Norm Eisen, Lawfare Ninja Supreme

"Imagine if the US and EU were still aligned on the censorship-by-proxy strategy. Few people realize how close we were to global totalitarianism" - Michael Shellenberger

By James Howard Kunstler - December 8, 2025

Western Civ is choking itself to death with lawfare in the name of “democracy.” If you think just a little bit past the sale, you will realize that few will say what they mean by “democracy,” including the most ardent “democracy” cultists. What it supposedly means is legal outcomes that the political left wants, not what the law, or the truth, or justice requires.

On the surface, the left pretends to want outcomes that favor their roster of designated victim groups: women, dark-skinned people, and sexual outliers, the familiar cast of characters with its tiresome scripts. But that’s not what they really want. They don’t really care about the “marginalized.” What they really want is power. The “marginalized” are just their clients and shock troops. They want to push everybody around, tell them how to live, and what to think, including the marginalized. If society has to get wrecked in the process, that’s okay — that will just make it easier to “build back better” to their advantage, or so their operating algorithm dictates. The left does not think past its own algorithms.

The “democracy” cultists are foremost against freedom of speech, because speech is what distinguishes human beings among the rest of the animal kingdom, and if you allow it, human beings are liable to develop ideas — ideas being the product of language — and especially ideas that make the “democracy” cultists uncomfortable. For instance, the idea that the “democracy” cultists don’t deserve the power they crave because they are dishonest, unscrupulous, and sadistic. Can’t have people thinking that, or saying it out-loud.

Censorship, the outright suppression of expressed thought, is the primary device for enforcing their version of “democracy.” The “democracy” cultists of the USA were especially avid for it the past decade after Mr. Trump came on the scene and offered to oppose the “democracy” cult’s plans to aggregate power. So, under the catspaw president “Joe Biden,” the FBI, CIA, the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, Stanford University’s Internet Observatory, the social media companies, and the White House itself worked sedulously to suppress the free expression of ideas, including the idea that they were all working to suppress free expression.

When Mr. Trump miraculously survived manifold attempts to stuff him in prison via lawfare and then, attempted murder, and managed to get re-elected, he put an end to the censorship shenanigans in government. That, in turn, became inconvenient to the “democracy” cultists in Europe who were, apparently, not busy enough destroying their own countries’ cultures and their economies. They put extra effort into suppressing free expression among their citizen-subjects: serious jail time for mean texts and mere casual statements on the street.

Now they are coming after the international speech platform “X,” liberated by Elon Musk three years ago at a $44-billion price. The European Commission, a body of unelected bureaucrats under the EU, created a so-called Digital Services Act to deal with the threat of free speech. After a two-year-investigation, the commission has leveled a $140-million fine against “X” for a series of specious offenses, such as not meaningfully verifying account authenticity [blue check marks] eroding trust in verified content. Mr. Musk objected, naturally. Veep JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, called it an “attack on American tech.” It’s more than that, of course. It’s an effort to wreck the company, which would eliminate the chief remaining public arena for free speech and genuine news worldwide.

I would expect Mr. Trump to respond shortly, perhaps with tariffs that make it impossible for the Europeans to sell their cars in the USA, or their wine, or whatever else is on offer. He will squeeze them until they drop this stupid crusade to destroy an American company. And then stand by and watch as “democracy” cultists in the USA complain about him defending free speech.

We have enough trouble with the “democracy” cult here at home. The Norm Eisen Axis-of-Evil has enjoyed endless “funding” from the dark money spigots of George Soros, British hedge fund billionaire Christopher Hohn, and Shanghai-based American billionaire Neville Roy Singham. Once the money-flows are turned off, you will see a lot less nuisance litigation aimed at perverting the rule of law and destroying the country. Norm Eisen and his colleagues operate out of a set of foundations and NGOs, chiefly Brookings and the outfit Eisen founded called the States United Democracy Center. They are mere money-launderers.

The federal judiciary is the “democracy” cult’s remaining praetorian guard. The federal judges, especially the Obama and Biden appointed ones, are making sure that Lawfare ninjas won’t be prosecuted for any crimes. The two latest examples: James Comey, case dismissed on procedural issues (for now) on his charge of lying to Congress. And New York AG Leticia James, let off the hook on a mortgage fraud rap by a federal grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia, probably a case of “jury nullification” and probably due to race — after the fashion of OJ Simpson skating on murder in 1995.

Unfortunately . . .

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