Tears & Laughter - Your Wallet, Your Voice, Your Vote

Nina Jankowicz, the executive director of the Disinformation Governance Board resigned Wednesday. She explained in her resignation letter that it was because the future of the board was uncertain.

Later the same day, the new White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre – widely touted as being the first gay Black White House press secretary – read the statement from the Department of Homeland Security saying plans for the Disinformation Governance Board have been placed on pause due to the board being intentionally mischaracterized.

The board was created by Homeland Security, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas had insisted the Disinformation Governance Board was only concerned with disinformation from Russia, China, Iran, and the cartels. He seemed confused as to why there was criticism toward the board.

There was criticism because a lot of people did not feel a disinformation board was necessary in American where we have a free press. Also, many Americans take pride in being woke enough to think for themselves.

Foreign disinformation was not how Nina Jankowicz described the mission of the board. Her definition of the board’s responsibilities included gendered and sexualized disinformation.

She issued a report, which was then shared by Secretary Mayorkas and the White House, stating that Russia, China, and Iran exploit “these American made narratives.”

It appeared Jankowicz’s self-described job description was to track these narratives on social media. In her shared report she wrote that social media companies should “create a cross-platform consortium to track and respond to online misogyny, similar to existing consortiums which counter terrorism and extremism.”

Her controversial report was written during her reign as the former global fellow of the Wilson Center – an independent forum for independent research, open dialogue, and actionable ideas. In short, it’s a think tank.

Her report wasn’t what caught everybody’s attention though. It wasn’t her saying Hunter Biden’s laptop was a Trump campaign tool either. No. It was her performance as Mary Poppins in a TikTok video she made singing about disinformation that pulled the eye and hurt the ears. Wearing bright red she bolted out, “They’re laundering disinfo, and we really should take note!”

Ms. Jankowicz is much more of a Disney fan than I am for sure, but there was one line in her jingle I took note of and I really liked. The line came after she sang “disinformation is how you hide a little lie” and repeated it several times.

She sang us a sentence of value we can all agree with and support. A pearl of wisdom from a partisan woman assumed to have none. She basically said don’t support these people you don’t agree with – who are spreading these lies disguised as disinformation. She sang we should not support them with “our wallet, voice, or vote.”

Those are words everyone should live by in this new Biden economy.

In this time of inflation and supply line issues, do not spend your money with people or companies who are not in line with your views and values. If like attracts like and only the strongest survive … let’s roll the dice. We are already gambling with our investments and our country’s future.