You Got Googled

by Bob Parks

In one of those "Are we really surprised?" moments, while singing "Live To Tell" during a recent concert in Los Angeles, Madonna suspended herself from a mirrored cross simulating her crucifixion. Of course this was meant to piss off Christians.

As I said before, Christian bashing in Hollywood is big business. Whether it be aloof actresses like Heather Graham or the controversy surrounding the movie release of "The Da Vinci Code", those who worship are easy targets as they usually end up staging lame protests.

After all, what would happen if Madonna really made a statement against religious fanaticism and, let's say, used a giant riser shaped like the Quran, her life insurance premiums would skyrocket. Offending Christians may get you boycotted; offending Muslims might get you killed.

Oops. Betcha that got me "Googled."

(One of the greatest compliments anyone can get is to have one of their words and or phrases become a part of the national lexicon. I'm crossing my fingers hoping I've given that term new meaning….)

As it turns out, the mega search engine Google has been taken over by the left and any key words that someone there deems "hate speech" results in that piece disappearing.

Not that I go out of my way and issue what may be considered by some "free speech" liberals hate speech. I admit, I am critical at times. That may be why, some of my pieces appear on Google and some, suspiciously do not.

Now if you think I'm being paranoid, I'll refer to a piece on Newsbusters.org <http://newsbusters.org/node/5372> that you can't find all that easily. According to Matthew Sheffield's piece "Google: MoveOn.org's Million-dollar Sugar Daddy",

"This is how poisonous it's gotten in Washington," says a consulting lobbyist for a broadcast network. "You have Republicans taking money from companies and firms working to end their control of Congress, and even worse, working with outfits like MoveOn.org. And they are taking this money to not only help groups dedicated to defeating Republicans, but also for legislation that would regulate the Internet."

What makes (Republican lobbyist Vin) Weber's cynical support of the legislation even worse, say Republican Hill staffers, is that his activities also aid MoveOn.org, the extremist, left-wing organization, which is now being financially backed by Google so that MoveOn can help Google with "Net Neutrality." Google has become the single largest private corporate underwriter of MoveOn. According to sources in the Democrat National Committee, MoveOn has received more than $1 million from Google and its lobbyists in Washington to create grassroots support for the Internet regulation legislation. Some of that money has gone to an online petition drive and a letter-writing campaign, but the majority of that money is being used to fund their activities against Republicans out in the states.

For example, MoveOn is said by one DNC source to have funneled at least $100,000 "Net Neutrality" money to its operations in Pennsylvania (where MoveOn is organizing against Sen. Rick Santorum). It has also sent funds to Florida, Ohio, and Missouri.

MoveOn is also using the funds to help Democrats, including House minority leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington state. "A month ago, Representative Pelosi didn't know what Net Neutrality was, then she heard that Google and other Silicon Valley firms wanted it. Now it's one of her top issues. What Silicon Valley wants, Silicon Valley gets," says a House Democrat leadership staffer."

While I may appear to be a wee bit paranoid, apparent censorship has already happened. Frank Salvato, editor of the New Media Journal, one of many sites that carry this column, has been "Googled".

Michelle Malkin had difficulties becoming part of Google News. Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs complained about not being able to get on Google's good side.

What's the link to Madonna?

As I've written before, bashing a Christian or any right wing group is okay with the left. However, criticism of anything radical Islam is considered by them to be racist and intolerant. Is it a true belief in all that's good in suicide bombers or abject fear, one can only wonder what goes through the mind of a liberal. But this much is clear: Google is now a tool of the censor-hypocrite left and finding alternative points of view are now in jeopardy. This is in reality the latest example of "by all means necessary" and the liberal retaking of the House and Senate is priority one to them. In this current example, Google is reportedly removing anything that criticizes violent Islamic fundamentalists.

That is consistent with the anti-Isreal liberal thought running rampant on college campii, but now Google is taking it to the streets. Say something bad about militant Islam and it'll be like your words were never written, at least, people will have a lot more hassle trying to find it.

And is it safe to say this is only the beginning...?

What happens when a conservative columnist condemns junk science that supposedly backs the "global warming" theory? Will we easily find followup stories on Congressman William Jefferson, Democrat, Louisiana, on his bribery charges? What will we know and when will we know it? November 8th?

As a veteran, I'm down right pissed off about the VA's cavalier protection (or lack thereof) of millions of personal data now in a thief's hands. With that, what could be the next step with Google? I am a user of "Gmail", Google's email program. Google obviously has access to my daily correspondence. What's to say they aren't checking out my personal and/or politically strategic messages on an hourly basis? The same person who now trolls through and finds topics they alone deem "offensive", could read personal political musings between myself and any of my editors or political contacts. This information could go where…?

Since Google has teamed up with MoveOn, I'm hoping that Rupert Murdoch steps up to the plate and attempts to right his "MySpace" wrong and buy up, let's say, Lycos or another major search engine.

Until then, whether it be liberal professors on the one hand supposedly promoting a "diversity of ideas" on campus, while leading silent protests of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's commencement address at Boston College, or Madonna's latest anti-Christian display, I don't want to hear any more of this "tolerance" liberal bullshit.

Google Inc. can work hand-in-hand with the ChiComms and agree to censor search results in China, adhering to the nation's "free-speech restrictions" in return for better access in the Internet's fastest growing market. Google can sell out and urinate on the very American philosophy that makes their existence possible. Google can take what is supposed to be a source of information and turn it into a politically correct engine for the selectively intolerant left.

It's time to seek out alternatives to Google. If the left considers foreign surveillance "domestic spying", Google's abilities far exceed anything the federal government does in the name of national security. Google can spy on anyone using their Gmail for purely partisan political reasons. And as far as what the search engine that controls half the nation's online searches…

"It's a dangerous thing when those who identify themselves as disseminators of information begin to establish definitions for the rest of us. One man's "hate speech" is another mans dissent. While some, or many, may disagree with the information presented in any given publication (I personally was offended by the untrue stories of Qurans being flushed down toilets by Newsweek and Dan Rather and Mary Mapes trying to pass off manufactured news as the truth) it is still in the interest of preserving free speech that all information be presented, for the public to decide.

In the Google discrimination issue it is easy to see their hypocrisy. One can still search and find information presented by al Manar (the Hezbollah news site) and al Jazeera who regularly publishes opinion that is quite offensive to those of us who are not Muslim and who like our heads. Further, not only are The New Media Journal pieces cited by Google as "hate speech" still available on Google through other publications, websites from the KKK, The American Nazi Party, The New Black Panther Party and The Mazui Foundation - that offers a t-shirt that says "Kill Whitey" for $15 - still present themselves in Google search results.

All entities, be they governmental or private, need to protect the sanctity of free speech. This is a basic civic responsibility. Those who do not are tyrants and cowards. Sadly, we live in an era when civic responsibility is disposable, considered a burden, an annoyance, rather than a privilege. Our Founders are weeping."

• Frank Salvato, Editor, New Media Journal

Rush Limbaugh once said, if you don't cheat, you're not trying hard enough.

The Democrats and their liberal minion are pulling out all the stops to win in November. However, their activities will forever change how we as a nation gets our information. What we find now online will not be the result of an intelligent starting point. What we find may only be what we were meant to find and the gatekeeper of this knowledge may just be some unbathed Birkenstock-wearing punk who has a "Bush Worst President Ever" bumper sticker on his Cooper.

Welcome to the new world, and I'm glad you got a chance to read this column. You may have to "search" for me in the near future.

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