May 18, 2022

"Now, just three weeks after its announcement, the Disinformation Governance Board is being 'paused, according to multiple employees at DHS..."

"... capping a back-and-forth week of decisions that changed during the course of reporting of this story. On Monday, DHS decided to shut down the board, according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation. By Tuesday morning, Jankowicz had drafted a resignation letter in response to the board’s dissolution." 

WaPo reports, in "How the Biden administration let right-wing attacks derail its disinformation efforts/A ‘pause’ of the Department of Homeland Security’s newly created board comes after its head, Nina Jankowicz, was the victim of coordinated online attacks as the administration struggled to respond."

Ha ha ha. "Let right-wing attacks derail" — that's rich. The idea was so bad, they couldn't defend it. Let derail. Ha. Like it was a train, locomoting powerfully down the track.... No,  it wasn't. It never had any traction. It went kablooey only because everyone didn't lay down and let it go by entirely unimpeded.

Ha ha ha. Good news. Good news, sillily delivered.

ADDED: I'm just noticing that this article I'm laughing at was written by Taylor Lorenz — the person who came under criticism a month ago for doxxing Libs of TikTok.

Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!

MORE HILARIOUS SNIPPETS:

Democratic lawmakers, legislative staff and other administration employees who sought to defend Jankowicz were caught flat-footed. Administration officials did not brief the relevant congressional staff and committees ahead of the board’s launch, and members of Congress who had expressed interest in disinformation weren’t given a detailed explanation about how it would operate. A fact sheet released by DHS on May 2 did nothing to quell the outrage that had been building on the Internet, nor did it clarify much of what the board would actually be doing or Jankowicz’s role in it.

See? They couldn't defend it, and now Taylor Lorenz is excusing their not defending it on the ground they failed to defend it. As if there was, somewhere, a good argument. They were challenged and "caught flat-footed," because they hadn't been given the arguments and they didn't know any. They didn't even know "what the board would actually be doing." That means "the outrage" was justified. "Quell the outrage" — give me a break.

DHS staffers have also grown frustrated. With the department’s suspension of intra-departmental working groups focused on mis-, dis- and mal-information, some officials said it was an overreaction that gave too much credence to bad-faith actors. A 15-year veteran of the department, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, called the DHS response to the controversy “mind-boggling.” “I’ve never seen the department react like this before,” he said.

My mind isn't boggled. It's easy to understand: The idea was that bad. To end it is an un-boggling.

Experts say that right-wing disinformation and smear campaigns regularly follow the same playbook and that it’s crucial that the public and leaders of institutions, especially in the government, the media and educational bodies, understand more fully how these cycles operate.

Experts, eh? Would those be left-wing experts? Who thought it was a good idea to use the government to help "government, the media and educational bodies" "understand" how political rhetoric works? Taylor Lorenz is openly stating that the Disinformation Governance Board was supposed to go after the right wing!

Lorenz goes on to say that the right followed its standard methodology to go after Jankowicz:

Jankowicz’s case is a perfect example of this system at work, said Emerson T. Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab. “They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,” Brooking said. “In Nina’s case it’s a few TikTok videos, or one or two comments out of thousands of public appearances. They fixate on these small instances and they define this villain.”...

“The irony is that Nina’s role was to come up with strategies for the department to counter this type of campaign, and now they’ve just succumbed to it themselves,” said one Hill staffer with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the issue. “They didn’t even fight, they just rolled over.”

I think they didn't fight because they saw they'd only be digging a bigger hole for themselves. It is ironic, but that makes it funny. And it's a great thing to be in a position to laugh at what happened.

165 comments:

Narayanan said...

The idea was so bad, they couldn't defend it. Let derail. Ha. Like it was a train, locomoting powerfully down the track.... No, it wasn't. It never had any traction.
==========
before anything derails === needs to be on rail
before anything can have traction === need to be grounded/frictional contact with reality

wendybar said...

Good. Scary Poppins was caught on video popping off with lots of disinformation herself. This administration is a joke, and it is not a funny one.

jaydub said...

I'm pretty sure this was shut down because the new board could not keep up with the flood of disinformation emanating from Vermont.

gilbar said...

Maybe, just Maybe, having a mentally ill person be the Minister of Truth was NOT a good plan.
I mean, diversity is one thing but Bat Shit Crazy is another

Original Mike said...

It was an atrocious idea, of course, but I wonder if it would have succumbed so quickly if Biden hadn't nominated a nutter to lead it.

wendybar said...

DHS is full of disinformation (in other words..shit)....like parents are Domestic Terrorists...but VIOLENCE from baby killers is fine...it's NOT violent extremism or illegal activity?? And they expect us to trust them when they say shit like that???? The more they put out for us to see, the more divided we are becoming...it will NOT end well. Here's the tweet....

https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1526921806094942209?

gilbar said...

Seriously, What is With the Biden Admin?
Jen Psaki ?
Karine Jean-Pierre ?
Nina Jankowicz ?
Kamela Harris?

Are they Intentionally surrounding Jo Biden with people that make Him seem competent?

RNB said...

Republicans pounce!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Come on! Americans love to be told that any and all info that showcases the corruption and lies of the Maddow-left should be made illegal.

Drago said...

DHS's Ministry of Truth under the left wing totalitarians will simply be reconstituted in already existing departments since our soviet democraticals are never going to stop attempting to criminalize opposition ideas and thoughts.

Christopher Wray's corrupted G-men stand ever ready to support the democraticals in this effort.

Joe Smith said...

When/if Rs take control in '24 I want them to propose reestablishing this board.

They should also talk about axing the filibuster and packing SCOTUS.

Let the Ds choke on it.

They won't because they're cowards, and that's why they always lose...

Beasts of England said...

The CNN+ of government agencies.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Whitmer-Jankowicz 2024. All your creepy on one ballot. No ID required. FBI will not arrest the 4AM paid ballot harvesting mules.

win win!

Saint Croix said...

Awesome!

gilbar said...

Jankowicz graduated from Bryn Mawr College in 2011
and spent a semester at Herzen State Pedagogical University in Russia in 2010.
In 2017, she was a Fulbright fellow in Kyiv, working with the foreign ministry of Ukraine

Oh, let's not forget Lt. Col Alexander Vindman.

Shouldn't the Biden Admin, at Least Pretend to Not be ran by Ukraine?
i mean, When you're preparing to Start an unprovoked Nuclear War with russia, to support your Ukrainian paymasters.. Shouldn't you HIDE the fact that you're working for Ukraine?

Will said...

When I see such a rich combination of multiple elite/media tropes:
- "Democracy dies in the darkness"
- "Republicans/Right Wing pounce"
- "Dis, Mis, Mal-information"
- Taylor Lorenz

I am forced to ask if they are aware that the bullshit is getting thicker, or they completely lack self awareness. Are they nervously way out on a limb with their sunk-cost fallacy, hoping against hope that this will all pay off with the arrival of their utopia? Or are they true believers? Or the classic toxic mix of cynical leaders and sincere workers?

The collapse is real, and it is spectacular.

Will said...

ps. OMG the comments on that article. Not a whiff of awareness.

WisRich said...

Ann said:

"Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!"


I hope. I'll be even more hopeful if the Mustk deal for Twitter goes thru.

wendybar said...

Taylor Lorenz
@TaylorLorenz
Replying to @TaylorLorenz
Jankowicz’s experience is a prime ex. of how the right-wing Internet operates, where far-right influencers set the discourse cycle & pick vulnerable targets to hurl into a feedback loop w/ the aim of discrediting and attacking them

EXCEPT that....The “lies” about her work were links to her old tweets and videos

ga6 said...

lies

Barry Sullivan said...

Dear Ms. Althouse:

I pray you are correct that in retrospect this event will turn out to be the moment that the scourge of censorship and cancellation started receding with respect to discourse in America. The part of your post as to the pecksniff Taylor Loretz was particularly germane.

Skeptical Voter said...

Well when you hire the Queen of Disinformation as your conductor--the train is going to have a problem. But Biden and Mayorkas say, "Well Geez Louise, Ms. Janowicz didn't look like Josef Goebbels". Sorry kids, she had the same job as Josef--just in a different country.

Dave Begley said...

It wasn't paused. It was terminated with extreme prejudice, that is, it was killed.

The Leftists at WaPo can't write plain English. It has to be doublespeak.

Saint Croix said...

Man, this is a fun post. It made me laugh. Not sure if it was the train metaphor or the Obama substitution.

this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal

So I imagine Obama in a suit on a beach, with his pants legs rolled up, no shoes. And he's got a yardstick and he's measuring the rise and/or lowering of the oceans. And he's aggravated because his suit is getting wet. And he takes a break and calls up Joe and says, "Maybe we ought to stop the rise of censorship, which is a hell of a lot easier, what do you think?"

And Joe says, oh my God, anything. "Did I ever tell you that you speak well and you're very articulate?"

Except it comes out, "You know, like that 7/11 guy, you know what I'm saying, man? Kick ass! Speaking the truth. No disinformation. Yeah."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

if the Corrupt Maddow-Soviet WaPo Southern Poverty Law Center PBS news hour LEFT could - it would be illegal to mock them.

Scotty, beam me up... said...

I wonder if Scary Poppins has already recorded a new Tik Tok video decrying all of the disinformation that led to her losing her cushy government job just as she was settling in?

Brian said...

I swear this administration is run like a bunch of kids sitting around a conference table just coming up with ideas like they are writing for "The West Wing". They don't seem to realize that another side of the country even exists.

Dan Hossley said...

The Disinformation Governance Board maybe be “paused”, but it will resurface under another name before the election

RMc said...

Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!

Naah. They'll just bring censorship back in a less-obvious form.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

"mis-, dis- and mal-information"

Are there particular, important, distinctions between these three phrases or are we just piling on to make it sound extra special bad?

D.D. Driver said...

The Biden Administration allowed common sense to get in the way of a bad idea.

Iman said...

Be proud, lefties. Your Long March to Asshattery continues, unabated.

Pianoman said...

“They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,” Brooking said. “In Nina’s case it’s a few TikTok videos, or one or two comments out of thousands of public appearances. They fixate on these small instances and they define this villain.”

And of course, the Left would NEVER do such a thing.

LOL

Michael K said...

When Republicans screw up, that's the story. When Democrats screw up, the story is the Republican reaction. "Republicans Pounce !"

The whole Homeland Security department was a bad idea.

Mike Sylwester said...

The idea was that the Disinformation Governance Board would tell the Big Tech platforms -- Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. -- what information to censor.

That way, the Big Tech platforms would not have to hire so many in-house censor. Also, the censorship would be more uniform across the platforms.

There is a real foreign threat that must be managed by the US Government in collaboration with Big Tech. Foreign Intelligence services are spreading disinformation among the US public.

For example, in the USA's 2016 election, Russian Intelligence spent literally tens of thousands of dollars to buy Facebook ads that caused Americans to lose faith in their election system. In particular, Russian Intelligence bought Facebook ads that showed Jesus arm-wrestling Satan, with the implication that Hilary Clinton was on Satan's side.

The US Government cannot just let foreigners meddle in our elections. The US Government must resist such meddling, and so that is why something like the Disinformation Governing Board is necessary.

Clyde said...

They are really, really bad at this, which is fortunate for the rest of us.

Narr said...

The stupidity, insularity, and arrogance of the Lib-Left political and media elites are fractal.

Hurry, November.

EdwdLny said...

Paused ? Bovine scatology, they may stop talking about it, but neither the department or it's goals are going away. Those goals and efforts will grow despite being hidden away. These clowns are fascist to their core and will continue to crush those with the chutzpah to dare disagree with them.

Mattman26 said...

It's ridiculous and execrable, but I'm not sure it's funny.

Misinforminimalism said...

Mistress of misdirection pens disinformation on dismissal of misnamed misinformation board.

Beasts of England said...

’Taylor Lorenz is openly stating that the Disinformation Governance Board was supposed to go after the right wing!’

Whoopsie!!

gilbar said...

or one or two comments out of thousands of public appearances.

hmmm; IF there are only one or two, that make her seem Bat Shit Crazy; and the others don't..
could someone (Anyone) post any of the OTHER comments out of the thousands of public appearances?

Because i've Yet to see (or read (or hear)) ANYTHING that makes her seem lucid.. It's Not Just her Mary Poppins song, it's Everything i've seen (or read (or heard))

Clyde said...

Although most WaPo articles are behind a paywall for me, this one is freely available. This quote from the White House made me laugh:

“These smears leveled by bad-faith, right-wing actors against a deeply qualified expert and against efforts to better combat human smuggling and domestic terrorism are disgusting,” deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates told The Post on Tuesday.

So if you oppose the Ministry of Truth, you are siding with the human smugglers and domestic terrorists. You're a terrible person!

Mike Sylwester said...

During the USA's 2020 election, James Clapper and fifty other US Intelligence officials tried to prevent the US public from believing the Russian disinformation that was embedded in the New York Post's reporting about Hunter Biden's laptop.

The Twitter company -- our country's strongest advocate of civil discourse -- immediately led a moral campaign to ban The New York Post, but that good example was not followed adequately by the other Big Tech companies -- by Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, etc. As a consequence, much of the US public did learn some information about Hunter Biden's laptop.

Our country's need for uniform resistance to foreign disinformation is why our country needs an organization like the Disinformation Governance Board. In the future, all the Big Tech platforms would collaborate uniformly to prevent the spread of harmful fake news, such as Hunter Biden's laptop.

Rit said...

And it's a great thing to be in a position to laugh at what happened.

Unfortunately, it is extremely unlikely that we've seen the last of this. This is the Department of Homeland Security we're talking about. That's the thing with these progressives. They have no reason, they feel no shame, and they never ever give up. Laugh now, but they will try again and again and again until eventually our laughter will yield to tears.

Guimo said...

Nina Jankowicz was caught driving sover, so she got pulled ober.

Quaestor said...

Althouse writes, "I'm just noticing that this article I'm laughing at was written by Taylor Lorenz..."

Lorenz is just a below-average diversity hire. The real villain behind this is the editor who allowed her risible BS to go to press intact.

Christopher B said...

Highlighted by Steve Hayward at PowerLine

Jankowicz’s experience is a prime example of how the right-wing Internet apparatus operates, where far-right influencers attempt to identify a target, present a narrative and then repeat mischaracterizations across social media and websites with the aim of discrediting and attacking anyone who seeks to challenge them.

Projection like an IMAX.

JK Brown said...

Likely turns out that all the various government entities don't want a central board governing the disinformation they put out. After, for most, that's their stock in trade.

Jamie said...

“They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,” Brooking said.

Hahahahahaha.....

AlbertAnonymous said...

Never break character…. Still full of the bullshit.

hawkeyedjb said...

"...the right followed its standard methodology to go after Jankowicz"

By quoting her accurately. Oh, those pouncing right-wingers!

Wa St Blogger said...

Mmmmm. Red meat, dripping with juices, for the commentariat.

Bob Boyd said...

With the department’s suspension of intra-departmental working groups focused on mis-, dis- and mal-information

So who are these people and what exactly have they been doing that this new Board was going to replace them? I suppose they'll be re-activated now and go back to doing in secret what was so indefensible to do publicly.

tommyesq said...

On Monday, DHS decided to shut down the [Disinformation Governance Board], according to multiple people with knowledge of the situation...

I don't believe it.

iowan2 said...

It easy to take less than 10 video and tweets, and attempt to blew the person up, but it is easy to defend, by their body of work...right? I am not a DC PR expert, but that is what I would do. But this person in young. Seems her short body of work confirms, exactly as the examples show. Given all of the DNC megaphone could not provide counter examples.

Trump was never racist until he ran for President. Democrats being Democrats, having absolutely nothing they could win a debate with, played their single card. The race card.

50 years of a very public life, presented no racism or misogamy.

Gunner said...

I can't wait for the Late Night Democratic Party Hacks, I mean, Late Night Talk Show Hosts besides Gutfeld, to rake Biden over the coals for this......

Rabel said...

Yeah, a governmental attempt at creating a Ministry of Truth is a real hoot.

John henry said...

My favorite Nina moment is when she asks the musical question:

"Who do I fuck to become famous and powerful?"

At about 1:40 in

https://youtu.be/60PLEXY-yHY?t=100

I don't think we got an answer. Was it Mayorkas? It worked for Kamala.

John LGKTQ Henry

JRoberts said...

I realize that "success has many parents, but failure is an orphan", but I'd really like to know who came up with the bright idea of establishing this board in the first place.

John henry said...

I've never been much of a Twitter user. Probably didn't even look at my account for 5 years until Elon started talking about buying it.

One of the people I follow is Taylor Lorentz. Her Tweets are so batshit wacko that I laugh out loud at many of them.

She does a lot to enhance the reputation of WaPo.

John LGKTQ Henry

Ralph L said...

Maybe the DHS should stick to identifying potentially violent wackos like the Buffalo shooter, the Sandy Hook killer, and the Florida Pulse guy, so they can give the names to the FBI, who will do nothing until it's too late.

rrsafety said...

That there is a nice Fisking.

Rusty said...

When you're being destroyed by facts, come up with better facts. "Shut up! Because!" are not better facts. Typical Biden voter excuses.

farmgirl said...

I read what you read, Althouse- and hahaha’d exactly where you did.
Derailed. 2funny!

If they had just tried harder to work together:
@working together, they would have worked together.

What an “America Last” champion this administration definitely is.

TrespassersW said...

"When Republicans screw up, that's the story. When Democrats screw up, the Republican reaction is the story."

Just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it isn't true.

gspencer said...

Sobering fact: This freedom-depriving idea of a government official monitoring disinformation came from people who took an oath to the Constitution.

wendybar said...

Glenn Greenwald doing what he does best...

https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2022/05/18/glenn-greenwald-skewers-taylor-lorenz-and-wapo-over-nina-jankowicz-in-damning-thread-complete-with-bonus-receipts/

Eric Rathmann said...

Ah! The right is learning Alinski's Rules for Radicals.
" Ridicule is man's most potent weapon". The Left has successfully used his rules for years.
"Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!" This is certainly the most hopeful statement I have read for awhile.

Critter said...

I'm not laughing. They will be back. That woman appointed to lead the U.S. version of a propaganda group under the guise of countering disinformation already works this evil scam for a global organization funded by the UK government and also the U.S. State Department. Please read the linked with authentic letters and emails of this group.
https://www.revolver.news/2022/05/biden-minster-of-truth-nina-jankowicz-and-the-secret-nato-funded-cabal-to-subvert-western-democracies-using-disinformation-as-cover/

Mattman26 said...

Greenwald (love that guy!) points out that The Nation, of all outlets, did a devastating takedown of Jankowicz just last week.

Those right-wingers!

Gerda Sprinchorn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
cubanbob said...

More to the point is why hasn't the DHS been disbanded?

Sebastian said...

"It's easy to understand: The idea was that bad"

Yes, but that's not the whole story. It's also that the progs in control operate in a bubble, are incompetent, and are clueless about arguing for their position since they assume "experts" and the MSM will cover for them. This just exposes them more starkly than their other failures.

"they succumbed to it"

Meaning, they had to had to give in to DHS BS being corrected. Progs spread disinformation even as they lament not being able to control it.

JAORE said...

Conservatives pounced.
Jankowicz bounced.


Surely to God the clown car from which Biden plucks his nominees must be nearing empty.

stlcdr said...

Is there evidence of a right-wing disinformation campaign to smear the ministry of disinformation, apart from someone saying there was?

I find this a running theme with left wing media, particularly WaPo; saying there is evidence of, yet never presenting any. Death threats against Jankowicz: presumably this is a criminal offense of some kind, yet no investigation takes place? (I don't know, but I'm sure WaPo would be gleefully reporting an investigation, and Doxing those involved).

Douglas B. Levene said...

In the midst of the carnage on Wall Street (which is only going to get worse), it's wonderful to read some good news. And it's even better that it's Miss Lorenz who is the unwitting bearer of this good news.

Chris Lopes said...

Those evil right wingers who control almost none of the legacy media and zero social network platforms were able to derail a horrible idea that would have been laughed at if Trump had come up with it. Holy Jedi mind tricks Batman.

Joe said...

“They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,” Brooking said. “In Nina’s case it’s a few TikTok videos, or one or two comments out of thousands of public appearances. They fixate on these small instances and they define this villain.”

Now do Nick Sandmann.

Prince Hal said...

"Experts say that right-wing disinformation and smear campaigns regularly follow the same playbook...."

No comment on whether "left-wing" "disinformation and smear campaigns" "regularly follow the same playbook" too. Seems like a glaring omission by Ms. Lorenz.

From where did this "playbook" come? Might it have been "Rules for Radicals", Alinsky, S. (Random House 1971)?

Its last rule was the following:

"Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don't try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame."

Randomizer said...

Ann, are you part of a right-wing smear campaign by providing dis-, mis- and mal-information by decontextualizing Taylor Lorenz's Wa-Po article. You fixate on only about a fourth of the words in Lorenz's piece while providing your own commentary. Surely free speech isn't supposed to work like that.

Prince Hal said...

"Experts say that right-wing disinformation and smear campaigns regularly follow the same playbook...."

No comment on whether "left-wing" "disinformation and smear campaigns" "regularly follow the same playbook" too. Seems like a glaring omission by Ms. Lorenz.

From where did this "playbook" come? Might it have been "Rules for Radicals", Alinsky, S. (Random House 1971)?

Its last rule was the following:

"Rule 11: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, polarize it. Don't try to attack abstract corporations or bureaucracies. Identify a responsible individual. Ignore attempts to shift or spread the blame."

Deevs said...

“They (the right) try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,”

Nick Sandman could not be reached for comment.

YoungHegelian said...

Oh, I'm sure this idea polled like shit, and the polling was just going to get worse once Little Miss Loony Tune was paraded in front of a camera.

Shawn said...

A little choppy but otherwise perfect, Ann. I guess choppy because it's kind of like color commentary on a horribly played hockey game.

Shawn said...

A little choppy Ann, but otherwise perfect. I guess choppy because you kind of had to do running commentary on a horribly played (and described) hockey game.
Shawn Mitchell
Louisville Co

Just an old country lawyer said...

Can't remember who to credit for this quote, but it fits: When the Republicans screw up, that's the story. When Democrats screw up, the Republicans' reaction is the story.

The government's only legitimate role respecting speech is to protect everyone's ability to engage in it.

Mikey NTH said...

"It is all your fault for pointing out how bad an idea our brilliant plan was!" said the spokesperson.

Richard said...

Big Brother Biden is not amused!

Mason G said...

Ha ha ha. "Let right-wing attacks derail" — that's rich. The idea was so bad, they couldn't defend it.

On the plus side, the adults are back in charge again so we've got that going for us. Which is nice.

Mason G said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jersey Fled said...

Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!

We can only hope.

dbp said...

It was probably fortuitous that Nina Jankowicz was chosen as the first head of the disinformation board. Had they chosen someone with judgelike sobriety, instead of a lunatic, this ill-conceived office might have had some staying power.

I suppose the kind of people who think an office like this is a good idea are also the kind of people who don't have the ability to immediately recognize when they're dealing with a crazy person.

The WP piece in a nutshell:

Headline: Republicans make bad-faith and unfair attacks on sea-captain's decision making.

Subhead: RMS Titanic sinks after being steered into an iceberg by her captain.

walter said...

Yeah...let's "pause" that one forever.

holdfast said...

Of course it’s not gone. Those sorts of ideas never disappear entirely. The Democrats will wait a bit, then find a way to implement the same core goals in a less obvious and obviously laughable manner.

Bob_R said...

It's one think to be an obvious political propagandist posing as a news reporter. It's another to so bad at it.

She's had a lot of very prestigious jobs. What has she done that is any good? I assume there must be something.

George said...

Love the caption to the photograph at the start of the WaPo article:

"Nina Jankowicz .......... works in a press room at Volodymyr Zelensky's campaign headquarters in 2019 in Kyiv, Ukraine."

It says a huge amount about many troubling things.

wildswan said...

The right said we wuz going after them and ... of course we wuz, what do you think ... and now dumb old free speech is back.

MadisonMan said...

Taylor Lorenz writes a piece that seems to be crafted to lament that this terrible idea went nowhere! I wonder if she realizes just what a tool of Big Government she is? Is that why she went into Journalism? To do that? Really?

cassandra lite said...

"Maybe this is the moment when the rise of censorship began to slow and our nation began to heal!"

More probably it's a byproduct of what happened with RDS and Disney. Following the SCOTUS leak, all we heard from major corps was that they'd paid for their employees' abortions; no virtue signaling about standing with the right to choose, blah blah blah.

There were plenty of liberals, actual liberals, who frowned on the ministry, too. It was the worst and most universally reviled idea to come out of DC since the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supremes.

tim in vermont said...

Imagine if Trump had had this ministry calling out the lies used against him, from Charlottesville to drinking bleach, pointing out that Hunter Biden’s laptop is the diary of a bag man, 100% real. “Oh, wait, that’s not what it’s for!”

The lack of self awareness is astonishing, which means they probably damn well know it’s just a tool to tip political discussion in their favor.

minnesota farm guy said...

Currently there seems to be some vacillation. The department was an horrendous decision in the first place, I think most will agree. Can the Dems observe the first rule of holes?

George said...

On another subject, I find it really interesting how journos (such as the loveable Taylor Lorenz in the WaPo article) have the following caste of characters (and similar) as the main sources of their stories theses days:

"people with knowledge of the situation"

"people with knowledge of the situation .... say"

"A [unidentified but allegedly well-informed specialist], who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly"

Is it laziness or dishonesty or just a reflection on just how many disenchanted "sources" there are these days?

hugh42 said...

It is vital to cut your losses. You don’t just wait around dreaming. Maybe DHS is the smartest part of government.

Mason G said...

"They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments..."

You mean like how Trump supposedly called nazis "very fine people"? That kind of decontextualized moment?

n.n said...

Goebbels is dead. The propaganda broadcasting service (PBS) is no longer viable. Long live Jankowicz.

Owen said...

Apparently none of these high-priced morons has ever considered the possibility that you can’t outsource the task of filtering bullshit. If you do, the person to whom you delegate the work will inevitably replace the old bullshit with new stuff of his or her own making. Even the most sincere bullshit-editor (perhaps especially such a person!) will reframe, spin, over-correct, substitute his or her values and experience and perspective for yours.

This is kindergarten stuff. Calling the bullshit “dis/mis/mal-information” doesn’t alter it. Only a government bureaucracy would get this so wrong.

Leland said...

It’s not funny… only because they actually attempted to do it. Violations of basic human rights like freedom of speech wouldn’t have been a joke if they succeeded.

But yeah, it is a laughable pleasure to see it end with so much indignity. It would be interesting to know how much money Jankowicz was paid while in the employ of the administration.

Narayanan said...

I suppose as much research went into DisGovBrd as coming up with Ultra-MAGA

pious agnostic said...

“They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments,” Brooking said.

Brookings, often called "Goat-fucker Brookings" due to a single, decontextualized moment, took no questions.

Charlie said...

One must have a heart of stone to read of the death of Little Nina without laughing.

Buckwheathikes said...

These are not serious people, and sadly, we don't have a serious government. The damage that is doing internationally is significant.

Can we have adults back in charge, please. I didn't sign up to go back to middle school.

Buckwheathikes said...

“In Nina’s case it’s a few TikTok videos, or one or two comments out of thousands of public appearances. They fixate on these small instances and they define this villain.”..."

Ha! That's a knee-slapper.

Gee, I wonder where they think we got the idea on how this little gotcha game works?

Ya'll created the game and the rules. Don't hate the player. Hate the game.

JaimeRoberto said...

“They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments". Do these people ever look in the mirror? Ooh, those evil right wingers, doing what the mainstream media do every day.

Amadeus 48 said...

I can’t wait for Taylor Lorenz”s take on Jeff Bezos’s tweets.

Maybe she can doxx some more people just to show how it is done. She should start with the Homeland Security guy.

Unknown said...

My God, irony really is dead, isn't it. You can't satire such mush from the Administration and its trusted stenographer, the WaPo.

Michael said...

.

How will this play in Peoria? was a common refrain in politics referring to how a proposal would be seen beyond the DC Beltway. The fact that this "Disinformation" Board got rolled out without someone in the Biden administration saying "Stop! is another sign that the DC elite neither understand nor care what Middle America thinks.

Killing this idea is one small win for Civil Rights amidst a two decade string of defeats

mikee said...

The Biden Administration will just have to return to the Obama-era use of the federal government to stop opposition via Operation Chokepoint.

Lurker21 said...

I guess Nina never did figure out who she had to fuck to be rich, powerful, and famous.

But the thought police's loss is musical comedy's great gain.

madAsHell said...

Listening to the new White House press Secretary......."It was outside forces!!"....that forced Janokowski out.

The rising cost of gasoline is being blamed on Putin, and the war in Ukraine. Outside forces.

The stock market is going to hell because of......outside forces.

The president is completely ineffective.

Nicholas said...

Lorenz is, in effect, complaining that the other side has (finally) read Alinsky and applied his recommendation to personalise and freeze the target.

Stephen St. Onge said...

        Of all the people who might have headed the board, Jankowicz was a great choice because of her theatrical skills.  But that’s like saying Beria was probably the best choice to head the NKGB.

        Especially nice to win this one.

Dave said...

Time to start throwing people in jail for speech.
https://twitter.com/backtolife_2022/status/1526781591221157889

Robert Marshall said...

Republicans pounce!

Because the standard explanation is never that the Democrats had a bad idea; it's always those cursed Republicans, with their pouncing. And seizing, too.

Inconceivable! Why won't they let us alone?

Lexington Green said...

They saw it was a botched launch, with an idiot in charge.

It made them look stupid.

So they will relaunch again later, with better packaging.

No way they are giving up on this.

hugh42 said...

It’s alwaya vital to cut your losses: maybe DHS is wisest of government departments.

Temujin said...

My God. It's impossible to measure just how far WaPo has fallen.

But let Taylor Lorenz try to measure it out for us- column by column.

A big assist to the Idiots in the White House. Never have so many spent so much time putting their heads together and still coming up short of one full brain. The entire act is beyond embarrassing. They're dangerous to the nation.

Jupiter said...

DHS should be disbanded.

JeanE said...

"They try to define people by these single, decontextualized moments"

That sounds an awful lot like a successful application of one of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals- pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it. It seems that Ms. Lorenz and others don't understand the meaning of "what's good for the goose is good for the gander".

Dave64 said...

Taylor Lorenz is a fountain, a geyser of dis-information. Nina J. was hip deep in the dis-info swamp. Glad to see there are still people out there that can see this was a bullshit idea!

PaoloP said...

Certain Democrats and Taylor Lorenz, are just a-m-a-z-i-n-g.
They are like villain characters in third-rate novels; I didn't believe people like these could actually exist.

Earnest Prole said...

I’ve only ever asked God for one thing; the prayer is very short: “O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Whoever pushed this disaster would have resigned in disgrace.

But people in government don’t resign anymore.

tim in vermont said...

Jeezums

https://mobile.twitter.com/ClimateAudit/status/1526994002586873857

You can’t make this stuff up. It makes the novel Shibumi look like naïve boosterism.

Lurker21 said...

What "playbook"? Her own social media postings drove the reaction. They were there for anyone to find. And when critics have been accusing the administration for over a year of making Orwell's 1984 a reality was it really wise to try to set up a Ministry of Truth? By contrast, a lot of the things the media and the Democrats are coming up with do sound like they come from a well-thumbed playbook.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

i will continue to call the Soviet left... the Soviet left.

Anon said...

It's only a pause.

Tina Trent said...

Since when did the DNC back down on anything?

It's still there, wearing invisibility.

LA_Bob said...

Althouse clearly enjoyed writing this post. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

It really just beggars belief how unbelievably stupid and incompetent the Biden Administration has turned out to be.

Jon Burack said...

I would say this passage from the WaPo is a pretty good description of conspiracy theorists.

"Experts say that right-wing disinformation and smear campaigns regularly follow the same playbook and that it’s crucial that the public and leaders of institutions, especially in the government, the media and educational bodies, understand more fully how these cycles operate."

The "smear campaigns," "the same playbook," "how these cycles operate." Ah, yes, so clever. ON the diabolically clever could figure out how to make such a towering and impressive figure as Ms. Jankowicz appear to be such a ninny.

TaeJohnDo said...

Blogger Bob_R said...
It's one think to be an obvious political propagandist posing as a news reporter. It's another to so bad at it.

She's had a lot of very prestigious jobs. What has she done that is any good? I assume there must be something.

Swallow?

Jamie said...

It was probably fortuitous that Nina Jankowicz was chosen as the first head of the disinformation board. Had they chosen someone with judgelike sobriety, instead of a lunatic, this ill-conceived office might have had some staying power.

THIS. Take note and stay alert - they may not act so foolishly next time, and we have to be ready to critique the same ideas no matter how dignified the mouthpiece.

Lurker21 said...

People were saying that the Bidenites aren't going to give up on this idea. I was skeptical, but there are many NGOs working to "fortify" elections and suppress "disinformation," so there are plenty of other Ninas out there eager to play the same role and they are rubbing shoulders and exchanging ideas with government officials and political operatives who are also anxious to control public opinion.

Look up the Integrity Initiative, the outfit Jankowicz had been working with -- in Ukraine of all places. Rumor has it that the Integrity Initiative and the related Institute for Statecraft are British Intelligence projects. The world today really does start to look like a conspiracy theory.

Bunkypotatohead said...

Once the nickname Scary Poppins was pinned to her it was all over.
It was on point even though it had little to do with the Dept of Truthiness she was about to head up. No way to live that down.

Yancey Ward said...

DavidUW on our Discord pointed out that we need to oppose the office itself and get it completely killed rather than getting rid of Big Sister, Scary Poppins herself.

Here is what is going to happen- the nauseating face of this new department takes the initial fire and gets fired, then after a few weeks, a less nauseating face is appointed to head the department with the argument "We listened to the feedback, and got rid of the problem, so you can't now complain about it any longer."

Gk1 said...

This is not surprising as I remember reading 2 weeks ago white house leakers were saying it was a terrible idea being pushed by progs. To placate them, Homeland Security was saddled with launching the idea because its reputation couldn't sink any lower than it is now with the illegal immigration spinning out of control. Mayorkas will be gone by this summer anyway. It's dead Jim.

stlcdr said...

There’s seems to be a common theme about the Disinformation Board: it focuses on Jankowicz being a target of attacks, or problems with her, rather than the very existence of such a department. As if the right (sic) person at the helm would make it ok.

wendybar said...

Ralph L said...
Maybe the DHS should stick to identifying potentially violent wackos like the Buffalo shooter, the Sandy Hook killer, and the Florida Pulse guy, so they can give the names to the FBI, who will do nothing until it's too late.

5/18/22, 12:46 PM

The FBI is too busy looking into the domestic terrorism of parents going to school board meetings....(if not, the few people left that they didn't throw into the DC gulag for going to DC on 1/6/21)

MarkW said...

For example, in the USA's 2016 election, Russian Intelligence spent literally tens of thousands of dollars to buy Facebook ads that caused Americans to lose faith in their election system. In particular, Russian Intelligence bought Facebook ads that showed Jesus arm-wrestling Satan, with the implication that Hilary Clinton was on Satan's side.

Tens of thousands of dollars is a trivial amount of money when it comes to election messaging. We're talking about (mostly) open, global platforms. Why would Russia's paltry spending trying to convince people that Hillary is terrible be particularly powerful in comparison to vastly better funded Republican efforts to convince voters of the same? Are the Russians evil geniuses with superpowers in the understanding and influencing American culture?

People from around the world (with good reason) are interested in the results of American elections. They're inevitably going to express opinions about these elections. Online! Where Americans might read them! And some people (e.g. foreign journalists and other writers) may even be paid for writing such content! Horrors! But, in fact, as an American voter, I'm interested in what foreign voices have to say, and will judge for myself how reliable, reasonable, and convincing they are -- just as I always do regardless of the source. Who on earth thinks it's the US government's job to shield Americans from hearing foreign voices!?

The US Government cannot just let foreigners meddle in our elections. The US Government must resist such meddling, and so that is why something like the Disinformation Governing Board is necessary.

If 'meddling' means foreigners hacking electronic voting machines or bribing U.S. politicians (by, say, paying their offspring huge salaries for phoney-baloney, no-work jobs), then yes, enforcement is appropriate. But if meddling means speech, then NO! Absolutely not! Anything the government tried to do to censor online speech would be a 'cure' far worse than the 'disease'. The 'Disinformation Governance Board' sounds like something right out of 1984 because that's exactly what it would have been.

The idea you promote here -- that the government should be working with big tech and media to impose uniform censorship is probably the scariest mainstream idea and biggest threat to our open democratic society that I've seen in my lifetime. I'm stunned that anybody thinks this is remotely OK.

Jefferson's Revenge said...

Mark W. I remember when Bush W was running for re-election and he was the current Hitler, hated by the left. A group in England organized a series of calls to residents in a small town in Ohio, a swing state, to talk them into voting for Kerry. That direct foreign influence was praised by our media. I guess those were the good foreign voices.

wendybar said...

Maybe because they got CAUGHT?? https://www.revolver.news/2022/05/biden-minster-of-truth-nina-jankowicz-and-the-secret-nato-funded-cabal-to-subvert-western-democracies-using-disinformation-as-cover/

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Modern democrats love them some Corrupt Castro family money whoring.

Watch DeSantis take this stupid leftist reporter apart. I love it.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's not dead, folks.

But it just took a hilarious and heinous turn.

JustSomeGuyToo said...

It may well be that this was a successful attempt to move the Overton Window. As we naively celebrate the department's (current) demise, the other side celebrates putting it on the table for discussion.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

“The idea was so bad, they couldn't defend it.”

Was it the idea or the name? The idea of combating foreign misinformation and disinformation is still a good one. But the different idea of a board that would “govern” disinformation was communicated by the name they chose. If they’d called it the Counterintelligence Coordinating Committee or just not put a name on it at all and put someone boring in charge … maybe now they have.

MarkW said...

A group in England organized a series of calls to residents in a small town in Ohio, a swing state, to talk them into voting for Kerry. That direct foreign influence was praised by our media. I guess those were the good foreign voices.

Do you really think the calling was effective!? Do you think it would be a good idea to ban foreigners from calling (or emailing or text-messaging) Americans near an election? Or from discussing politics if they did? Ask yourself what kind of heavy-handed, CCP-level government surveillance would be required. In think this freaking out about FOREIGNERS! is ridiculous.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Now the left are couching their "Don't ever ever mock precious and holy democrats or reveal democrat elite corruption Board" as - "free speech" "we'll protect you from international actors who say bad things about holy and precious democrats." Obey.

LOL..

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Ministry of Truth.

That's it.

Media demand you be jailed if you dare go against the globalist corrupt democrat party elite.

See here for Castronian proof:

Carl Cameron: Maybe It's Time To Start Taking Names And Putting People In Jail For Misinformation

Define Misinfo? OK - Any info that reveals democrat corruption.

Paul From Minneapolis said...

I would like to laugh, but I can't get past the chill I feel when it's shown so clearly how these people think, and what they claim to believe. And when I remind myself how many people I know who would nod along with this article and have no sense of the darkness they've accepted.

PM said...

Very much I like name Disinformation Board. Is warm with fuzz.

Robert Cook said...

"I hope. I'll be even more hopeful if the Musk deal for Twitter goes thru."

It's a grave mistake to place any faith or trust in oligarchs or huge corporate entities to preserve free speech and expression. If you have not noticed, pricing and "terms of service" change all the time, and any feature offered will be maintained only as long as it enhances (or does not harm) profits.

realestateacct said...

I don't want it paused. I want it pulverized, burned and the earth beneath it salted. The government is not qualified to be the arbiter of what is true.

Robert Cook said...

"More to the point is why hasn't the DHS been disbanded?"

Because federal departments never die, especially when they give police powers to the government. More to the point, why was DHS ever created? You can thank George Bush and Dick Cheney for the abomination which is DHS.

Epsilon Given said...

"Are they Intentionally surrounding Jo Biden with people that make Him seem competent?"

Another possibility is that Joe is picking these people himself, and that he picks them because they seem competent to him. Or his handlers, even -- I'm not entirely convinced, at this point, that the Democrat Party is well-grounded in reality.