The Tenth Amendment Center had the dubious honor of being included among “fake new sites” in a list compiled at Harvard University. It is easy to write off the list as some absurd pet project of pseudo-intellectual, Ivy League elitists. However, it represents an ongoing conflict between traditional, mainstream sources of knowledge that have for decades controlled the political narrative, and independent entities such as the TAC that threaten their power by presenting opposing viewpoints.
It’s no secret that newspaper circulation is declining at an alarming rate, and online subscriptions are failing to compensate for the financial losses. Legacy TV and cable news outlets are also bleeding viewers.
Why?
Before the age of the Internet, people had no choice. Outside of niche publications, there were only a handful of newspapers, magazines, and news channels from which regular people could access information. Thirty years ago, hardly anyone outside of academic circles that held strict constitutionalist views were even discussing nullification or anti-commandeering. Few in the general public have even heard of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The Tenth Amendment was rarely discussed at all in schools. States’ rights was tarred a “racist” term. To mutter it was akin to advocating slavery.
All that has changed.
Not only is information about nullification and the Tenth Amendment readily available, but proponents now have a bullhorn as loud as those peddling government-approved version of events. When some historian claims Madison opposed nullification, people can easily find TAC articles refuting that misconception.
When a news article claims a proposed nullification bill violates the constitution’s Supremacy Clause, people can read TAC blog posts explaining how Thomas Jefferson and James Madison provided the moral, legal, and constitutional blueprint for nullification legislation. Rather than listen to those whose understanding of the founding fathers comes from a deeply flawed education and who despise limited government, they can turn to the TAC, whose slogan is “The Constitution. Every issue, every time. No exceptions, no excuses.”
The accessibility of information has also eroded the influence of institutions such as Harvard. We don’t need an Ivy League professor to tell us what the founders said and how we should interpret it. We can access countless founding era documents, read them, and decide for ourselves what to think.
Never before have the American people had such accessibility to these primary source documents, accurate explanations of their meaning and the relevance to their live today. They don’t need to grit their teeth and read an article from a news organization they hate because it’s the only place they can find any information at all. They aren’t beholden to those who have deceived them for long enough about their heritage and what their ancestors envisioned for their government.
With knowledge comes power, and Americans are expressing that power through their state legislatures by resisting unconstitutional federal authority now more than ever. The latest nullification report shows the extent to which states are taking back control from the feds. By following the advice of their forefathers, Americans are threatening a status quo in D.C. that benefits the few at the expense of many.
Interestingly, the list’s authors put “unknown” under the section explaining why TAC was included. It’s another way of saying, “We don’t know why the TAC is ‘fake news,’ but we do know we might not like what they have to say.”
Ironically, some of us here at TAC are award-winning reporters and news editors by trade.
If George Orwell were alive today, he would have immediately recognized the phrase “fake news” as a tactic in newspeak. It has nothing to do with the facts and everything to do with what Tom Woods calls the “3×5 Index Card of Allowable Opinion” – it’s not surpassing he too was included on the list. If you stray outside the narrow boundaries of permissible discussion as decreed by the nation’s elites, then you’re going to be labeled “fake news.”
The reality is, the Old Media is gasping its last breath. This whole fake news meme is an attempt by the powers-that-be to restore/maintain their perceived status as the authority on all things by delegitimizing anyone who dare oppose them. Although we might be tempted to find the list infuriating, we should take it as an encouraging sign of success. We are winning, because we are the future.
If you’re a TAC reader, you know you’re going to the right site to learn about the Constitution, because its enemies don’t want you coming here. Avert your eyes, citizens! Don’t you dare read that counterrevolution material, good comrade!
If you’re a TAC member, you know your donations are having an impact. The TAC wouldn’t have been included on that list if it wasn’t accomplishing anything.
If you’re thinking of donating or becoming a member, you know for certain it’ll be money well spent.
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