Secretary Antony J. Blinken participates in Session III of the NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels, Belgium, November 29, 2023. (Official State Department photo by Chuck Kennedy)
America’s promise as a global leader in liberty is under siege, not by foreign adversaries, but by the very institutions meant to protect it. Mike Benz, a former State Department official, joined James Poulos, host of Zero Hour on the Blaze network, for a discussion on these topics. Benz revealed how the U.S. government actively undermines the crown jewels of the American republic—free speech and the rule of law.
Benz paints a grim picture of the State Department’s growing influence over the flow of information. They wield sanctions and censorship as tools to silence dissent and force a global narrative of left-wing radicalism. This is a far cry from the free trade and pro-American principles that once guided our economic policy. Now, any nation that challenges the radical leftist dictates of the narrative machine will face economic retaliation. Benz highlights Hungary as a prime example, where the U.S. threatens sanctions simply because Hungary refuses to endorse the State Department’s agenda on Ukraine and LGBT issues.
The implications are severe. In weaponizing sanctions against nations and businesses that don’t toe the line, America is driving countries like Hungary into the arms of China. This both weakens our global standing and accelerates the rise of a regime that poses a genuine threat to Western values. China’s economic tentacles are reaching into every country it can grab, and the U.S. is accelerating this process.
America once led by being an example of freedom of speech and fair trade. But today, as Benz warns, those principles are being eroded from within. If we continue down this path, we risk losing not just our influence but the very soul of our nation. The time to reclaim our values and restore our global leadership is now before it’s too late.
This post originally appeared at https://www.phyllisschlafly.com/constitution/how-the-government-manipulates-information/
