Two very high-profile things happened that would have gone over the heads of most Americans. They aren't exactly stories that corporations or politicians would want you to see, but they're important because they show you that despite some of these entities having deep pockets and tons of influence, they still must bend to the will of the people.
You might have heard about Mayorkas's panel of experts, featuring both James Clapper and John Brennan, two proven liars that helped spread the actual misinformation that Hunter Biden's laptop was "Russian disinformation." They were placed on a panel of experts by DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The panel's purpose was to monitor a number of things in order to "collect, generate, and disseminate actionable intelligence to our federal, state, local, territorial, tribal, campus, and private sector partners."
But now, thanks to America First Legal, that panel of experts is now dead in the water:
The lawsuit alleged that the alleged bias violated the Federal Advisory Committee Act, citing alleged lack of balance, a lack of public notice and inappropriate influence by the Biden administration.
According to a joint notice and stipulation of dismissal, DHS "maintains its position that the establishment and operation of the Experts Group did not violate the FACA" but agreed to wind the group down.
"The Experts Group shall be wound down within thirty (30) days of the entry of the Order, it will not hold any future meetings, and the Department will not reconstitute the Experts Group inconsistent with the FACA or the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The Department will also provide the Experts Group meeting agendas and meeting minutes with participant identifying information redacted within fifteen (15) days of the entry of the Order," it said.
(READ: Biden's Biased and Dangerous DHS 'Experts' Panel Goes Down in Flames Thanks to America First Legal)
Former Ambassador and Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell hit the nail on the head about the whole thing.
“The partisanship and corruption coming out of the Biden Administration must be challenged in court, not just through public complaining," said Grenell.
Grenell's point is something I'll come back to in a moment.
I want to highlight another story to you before I do, and this one takes place outside the realm of politics, and into the gaming space.
A game called "Helldivers 2" was released not long ago that took the world by storm. The game was so good that it formed its own meme culture, catapulting it into legendary status among the gaming community.
(READ: What Is 'Helldivers 2' and Why Are People So Obsessed With It?)
But the game was simultaneously released on Sony PlayStation. Out of the blue, Sony announced that gamers had to sign up and connect to the PlayStation Network in order to play the game. Not only was that not a requirement when the game was launched initially but there are many countries all over the globe that don't have access to the PSN. The mandated account connection would effectively leave a bunch of people unable to play the game they paid for and had been playing up till now.
That was when the backlash happened and gamers rose up. I won't go too deeply into all that happened, but by the end of it, Helldivers 2 was in deep trouble and Sony was facing a tidal wave of bad PR from customers. The backlash was so bad that Sony eventually caved and released the requirement.
Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) May 6, 2024
We’re still…
The point of these two stories is that these are both instances where action was taken. Talk is cheap. If everyone had sat around and simply complained about the panel of "experts" or Sony making connection requirements to play a game, nothing would have changed.
But didn't just speak out, they began threatening legal action and threatening the contents of wallets.
The point is that no matter how powerful the corporation or the government agency, ultimately the people are the ones in charge. When they truly apply the pressure, things change.
I think we forget this sometimes, but it's amazing how fast even the massively powerful can buckle under the displeasure and action of the people.
It's my opinion that these acts won't teach anyone anything...at first. But we should start making these kinds of moves a habit. These people need to be taught that they aren't invincible and they can't just do what they please.
