Update: Facebook kicked off Alex Jones and many others today--and defamed them for being bigots, racists, and purveyors of 'hate speech.' That's richly ironic since FB for years allowed the theft of my name and face to spread hate and terrorist threats. BUT--since I'm conservative, it's just funny, right Zuckerberg? I didn't get the boot today but I have been temporarily banned for 'hate speech.' What I said wasn't hateful at all--but functionaries at Zuckerberg's CIA-created platform, they get to make up whatever they want. Zuckerberg is the hater--he hates our First Amendment. He's a traitor and a twerp.
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I noticed a page on Facebook set up to bash me and my cartoons. This seemed a little strange. If they hated my cartoons so much, they could simply not look at them. Regardless, the page was a great improvement over what I had to deal with about five years ago. In 2014, Facebook allowed 10 instances of pages using my name and face along with vandalized cartoons—all designed to destroy my reputation. The pages had a lot of followers—and they received far more traffic than our own website was receiving at the time. The pages were peppered with quotes attributed to me calling for the murder of Jews, African Americans, gay people, and so on. Facebook would not immediately remove the pages even though they were calling for violence and murder. It would take weeks of complaints from me to get a page removed, only for another page to spring up and take its place. In 2014 alone I spent over 100 man hours trying to remove troll material and impersonators from Facebook, Twitter and elsewhere. It took years of struggle to finally regain my own identity and make people realize I was not the Nazi doppleganger the trolls had created.
Still, I was a little surprised to come across a page set up to allow left-leaning and mostly young socialists to attack and make fun of my cartoons. That’s fine—at least the cartoons got under their skin enough to do such a thing. The trolls have long been defeated by us, and at this point there’s no such thing as bad publicity. The moderator there said no conservatives would be allowed except temporarily—so that he would have time to encourage his socialist members to laugh and crudely insult them—until they’re driven off the page.
I asked the moderator if I could join the board and to my surprise he allowed it and even asked if I would do an impromptu AMA. I agreed. The AMA lasted well over an hour and I furiously typed answers to most questions thrown my way. Of course, there were some gross insults tossed my way too, but I expected that. I was pleasantly surprised because even though they disagreed with nearly all of my cartoons, most were polite and happy to have a chance to exchange words with the cartoon creator—me.
This was short-lived. Soon the board was getting chastised for ‘sucking up to Ben just because he’s a celebrity.’ I don’t consider myself or care about celebrity, but shortly thereafter reasoned debate and decorum were out the window. I continued to reply to the AMA threads as well as comment on new cartoons that were posted. The trolls multiplied and began to get more aggressive. They kept calling me a ‘coward' for not ‘debating’ them, but I didn’t consider vile insults to be debate. I was told that when the socialists took over I would be sent to a gulag and forced to draw pro-Marx cartoons. Socialism doesn’t work. It always devolves into naked tyranny that forces people to work. They were already expressing this mindset in their comments.
Bear in mind that I expected to be called names and I was—very frequently. Many expressed their sadistic delight at having a chance to ‘shit’ on me. That’s how they put it. Everything posted by me was met with hearty laughter. I was repeatedly called a ‘coward’ for avoiding answers to questions that I was in no way avoiding. The once polite pack of mostly young people seemed to smell blood in the water and went after me like piranhas. I was told what I was doing was a ‘crime’ and that I lacked humanity. Dehumanizing someone by calling them names such as ‘racist’ or ‘bigot’ or ‘Nazi’ is what allows Antifa to commit violence.
The so-called debate devolved into even worse name-calling spree at about the 7th grade level. Without wit or subtly, the pathetic hatred spewed by many of the lost chuckleheads was sad. No wonder Alexandria Ocasio Cortez was elected, I thought. She’s one of them. Their behavior was similar to the new Congresswoman. That is, they seemed very certain and completely confident that they had truth in their corner. In reality they epitomized the militant ignorance of socialism.
Anyway, eventually I was insulted about my sagging face. So what? I’m an old man—what can be done? Tina was insulted for her looks, too. I tried to tell the young chuckleheads that old age will happen to them, too--and far sooner than they imagine, but it was no use. None of the insults bothered me. After receiving endless hate mail and getting trolled for years on end, I’m now well-calloused to insult, but the participants were all acting on a very low-level of consciousness and it became pointless and sad. It was time to for me to leave, and so I did. Shortly thereafter the moderator accused me of being ‘afraid of debate.’ The truth is he encouraged his socialist members to laugh and crudely insult me--until I was driven off the page.
I’m hoping I didn’t get a slice of what most young people are about these days. They all seemed to think socialism is the way to go. If they have their way in the future, America as we know it will be gone.
—Ben Garrison
Additional: One of the twerps there said I need to answer for my cartoon 'crimes.' I jokingly said, "Call 911! Call the FBI! Arrest me now!" For that, Facebook sent me a warning that I was engaging in hate speech.
Additional update: The young socialists hate free speech. They continue to attack me and now Facebook gave me a three-day ban. Bear in mind that I don't like hate speech, but I definite it differently. I consider hate speech to be libel, defamation, death threats, and terrorist threats. NOPE! It now includes making an offhand remark or joke that hurts the feelings of someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Once upon a time Facebook allowed pages to be created by trolls. They used my name, my face, and vandalized cartoons while calling for murder--the murder of gays, blacks, jews, and so on. Facebook refused to remove these pages time after time. There were 10 instances in 2014. In one case I had to enlist the help of lawyers to get them removed. So now we know--Facebook hates conservatives and libertarians. We can talk about the weather or the food we like (promptly sold to advertisers) but we're not allowed to talk about social issues or politics--that's 'hate speech.' It will get worse for Trump supporters as the 2020 election approaches.
Go to Hell, socialist trolls. Go to Hell, Zuckerberg. You're a traitor to the First Amendment.
Additional update: The young socialists hate free speech. They continue to attack me and now Facebook gave me a three-day ban. Bear in mind that I don't like hate speech, but I definite it differently. I consider hate speech to be libel, defamation, death threats, and terrorist threats. NOPE! It now includes making an offhand remark or joke that hurts the feelings of someone, whether intentionally or unintentionally. Once upon a time Facebook allowed pages to be created by trolls. They used my name, my face, and vandalized cartoons while calling for murder--the murder of gays, blacks, jews, and so on. Facebook refused to remove these pages time after time. There were 10 instances in 2014. In one case I had to enlist the help of lawyers to get them removed. So now we know--Facebook hates conservatives and libertarians. We can talk about the weather or the food we like (promptly sold to advertisers) but we're not allowed to talk about social issues or politics--that's 'hate speech.' It will get worse for Trump supporters as the 2020 election approaches.
Go to Hell, socialist trolls. Go to Hell, Zuckerberg. You're a traitor to the First Amendment.
