Friendship and BBQ

ties. Additionally, the White House and a cavalcade of executive branch agencies snarl in high octaves against social media for insufficient content monitoring and removal of postings or users who contradict the government’s orthodoxies about COVID-19, election integrity, and the cognitive infrastructure of the American people that the government finds appealing, taking George Orwell’s “1984” to a new level. The social media companies approached included Facebook/Meta, Twitter, YouTube/Google, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, Tik Tok, and other online platforms.

In response, all targeted social media meet or otherwise communicate daily with putative Platonic Guardians housed in the executive branch to delete disfavored posts or users. The overwhelming majority are conservative. The social media has become virtual stenographers of the Biden administration’s version of truth. A free marketplace of ideas is annihilated.

What you have read is not fiction. It is a summary of the decision of United States District Judge of the Western District of Louisiana, Terry A. Doughty, on July 4, 2023, in State of Missouri, et al., v. Joseph R. Biden, et al. The Court chronicled in 100 pages of factual findings industrial scale suppression on social media of content or users the Biden administration found were politically obnoxious, a synonym for conservative dissent or dissenters. Biden engaged in the broadest violation of free speech in history, far worse than the Index of Forbidden Books or book burning. Judge Doughty preliminarily held the censorship unconstitutional.

The Biden administration’s informal censorship with ulterior partisan political motives is deplorable. But it is symptomatic of a disease inescapable with our Leviathan regulatory state endowed with limitless, unreviewable, discretionary power to financially cripple or boost any substantial business in the nation. Think of the vast expanse of Alphabet agencies: the FTC, the FCC, the FED, the FDIC, the Comptroller of the Currency, the SEC, the CPSC, the IRS, the FAA, the EPA, OFAC, CFPB, the FDA, the procurement arms of the Pentagon. They need to stay on the good side of the United States government to avoid financial strangulation.

The FDA screens drugs for safety and effectiveness before marketing can begin. The median cost of conducting the necessary clinical trials to satisfy the safety and effectiveness threshold average is approximately $20 million. An FDA denial is virtually unreviewable in court under the Administrative Procedure Act. No drug company—even Pfizer— would dare risk awakening the ire of its overseers by criticizing any FDA policy or the White House.

In other words, the mere existence of the FDA endowed with formidable regulatory discretion suppresses the free speech of the regulated. A host of other regulated industries are similarly silenced by the mere existence of their regulators: financial institutions, insurance, oil and gas, motor vehicles, aircraft, defense contractors, and every business that may confront a tax issue or a need to sell securities.

In sum, if we wish free speech to flourish, the regulatory state must be vastly scaled back. This is an issue upon which both liberals and conservatives should agree. To crucify free speech on a cross of administrative regulation is a Faustian bargain that should not be entertained.

Armstrong Williams (@ARightSide) is manager / sole owner of Howard Stirk Holdings I & II Broadcast Television Stations and the 2016 Multicultural Media Broadcast Owner of the year. www.armstrongwilliams.co | www.howardstirkholdings.com

I recently had the opportunity to interview awardwinning and acclaimed actor Anthony Anderson and comedic icon and sitcom star Cedric the Entertainer on my podcast, “The Blackest Questions with the Grio.” I invited them on to play my Black history trivia game, but I also wanted to learn more about their upcoming television show and line of barbeque rubs for our summer cookouts. As I spoke to the two legends, I realized that so much of life is spending time with the friends you love, people with whom you can embark on new adventures, and folks who will keep you laughing and challenging yourself.

I was curious to know more about how these two actors decided to launch a show about … barbeque!

Anderson hails from Compton, C.A., but his father grew up in Arkansas and thus is partial to a more dry rub style barbeque. Cedric is from St Louis, M.O., and prefers the Texas style barbeque so many people rave about. He likes that brisket style where it’s a little charred at the tips and you can dip it in the sauce. These two have launched AC Barbeque, a new barbeque rub that can be found in Walmart stores, and www.acbarbeque.com lets you know exactly which Walmart stores carry their new rubs. The three flavors are “Put Me on Errrything,” “Midnight Smoke,” and “Lemon Stepper.”

These two have been friends for well over two decades, cooking, golfing, laughing, and barbequing together. They also have a show on A&E Network series “Kings of BBQ” where they meet pit masters, sample “non-traditional” parts of the pig, and travel the country to showcase all of the diverse styles of barbeque found in the United States. The show also delves into the ways different regions prepare foods, build community, socialize, and take care of one another.

So much of our Black history is tied to food and community. We must learn the history of why we eat certain foods or why our ancestors prepared certain foods to nourish us. The concept of whole animal cooking has been a journey for me, and I am still discovering more delicacies passed down from our ancestors.

I definitely plan on picking up some of the AC Barbeque rubs, not just for my ribs, but also for my pork loins and fish. As I prepare for more summer fun with friends and family, I hope we will take the time to do a little more research on the history of some of the foods we love. I also hope the friendship or Anthony and Cedric inspires you to give an old friend a call or a text. And don’t forget to check out “Kings of BBQ” on A&E and snag some of the rubs for your summer gatherings.

Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an Associate professor at Fordham University, the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream”, and the co-host of the podcast FAQ-NYC and host of The Blackest Questions podcast at TheGrio.