Dear George Orwell:
Just a note to thank you for your book 1984 and its description of how the government can control unhealthy and wrongheaded speech. We are going to follow your suggestions and hope we get the same result with our very own Ministry of Truth as you got with yours.
Sincerely,
Joseph Robinette Biden
President, United States
George Orwell proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that anything a human being can imagine — no matter how far-fetched or silly — can someday come true. All that’s necessary is for “good men to do nothing.”
In the case of Joe Biden’s proposed “disinformation office” in the Department of Homeland Security, it’s more a question of bad men having the power to do bad things while good men are locked out, pounding on the door to get in.
As Biden knew it would, his disinformation office has generated widespread and sometimes hysterical, sometimes over-the-top opposition by the right. And it’s also become part of the 2024 presidential campaign — also, as Biden knew it would.
This is an issue that illustrates the divide in American politics more clearly than most. The left wants a monopoly on defining “hate speech” and wants to be the arbiter of political discourse.
Related: Why Does the Left Have Such a Difficult Time With the Concept of ‘Free Speech’?
Quite simply, that can’t be allowed to happen. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to be on the front lines of the battle.
“They want to be able to put out false narratives without people being able to speak out and fight back,” DeSantis said. “But we’re not going to let Biden get away with this one, so we will be fighting back.”
DeSantis is the latest conservative to slam the Department of Homeland Security’s new “Disinformation Governance Board”, which has come under intense scrutiny since it was first revealed Wednesday.
The hashtag “Ministry of Truth” was trending on Twitter Thursday as critics compared the new board to George Orwell’s “1984” novel.
Biden’s “disinformation” board is actually more insidious than Orwell’s fictional ministry. Orwell’s ministry of truth had a well-defined blueprint to follow. Biden’s disinformation bureau is going to end up using its powers subjectively.
“You cannot have a Ministry of Truth in this country,” DeSantis said.
“We believe it’s essential that individual Floridians and Americans are able to speak out against the false narratives trying to be jammed down our throats by this regime.”
He added: “They won’t be able to say things like Russia collusion … They want to be able to advocate for COVID lockdowns. They want to be able to be an advocate for school closures … but then when you speak out they want to stifle dissent.”
Just what this Disinformation Governance Board will do is unclear. Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas said at the hearing announcing the board, “The goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat.” What “threat” is that?
The threat of “disinformation” in minority communities ahead of the 2022 midterms.
That’s a relief. Does that mean that every time Biden compares Republican efforts at election integrity to Jim Crow that his tweet will be deleted and his account suspended?
That actually might be a valuable service. Alas, we all know that’s not to be.
The facts are clear: Democrats are losing millions of minority votes because of GOP messaging. They must suppress Republican messaging or they will become a minority party for the next generation.
And if it takes the creation of a Ministry of Truth to accomplish their goal, so be it.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member