CBS is just producing banger after banger right now. First, Margaret Brennan made a fool of herself. Now, “60 Minutes” is joining in the fun.

If you didn’t notice, there is a whole lot of butthurt flowing around the media right now over Vice President Vance’s speech on Friday in Munich, addressing freedoms in Europe, particularly freedom of speech.

I was struck that a former European commissioner went on television recently and sounded delighted that the Romanian government had just annulled an entire election. He warned that if things don’t go to plan, the very same thing could happen in Germany too.

Now, these cavalier statements are shocking to American ears. For years we’ve been told that everything we fund and support is in the name of our shared democratic values. Everything from our Ukraine policy to digital censorship is billed as a defence of democracy. But when we see European courts cancelling elections and senior officials threatening to cancel others, we ought to ask whether we’re holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard. And I say ourselves, because I fundamentally believe that we are on the same team.

Vance listed off incidents in Brussels, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and Scotland. The European Union absolutely bristled after this speech, as did media outlets. Reuters, POLITICO Europe, and the BBC all whined about how Vance was “attacking” Europe for their censorship. Methinks they protest a bit too much, especially since there are receipts.

The German government had a hissy fit about Vance’s speech – and then proved his point.

At the 2:18 mark, Pistorious says: “[Democracy] does not mean anyone can say anything”

More or less proving JD Vance right https://t.co/FO7HvUjsoo

— John Hasson (@SonofHas) February 14, 2025

Not to be outdone, “60 Minutes” decided to stan for German censorship. Sharyn Alfonsi, who has engaged in some narrative-shaping censorship herself in the past, was absolutely drooling over the German government arresting people for hateful speech.

As prosecutors explain it, the German constitution protects free speech, but not hate speech. And here’s where it gets tricky: German law prohibits speech that could incite hatred or is deemed insulting. Perpetrators are sometimes surprised to learn that what they post online is illegal, according to Dr. Matthäus Fink, one of the state prosecutors tasked with policing Germany’s robust hate speech laws.

“They don’t think it was illegal. And they say, ‘No, that’s my free speech,'” Fink said. “And we say, ‘No, you have free speech as well, but it is also has its limits.'”

In the U.S., most of what gets posted online, even if it’s hate-filled, is protected by the First Amendment as free speech. But in Germany, authorities are prosecuting online trolls in an effort to protect discourse and democracy.

It can be a crime to publicly insult someone in Germany, and the punishment can be even worse if the insult is shared online because that content sticks around forever, Fink said.

Fink, and prosecutors Svenja Meininghaus and Frank-Michael Laue, explained that German law prohibits the spread of malicious gossip, violent threats and fake quotes. Reposting lies online can also be a crime.

CBS: "Is posting an insult a crime?"
German prosectors: "Yes"
CBS: "Is it a crime to repost a lie?"
German prosecutors: "Yes" pic.twitter.com/UABb2ch90v

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) February 17, 2025

Just imagine how these inane speech codes would play out in American politics.

It was a 2021 case involving Andy Grote, a local politician, that captured the country’s attention. Grote complained about a tweet that called him a “pimmel,” a German word for the male anatomy. His complaint triggered a police raid and accusations of excessive censorship by the government.

As prosecutors explained to “60 Minutes” correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi, in Germany it’s OK to debate politics online, but it can be a crime to call anyone a pimmel, even a politician.

“Comments like ‘You’re son of a b—h,’ excuse me for using, but these words has nothing to do with a political discussions or a contribution to a discussion,” Fink said.

Some worry that by policing the internet, Germany is backsliding into the Germany of 80 years ago, when citizens’ words were surveilled. (Josephine) Ballon (CEO of HateAid) says there’s no surveillance, and that free speech needs boundaries.

“Free speech needs boundaries… Without boundaries, a very small group of people can rely on endless freedom to say anything that they want, while everyone else is scared and intimidated,” says Josephine Ballon, CEO of HateAid. https://t.co/YjlBa7YJ3s pic.twitter.com/xqI88oiiO2

— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) February 17, 2025

But for every leftist wishcasting for something like this in the United States, remember these laws cut both ways, and it relies on “tips” from the public.

The application of Germany’s decades-old speech laws were strengthened after its darkest chapter, and then was accelerated online after an assassination of a politician, fueled by the internet, sent shockwaves through the country. In 2015, a video of a local politician named Walter Lübcke went viral after he defended then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s progressive immigration policy.

“People with a very right political world view, they started hating him on the internet. They started insulting him. They started to incite people to kill him. And that went on for about four years,” Meininghaus said.

Lübcke was fatally shot in the head four years after he made his speech.

“So that was one of the cases where we see that online hate can sometimes find a way into real life and then hurt people,” Meininghaus said.

After a man with links to neo-Nazis was arrested in the Lübcke case, Germany ramped up the creation of its online hate task forces. There are 16 units across the country, investigating online hate speech.

Laue, a career criminal prosecutor, leads the Lower Saxony unit, which works on around 3,500 cases a year. Nine investigators work out of the office. They get hundreds of tips a month from police, watchdog groups and victims, Laue said. His unit has successfully prosecuted about 750 hate speech cases over the last four years.

In one case, an online post suggested that refugee children should play in electrical wires, Laue said. The accused had to pay a fine of 3,750 euros.

“It’s not a parking ticket,” Laue said.

Just imagine what German hate speech laws would have meant after the assassination attempt on Donald Trump, where goodness knows how many people were spouting off on various social media platforms complaining that the assassin “missed” or needed “better aim.” Could they all be blamed for the second assassination attempt? Imagine what these laws would do to all those leftists busy praising Luigi Mangione for allegedly murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Wasn’t that “online hate” that ended up killing someone? If the left learns nothing else from Donald Trump’s election, they should learn that any power that you grant yourself can be used against you later. In the immortal words of Mitch McConnell, “You’ll regret this, and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”

But never mind that. “60 Minutes” is busy defending German censorship, while watching Margaret Brennan go on TV and claim that the “weaponization” of free speech caused the Holocaust. Apparently, “60 Minutes” can’t see the irony of the situation.

The same press outlets having a nervous breakdown over the "First Amendment violation" of not having the AP in the Oval Office are running segments claiming free speech caused the Holocaust and that free speech must have "boundaries."

You can't make this stuff up.

— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 17, 2025

Apparently, Germany is living out the “Weimar fallacy” in real time, and should the AfD party make big enough gains in the next election, they may live to regret their decisions. CBS and “60 Minutes” really should stop embarrassing themselves with their open desire for censorship. Between this story and Margaret Brennan, is this the official CBS narrative now? The Trump administration may be more than happy to oblige them by giving them the Associated Press treatment. And it would serve them right if that happened.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click