Fireside Chat Ep. 91 - Dennis Testifies Before the Senate | Fireside Chats

Hello, my friends. I'm Dennis Prager. Welcome to my home. I always emphasize it is my home for our unscripted, completely spontaneous Weekly Fireside Chat. I just, I mean just, flew in from Washington, D.C. I'm in the Los Angeles area. And I was in Washington to testify in the U.S. Senate, invited by Senator Ted Cruz, to testify to his subcommittee on the judiciary about the subject of what is happening to Prager University videos at the Google slash YouTube. Google owns YouTube. 56 of our 325 minute videos are on the restricted list. I'll explain that in a moment. And other videos as well, including some Fireside Chats for that matter. Will Witt's stuff is, Candace Owen's stuff is, not just the videos that we put out. That's a lot. And they have a restricted list for people who have filters. Many homes filter out, it's very easy to do on your computer, you filter out pornography and violence. That's what they're made for. And when that happens, the family, the home, or anyone with the filter cannot see a restricted video. So that means they can't see dozens of our videos because Google YouTube has decided that they are to be lumped with pornography and violence. That's what I was called to Washington to testify with regard to. And it is a larger issue. Obviously, I wasn't the only witness. But there were just five of us. And I was the one to speak about, obviously, PragerU and what is happening and the larger issue as well. There was a representative from Google, I will talk about that because this entered the realm of the Twilight Zone. What actually went on in the United States Senate chambers yesterday, or when, you know, which is when I did this. But in your time, it'll be the next day. But it doesn't matter. Because if you watch this, if you're watching this a year from now, it's completely relevant. Well, I hope it won't be relevant, but I suspect it will be. Anyway, that's what happened. So they had one of the heads of Google testify and be questioned. And they asked him, Senator Cruz, to his great credit, by the way, he's gutsy for doing this, and he's helping America. So Senator Cruz asked him, why did you put the Prager University video on the 10 Commandments on the restricted list? It almost sounds crazy, doesn't it? It's a video that I made, as it happens. And I think it's crazy. How could that be lumped with pornography and violence? Then the man actually answered. Now, you can watch this, you can see it and hear it at PragerU.com. We have put it up. It's also at DennisPrager.com. And you can see the actual answer and my reaction to it. But the actual answer that this man from Google gave, well, it speaks about, I'm paraphrasing, but it speaks about murder. I'm being quiet to let you digest what I just said. Now, do you understand how ludicrous that is? The 10 Commandments does, in fact, have a commandment against murder. But no one outside of the left, and I'm sorry, I'm truly sorry, this is not a liberal conservative issue. It is a left conservative and left liberal issue. No one outside of the left would think even to say, well, it has murder in it. We don't want young people, or we don't want people with filters or schools or libraries to see this. So, it's either a lie or an absurdity, or both. I think it's both. Of course, it's a lie. You are not going to have a video on the 10 Commandments because the 10 Commandments says, do not murder. Thou shall not murder. Please, you might as well say, well, we're not going to have it because it says, thou shall not commit adultery. We don't want the word adultery in for filters or stealing. Why is stealing okay, but murder isn't in terms of a word to be mentioned? The reason, of course, is they don't have an answer. It's because they want to hurt any effective conservative voice in the world. That's Google's job. We have a picture of an email within Google, an email sent between people at Google that says that Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and PragerU are Nazis. Never mind that Shapiro and I are Jewish and committed Jews who spend a good part of our lives fighting anti-Semitism. Jordan Peterson is such a moral giant. The idea that you would call him a Nazi, it is so despicable. The people who do that, they're evil. I mean, let's call it by its correct name. So, their answer was a lie. The guy took it under oath. We all take an oath before we testify. I don't quite get how he lives with himself. We have restricted a video on the Ten Commandments because it's contained murder? Anyway, everybody knows. I mean, the number of videos up without restriction that have the word murder, it's been the tens of thousands. I mean, it's an absurdity. So, you can watch it. You could see, go to PragerU. It's up, right? It's all up now, right? Including the Google man. Yeah, on Facebook. On Facebook? I sat there and I couldn't believe it, but he was matched by the senator who said, well, there's another reason that this is restricted, because it shows a swastika. So, I didn't remember. Actually, I don't remember every video. I do every illustration. So, I checked it out in the Senate chamber itself, and yes, that's correct. And what it is, is I say when describing the commandment against murder, that there were people even in our modern period who didn't think murder was wrong. And I have a picture of a swastika and a picture of a hammer and sickle. The two greatest murderous movements of the modern era. Communism, I don't know, about 8,800 million people. And of course, Nazism, tens of millions, including the Holocaust. So, do you understand? I do. I think I do understand. If this senator watched this video, I will buy her a house in the Virgin Islands or Hawaii or wherever she would like a dream house. She didn't watch the video. Some aide did. The aide was a fool. The aide just wanted to see, try to find a swastika in a Prager University video. And they did. But of course, the point that I'm making is how murderous the swastika is. Do you not want people to associate the swastika with murder? That's what we do at PragerU. It's quite something, the sickness that pervades the left. This senator is not a liberal. I'm not even mentioning the senator's name because I have no desire to humiliate an individual. I didn't even mention to you the Google person's name because these people are generic. Whether it's this leftist senator or this leftist Google person, it's irrelevant. Here he is. A lot of you were wondering where was Otto. Otto was so excited to have, well, at least my wife back home. I'm not sure he's that excited to have me back home. But I think he's become aware of the fact that we are shooting the video, shooting the fireside chat, and he's not present. So he's meditating. Does he go to his position or does he continue to get rubbed by my wife? You know, we should all have such difficult questions to pose as choices in our lives. So this is what goes on, my friends. There's no reason why our PragerU videos are censored by Google, YouTube, sometimes Facebook, sometimes Twitter. There's no reason. The reason is, well, there is a reason, but it's never one that is valid. The reason is because we're the most effective conservative video voice in the Somebody should follow me in an airport with a video camera and see all the young people who walk over. I think I mentioned the Nashville 7, and I'm not even on the radio in Nashville. We're touching lives, but we're not touching enough lives. That's the frustrating part. I will be totally open with you. I do not think of how successful we are. I think of how much we have to do and haven't succeeded in doing it. If people understood what is going on at the universities and in the big tech to suppress conservative voices, they would be alarmed. This is alarming. It is the greatest threat to free speech in American history. Free speech is what America is known for. That's why we got the Statue of Liberty and no other country did. France gave it to one country, and it was us, because we have more liberty to this day. But the left has always opposed liberty. Liberals have always been for liberty, conservatives have always been for liberty, and the left has always been opposed to it. There is no exception to what I've just said. Liberty is not a left-wing value, nor is truth. You saw them both in display in the U.S. Senate, and you should look. You should also look at my opening statement. We're all allowed five minutes to make a statement. I gave great thought to that. I'm not sure I ever read a speech in my life. That might have been the first time I ever read a speech. I knew the amount of words that I would be allowed, because I know what five minutes takes. I chose wisely. I want you to view and hear that five-minute statement that I made in the U.S. Senate. It's an important one. So that's the state we're in. I just want to remind you, if you can support PragerU, then you're supporting freedom. That's as simple as that. Is there a banner up, or why do people just go to PragerU and donate? If you're an American, it's a tax-free donation. If you're not an American, it isn't, obviously, unless your country allows for it. But the reason to give is not to get a tax deduction. The reason to give is because we're fighting the good fight. If they could, Google and YouTube would shut us down. By the way, some people ask, it's an odd question. I'm surprised we get it. Why don't we open up our own browser or search engine and just ignore YouTube and Google? That is sort of like saying, why don't you start your own airline if you don't like the airline of your country? It's exactly like that. It's because, how am I going to start a new airline? It's actually easier to start a new airline because if I started a new search engine, let's say we would call it OpenToAllViews.com, right? Search engine. It wouldn't matter because still people will still be using Google and still be watching things on YouTube. We would get a lot of people who agree with us to use that search engine, but our task is to change minds. I want to give the intellectual ammunition to the people who agree with us. It's very important that people who agree with us hear what we have to say, but we also want to touch people who don't agree with us. Otherwise, we might as well say we give up. We have lost the battle for Western civilization, which is what this is about. Yes, of course we could start a search engine for people who agree with us, but we want to get out there in the real world and mix it up. So, that's the reason it's not feasible to start our own. Of course, you can go to PragerU and watch our stuff directly. You're right. You don't have to do it through YouTube, but more people watch us through Facebook and YouTube than directly. Even directly, we use the forum of YouTube, even if you do go to a PragerU video. No, we have to win this battle. So anyway, help us out. I will tell you my theory. You may have heard it about good people. There are three types of good people. Those who fight, those who help the fighters, and those who do nothing. The first two are equally valuable. If you help the fighters, you are just as valuable as the fighters. But if you don't do anything, you don't do anything for good things. Goodness won't prevail. All right. So, watch my statement and watch the Google statement at our website. So wait, it's only through Facebook? It's not through PragerU directly? I'm sure it'll be on PragerU directly. Yeah. Okay. Well, so the first question is about this. What is the best way, from William 27 in Minneapolis, best way to combat censorship of free speech on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube legislation? Use other platforms? Well, yes, if you could use other platforms, if some obviously serious number of people did, but it would take a vast number for them to feel it. The answer is, help us. It's not the only answer, but it's a big one. Because we're the biggest thing that they fear. Because we're nice, we're rational, we're truthful. You know how many things come out with PragerU lies? Do you know if you put in Prager in Google, PragerU is, do it right now while I'm talking, do it on your phone. Because I've checked on my browser on my phone, my wife checked on hers, see what comes up, type in PragerU is, and what do you get? Does it get his line? Is that one of the, is that biased? Not a university. Dangerous. Lying. Okay. Does that pretty much tell you a lot? It doesn't tell you everything, but does that tell you a lot? PragerU is, and every one that came up was a real hit on us. How about PragerU is opening minds? I don't think that comes up. So lying, that's the one that gets me the most. Everyone who claims this never gives an example. Do you know, I'm a columnist, I've been a columnist for 20 years. Every time I make a generalization, I always back it up with facts. If I say so-and-so lies, then I say, here's an example, or here are three examples. So, but they don't have an example because we don't lie. And I would never let it lie. Because lying is evil. And I don't like evil. Erica, 26, Los Angeles, it is, is it okay to tell your spouse slash partner you want them to lose weight or to get in better shape? Of course it is. The problem is, it's very hard, especially for a man to tell that to his wife or his partner. He, because he's, he's, he's afraid of hurting her feelings. But now, like everything else, context matters. The, it's a very long issue. I talk about male-female matters a great deal. If, if your spouse has let him or herself go, and it matters to you, most of the time it matters much more to men. Because in the human species, as opposed to peacocks, the female is the visual arouser. Is it fair? It's not fair. Is it true? Yes, it's true. All right. So, the way the female looks is generally more important. What, what excites women about a man, at least when, if the woman is over 25 at the very, very most, maybe even over 20, is, is he, is he funny? Is he ambitious? Is he strong? Is he masculine? That's what, is he smart? Women fall in love with brains. Not that men don't love brains. I love brains. But obviously, the, the, a man's brains is an erotic charge for women. For a man, the visual is exceedingly important. And, and it's not fair. It's not fair. Actually, it's not even fair to men. But it is true. So, more, more often than not, this issue arises with regard to, will the man tell the woman? My general belief is, if she's trying, then you got to love her for it. I mean, that's just, but if she doesn't try, if she, if she just, she, she, when she married you, she really cared to look good. And then 15 years later, she couldn't care less how she looks, how she dresses, how much, what she eats and so on. That's, that's unfair to you, because you, you sort of, you, you, you married a deal. We all marry a deal. If the man was a hard worker, and then 15 years later is a couch potato, you, you've got a, you've got a right to be unhappy too. So, this is an, this is truly the most unspoken significant issue, I think, in many marriages. But it has to be confronted in a loving way, but nevertheless, it should be. Teo, 16 years old, Hong Kong. Dear Mr. Prager, I am young, black, conservative, and I am struggling to properly present my political beliefs to my mom, who believes she has failed to properly raise me because of this. I try to have discussions regarding abortion, illegal immigration, or even whether capitalism is the best economic system currently in the world. I don't know how to make her understand that conservatives, or even America for that matter, aren't full of racists and bigots' best wishes. I don't think you can. Everything you said is rational. People who deny this are not going to be persuaded by the rational. My, my, my instinctive recommendation is just be loving and respectful and say, Ma, there's really nothing I can say. It, you know, it's either true or not true that only capitalism has lifted people from poverty. If you say it isn't true and I say it is true, I don't know what, what there is to talk about. America is the, is the least racist place on, on earth, where there are many ethnic and racial groups, and for that matter, where there aren't many ethnic and racial groups. Asian countries are so much more racist than Americans. If you're not Japanese, you can't become a citizen of Japan for all intents and purposes. The trouble is Americans haven't lived or experienced foreign societies. They don't realize how much race matters elsewhere, and it doesn't matter in America. America has produced a staggering number of naive people, and they're all on the left. Because the moment you shed naivete, you leave the left. You have to be naive to be on the left about real evil, about racism, et cetera, et cetera. I feel bad for you. Just love your mother up and, and give up. There's not, I don't know what else you can do. Ironically, I think your That's the irony. What's our time frame? Yes? Okay, fine. Let's do one more here. What do you think of a married couple choosing to have no children? Well, I would like to ask them why they made that choice. To me, you live once. I believe in an afterlife, but you live here once. That's my belief. So I have always thought I want to maximize rich experiences in life. I don't want to miss out. I don't know why people would want to miss out, if they could be parents, why they would want to miss out on that opportunity. The growth, the experience, the love, the anguish, the everything. Why would you say, I want to take the easy way out? It's generally the easy way out. It's the easy way out, and perhaps not even to get married, but you're married. Anyway, I'd like to know if you're not having children because of global warming, then I, I salute you. I think all those who think that the world will go extinct because of carbon emissions should not have children. I think it's a blessing that many of them have decided not to have children. If you're that foolish, you shouldn't have children. But otherwise, I, uh, I don't know why anybody would make that option. And it's so sad because so many couples want children who can't have children. I wish they could swap, but it doesn't work that way. Why would you want to forsake one of the most rich experiences a human could have to be a parent? So you can go to restaurants more often, take more trips. Okay. Please help us at PragerU. Please watch those videos about my Senate appearance, and I will see you next week from my home to yours. God bless you. Thanks for watching. I'm Dennis Prager. Thank you for watching. If you'd like to keep these fireside chats free, please do by donating to PragerU.