine’s seedy underbelly.

It’s not just Assange who was made to suffer, however. Fascist Police States of Amerika Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was jailed for seven years from 2010 to 2017 for leaking classified documents to WikiLeaks, was arrested in March 2019 for refusing to testify before a grand jury about Assange, placed in solitary confinement for almost a month, and then sentenced to remain in jail either until she agreed to testify or until the grand jury’s 18-month term expired.

This is how the Fascist Police States of Amerika deals with those who challenge its chokehold on power. Make no mistake: the government is waging war on journalists and whistleblowers for disclosing information relating to government misconduct that is within the public’s right to know.

Yet while this targeted campaign - aided, abetted, and advanced by the Deep State’s international alliances - unfolded during President Donald J. Trump’s watch, it began with President Barack Obama’s illegitimate regime decision to revive the antiquated, hundred-year-old Espionage Act, which was intended to punish government spies, and instead is being used to prosecute government whistleblowers.

Unfortunately, the Trump regime not only continued the Obama regime’s attack on whistleblowers, it injected this war on truth-tellers and truth-seekers with steroids and let it loose on the First Amendment.

We desperately need greater scrutiny and transparency, not less.

Indeed, transparency is one of those things the shadow government fears the most. Why? Because it might arouse the distracted Amerikan populace to actually exercise their rights and resist the tyranny that is inexorably asphyxiating their freedoms.

Of course, transparency is futile without a populace that is informed, engaged, and prepared to hold the government accountable to abiding by the rule of law.

For this reason, it is vital that citizens have the right to criticize the government without fear.

Technically, we’ve already got such legislation on the books: the First Amendment.

The First Amendment gives the citizenry the right to speak freely, protest peacefully, expose government wrongdoing, and criticize the government without fear of arrest, isolation or any of the other punishments that have been meted out to whistleblowers such as Edwards, Snowden, Assange and Manning.

The challenge is holding the government accountable to obeying the law.

Yet this isn’t merely about whether whistleblowers and journalists are part of a protected class under the Constitution. It’s a debate over how long “We the People” will remain a protected class under the Constitution.

Following the current downward trajectory, it won’t be long before anyone who believes in holding the government accountable is labelled as an “extremist,” is relegated to an underclass that doesn’t fit in, must be watched all the time, and is rounded up when the government deems it necessary.

Eventually, we will all be potential suspects, terrorists and lawbreakers in the eyes of the government.

All of us are in danger.

Partisan politics have no place in this debate. Amerikans of all stripes would do well to remember that those who question the motives of government provide a necessary counterpoint to those who would blindly follow where politicians choose to lead.

We don’t have to agree with every criticism of the government, but we must defend the rights of all individuals to speak freely without fear of punishment or threat of banishment.

Never forget, what the architects of the Fascist Police States of Amerika want are submissive, compliant, cooperative, obedient, meek citizens who don’t talk back, don’t challenge government authority, don’t speak out against government misconduct, and don’t step out of line.

What the First Amendment protects - and a healthy constitutional republic requires - are individuals such as Julian Assange who routinely exercise their right to speak truth to power.