Trump's China-Style Cultural Revolution: Punishing Free Speech

By Joel Connelly
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A Celtic poet, Cedric the Wise, once laid out a construct of values that should be followed in the 21st Century. Cedric advised “Any person, to love country and people, must have a love of justice. For love of justice, there need be a love for learning. And to love learning, one needs a love of poetry and song.”

Alas, Donald Trump despises a justice system which sought to hold him to account. He is a convicted felon putting his tiny thumbs to these scales of justice. The Donald is seeking to bring universities and schools to heel, banishing diversity, and tampering with fields of study. And he has taken personal charge of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Prominent law firms, notably Seattle-based Perkins Coie, are being denied government contracts, stripped of security clearances and even banned from federal buildings. They’ve committed the sin of working for justice, be it fighting efforts to restrict voting or Trump’s try at stealing the 2020 presidential election.

We tell lawyer jokes and complain of court delays. But deliberation is a necessity of the rule of law. Suppression is a tactic of authoritarian rulers who consider themselves above the law. Trump has deployed lawsuits to intimidate and shake down critics. He recently wrung a $15 million settlement out of ABC News and is now going after CBS.

https://www.postalley.org/2025/04/01/trumps-china-style-cultural-revolution-punishing-free-speech/