BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE TIK-TOK BAN

   These days it's a rare phenomenon when legislation crashes through the Federal Government with little to no resistance. This week, a move to 'ban' the popular social media app Tik-Tok won unanimous support in an otherwise useless House Committee. Nominal Head-of-State Biden gleefully chortled, “If they pass it, I’ll sign it,” and one of his spokesxhes told the Corporate Media, "We welcome it, Obviously, we've been working with [lawmakers] on it. And we would want to see this bill get done so it can get to the president's desk." 

   Usually, these unusual displays of bipartisanship never happen unless it involves money for Israel or expanding the Security State. They can't even pass Border Security or Ukraine aid---even though both parties agree on the same things---for political reasons. Wisconsin GOP Congressman Mike Gallagher---an anti-China fanatic---spent six months crafting the Bill. His former boss, California GOP Congressman Kevin McCarthy remarked: “The House will be moving forward with legislation to protect Americans from the technological tentacles of the Chinese Communist Party.” These people have argued, without evidence of any kind, that the Chinese-owned network is harvesting data on American users on behalf of the Chinese Government---ignoring the mountains of evidence that our own Government is doing exactly that.

      The Neocons' flying monkeys in the Controlled Opposition Press likewise have celebrated the move, which---in typical Neocon fashion---is disguised as a matter of choice. Gallagher said, “This is not a ban. Think of this as a surgery designed to remove the tumor and thereby save the patient in the process."  The Bill would force the divestiture of Tik-Tok from its owner, ByteDance. If the sale doesn’t happen within about six months, the bill calls for the app to be blocked on U.S. app stores and websites.

  “Tik-Tok is the top search engine for more than half of Gen Z, and about 6 in 10 Americans are hooked on the app before their 17th birthday." Gallagher further proclaimed, "This is worrisome because Tik-Tok is controlled by America’s foremost adversary, one that does not share our interests or our values: the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).” As if, our course, Wall Street-run Big Tech really does share our national values. Also as typical of the postmodern family values Conservatives, parents aren't competent to limit social media access, so it's up to the State to take action.

  Gallagher and other GOP lawmakers came to the conclusion that the U.S. must ban Chinese ownership of Tik-Tok: “We are ceding the ability to censor Americans’ speech to a foreign adversary,” he said—suggesting that censorship isn’t altogether wrong. It’s only wrong when committed by someone other than the Neocons. 

  Washington Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers---who, along with the aforementioned Kevin McCarthy makes the Top 25 of total Congressional recipients of lobbying cash---said this in much the same pro-censorship vein: “Earlier today, we heard from members of the intelligence community about the dangers posed by applications, like Tik-Tok, that are controlled by foreign adversaries and who are determined to exploit and weaponize Americans’ data. We also witnessed firsthand, in real time, how the Chinese Communist Party can weaponize platforms like Tik-Tok to manipulate the American people. This morning, prior to our hearing, Tik-Tok used its influence and power to force users to contact their representatives if they wanted to continue using Tik-Tok. This is just a small taste of how the CCP weaponizes applications it controls to manipulate tens of millions of people to further its agenda.” (Emphesis mine: note how now this fake Conservative considers soliciting public input on an issue an enemy operation). 

   Why do we suppose that both the Republican and Democrat Establishments are scrambling to get the Bill passed? While Big Media is focusing on the potential ban, the operative part of the Legislation is contained in the phrase: "The Bill would force the divestiture of Tik-Tok from its owner, ByteDance." Now, let's look at who are the top contenders to buy this valuable resource at a fire-sale price: Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), and Amazon---all of which are WEF Top 100 Strategic Partners. According to Open Secrets, these four companies spent a combined total of $64 million in lobbying last year alone; maintaining a phalanx of 398 lobbyists, 310 of which constitute a very bipartisan contingent of Revolving-Door former federal officials including a number of ex-Congressmen and Senators.

   Isn't it an amazing coincidence how all of these pressing national issues always seem to lead back to the same people?

    President-in-Exile Trump, who once supported a Tik-Tok ban, has seen better of it and denounced the proposed Bill as giving too much power to the Tech Lords. Of course, Trump's right: hence the scramble to get Tik-Tok seized and sold off before November while the Republican Establishment is still guaranteed a more sympathetic Administration with which to deal. 

    Trump aside, all of us good Conservatives are supposed to pretend that this Bill isn't just another wealth-transfer and encroachment on our Civil Liberties. We're to believe instead that China is the real threat: that the Chinese are harvesting data on millions of Americans with which information they could do absolutely nothing; while believing that opening the app to Corporate Crooks and Deep State spies and perverts poses absolutely no threat to anybody. We're to go on pretending that a Republican victory in November really is about saving us all from Democrat excesses and not just an attempt by the Neocons to seize the same powers and emoluments for themselves. It's all a fake---just like everything else in this managed democracy of ours---and when the hysteria fades, we the people will end up as we always do; with less freedom while the Corporate Oligarchs end up rioting in the spoils and laughing in their sleeves at us.