Twitter clearly demonstrates why political power ratchets only toward the left

Blue-check journalists entered an uncontrolled spiral of self-righteous victimhood over the weekend after several of their colleagues were issued temporary bans on Twitter. Reporters from a number of outlets including the Washington Post, CNN, and the New York Times were suspended from the social media platform for doxxing after linking to an account posting the real-time location of Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk. Taylor Lorenz of the Washington Post was later added to the list of bans for previous doxxing behavior.

Apoplectic journalists reacted predictably, shrieking about how the suspensions constituted an attack on freedom of the press, referring to the event as a massacre, and generally acting like they just witnessed their best friend getting gunned down in Vietnam. As ridiculous as the hyperbolic and narcissistic display might seem, it was, sadly, not confined to the to the left. Many conservative columnists and commentators rushed to condemn the temporary bans, asserting that the suspension of any journalist was a violation of freedom of speech. This dangerous and one-dimensional understanding of conservative principles has infected the right for far too long and all but ensures its defeat.

Elon Musk has stated that these suspensions were issued not just because the actions already violated existing Twitter policy on doxxing, but because they revealed the real-time location of his children. The tech mogul, whose son was followed by an alleged stalker last week, described the doxxing as “basically assassination coordinates,” which is of course exactly what they were. These journalists hate Musk and understand that posting the constantly updated real-time position of his children online is an invitation for violence.

Journalists are more than happy to engineer situations that are likely to end in left-wing violence in order to intimidate their targets. One only has to look at the behavior of the press during the riots of 2020 or the media's encouragement of illegal mobs at the homes of Supreme Court justices to understand the game these journalists are playing. Conservatives should understand that a father’s first principle must be that the safety of his children is paramount, but unfortunately many commentators believed that playing into the left-wing narrative due to some mistaken notion of consistency was more important.

The concept of small-government conservatism has, rather disastrously, become a core part of the right-wing identity. Unfortunately, this principle has metastasized into the idea that the right should never seek or use power, especially if doing so could be viewed as punishing one’s enemies. This ideological version of unilateral disarmament has created a political rachet, ensuring that the growth of power always moves only leftward. This structural advantage not only ensures that conservatives always lose but also tricks them into believing that they must lose unless they want to violate their principles and become as ugly and hypocritical as those they oppose.

To better understand the problem, we must first look at how the rachet works. The left believes in the acquisition and use of both state and corporate power, so when the left is in charge of a branch of government or private organization, using the might of that organization to reward friends and punish enemies is aligned with the left's principles. Leftists believe that conservatives are an existential threat to their way of life, and so their highest principle is to stay in power in order to defend against the right. Progressives have not only the right, but the duty to crush conservatives and reshape the world in their own image. They are always justified in bending or completely rewriting the rules if it means advancing their agenda.

Conversely, when conservatives are in control of an institution, their first priority is to follow the rules and provide a neutral playing field. Conservatives have been convinced that their name means conserving the system rather than a specific nation of people with a specific culture. Many on the right now value the system over the well-being of the people that system was created to serve. This makes them extremely vulnerable to the manipulation of that system and warps their understanding of their own principles.

When constatives are in charge, they believe it is their duty to avoid doing anything their opponents would call into question, be above reproach, and wait patiently until progressives return to power so that the left can resume banning and punishing their enemies.

Read the rest at Blaze.com