“Smith, Winston Smith.”
The Arrival of the Ministry of Truth Is At Hand
Biden's Recent Action to Rescind the Past
Makes It Clear Where He Is Headed.
By Pem Schaeffer
23 January 2021
Every now and again, the cosmos align in a rare way, and my mind begins to chase after them, if only briefly. This is one of those moments, and it is not a happy one; in fact quite the opposite – one as troubling as any I can remember in my 78 years. We “celebrated” a major event in our democracy, and it was immediately followed by a discouraging (among many others) Presidential Order. Within hours, I had two related messages from scholars I revere and trust via email, and then an item in my USPS mailbox, which heaped mental Round-Up on what remained of my flagging optimism. I shall clarify the details momentarily.
But first, a moment of personal privilege. In moments like these, my mind did begin a chase, and it found a recollection of the famous Sean Connery scene, where all tuxed out, and just having lit a cigarette (when they still seemed debonair), he introduced himself as “Bond, James Bond,” a cinematic moment that will live forever if there is such a thing.
Sadly, my mind took that image and reworked it to a disheveled looking worker drone, introducing himself as “Smith, Winston Smith” with a despair made worse by his shabby coveralls. Smith is the protagonist in George Orwell's Novel 1984, and if your memories of it have faded, worry not. I will shortly use the item from my mailbox to refer you to the core details of Winston's plight and his attempt at finding escape with Julia.
Here is the sequence of events that brought me (and us) to this tragic point:
On September 17, 2020, America's Constitution Day, a gathering of notable scholars took place in the National Archives. It was broadcast live; I don't know if you saw it or not, but I did, and it was a magnificent and uplifting assemblage of patriots discussing the history of our founding, and how it had come under attack. I would suggest you see if you can find the video, but I worry it has been removed from the internet in the last few days.
Following the scholarly discussion, President Trump announced that he was chartering a 1776 Commission to re-establish the beauty and nobility of the founding, and how it should be taught. Given the widespread attempts to eradicate our history and replace it with a 1619 Project sponsored by the New York Times, I was exhilarated by the events of the day.
Fast forward to January 20, 2021, when Joseph Biden was Inaugurated President. Later that day, one of the 17 Executive Orders he approved, almost all to reverse Trump Administration actions, “rescinded” the creation of the 1776 Commission the past September. My heart sunk. I instinctively assumed that they barely had time to gather and collaborate on any lasting work. I was, thankfully, to be pleasantly surprised.
I did a bit of searching and discovered that they had issued an initial report, dated January 21, 2021.....just a few days ago. Watching TV last night, I heard that Biden had not only rescinded the creation of the commission; he had rescinded their report issued that day. In essence, he declared it 'disappeared,' and in the process, took a major step down the path of rendering our actual history gone....down the memory hole. (It had taken only an instant for the usual suspects to declare it a racist diatribe of epic proportion.) The “Thought Police” have their new leader, and he's issued his first edict mere hours after ascending.
Fortunately, I had already downloaded the report. I have not yet read it, but it is high priority in my reading stack. It wouldn't surprise me if it has been disappeared from the internet by the Ministers of big tech, who must now approve all submissions that seek to be posted there. The remainder of this column will provide two links to it; if neither works, contact me by email and I will send it to you.
As soon as I saw Biden's action, I thought of preparing an item to run on Rip McIntosh's service, but when I checked my email, Victor Davis Hanson, an eminent scholar and member of the now-defunct commission, had already posted an essay on it which Rip had already posted, and you may find here https://conta.cc/3qJYlzc . Then before the blink of an eye, I had an email from Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn, who was the Chair of the panel at its September 17th meeting, and then Chair of the Commission as it prepared its report. Arnn is a brilliant scholar of History, and especially our founding and its documents. Here is Larry Arnn's email:
Dear Friend of Hillsdale College,
I was proud last year to accept President Trump’s appointment to chair the President’s Advisory 1776 Commission. Also appointed to the Commission was Victor Davis Hanson, the Wayne and Marcia Buske Distinguished Fellow in History here at Hillsdale. Matthew Spalding, dean of our Van Andel Graduate School of Government in Washington, D.C., served as the Commission’s executive director.
The Commission issued its 1776 Report this past Monday. The report calls for a return to the unifying principles stated in the Declaration of Independence. It quotes the greatest Americans, black and white, men and women, in devotion to these principles. It acknowledges the many ways we have fallen short of them even as it celebrates, following Abraham Lincoln, the influence for good that they exercised to the benefit of all. It acknowledges the way we fall short of them today and argues that it is only by returning to them that our current evils can be corrected. It calls for a civics education that fosters reverence for these principles, beginning with an accurate and honest teaching of American history. It is not a partisan document.
The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, and other publications have made positive note of the report. The New York Times, the Washington Post, and other mainstream media organizations condemned the report, almost entirely for things it does not say. On Wednesday, the 1776 Commission was abolished by one of President Biden’s first executive orders.
I think the report will endure because it speaks of principles that are fixed and enduring. Since 1844, Hillsdale College has taught and defended these principles. We will continue to do so, come what may. At a time of such deep division in our country, these principles offer the only hope of uniting all Americans.
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I could not imagine two more informed scholars and advocates for compiling a truly worthy history of the American founding, aided by a distinguished cadre of fellow learned minds who have a passion for the origins of our nation.
Then, dum-da-dum-dum, the final shoe dropped in this cosmic alignment. My latest issue of Imprimis, published by Hillsdale, arrived yesterday. This one happens to be written by Arnn, and the issue is dated December 2020. The title of Arnn's presentation is Orwell's 1984 and Today. I don't know about you, but I had “read” the book in high school more than 60 years ago. For some reason, a year or two ago (mostly the use of “Orwellian” in numerous articles, I think), I decided I needed to read it again, so I ordered a copy that would not fall apart in my hands.
Sometime last summer, I decided to take in on. I got in about 20% of the way, and couldn't sustain my attention. Arnn's Imprimis discourse, which you can find here: https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/orwells-1984-today/, changed all that. Keep in mind that he wrote it well before the cancellation by Biden of the 1776 Commission, and its report issued just before the guillotine fell.
As I read Professor Arnn's discourse, I saw Orwell's theory in an entirely new light.....one where Biden had summarily ordered the Commission’s existence and its report “down the memory hole.” The review of the main concept of the novel was chilling in a way I never anticipated. As they say, “timing is everything,” and reading Imprimis in the aftermath of Biden's ascension to the Presidency, and his immediate and sweeping action to eliminate the history of Trump's actions and achievements was chilling, to say the least.
Add to the mix the repetitive mention by various and sundry “sources” that Trump voters (“cultists”) need to be “deprogrammed,” which is to say reprogrammed. And the clear intimation by Rep. AOC that she would like to head a new “Ministry of Truth” charged with discerning what should appear in the media and what shouldn't, and you have a revelation of what lies ahead.
“We’re going to have to figure out how we rein in our media environment so that you can’t just spew disinformation and misinformation,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) told her Instagram followers this week. “It’s one thing to have differing opinions but it’s another thing entirely to just say things that are false. So that’s something that we’re looking into.”
Both are entirely in keeping with Orwell's conceptualization, and Arnn's prescient warnings before the great cancellation and abolition of America's historical record became official.
I urge you all to read Arnn's Imprimis item immediately, followed by the 1776 Report referenced above. They should be more than enough to drive you to read or reread 1984. If you need a new copy, you better order it immediately, before it goes down the Amazon cancellation hole, and disappears from library shelves.
The time has come to be afraid, very afraid.
If we aren't “careful,” the elites in the Inner and Outer Parties (the Swamp of the Trump era) could soon issue orders declaring us all Winston's and Julia's. And we will be forced to embrace the revealed “truths” that Freedom is Slavery, and Ignorance is Strength.
This may seem alarmist as you read it, but I submit that the events of recent months and the writings referred to herein, argue that it is not. Feel free to let me know if you agree. |
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