March 21, 2021 05:23 PM UTC

Big Tech Trumps Big Coup For Buck, Boebert

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• by: Colorado Pols

Colorado Newsline’s Chase Woodruff reports on a vote by two Republican members of Congress from Colorado, Reps. Lauren Boebert and Ken Buck, along with a very small Republican minority in the U.S. House against a resolution condemning the recent military coup in the nation formerly known as Burma:

Colorado Reps. Ken Buck and Lauren Boebert were among a small group of Republican members of the House of Representatives who on Friday voted to oppose a nonbinding resolution condemning the military coup in Myanmar.

The House passed H. Res. 134, which condemned the violent military takeover of the Southeast Asian country that began on Feb. 1, on an overwhelming 398-14 vote, with 182 Republicans joining 216 Democrats in approving the resolution. But 14 GOP House members, including Buck, Boebert and other figures on the party’s right flank — including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia — voted against the measure.

Since being on the wrong side of a 398-14 vote is unusual enough to attract attention, we’re naturally going to speculate about why these 14 of the hardest hard-right Republican members of Congress–who are also some of ex-President Donald Trump’s most indefatigable torch-bearers–would vote against condemning a nation’s military taking over the country when an election doesn’t go their preferred way.

There is, of course, the obvious answer.

But Rep. Lauren Boebert says no, her vote was about resisting the censorious control of “Big Tech,” which is apparently a bigger deal than standing up to a military coup–despite the fact that the resolution apparently only wants to make sure the Burmese military doesn’t use “Big Tech” platforms to commit crimes against the Burmese people:

Boebert’s office indicated that the congresswoman’s objection to the resolution concerned a brief provision calling on Biden to “ensure that United States-based social media companies, including Facebook, not allow their platforms to be used as vehicles for disinformation campaigns or advocating violence against the Burmese people.”

“The bill called on Big Tech to be the arbiter of truth,” Ben Stout, Boebert’s communications director, wrote in an email to Newsline. “Big Tech censorship is out of control and they have proven they can’t be trusted with such authorities.”

As for Rep. Ken Buck?

A spokesperson for Buck did not respond to a request for comment.

In both cases, we want to believe that a bout of anti-Facebook groupthink seized these 14 particularly excitable Republicans, rather than two members of Congress from Colorado having deliberately cast a vote approving of military coups to resolve disputed elections. Because while both are questionable, one is definitely worse.

And so soon after America’s own would-be coup, neither Buck nor Boebert should cast such votes lightly.