In a remarkable display of misplaced priorities, the United States’ premier intelligence agency, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), has issued a directive to its employees banning the use of certain terms deemed “hurtful to Muslim-Americans.”
This language guide, published internally, instructs spies to refrain from using phrases such as “radical Islamists” and “jihadist,” claiming that they “bolster extremist rhetoric” and negatively impact the agency’s efforts.
The ODNI’s move to police language extends beyond terms related to Islamic terrorism. Employees are also advised to avoid seemingly innocuous phrases like “blacklisted,” “cakewalk,” “brown bag,” “grandfathered,” and even “sanity check.”
The agency’s justification for these bans ranges from the absurd to the downright ridiculous. For instance, “blacklisted” is said to imply that “black is bad and white is good,” while “cakewalk” allegedly refers to “a dance performed by slaves for slave owners on plantation grounds.”
Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, aptly described these initiatives as “a gift to our adversaries.” He pointed out the absurdity of training intelligence officials to use terms that don’t “disparage” China or Islamic terrorists.
The ODNI’s language guide is just one example of the pervasive influence of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs within the U.S. government.
Did u know the Office of the Director of National Intelligence @ODNIgov has a writing style guide that recommends Intel products be written without gendered language to avoid gender bias?
FOIA ODNI Case #DF-2014-00245@RobManess @JackPosobiec @kristina_wong @Storm4Congress pic.twitter.com/nDje2bo4Z4
— NOVA Campaigns (@NoVA_Campaigns) April 15, 2022
Critics argue that these initiatives, promoted by far-left activists and their allies in the Biden administration, are fundamentally undermining the country’s national security operations.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the ODNI’s quarterly magazine, The Dive, is an anonymous article written by a male intelligence officer who discusses the supposed benefits of being a crossdresser.
The employee claims that his experiences wearing women’s clothes have “sharpened the skills [he] use[s] as an intelligence officer, particularly critical thinking and perspective-taking.”
One can only imagine the bewilderment of foreign intelligence agencies as they learn that their American counterparts are more concerned with the discomfort of wearing heels and bras than with gathering critical intelligence.
The fact that the ODNI, an agency tasked with safeguarding the nation’s security, is dedicating time and resources to such frivolous matters is a damning indictment of the current state of affairs in Washington. It is a stark reminder that the United States is no longer being run by serious people who understand the gravity of their responsibilities.
As the ODNI engages in word search games featuring terms like “accessibility,” “inclusion,” “equality,” and “ally,” one can only wonder how long it will be before the agency’s focus on appeasing every conceivable grievance group completely overshadows its primary mission of protecting the American people from genuine threats.
The ODNI’s language guide is not just an embarrassment; it is a dangerous distraction from the critical work that the intelligence community should be doing.
It is high time for those in charge to re-evaluate their priorities and remember that their duty is to serve the nation, not to engage in linguistic acrobatics to avoid offending the sensibilities of a select few.