Behind the Scenes: Do We Know What’s Going On?

 

This morning on “Fox & Friends,” Vivek Ramaswamy, author of Woke, Inc., was expressing his satisfaction that the “Disinformation Board” of the Biden Administration has been dismembered—uh, “put on pause.” He insisted that citizens on the Left and Right had to have protested the establishment of this Department of Homeland Security, even though the Right was given the credit or the blame, depending on your viewpoint. The fact that they put Nina Jankowicz, musical performer extraordinaire in charge of the organization, ensured that the project, at least temporarily, would die.

Unfortunately, Ramaswamy also voiced his concern that the Biden administration would not give up so easily; he feared that the Board would go undercover to continue its work. The best use of their time during the “pause” would be determining how to keep their efforts secret to ensure its success the next time around.

I am not fond of conspiracy theories and tend to avoid them. But we have seen over and over again the many ways that the Biden administration pursues its goals even when they are rejected, particularly by the courts. Since this Board may not see the light of day again, and because the government has shown its obsession with banning disinformation, should we assume that they will quietly and subtly move forward with their plans? If they do, can we look for signs that they are punishing, banning, or prosecuting people even more vigorously for expressing ideas that they consider out of favor?

Even of greater concern, if they find a way to secretly create this organization, what other activities might they pursue to limit, even eliminate our freedoms?

Am I being paranoid?

Published in Domestic Policy
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  1. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    I think Gorelick had a lot to do with the failures of our counter-intelligence to get a handle on the 9/11 terrorists activities and that led to the in eventual breakup of a long-standing law enforcement structure to be replaced by Homeland Security. This might have been the major structurally enabling step that has gotten us into this current situation of almost complete lawlessness in the federal government.

    • #31
  2. Scott Wilmot Member
    Scott Wilmot
    @ScottWilmot

    Facts matter.

    • #32
  3. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    About a quarter a century ago, I worked for a company that did typesetting for legal manuals. At least one by Gorelick came across my desk. I keep thinking that with a few alterations of her text here and there, I could have destroyed her career.

    If I get my time machine working . . .

    • #33
  4. Marjorie Reynolds Coolidge
    Marjorie Reynolds
    @MarjorieReynolds

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    You are not paranoid Susan. We have wicked people in charge of this administration. It is with great shame that I look upon our Catholic President and Speaker of the House and see the agenda they push and the lies they spread. I trust nothing they say or do. It breaks my heart to see what they are deliberately doing to this country and her great people. The absolute bloodthirstiness of their support for killing children in the womb leads to having to lie about everything. They are wicked. God save us.

    It’s not our shame Scott. The shame is all on them for misrepresenting evil as good by invoking the religion they were born into.  With Biden I get a double serving of revulsion when he trots out the Irish identity  as well as the ‘devout Catholic’ one.

    At least he’s too decrepit to pay us a state visit. It would be just too much to see that that old pervert getting a hero’s welcome in whatever arsehole of nowhere place in Mayo he claims to be from.

     

    • #34
  5. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Marjorie Reynolds (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    You are not paranoid Susan. We have wicked people in charge of this administration. It is with great shame that I look upon our Catholic President and Speaker of the House and see the agenda they push and the lies they spread. I trust nothing they say or do. It breaks my heart to see what they are deliberately doing to this country and her great people. The absolute bloodthirstiness of their support for killing children in the womb leads to having to lie about everything. They are wicked. God save us.

    It’s not our shame Scott. The shame is all on them for misrepresenting evil as good by invoking the religion they were born into. With Biden I get a double serving of revulsion when he trots out the Irish identity as well as the ‘devout Catholic’ one.

    At least he’s too decrepit to pay us a state visit. It would be just too much to see that that old pervert getting a hero’s welcome in whatever arsehole of nowhere place in Mayo he claims to be from.

    Biden is about as Irish and Catholic as he is a truck driver.

    • #35
  6. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Marjorie Reynolds (View Comment):

    Scott Wilmot (View Comment):

    You are not paranoid Susan. We have wicked people in charge of this administration. It is with great shame that I look upon our Catholic President and Speaker of the House and see the agenda they push and the lies they spread. I trust nothing they say or do. It breaks my heart to see what they are deliberately doing to this country and her great people. The absolute bloodthirstiness of their support for killing children in the womb leads to having to lie about everything. They are wicked. God save us.

    It’s not our shame Scott. The shame is all on them for misrepresenting evil as good by invoking the religion they were born into. With Biden I get a double serving of revulsion when he trots out the Irish identity as well as the ‘devout Catholic’ one.

    At least he’s too decrepit to pay us a state visit. It would be just too much to see that that old pervert getting a hero’s welcome in whatever arsehole of nowhere place in Mayo he claims to be from.

     

    • #36
  7. Jim George Member
    Jim George
    @JimGeorge

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    Jim George (View Comment):
    These people-lawless thugs in my humble opinion – know they have just a few months to implement their Marxist schemes by executive fiat and they will stop at nothing to do as much damage to the Nation-and, obviously, to us – as they possibly can.

    We must be vigilant and challenge them at every opportunity to try to mitigate the damage. It’s hard to be optimistic, Jim.

    Susan, here is another article I’ve been saving for a future piece– The Coming Disaster, here – the first line of which is as follows:

    Welcome to the most dangerous two years in American history.

    In line with what I said about the cornered animal, here is the author’s conclusion:

    That commitment to freedom doesn’t exist in our government, of course, but it exists in the hearts of the American people. The challenge government faces is to see just how far they can push us while preserving the illusion of freedom. Much of this façade crumbled during COVID, and large chunks of the ugly truth are becoming visible with respect to Ukraine. But instead of slowing down, the establishment is speeding up: Pedal to the metal, aimed at the bullseye of disaster. This is their big chance, and they see this as an all-or-nothing opportunity. 

    America is waking up, but slowly. It’s two years until the next presidential election. Welcome to the most dangerous two years in American history.

    It is, indeed, hard to be optimistic these days, and I see this kind of thinking more and more across a wide spectrum of writers. I just have to wonder where we’re headed, with this gang of lawless cretins in the White House for another 2 1/2 years–whether it’s Biden or Harris or Pelosi or Leahy.. good grief! That list is enough to make one’s head spin! 

    Sincerely, Jim

     

     

    • #37
  8. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):
    I have a hard time keeping it straight.  Which country is controlling Biden these days–China or Ukraine??

    Ukraine doesn’t control anybody, not even it’s own leaders. China controls just about everyone, including pretty much everyone’s leaders. 

    Clear it up any? 

    • #38
  9. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):
    I have a hard time keeping it straight. Which country is controlling Biden these days–China or Ukraine??

    Ukraine doesn’t control anybody, not even it’s own leaders. China controls just about everyone, including pretty much everyone’s leaders.

    Clear it up any?

    If not China, then the World Economic Forum.

    Both of them are enemies of America.

    • #39
  10. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    DonG (CAGW is a Hoax) (View Comment):
    I have a hard time keeping it straight. Which country is controlling Biden these days–China or Ukraine??

    Ukraine doesn’t control anybody, not even it’s own leaders. China controls just about everyone, including pretty much everyone’s leaders.

    Clear it up any?

    If not China, then the World Economic Forum.

    Both of them are enemies of America.

    This is why Biden, and not Trump. Did you notice that no matter how hard they have tried to charge Trump with some manufactured criminal act, they got nowhere and he does not support the Davos Group. Only the American people can change this.

    • #40
  11. DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic Oaf
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Only the American people can change this.

    Given we have two and a half years left of this godawful administration, where do we start? Elections in November won’t change the Executive Branch.

    • #41
  12. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Only the American people can change this.

    Given we have two and a half years left of this godawful administration, where do we start? Elections in November won’t change the Executive Branch.

    Maybe we need to try a follow through on that idea to get someone in the House Speaker role who can move into the White House. That looks like the only way to make anything happen sooner.

    • #42
  13. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Susan Quinn:

    Since this Board may not see the light of day again, and because the government has shown its obsession with banning disinformation, should we assume that they will quietly and subtly move forward with their plans? If they do, can we look for signs that they are punishing, banning, or prosecuting people even more vigorously for expressing ideas that they consider out of favor?

    Even of greater concern, if they find a way to secretly create this organization, what other activities might they pursue to limit, even eliminate our freedoms?

    Am I being paranoid?

    No you are not being paranoid.

    I do not know enough to know exactly what we should be looking for, but we have seen in recent years that subversive people in government (sometimes working against the elected officials (including the elected President)) have access to a number of mechanisms for altering and distorting the news we the public get. Look also at how much misinformation certain government actors were able to get distributed about Covid – and how much truthful information was quietly blocked. 

    I suspect the current Biden Administration went public with the disinformation board because, despite the ancient ages of most of the senior executives, a bunch of very young people have significant power in the Biden Administration, and those young people believe based on their college experience that few people support the concept of free speech. So, they expected that rolling out a “Ministry of Truth” would be greeted with great “Huzzah!s.” They forgot that there are still a bunch of Americans who did not go to college in the last ten years, and thus still value the concepts of free speech, Americans who have thus raised the stink about the Ministry of Truth. Now that the advocates of government controlled speech have seen their mistake, they will conduct the function of the Ministry of Truth with greater circumspection, and rely on their back-channel connections to Big Tech and “mainstream media” to accomplish what they thought they could do directly. Expect continued pressure on “news” sources and “social media” providers to privilege government-approved information, and to stall or block information not approved by the otherwise invisible Ministry of Truth. 

    • #43
  14. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    DrewInWisconsin, Unapologetic … (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Only the American people can change this.

    Given we have two and a half years left of this godawful administration, where do we start? Elections in November won’t change the Executive Branch.

    Unfortunately this is correct.  It could if the Republicans had the stones to do it.

    • #44
  15. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    • #45
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    That’s what happened when Google etc started censoring discussion of covid-19 issues, and also when they cut off official Russian government propaganda when the invasion of Ukraine started.  It lends credibility to the kooks and wackos. 

    • #46
  17. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Went to a community fundraiser for Senator Mike Lee and a few candidates for local offices and he covered this in response to a question:

    It might be interesting to see how this gets handled going forward.

    • #47
  18. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    That’s what happened when Google etc started censoring discussion of covid-19 issues, and also when they cut off official Russian government propaganda when the invasion of Ukraine started. It lends credibility to the kooks and wackos.

    Yes, the one sidedness of media coverage creates the opportunity for the kooks and wackos the media complains about. Maybe if the media were more honest there’d be fewer kooks and wackos. 

    • #48
  19. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    That’s what happened when Google etc started censoring discussion of covid-19 issues, and also when they cut off official Russian government propaganda when the invasion of Ukraine started. It lends credibility to the kooks and wackos.

    Yes, the one sidedness of media coverage creates the opportunity for the kooks and wackos the media complains about. Maybe if the media were more honest there’d be fewer kooks and wackos.

    And once they have repeatedly shown themselves to be liars–and worse, as willing to silence those who speak the truth– how do they get their reputation back?

    • #49
  20. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):
    And once they have repeatedly shown themselves to be liars–and worse, as willing to silence those who speak the truth– how do they get their reputation back?

    That is, of course, a rhetorical question.

    • #50
  21. Raxxalan Member
    Raxxalan
    @Raxxalan

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):
    And once they have repeatedly shown themselves to be liars–and worse, as willing to silence those who speak the truth– how do they get their reputation back?

    That is, of course, a rhetorical question.

    They can’t of course.  If only journalism majors took time out of their busy curriculum of CRT and Justice theory to study Aesop’s fables  they may have come across the one about the boy who cried wolf.

    • #51
  22. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    I find the voices in my head to be pretty reliable.

    • #52
  23. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    Charles Murray (co-author of The Bell Curve and author of Losing Ground) recently quoted somebody as follows:

    The near-total refusal of mainstream media outlets to honestly discuss a whole range of topics…is the primary thing opening the door for fringe sources and nuts.

    When people cannot trust the mainstream news outlets, and also know that many professors are liars–malevolent liars, even–where can they turn? Where will they turn?

    I find the voices in my head to be pretty reliable.

    Who you are is where you were when…

    Today is not a good time and America is not a good place for moral development

    • #53
  24. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

     

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Who you are is where you were when…

    Today is not a good time and America is not a good place for moral development  

    If not now, when? If not here, where?

    This story shall the good man teach his son;
    And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be rememberèd—
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
    Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
    This day shall gentle his condition;
    And gentlemen in England now a-bed
    Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.   — Henry V, Shakespeare

    • #54
  25. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Rodin (View Comment):

     

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Who you are is where you were when…

    Today is not a good time and America is not a good place for moral development

    If not now, when? If not here, where?

    This story shall the good man teach his son;
    And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
    From this day to the ending of the world,
    But we in it shall be rememberèd—
    We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
    For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
    Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
    This day shall gentle his condition;
    And gentlemen in England now a-bed
    Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
    And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
    That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day. — Henry V, Shakespeare

    My comment was to address where we are and why.

    Whether and how we can change direction and get a better outcome is a different matter.

    • #55
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