If you want to guess, don’t scroll down past the pictures.
Below you will see covers of 4 books available in Germany and elsewhere unless banned. One of the covers, or more accurately, one part of one cover is being used as evidence to support the author being charged with hate speech in Germany. Go ahead and pick the one you think has got the author in hot water with the German government but let me give you a hint… it has to do with the swastika!
Okay… you made your choice.
And the “winner” is C. J. Hopkins, author of The Rise of the New Normal Reich. Some of you may not have even noticed the swastika on the cover. It is there, albeit faintly, in the center of the mask. Hopefully all of you are now thinking “Are you kidding me… hate speech?” along with… there has to be more to it than that and obviously there is but you may be very surprised as to what “THAT” is exactly. What dastardly, diabolical, evil thing did Hopkins do/say to warrant being charged with hate speech other than putting a barely visible swastika in the center of the mask on his book cover?
If you are like me, you know nothing about C.J. Hopkins. 48 hours before I started writing this article I didn’t know Hopkins existed. I have learned over the past couple of days that C.J. Hopkins is an American who has lived in Germany for about 20 years. He is described on Wikipedia as a playwright, novelist and political satirist. Okay those 1st two are okay but political satirist, now that definitely sounds dangerous. One of his plays, “screwmachine/eyecandy” (yeah that is the title) was performed at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe at the Assembly Rooms. Again using Wikipedia, in a review that appeared in The Scotsman the play was described as a “dark and twisted comedy” about the American game show in which “the excesses of American culture are held up to the light, roundly lampooned and shown to be the poisonous, culturally carcinogenic threats that they really are.” (I would have no idea what to expect but definitely get me a ticket.)
In 2017 Hopkins’ novel, Zone 23, was published. In a review published in “The Conservative Woman” the story was described as “a post-catastrophic, ‘genetically-corrected’ corporatist society in which dissent has been pathologised”. I am going to need a dictionary just to understand the review. Dactyl Review described it as “a witty, nasty, erudite, Pynchonesque narrative full of fleshed-out sleazy characters and a hyper-detailed alternative world”. I had no clue what Pynchonesque meant so I looked it up. It means his book is similar in some way to another author’s books, that author being Thomas Pynchon. Maybe I am wrong but it sounds like Zone 23 might be George Orwell’s 1984 on steroids. It has definitely moved on to my must read list. I wonder if my public library has a copy… probably not.
A brief divergence… As a kid I would head to the public library and load up on books by Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes) and Agatha Christie (Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot etc). My goal was to read everything they wrote. My recent and very unexpected exposure to C.J. Hopkins has created that same desire. There are very few writers who make my “must read everything they write” list so without a doubt you will be reading about C.J. Hopkins in upcoming posts. If you are interested in his posts after reading this article I will include a link at the end of this article.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program, The Case of the Missing Crime. Indeed there must be more to it than “a barely visible swastika.” Even before we look at more evidence let me start with this “bombshell.” In the 1st trial Hopkins was acquitted of hate speech. Yes you read that right… in his 1st trial because apparently in Germany if the prosecutor doesn’t like the verdict in the 1st trial she (in this case) can simply re-charge you. Apparently double jeopardy (not the game show) doesn’t exist in Germany but I digress… let’s meet the prosecutor.
Meet Frau Ines Karl, whose title roughly translates as “Senior Public Prosecutor and Head of the Berlin Central Hate Crime Office.” Karl began her prosecutorial career in the GDR, aka the German Democratic Republic, aka communist East Germany. I am not sure what was democratic about the GDR considering the GDR convicted about 200,000 people of political crimes during its 40 year existence and needed the Stasi, a wall and armed guards to keep people from leaving. If the GDR was actually democratic then Miriam Webster, Oxford and Cambridge need to update their definition of democracy so it includes suppression of free speech and criminalizing political dissent. Hell the way it is going democracy may soon be defined by what the government looks like in George Orwell’s 1984. Democracy and Totalitarianism might soon be synonyms.
As I write this I have two overwhelming urges. One is to detour and discuss the GDR and its so called “democracy.” The other is to detour and discuss Professor Delores Umbridge (Google her if you don’t know who that is) but I will resist those temptations, at least for now.
More importantly, let’s discuss what C. J. Hopkins said that was so despicable that when he was acquitted at his 1st trial Frau Karl was so distraught by the verdict that she decided to charge him again. I have no clue but I wonder if German law allows prosecutors to keep re-filing charges until they finally get the verdict they want?
Watch for the red flags in the following. (Hopefully my use of the term red flag isn’t interpreted as me supporting communism. Just wait if you think that is a ridiculous thing to say.) Here is a quote published in Evangelisch Magazine, MiGAZIN, 2020 that might be good place to start.
“Karl emphasized that the debates about possible right-wing extremist attitudes in the security services were being ‘monitored very closely.’ The case of a Berlin public prosecutor who took part in the Corona-denier demonstrations and spread corresponding posts on social networks is being extensively discussed in the public prosecutor’s office, for example ‘whether this should be socially acceptable here. If such crimes are committed, investigations will also be carried out within our own ranks,’ emphasized Karl.“
Talk about clear red flags… right-wing extremist attitudes… Corona-denier demonstrations… posts on social networks! Also note that it only took one sentence to move from 1) looking at an issue as to “whether this should be socially acceptable” to 2) “if such crimes are committed.” Something that may or may not be socially acceptable is now also a crime! Really?
Now we are getting to the crux of this case. How dare anyone in the Berlin prosecutor’s office attend Corona-denier demonstrations and spread corresponding posts on social networks! Actually we need to remove the words “in the Berlin prosecutor’s office” from that sentence and paraphrase it because C.J. Hopkins sure as hell is not a member of the Berlin prosecutor’s office. It seems like Frau Karl would probably be okay with… How dare ANYONE… including C.J. Hopkins do any of that, i.e. take a stance that contradicts Big Brother!
Putting it another way… How dare anyone express any form of political dissent! Of course the problem for Frau Karl, or at least what should be the problem, is the last time I looked, in a democracy, political dissent isn’t a crime. But then again I must be using a clearly outdated definition of democracy. Where is my newly revised dictionary from the Ministry of Truth, which everyone knows is the only official dictionary accepted anymore? Not sure but my guess is the Ministry of Truth is right down the hall from the Berlin Central Hate Crime Office.
Ah hell who cares about definitions anyway? The bottom line is… How dare anyone criticize the government/state, aka the German version of Big Brother 2024! How dare anyone spread “disinformation” contradicting government propaganda/disinformation… oops I think I meant government policy… No actually I meant government propaganda/disinformation.
How dare anyone suggest the government is wrong even when evidence mounts up week after week, month after month and year after year showing the government was wrong! And even if the evidence shows the government has been wrong, and not just wrong but repeatedly wrong, how dare anyone question those “fact/facts or ideology” based on the supposed science, economics, medical information etc. that government chooses to embrace and espouse and then force feed us.
Getting back to the book cover, it clearly wasn’t the real issue. Neither of the publishers of the other two covers pictured here have been charged with hate speech as far as I know… at least for now.
Here is where C.J. Hopkins crossed the line… he posted the 2 tweets pictured to the left. In the 2nd tweet, which is the one on the right, the man pictured is Karl Wilhelm Lauterbach, a German scientist, physician, and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, who has served as Federal Minister of Health since 8 December 2021. There is that word again, Democratic.
I think the following is a fair translation of the words in the 1st tweet on the left. It was about masks…
“They are symbols of ideological normity. That’s all they are. They always have been. Stop pretending they’re ever anything else, or get used to wearing them.”
The short sentence included in the tweet on the right reads “the mask always sends out a signal.”
There you have it. Have what you ask? There you have the hate speech C.J. Hopkins uttered. Amazingly, stunningly, or perhaps stupidly… actually none of those adjectives apply. The better adjectives are purposefully, intentionally, and dare I suggest maliciously. Believe it or not, this is what Frau Karl and Berlin Central Hate Crime Office decided those two tweets were doing…
“disseminating propaganda, the contents of which are intended to further the aims of a former National Socialist organization,” which by the way is punishable up to 3 years in prison.
You might need to read that again and then consider the following. Frau Karl and her cohorts have decided that in those two tweets C.J. Hopkins is somehow promoting the advancement of a former NAZI organization. Now to believe that to be true you only have to do one thing… well actually quite a few things but for starters, IGNORE THE FACT that C.J. Hopkins was criticizing the German government’s covid response because he believed it showed characteristics of Nazi totalitarianism. How in hell does that get interpreted to mean he was trying to further the aims of Naziism. Over his entire life, I think it fair and accurate to say that C.J. Hopkins has been, is and will be anti-Nazi, anti-totalitarian until the day he dies. Welcome to 1984 where you MUST suspend your logic so you can believe something that is illogical is logical!
To suggest the idea that he is somehow promoting a National Socialist organization is delusional unless of course the accusation is based on something entirely different, a purpose having nothing to do with the truth. Simply put, the goal is to shut down free speech that the powers that be, in this case the German government, don’t like by labelling it hate speech. Is it just my imagination or does there seem to be a real pandemic spreading around the world that involves just that, labelling free speech as hate speech?
Why don’t Frau Karl and her Berlin Central Hate Crime Office just cut the bullshit and be honest… i.e. we are going to make Hopkins an example so no one else ever tries to do what he did which was…
COMPARE THE COVID RESPONSE BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO NAZI GERMANY TOTALITARIANISM! Any sane rational person who doesn’t have an agenda would know that C.J. Hopkins was doing the exact opposite of what he has been accused. I say welcome again to Orwell’s 1984 where peace means war and truth means lies.
Talk about being illogical. It is clear that just as Hopkins opposes Nazi totalitarianism he also opposes what he perceives to be a totalitarian response to Covid-19 by the German government but somehow Frau Karl and her cohorts twist it so absurdly that suddenly Hopkins is supporting or endorsing a former Nazi Socialist organization and totalitarianism. This is pure Orwellian doublespeak. You have to set aside your logic to believe what you are being told is logical. It is clearly 1984 manifesting in 2024.
I fully realize that the last few paragraphs have been repetitive. Rush Limbaugh used to say you had to say something numerous times for it to sink in.
And talk about spewing hate. For Hopkins to suggest that masks are a symbol of conforming to the “ideology that accompanies or goes along with wearing masks” is so hateful and such a threat to the German democracy… To imply that just as the swastika was a symbol of Nazi totalitarianism, the mask could be construed as a symbol of the German government’s totalitarianism when it comes to Covid-19… I mean how could Frau Karl overlook those seditious, freedom destroying remarks. I am surprised the German government survived such a hideous and deplorable comparison and didn’t dissolve as fast as the Wicked Witch of the West did when Dorothy splashed her with water.
THE 2nd TRIAL and THE VERDICT
GUILTY!!! SURPRISE! What a shock! Okay not really because when we consider the governmental abuse over the last few years whatever naivete we once possessed has rapidly evaporated. No one should be surprised that C.J. Hopkins was found guilty of hate speech at his 2nd trial although I think the German courts should consider being like some sports… make it a best 2 out 3. Let’s have another trial and see what the verdict will be. Since that will not happen I am sure that Frau Karl and Berlin Central Hate Crime Office are delighted that such a dangerous, deplorable person as C.J. Hopkins has now been convicted of this terrible, egregious example of hate speech.
This deserves to be discussed in depth in a separate article but often the “the process is the punishment” or at least part of the punishment. The actual “sentence” initially set out for Hopkins was either 60 days incarcerated or a fine of $3600 Euros. In what seems to be a bit bizarre he was notified that he would have the option to spend 60 days in jail or pay the fine of $3600 Euros BEFORE he was found guilty. Apparently the German court decides what your punishment will be ahead of time assuming you are found guilty. Now that he has been found guilty we will have to wait and see if the “punishment” remains the same.
Setting aside the “actual” punishment for a moment… think about the process. Hopkins’ life has been upended. He has been forced to live under this cloud for a long time. His reputation has been smeared. His ability to earn a living impacted. He had to hire and pay a lawyer or lawyers as this has dragged out. This seems to be a common tactic by Big Brother. Do all they can to destroy the accused financially. (In another article we will discuss all of this as it relates to January 6th, General Flynn etc. in the USA.)
Further I am sure the Berlin Central Hate Crime Office has an official list of hate speech offenders and Hopkins will be on that list and my guess is that someone in that office will be appointed to “fact check” every word Hopkins writes in the future. Maybe it will be Professor Umbridge.
Bottom line, if you dare to emulate C.J. Hopkins, if you dare to criticize the powers that be, you can expect to be harassed, intimated and likely prosecuted by Big Brother 2024 be it in Germany, the USA, Canada or for that matter just about anywhere in the world. And to be clear, it will be done with the intent of ruining your life as much as possible.
Welcome to George Orwell’s 1984 in 2024! I don’t care where you are on this amazing planet. If you think it couldn’t happen to you… quit drinking the Kool-Aid.
If you would like to read posts by C.J. Hopkins here is the link. You will have to copy and paste the link. It will be well worth it.
substack.com/@cjhopkins/posts
And we are not done with this story. Stay tuned.
Doug
10/05/2024
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