There's a fuss over the likely possibility that Google, with its Dragonfly initiative, is going to accommodate China's censorship demands.

So what? We already block, censor, blacklist, cancel accounts and shadow ban in the USA!

Google, in the US, "censors" by twisting search results. Facebook does it by kicking people off the platform. Twitter does it in a variety of ways. So do most ISPs.

I've had my blog put on various blacklists over the years, especially when the title line (in the HTML code) was Dvorak Uncensored. It slowly lessened when the line was changed to The Dvorak News Blog despite the blog itself still going by the name Dvorak Uncensored.

There are blacklists galore in the US that ISPs use to minimize spam and porn. They are put together by bot software and reek of censorship, with or without supposed net neutrality in place. (It seems to me that net neutrality debaters should address these blacklists, but no chance.)

The Chinese are freaked out about several aspects of search they want to control: Human rights, anything about democracy, or religion—especially the Falun Gong group that's has been at odds with the government for years. They also do not want people searching for info about Tibet. Only the official story is allowed.

In the US, our government has shut down various sites that sell products that violate trademarks and copyrights. Shouldn't these be okay if the internet is fully open and neutral and free? Oh wait, it's against the law, that's why they're taken down.

Well, it's against the law in China to promote the demise of the government or to push various perceived counter-revolutionary ideas, so what is the difference? Countries have laws.

Google has been ordered to act certain ways in both the US and the EU regarding search results. Try finding bootleg movies using Google; it is frowned upon just like the sale of counterfeit goods.

Ask yourself whatever happened to Craigslist personals and Backpage? All ended by government edict.

Yes, there is a difference in focus, but censorship abounds. Don't forget the blacklists that affected me personally when there is no legal violation of any sort, just the mere use of the word "uncensored." Ironic.

Now everyone is going after Google for trying to get some market share in China and bring some money back into the US. It seems like it should be seen as a win-win, not some horror.

A number of US senators, led by Marco Rubio, are complaining about Google. Rubio, once a voice of conservatism of the type that bordered on pro-corporation laissez-faire economics, tweeted this:

Giving benefit of the doubt until we learn more. But reading how @Google has plans to help #China set up a censored search engine is very disturbing. They won't help ?@DeptofDefense? keep us safe but they will help China suppress the truth? https://t.co/S0X3VemOIT — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 1, 2018

This from a guy who is on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a group that provides useless redacted responses to legitimate Freedom of Information Act requests and banks on keeping the US public in the dark regarding a lot of "truth."

His reference to the Department of Defense sounds like he wants Google to do more censoring of information to the American public, or just spy more than they do already.

So let's all get off our high horses and let Google act like any other company in a foreign land. Let it abide by that foreign country's rules, not ours. It's up to Google to decide for itself what is right and wrong in this situation. Unless you want to pass some laws to stop them, quit complaining.