Civil Discord

Episode 17: Everything is Unconstitutional; FOIA’d Again

This week, unconstitutional new legislation takes aim at bodily autonomy by pitting U.S. citizens against each other. No, we aren’t talking about the federal COVID injection mandate—we’re talking about the Texas abortion law! Okay: we’re talking about both. We’re also talking about something no one else is: the FOIA’d emails showing that, via taxpayer money, the NIH funded Wuhan Institute of Virology research used “to identify and alter bat coronaviruses likely to infect humans”. Then we discuss the mounting social and legal resistance to mandated medical treatment—including a lawsuit filed in the People’s Republic of California!

 

Want $10,000? Sue Someone Who’s Just Had an Abortion! https://www.texastribune.org/2021/09/10/texas-abortion-law-ban-enforcement/ 

 

Want $599,000? Perform Gain-of-Function Research on Bat Coronaviruses!

https://theintercept.com/2021/09/06/new-details-emerge-about-coronavirus-research-at-chinese-lab/ 

 

Want to Not be Fined $14,000 Per Unvaccinated Employee? Hashtag Resist!

https://katv.com/news/nation-world/california-professor-sues-university-over-vaccine-mandate-citing-natural-immunity-09-01-2021 

 

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On Twitter: @AjaxtheGryff [Amanda]

On Instagram: @CallmeMaurice [Maurice]

Episode 16: A Rolling Stone Checks No Facts

Today’s episode is a quickie. We reminisce about the days when the left was skeptical of Big Pharma’s motives by covering an absolute debacle of a story that appeared in Rolling Stone and several other major publications—including The Hill—about how Oklahoma hospitals are turning away gunshot victims to treat Ivermectin overdoses. As it turns out, every detail of this story was fabricated. How did the entire journalistic profession fail to make the single phone call that would have vetted their source? How did they fail to confirm the (also debunked) article about 70% of Mississippi poison center calls being related to Ivermectin? (Spoiler alert: it’s 2%). What’s really behind the smear campaign around ivermectin? Whether it works against COVID or not, the surge in mainstream misinformation surrounding it is revealing. Is it a profit motive issue, an ideological issue, or something else? 

 

Check out Civil Discord on Where’s the Purple Podcast, discussing anarcho-capitalist vs. civil libertarian solutions to national defense, taxation, and more! https://open.spotify.com/episode/56y2CvoCt7uL2uBYBIqSWP?si=MbfRmpe6RueaBNT3B2GcDg&dl_branch=1&nd=1 

 

Amanda has screenshots of the Rolling Stone article after its first correction, including the hospital system’s comment, which the original article did not solicit: https://twitter.com/AjaxtheGryff/status/1434360800240537606

 

70% Rhymes with 2%: https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Health-Dept-Stop-taking-livestock-medicine-to-16405982.php 

 

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On Instagram: @callmeMaurice

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Episode 15: Bolshevik Libertarians

This week, we welcome our first-ever guest, Jim M., co-host of the “Ignore the Rant” podcast! We discuss the merits and disadvantages of activist movements versus incremental shifts when it comes to achieving socio-political change. Jim asks whether “the liberty movement” is (or should be) a long-term, “slow-moving movement; or something that needs a high-energy burst” to actuate cultural and policy goals. 

 

Amanda criticizes libertarians’ and anarchists’ aversion to organized activism, and shares how to combine PR brief-writing strategies with revolutionary movements. Maurice points out the symbiotic yet tense relationship between political institutions and protest wings. Jim makes the case for subversive tactics, uses the word “Machiavellian” in a sentence, and triggers Amanda to Amanda-splain Machiavelli. 

 

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Catch Civil Discord on Good Morning Liberty!

https://twitter.com/GoodAMLiberty/status/1430897713009233939 

 

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Episode 14: Do We Invade Australia Now?

 

Australia is a scarier place than we like to admit. There are definitely dinosaurs (they call them cassowaries), paralytic octopuses, immigrant detention black sites, internment camps (they call them ‘Centers for National Resilience’), and… fascists. Lots and lots of fascists. With very few civilian firearms. So… now that we’re out of Afghanistan, do we bring democracy to Australia instead? 

 

We Discuss: 

• What, if anything, is the logic behind Australia’s totalitarianism?
• Why is ‘COVID Zero’ a doomed policy objective, even if you’re an island nation?
• Why aren’t we comfortable condemning Australia?
• What, if anything, can Australians do to hashtag resist?
• What, if anything, is the international community’s obligation?
• Who has the nukes?

 

Today’s Stories:

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2021/07/30/1022685816/australia-sydney-lockdown-covid-coronavirus-troops

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/21/asia/australia-covid-worst-day-intl-hnk/index.html

 

https://www.theblaze.com/news/australia-council-shoot-dogs-dead-lockdowns

 

This is an Australian Dinosaur, and It Will Eat You: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy-9Z2KrjsY 

 

Amanda on the Good Morning Liberty Podcast, making the libertarian case for kicking everyone’s ass: https://www.goodmorningliberty.us/podcast/episode/1a2582e2/a-libertarian-foreign-policy-with-amanda-griffiths-or-ep-529 

 

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Episode 13: Foreign Policy is Dead, Long Live Foreign Policy

This week, we start with Afghanistan and move on to our broader critiques of U.S. foreign policy (and its discontents!). Maurice is an anarchist. Amanda is a civil libertarian, a Zionist, and a recovering neo-con. We thought it would be interesting to talk through recent events and see where we agreed—and diverged. 

 

We Discuss:

• The nuances of the non-aggression principle
• What does the NAP look like when you’re pulling out of a country you invaded? 
• Was the mission in Afghanistan always doomed? If not, what doomed it?
• Trying to work nation-state institutions into a city-state paradigm 
• Forever wars, isolationism, and false binaries
• Why great power competition matters
• The cases for and against bases (in foreign countries)

 

Follow the Podcast & Hosts

On Twitter: @civildiscordpod 

@ajaxthegryff 

 

On Instagram: @civildiscordpodcast 

@callmemaurice 

Episode 12: Karen vs. Karen

In this episode, we revisit a tale of two Karens: Amy Cooper, a white woman who called the police on a black man in Central Park; and Christian Cooper, a black man who argued for greater Central Park police presence in response to off-leash dog-walkers. A recent report from Kmele Foster provides additional background on Amy’s 911 call, on the moments before and after her videotaped confrontation with Christian, and—yes—why she claims she warned him that she was going to tell the police “an African-American man is threatening my life.” 

 

We Discuss: 

• What are the most charitable explanations for both Amy and Christian’s actions? What are the most cynical?
• Bad decisions and bad excuses 
• Why don’t journalists like to do their jobs?
• How has the credibility shifted? What questions are left outstanding? 
• The Court of Law vs. The Court of Public Opinion 

 

The Original Video of Karen vs. Karen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0FByIEijXI 

Kmele Foster & Bari Weiss Revisit the Story: https://www.honestlypod.com/podcast/episode/256bac0b/the-real-story-of-the-central-park-karen 

A Pattern of Behavior from Christian: https://twitter.com/kmele/status/1423377085729447938

A Pattern of Behavior from Amy: https://twitter.com/AngryBlackLady/status/1423259114885599245

Hashtag Resist All the Things

Maurice, Civil Discord’s Official Texas Correspondent, reports on Texas Democrats’ trip to D.C. and explains why spending 1.5 million taxpayer dollars is necessary to protect Texans’ voting rights. Next, Amanda, Civil Discord’s Official People’s Republic of California Correspondent, reports on the Los Angeles Department of Public Health’s indoor mask mandate and explains why unelected bureaucrats are able to pass extra-legal orders without even demonstrating that a state emergency even exists. Finally, both hosts break down Dr. Rand Paul’s latest exchange with Dr. Anthony Fauci, Official Science Correspondent and Officially The Science, and explain why the best thing to do when you’re caught in a lie is to deny and deflect. Amanda makes a formal apology to Edward Snowden. 

 

We Discuss: 

Texas Democrats’ Super Spreader Getaway:

• https://bigbendsentinel.com/2021/07/14/as-a-group-of-texas-democratic-lawmakers-flee-to-dc-to-protest-republican-efforts-to-overhaul-voting-rights-rep-morales-stays-behind/ 
• https://www.texastribune.org/2021/07/08/texas-voting-bill-special-session

 

California #Resistance:

• This is not a law

• LA County Sheriff’s Statement on Indoor Mask Mandates: “Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted COVID-19 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science and contradicts the [CDC] guidelines. …[T]he underfunded/defunded Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will not expend our limited resources [enforcing the mandate]. ...We encourage the DPH to work collaboratively with the Board of Supervisors and law enforcement to establish mandates that are both achievable and supported by science.”
• At the time the LA mandate went into effect, the rolling 7-day average of COVID deaths across the entire state was… nine people. 
• Manipulating Data: Numbers vs. Percentages 
• Gavin with the Good Hair’s intensifying recall woes 

 

When Gain of Function Isn’t Gain of Function:

• ​​Gain of Function Meets Death of the Author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYoy4MBezHE 
• Complete Hearing Transcript: https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/fauci-walensky-covid-19-response-testimony-senate-hearing-transcript-july-20 

Freedom Toons’ Parody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k93WOUeZFX4&feature=youtu.be

Whatever Happened to Miss Information?

Today, we open with a light item—a viral TikTok video—and engage in some cultural commentary. Next, we break down a new executive order that aims at promoting free-market competition by creating a central body staffed with career bureaucrats. Speaking of free markets, the Biden administration is flagging Facebook posts for misinformation and encouraging platforms to unilaterally ban bad actors—calling into question just how much lawmakers care about antitrust violations. After critiquing both the left and the right’s attempts to compromise Section 230, we explain how civilians can create and migrate to a truly distributed web ecosystem—with or without Section 230. Finally, we break down the furor over billionaire space travel. Amanda makes a formal apology to the nation. 

 

We Discuss:

Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: 

• https://www.tiktok.com/@halliegaltok/video/6984276454884248837?lang=en&is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 

 

Free Markets, Federal [Mis]management: 

• https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/07/09/executive-order-on-promoting-competition-in-the-american-economy/
• ​​https://reason.com/2021/07/09/joe-bidens-executive-order-on-promoting-competition-covers-everything-from-farmers-markets-to-net-neutrality/ 

 

Cronyism vs. Capitalism: 

• Amanda on Cronyism vs. Capitalism: https://www.goodmorningliberty.us/post/when-is-a-private-company-no-longer-a-private-company-cronyism-vs-capitalism?postId=dd8c2f81-2725-496a-88f2-3575157b3237 
• Republicans against Section 230: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/15/house-republicans-outline-principles-for-reforming-section-230.html
• Democrats against Section 230: https://www.vox.com/recode/2021/7/22/22588829/amy-klobuchar-health-misinformation-act-section-230-covid-19-facebook-twitter-youtube-social-media 
• The platform web vs. the distributed web: https://ipfs.io/ 

 

Billionaires in Space; Rockets of Unusual Shape:

Botching the Bill of Rights, Airstrikes, & Alan Iverson-mectin

Maurice and Amanda debunk and decipher President Biden’s latest remarks about the second amendment and… the tree of liberty? Next, your hosts split on airstrikes in the Middle East, discuss a case study in cronyism vs. capitalism (with special guest, Bernie Sanders!), and review the state of unvaccinated America. 

We Discuss: 

• President Biden’s cryptic comments about the second amendment (yes, you could own a cannon) and… using nukes on U.S. citizens? 
• Systemically racist gun laws
• Whether last week’s airstrikes were justified; and the United States’ evolving role in the Middle East (Maurice is angry, and Amanda is making both libertarians and neo-cons angry) 
• Emergency Use Authorizations and medical monopolies A big tech alarmism analogy, starring Amanda as Bernie Sanders
• Universities requiring COVID-19 vaccinations; and knowing your rights

Deep Dive: Spilling the CRT

 

In this Very Special Episode of Civil Discord, Maurice and Amanda do a deep dive into Critical Race Theory—what it is, what it isn’t, where it comes from, and where it’s going. Amanda works in critical theory and explains CRT in academia; and Maurice discusses how CRT shows up in the wild. Plus, stay tuned for Maurice’s PSA on Juneteenth! 

 

We Discuss: 

• The distinction between Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory
• Why Foucault was not a Critical Race Theorist; and why the poststructuralist left is radically different from the woke left
• The six main tenets of CRT
• How CRT is a self-admitted offshoot of Hegelian, Marxian, and Leninist ideology… but only the lamest parts
• The Negation of the Negation 
• CRT and anticapitalism
• CRT: Anti-white, or white supremacist? 
• CRT as anti-Critical Theory
• Where CRT shows up in policy
• A libertarian approach to CRT in our schools 
• Maurice’s thoughts on Marvel Comics and Juneteenth

 

Recommended Reading and Listening from Your Hosts:

• • John McWhorter’s takedown of Ibram Kendi [or, Ibram Kendi’s takedown of himself]: https://twitter.com/JohnHMcWhorter/status/1401719805875458048 

• Darkness at Noon: A light, fictional romp 17x more prescient than 1984:

https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-at-Noon-Arthur-Koestler/dp/1416540261 

• ‘Harrison Bergeron’: Another prophetic short story that’s all about equity 

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/harrison.html 

• The Real Lincoln: The book that explains why Maurice is not our 16th president’s #1 fan

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Lincoln-Abraham-Agenda-Unnecessary/dp/0761526463