The New ‘Ministry of Truth’ Is On Pause
The Disinformation Board was always a horrible idea; I hate when I agree with Rand Paul
It’s only been three weeks. Three short weeks since the Department of Homeland Security announced it was launching a Disinformation Board and Nina Jackowicz would be the executive. Naturally, most sane people were horrified.
The comparisons to Orwell’s Ministry of Truth were impossible not to make. Even the media response was swift and negative, unfortunately, mostly coming from the right because many good civil liberties lefties have lost their minds since the Donald Trump and COVID eras and will do anything to prevent the Orange Don from once again seizing power, but that’s an inevitability at this point due to the criminal-level incompetence of the Democratic Party.
One didn’t have to be overly political or highly intelligent to see that this was a horrible idea; one simply had to remember a little thing called the Iraq War. Side note: George Bush just had a Freudian slip so good I thought it was simply bad comedy writing.
But WMDs should have been on everyone’s mind the moment the Disinformation Board was announced. The government that brought us Weapons of Mass Destruction wants to police ‘disinformation?’ Get real.
That’s just one example of thousands. The CIA can literally lie with impunity, create false narratives, and anyone going against that would be blocked, canceled, de-platformed, have their bank account frozen, be jailed, or whatever the penalty would be in this Orwellian hellscape they’re trying to usher in.
As citizens, we’re right to be concerned.
Obviously, the QAnon theories abound, but the ‘disinformation’ label is already simply used to silence stories and information the government doesn’t like. If this Disinformation Board were to move forward, that would move into overdrive.
The truth doesn’t matter.
We got a sneak peek during COVID as anyone talking about the effectiveness of cloth masks or the possible lab origins of the virus was swiftly censored and labeled ‘murderers.’ Months later, all verified outlets could repeat those claims with impunity because the information available to us changes.
It’s not about truth; it’s about controlling narratives.
Thankfully, the new bureau has just been put on ice.
The government that brought us Weapons of Mass Destruction wants to police ‘disinformation?’ Get real.
A cursory glance at the last century of American history shows a national library worth of government lies and manipulation. Pretty much every single armed conflict the country has engaged in has started with a flat-out fabrication.
How many innocent bodies have been left in that wake?
Once engaged in those conflicts, the Pentagon or Afghan Papers show there’s no level Democrat or Republican administrations will stoop to in order to keep the truth hidden.
They tried to give Daniel Ellsberg one hundred years in prison for revealing the truth about Vietnam. Fortunately, he won, but look at who’s been jailed for the CIA torture program, the illegal and intrusive mass surveillance state, or the drone program. Only the whistleblower who reveals the truth gets locked up.
And the US government wants to ‘police’ disinformation?
Again, I hate it when I agree with Rand Paul but the man occasionally sticks to his principles — occasionally. I’m also disappointed that he seems to be the most vocal opponent in government to this sh*t show of an idea.
But the thing is, if you are going to go around saying that you’re the arbiter of information and disinformation, I think you have no clue. And you don’t have the perspective of history knowing that disinformation, the largest progenitor of disinformation in our history, has probably been the U.S. government. — Senator Rand Paul
It was nice to see someone in the freaking Senate raise an alarm about this bullsh*t and give Mayorkas some difficult back and forth. Luckily, higher-ups in DHS saw that this wasn’t going over well, and it is being paused, reviewed, and Jackowicz has resigned.
The Department said in a recent statement, “The board has been grossly and intentionally mischaracterized: it was never about censorship or policing speech in any manner. It was designed to ensure we fulfill our mission to protect the homeland while protecting core constitutional rights.”
Just to make this crystal clear: the Disinformation Board has been put on hold because of reported disinformation regarding the Disinformation Board — that’s right.
Obviously, the QAnon theories abound, but the ‘disinformation’ label is already simply used to silence stories and information the government doesn’t like.
Of course, in this Ministry of Truth era they want to usher in, the mainstream media would be completely exempt because they’re the propaganda arm of the US government. The weapons of mass destruction narrative was pushed by every single mainstream outlet and one million Iraqis and thousands of American soldiers paid the price.
Since the Trump era alone, there’s been an insane amount of pure fabrication amplified and spread from the corporate press with no accountability, consequences, or admission of mistakes made.
The Steele Dossier took up ten thousand hours of coverage over years and turned out to be a Clinton campaign operation that has resulted in the indictment of more than one individual.
Did CNN or MSNBC get banned from Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube for spreading disinformation? Of course not.
The Russian bounty story, which came from anonymous intelligence sources, also turned out to have zero bases in reality. And yet Rachel Maddow is still making her millions and, as far as I’ve seen, has never corrected the record or been suspended from Twitter for any period of time.
Generals who lied for decades about Afghanistan paid zero political or professional consequences and instead are now contributors to the same news outlets that helped propagate the lies.
Then there was the freaking Hunter Biden laptop story. I’m all for keeping Donald Trump out of office, but when a truthful story printed by a US newspaper can be censored to manipulate an election in that fashion, we all have to be alarmed.
Being that close to voting day, the ‘powers that be’ couldn’t let the American people have all the information available to them. Fifty freaking one former intelligence officials signed a letter claiming it was ‘Russian disinformation.’ Liberal minds broken from years of Russiagate bought it.
Every media and social media outlet converged to silence, censor, and discredit a legitimate story about a candidate.
Intelligence agencies and the corporate state interfered in an election to heavily favor one individual over the other. Again, I’m all for keeping Donald Trump out of office, but that was so far over the line and has to be illegal, and there were zero consequences.
Many months later, with Biden safely in office, everyone now quietly admits it was a legit story, and there’s a federal investigation into Hunter and his ridiculously corrupt business dealings.
Not a single mainstream publication was suspended, fined, or penalized in any way when every single mainstream publication was peddling disinformation.
And these are the shady a**holes that want to implement a ‘Ministry of Truth.’
…when a truthful story printed by a US newspaper can be censored to manipulate an election in that fashion, we all have to be alarmed.
A Disinformation Board would surely only be abused by the powerful. Regardless of the facts, we little people would not be able to access, share, or talk about real stories the US government doesn’t want us to know.
It is the definition of Orwellian.
Anything damaging to the empire would be slapped with the ‘disinformation’ label and anybody posting about those stories would be kicked off of whatever platform, discredited, or worse.
Corporate America would surely play its part, as it already does in many ways, freezing Paypal accounts of independent media that’s too critical. That’s the world we already live in. Imagine how bad it would be if this plan went forward.
It’s frightening enough that they thought they could implement such a freaking project. But as I said, the Disinformation Board couldn’t withstand the wave of ‘disinformation’ that erupted upon its inauguration.
As with most of America, it’s beyond parody at this point.
I’m happy there was enough pushback that after only three weeks it might be going gently into that good night.
In a world of doomscolling and negativity, it’s nice to see a positive development here and there.