Ex-Bush aide blisters GOP for wasting time on 'YouTube celebrities' Diamond & Silk Facebook hearing

Prior to a Thursday morning hearing held by the House Judiciary Committee on Donald Trump supporters Diamond and Silk’s allegations that Facebook is censoring them, a former Bush/Cheney campaign official lambasted Republicans for even agreeing to hear the two YouTube social media personalities.

Writing for the conservative Washington Times about North Carolina sisters Lynnette "Diamond" Hardaway and Rochelle "Silk" Richardson, GOP consultant Matt MacKowiak called the hearing "silliness."

"I must admit that I do not really know anything about Diamond and Silk," Mackowiak wrote. "They are prominent African American supporters of President Trump. Admittedly, with the demands of modern-day identity politics, that support requires courage and conviction and for that those two should be respected.But we must be honest about Diamond and Silk."

'Conservatives across the country are raising real questions about censorship online, he continued. "However, this committee is instead holding an entire hearing about Diamond and Silk, who happen to be the type of celebrities who traffic in conspiracies, like the ridiculous #Pizzagate hoax."

"Facebook has acknowledged that it made some mistakes in communicating new guidelines for monetization of Facebook content, and thus Diamond and Silk were unaware that they were not complying with new standards, he continued before pointing out that despite the Facebook mea culpa the two continue to complain they are being censored only to have been called out by fellow conservatives.

He then turned to reports of Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election that used Facebook to spread fake news and attacks on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

"With the confidence of the intelligence community that Russia did interfere in our presidential election, and with the recent Mueller indictment of more than a dozen Russian nationals for these crimes, we know that social media platforms were being used to allow foreign citizens to attempt to influence a domestic election. It is in everyone’s interest now that we ensure that such a thing can never happen again," he suggested.

"Which brings us back to today’s House committee hearing. Is this really a hearing that will provide Congress and the public with new insight into the challenge of privacy and censorship online?" Mackowiak wrote. "This explains why government is paralyzed, ineffective and inefficient, and conversely, why the private sector operates far more efficiently. Our obsession with political theater has brought us to the point where now a respected and important House committee will spend several hours taking testimony from two YouTube celebrities — all done at taxpayer expense."

"Conservatives once opposed responding to hysterics with the heavy hand of governmental regulation because it is undeniable that regulation stifles innovation," he added. "Diamond and Silk are unlikely to provide any new or valuable information for Congress or the public to consider on an important public policy issue."

You can read his whole piece here.