Free Daniel McAdams

Nobody asked but …

It seems like a trivial thing, Daniel McAdams‘ getting banned, for life, from Twitter for using “retarded” in language attempting to describe Sean Hannity.  But it is more than a ripple on the pond.  McAdams has been a voice for freedom, and therefore has made many enemies.  But those of us who understand that freedom of access is part of the freedom of speech package should be offended.  But we also understand that Twitter, Facebook, cable news, the blogosphere, etc. are just slurry pipes carrying corrupted information among the effluent.

McAdams remains a pertinent figure in the voluntaryist, foreign-policy, freedom, anti-war movement.  Follow him at his source, as Executive Director of The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.  For the sake of thoroughness, I recommend that you check out the work of everyone listed on the “About” tab, or on the Archives > Featured Articles path at RPI’s web site.

An irony here is that The Ron Paul Institute has a presence on Twitter. Anyone not banned at RPI, is therefore not banned at Twitter.  It reminds me of John Perry Barlow’s observation that “[t]he Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it.”  Networking is.

— Kilgore Forelle