🇺🇸 Hearings and Files

POWERED BY

Good morning, and happy Tuesday! The family of late Vietnam veteran USMC Corporal Larry Hughes received his dog tag on Friday, Feb. 17, after the ID was lost in the Da Nang Province of Vietnam 57 years ago. Never Forget.

Plus, $200 million for a house in the Caribbean!

Also, there’s never been a better time to learn a new language. Today’s sponsor can help.

FLAG POLLS

🐘 Friday, February 17: 2024 Republican Presidential Nomination: Trump 46, DeSantis 23, Pence 7, Haley 6, Pompeo 3, Rubio 2, Cruz 1, T. Scott 1, Noem, Ryan (Harvard-Harris)

🐎 Friday, February 17: 2024 Democratic Presidential Nomination: Biden 36, Harris 15, Sanders 8, Buttigieg 6, Clinton 8, Newsom 4, Warren 3, Ocasio-Cortez 4, Whitmer, Klobuchar 2, Polis (Harvard-Harris)

🐘 Friday, February 17th: General Election: Trump vs. Biden: Trump 46, Biden 41 (Harvard-Harris)

🐘 Friday, February 17th: General Election: DeSantis vs. Biden: DeSantis 42, Biden 41 (Harvard-Harris)

TRENDING

Left: Social Security, Medicare Cuts a Trap the GOP Can't Resist Ed Kilgore, NY Mag

Left: Train Derailment, Not Balloons, Is Real Threat Martin & Clark-Ginsberg, LA Times

Left: How Bad Is the East Palestine Derailment, Really? Benji Jones, Vox

Right: Imagine How Bad Biden & Fetterman Are Behind Closed Doors Laura Ingraham, FNC

Right: Radical Left Turns on Woke New York Times Michael Goodwin, New York Post

Right: Will Mrs. Fetterman Go to Washington? Tom Basile, Washington Times

POWERED BY BABBEL

What Language Do You Want To Speak?

Learn a new language and see where it will take you. The streets of Paris? Perhaps a gondola ride in Venice. Oktoberfest in Munich! The world is at your fingertips when the power of communication is at your side.

With Babbel, simply pick from one of over a dozen languages to get started. It's a highly-rated product for a reason - why not make your journey toward speaking a new language both fun and engaging?

Take 55% off a subscription at this link 🗣️

QUICK CLICKS

Very Secret Visit, Red and Blue Divorce, Trampling Democracy?

World: Biden's Ukraine visit upstages Putin and leaves Moscow's military pundits raging (CNN) + How Biden secretly visited Ukraine (Axios)

US: Nikki Haley fires back after Whoopi Goldberg takes latest shot at presidential candidate's age (Fox News)

US: Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for a 'national divorce' between liberal and conservative states (NBC News)

US: Suspect Arrested In Killing Of Los Angeles Bishop: Report (Daily Wire)

World: Fresh earthquake hits Turkey-Syria border two weeks after disaster (Reuters)

US: Third MSU student's condition upgraded to serious but stable after shooting (Detroit News)

World: Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu accuses protesters of ‘trampling democracy’ (The Guardian)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Hearings and Files

Earlier this month, the GOP-led House Oversight Committee held a hearing to investigate Twitter’s role in the silencing of the Hunter Biden laptop story, in the run-up to the 2020 election. Then, this past weekend, journalist Matt Tabbibi released a new entry in the so-called Twitter Files, which showed how politicians were able to silence certain accounts on the platform.

Reporting from the Left: Twitter execs acknowledge mistakes with Hunter Biden laptop story but say no government involvement (CNN)

Reporting from the Right: Former Twitter executives to testify before House Oversight Committee on Biden laptop (Fox News)

From the Flag: Republicans in Congress have routinely described this trend as evidence of Big Tech’s bias against Conservatives, including on issues like COVID-19. But Congressional Democrats say that’s a conspiracy theory while arguing the failure to censor certain Tweets has led to violence – such as on January 6, 2020. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

Censorship Is Rampant on Social Media, and the Impact Is Significant

• Former FBI general counsel James Baker is key to the Hunter Biden laptop story, given he’s closely connected to both Twitter and the Federal Government.

• This month’s hearing revealed former President Trump tried to get a mean tweet taken down – suppression and censorship should be frowned on no matter who does it.

• Despite admissions from Hunter Biden, and even the vaunted Washington Post, AOC continues to besmirch the New York Post.

“Twitter got played by the FBI to help Biden in 2020 and Democrats shrug” Gregg Jarrett, Fox News Opinion: “The committee subpoenaed James Baker… (who) once served as general counsel for James Comey’s FBI but then joined Twitter several months before the election. (He) was instrumental in pushing the Russia collusion hoax… But during the hearing, Baker falsely portrayed himself as the voice of reason who urged ‘caution’ in censoring the story. Internal emails and other documents disclosed as part of the ‘Twitter Files’ show the opposite is true. He dismissed the laptop as hacked and the contents as fake while arguing in favor of killing the story. … the company’s head of Trust and Safety, Yoel Roth… argued that it did not violate any of Twitter’s policies and should not be censored. But he was overruled by executives above him. That’s where Baker played an instrumental role.”

“Trump also tried to suppress free speech on Twitter” Brad Polumbo, Washington Examiner Opinion: “Over the last several months, many on the Right have raised the alarm over the disturbing revelations, made via Elon Musk’s release of the Twitter Files, that Twitter worked closely with the federal government to censor Americans’ online speech. From obscure government agencies to the FBI, federal bureaucrats evidently worked directly with the platform to request or demand the removal of speech they disliked. That’s a serious violation of free speech principles and raises grave First Amendment concerns to boot. But it’s apparently not just conservative speech that was targeted by liberal federal employees. A House Oversight Committee hearing this week revealed that former President Donald Trump’s White House apparently contacted Twitter to ask that negative tweets about him be removed. … outrage should be directed equally at Trump’s actions if Republican politicians actually care about free speech and the First Amendment.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: AOC serves up disinformation about Hunter Biden — and us Editorial Board, New York Post

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

There Are Lots of Tweets, but No “There” There

• Despite the right’s insistence over the matter, there’s no evidence government officials spiked the Hunter Biden laptop story.

• Even one of the most prominent “Twitter Files” journalists has said there’s no evidence government officials were involved.

• Contrary to conservatives’ claims, this month’s hearing showed Twitter routinely protected former President Trump and his supporters.

“An inauspicious start to House GOP hearings” Aaron Blake, Washington Post: “Republican lawmakers spun an elaborate theory… the FBI and/or other government officials interfered in the 2020 election by getting social media companies — especially Twitter — to suppress a New York Post story about Hunter Biden’s laptop. To this day, though, there remains no real evidence that government officials were directly involved in that decision — and now multiple high-ranking former Twitter officials have joined in disputing that claim under oath. … The backstory here is… Twitter and Facebook had regular meetings with government officials during the 2020 election… to prevent a repeat of past instances in which malign foreign actors hacked and leaked information about political opponents in the United States, which then spread far and wide on social media. This is all in the public record. That public record does not, however, include any evidence that government officials specifically asked for the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.”

“Republicans held a hearing to prove Twitter's bias against them. It backfired in spectacular fashion” Oliver Darcy, CNN: “GOP lawmakers continued to push a factually unsupported narrative about the federal government secretly colluding with Twitter to censor the New York Post's Hunter Biden laptop story in 2020. Despite no real evidence to support this weighty and consequential claim, Republicans were unrelenting in peddling it to the American public. … And Matt Taibbi, one of the journalists Musk handpicked last year to comb through Twitter's internal messages for evidence of free speech violations, said himself that ‘there is no evidence — that I've seen — of any government involvement in the laptop story.’ … Republicans showed, once again, that they are married to pushing claims that Silicon Valley is intentionally and unjustly censoring conservative views, even when the facts do not contort with their narrative.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: The Twitter bias hearings point to favoritism, but not for liberals Paul M. Barrett, The Hill Op-ed

FLAG THIS

6 in 10 Think Twitter Files Are Worthwhile

A poll conducted online and by telephone determined that 63% of American adults approve of Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s decision to release the “Twitter Files.”

The same survey determined 42% strongly approve, 19% disapprove, and 18% aren’t sure (Rasmussen Reports).

A separate poll from December found 37% approve of how Musk is handling Twitter, while an equal 37% disapprove, and 25% offered no opinion (Quinnipiac University).

Regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop, 88% of Republicans, 74% of Independents, and 54% of Democrats think it’s important to have the DOJ investigate (Fox News).

FLAG FINDS

Speaking Your Language, Drinking Clean, Eating Good in the Neighborhood

🗣️ The Tower of Babel is being rebuilt. Become fluent in the universal language with Babbel, a language learning app designed for every learning style, aiming to teach real-life conversational skills, not just grammar and vocabulary. Save 55% off when you subscribe through The Flag today.

💧 Water bottles can carry 30x more bacteria than a public toilet seat. Drying them wrong is the reason why. The right way to dry them is Kuppy. Breathable, storable, portable, and affordable, Kuppy will keep you drinking clean water, all day long. Say bye bye bacteria when you buy buy Kuppy.

🥯 Choose your own adventure never tasted so good. At Gold Belly, you don't have to search for "food near me" – you can get the best eats from everywhere. For instance, if a NY style bagel sounds as good to you reading this as it did to me while writing it, you can take advantage of their 35% off special. Don't wait. Choose your food adventure today.

WATERCOOLER

Malcolm X Assassinated, Preserving Travel Moments, Lego’s Saving Grace

On This Day in 1965: In New York City, Malcolm X, an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity at the Audubon Ballroom in Washington Heights. He was 39.

Pocket: Hail to the Chief: One Great Article About Every US President

BBC: Why we should record travel moments

Rest of World: ‘iPhones Are Made in Hell’: 3 Months Inside China’s iPhone City

Today I Learned Lego was flirting with bankruptcy, and the release of Bionicle, which accounted for 100% of their profits in 2003, saved them from going under.