Below is my column in the New York Post on the Wall Street Journal revealing that the Department of Energy has concluded that Covid-19 likely originated from a Chinese lab. According to the report, American intelligence has found evidence to support the long-dismissed “lab theory.” This has led to another media “my bad” moment where news outlets are shrugging that the theory may not be a conspiracy or racist theory after all. As usual, there is little attention to the experts who were shredded for raising the theory or the reporters who insisted that this was a debunked conspiracy theory.
Here is the column:
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Energy Department has concluded that the COVID pandemic most likely arose from a laboratory leak.
The conclusion is reportedly based on a classified intelligence report recently provided to the White House and key members of Congress. Many will be exploring why the scientific evidence of a lab leak was so slow to emerge from intelligence agencies.
However, for my part, the most alarming aspect was the censorship, not the science.
There will continue to be a debate over the origins of COVID-19, but now there will be a debate.
For years, the media and government allied to treat anyone raising a lab theory as one of three possibilities: conspiracy theorist or racists or racist conspiracy theorists.
Academics joined this chorus in marginalizing anyone raising the theory. One study cited the theory as an example of “anti-Chinese racism” and “toxic white masculinity.”
As late as May 2021, the New York Times’ Science and Health reporter Apoorva Mandavilli was calling any mention of the lab theory as “racist.”
She embodies the model of the new “advocacy journalism” at the Times. Reporters who remained wedded to the dated view of objective journalism were purged from the ranks of The Times long ago.
Mandavilli and others made clear that reporters covering the theory were COVID’s little Bull Connors. She tweeted wistfully “someday we will stop talking about the lab leak theory and maybe even admit its racist roots. But alas, that day is not yet here.”
However, one former New York Times science editor Nicholas Wade chastised his former colleagues for ignoring the obvious evidence supporting a lab theory as well as Chinese efforts to arrest scientists and destroy evidence that could establish the origin.
Others in academia quickly joined the bandwagon to assure the public that there is no scientific basis for their theory, leaving only racist or politics as the motivation behind the theory. In early 2020, with little available evidence, two op-eds in The Lancet in February and Nature Medicine went all-in on the denial front.
The Lancet op-ed stated, “We stand together to strongly condemn conspiracy theories suggesting that Covid-19 does not have a natural origin.”
We were also supposed to forget about massive payments from the Chinese government to American universities and grants of some of these writers to both Chinese interests or even the specific Wuhan lab.
No reference to the lab theory was to be tolerated. When Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) merely mentioned the possibility in 2020, he was set upon by the usual flash media mob. The Washington Post ridiculed him of repeating a “debunked” coronavirus “conspiracy theory.”
In September 2020, Dr. Li-Meng Yan, a virologist and former postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong, dared to repeat the theory on Fox News, saying, “I can present solid scientific evidence . . . [that] it is a man-made virus created in the lab.” The left-leaning PolitiFact slammed her and gave her a “pants on fire rating.”
President Joe Biden accused Trump of fanning racism in his criticism of the Chinese government over the pandemic and his Administration reportedly shutdown the State Department investigation into the possible lab origins of the virus.
When Biden later revived an investigation into the origins, he was denounced as “sugar-coating Trump’s racism.”
The categorical rejection of the lab theory is only the latest media narrative proven to be false. The Russian collusion scandal, the Hunter Biden “Russian Disinformation,” the Lafayette Park “Photo Op” conspiracy, the Nick Sandmann controversy, the Jussie Smollett case, the Migrant Whipping scandal.
On the lab theory, media like the Washington Post piled on senators like Cruz and Cotton for mentioning the lab theory only later to admit that it could be legitimate.
All of those experts and writers who were called racists or suspended by social media were simply forgotten in media coverage.
That is why this is really about censorship.
The media guaranteed that we did not have a full debate over the origins of the virus and attacked those who had the temerity to state the obvious that there was a plausible basis for suspecting the Wuhan lab.
None of this has diminished demands for more censorship. Even after Twitter admitted that it wrongly blocked The New York Post story before the 2020 election, Democratic senators responded by warning the company not to cut back on censorship and even demanded more censorship.
Recently, the Twitter Files revealed an extensive and secret FBI effort to censor citizens on social media.
This included undisclosed efforts by members like Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Cal.) to get Twitter to ban a columnist and target critics. In a House hearing, democratic leaders like Rep. Jamie Raskin (D., Md). called for more censorship and opposed investigations into the censorship efforts.
These same figures in politics and media are just moving on to the next approved narrative.
President Biden previously called for more censorship and accused Big Tech of “killing people” by not censoring more views deemed “COVID misinformation.”
The opposite is true. By suppressing alternative scientific and policy views, the public was denied a full debate over mask efficacy, vaccine side effects, COVID origins and other important issues. Many of those questions are only being recognized as legitimate and worthy of debate.
Censorship does not, as President Biden claims, save lives.
It is more likely to cost lives by protecting approved views from challenge. It does not foster the truth any more than it fosters free speech. Whatever the origin of COVID-19 may be in China, the origins of our censorship scandal is closer to home.
Jonathan Turley is an attorney and a professor at George Washington University Law School.
This is why the government and social media should not censor what they define as “misinformation” or “disinformation.” So often, it turns out these entities suppressed legitimate stories in order to benefit the ruling Democrat Party.
It is now possible for ATS to add to his list that Covid likely emanated from a Chinese lab leak. He can add that to his long list of claims that have turned out untrue.
“It took The Washington Post fewer than 50 words to retract its 2020 attack on Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton’s credibility for speculating that the COVID-19 virus emanated from a Chinese lab leak — a theory now deemed credible by the U.S. government. The words spoke volumes more, however, about the traditional media’s record of failings during the era of former President Donald Trump and the coronavirus pandemic.” … “The term ‘debunked’ and The Post’s use of ‘conspiracy theory’ have been removed… ”
“Russia collusion was a Watergate-sized scandal, until it turned out to be a Democratic Party dirty trick. The Russians had bounties on the heads of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, until they didn’t. Natural immunity was inferior — and masks superior — in the fight against the coronavirus, until science determined otherwise. The Hunter Biden laptop discovery was Russian interference and election disinformation, until it became a verified source of evidence in the hands of the FBI, well before the 2020 campaign.”
https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/evening-mainstream-medias-top-10-false-narratives-used-gaslight-american?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter
“. . . a theory now deemed credible by the U.S. government.”
Interesting that this admission, tepid as it is, from the Biden administration and the MSM comes out now. Why now?
Because the R’s took control of the House. And the Left is trying to get in front of the House investigations into the origins of Covid.
Yet another reason to cheer for R control of the House.
I would offer a minor correction.
What is now recognized as true, was true all along.
While the natural origins thesis became weaker over time witht he failure to find an intermediate host in nature,
The lab leak these was always credible.
The hunter Biden laptop was always real.
The science did not support masking from the start.
The harms from lockdowns and other anti-covid measures was always greater than any potential good.
An effective vaccine was always a long shot. While the free market proved its merit in being able to deliver one so quickly.
The SCIENCE from the start did not offer great odds of success.
Early Covid had a transmission rate of 2.8-3.5 – that is double to triple that of the Flu.
We would have stopped the flu – long ago – if we could.
We have NEVER successfully thwarted a respiratory virus once it gains a toe hold.
From the Start the anti-science, neanderthal red necks have been Correct on just about everything – including “the science” know from the start.
With few exceptions – new science did not disprove prior science.
Near universally the “experts”, Democrats and the left, were fighting ACTUAL science and claiming that prior science was wrong – without evidence.
And worse still our institutions, our govenrment, our media, our social media, not only accepted this REJECTION of science, but upheld it as actual science, silenced, condemned, and used force against those who did not fully accept and comply with this “magical thinking”.
We are not near the end of a long battle proving long accepted science was wrong.
We are near the end of a long battle proving long accepted science was RIGHT – despite magically being rejected by half the country, our govenrment and institutions.
Christopher Wray, FBI Director, February 28, 2023, speaking on the origins of the Covid pandemic:
“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan, Here you are talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab.
I will just make the observation that the Chinese government, it seems to me, has been doing its best to try to thwart and obfuscate the work here, the work that we’re doing, the work that our U.S. government and close foreign partners are doing. And that’s unfortunate for everybody,”
They’ve known about this for quite some time. Say what? Why is Wray coming forward with this now? Timed just after the leak of a similar report by the DOE. Why is the censorship ending?
Might it be because of China’s support for Russia and the resulting threat to the Ukrainian war effort?
The COVID virus initial report via the internet in early 2020 was that it came from China and from their Lab. The later internet reports of the COVID USA numbers in 2020 show that the COVID virus did not affect 99.9% of people, but the Media did not report this. Most of the people affected were above 60 years old and the death rate was very low. As the age got younger there was no affect. Initial reports by various Doctors in all parts of the USA was that a combination of HQC/Ivermectin + Z-pack would stop the COVID virus quickly. This was reported via the internet but was quickly blocked on the internet by Big Tech.
The COVID vaccines were made in a year and usually normal vaccines take five years to be made and fully tested. The COVID vaccines are created in China by Big Pharma. However the government, Media, Big Pharma, and Big Medicine all pushed COVID vaccines to all people to all ages. I decided to not take any COVID vaccine as I did not want to take a vaccine made in the same place that a virus came from. I figured if I got sick I would take HQC/Ivermectin + Z-pack. Me and my wife never got sick. We also avoided using masks most of the time except when forced to use them at an office.
The problem that is happening to people that have had the COVID vaccines is that side affects and deaths are now coming since full testing was not done. This is being seen with athletes that are not very old that are being affected and being reported on the Media. More will happen as time goes on.
Latest Conspiracy From Fox:
Biden Killing White People With Train Derailments
Conspiracy theories generally come in two forms: those that involve a small, powerful cabal and those that require that thousands of people be colluding to hide the truth. But the conspiracy theorizing about the Ohio derailment takes it to a whole other level.
When Tucker Carlson suggests that this happened because East Palestine is a rural white community, with another Fox News host going so far as to say that the Biden administration is “spilling toxic chemicals on poor white people,” how is this even supposed to have worked?
How did Biden officials engineer a derailment by a private-sector train company, running on privately owned track, which lobbied against stronger safety regulations?
The administration hasn’t stinted on disaster aid. Multiple federal agencies quickly arrived on the scene, and Ohio’s Republican governor says of the federal response, “I don’t have complaints … we’re getting the help that we need.”
Edited From:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/27/opinion/east-palestine-train-derailment-conspiracy-theories.html
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For weeks Professor Turley has attacked mainstream media on an almost daily basis. ‘Mainstream media lies while gagging conservatives!’
Yet currently Fox News is peddling the most insidious of conspiracies: ‘Biden wants to kill White people by sabotaging chemical trains!’
Is Fox trying to start a race war? How irresponsible!! What country do Fox executives live in?? Would a race war ‘not’ affect them???
When Professor Turley gets passionate about the value of ‘free speech’, maybe he can tell us why we need a race war.
Tucker talked about Buttigieg’s lack of attention to East Palestine and what he said on transit equity day and race-based funding. It is that thinking process that Tucker was talking about.
Your discussion, and possibly the discussion of the NYT was fallacious reporting, but what is new? Little you say is factual, and you slant it, so perversely, one should call you a liar to your face.
“Buttigieg recently raised a legal claim to blame the Trump Administration for the train disaster in East Palestine, Ohio. The claim was not only manifestly false but Buttigieg knew or should have known it was false. The implications are deeply disturbing. When confronted with a disaster, Buttigieg not only made a false claim but attempted to weaponize a tragedy against political opponents. That is a serious problem for a public figure and worthy of condemnation.”
If you want to discuss the weaponization of tragedy, look at the Democrats. In the meantime, start learning about the things you discuss.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy even remarked: “Enough with the politics on this.”
By now, we should say enough with this ignorant poster (formerly a different name with the same bad habit, plus a few others) and the NYT.
Look up the plot of the movie White Noise. Then look up the term ‘predictive programming.’
https://gregreese.substack.com/p/predictive-programming-and-the-ohio
Well said … comprehensive review…Thank you, Prof. Turley!. Many always ‘knew’ it had to be a man-made fiasco.. the trail of breadcrumbs started with an excellent early (2020) Newsweek’ report that was utterly pushed aside: https://www.newsweek.com/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741 ..yet.. when Dr. Li-Meng Yan, who fled China for her life, gave credible interviews (2020) based on her inside experience, the red flags went fully up.. but.. it took Sen. Rand Paul to bring all of this out in the open with solid source material.. The world owes a Lot of apologies over this…when we ever stop the same groups of liars from burning the Truth and being part of the problem vis-a-vis the solution…
Murdoch’s Deposition Released Monday
Rupert Murdoch, chairman of Fox News’s parent company, acknowledged in a deposition that “some of our commentators were endorsing” the baseless narrative that the 2020 presidential election was stolen — and that he wishes the network did more to challenge those conspiracy theories.
“I would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight,” Murdoch said in testimony made public on Monday as part of Dominion Voting Systems’ $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against the network.
Dominion’s filing shows Murdoch intimately involved in steering the network’s programming during the chaotic weeks after Election Day, as he tried to “straddle the issue” of election fraud in a way that would not anger viewers or the president.
Murdoch acknowledged that he had a “long talk” with his son, Fox Corporation chief executive Lachlan Murdoch, and Fox News executive Suzanne Scott, about “the direction Fox should take” after some once-loyal Fox viewers, who saw the Arizona call as a betrayal, began flipping to other, more conservative channels.
Rupert Murdoch expressed ambivalence about MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, saying it was “wrong” to allow the pro-Trump conspiracy theorist to appear on Tucker Carlson’s show in January 2021 but that he “pays us a lot of money.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2023/02/27/rupert-murdoch-testimony-fox-dominion/
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The Dominion filings keep showing what skeptics have always suspected: ‘Fox News is in the business of stoking anger, regardless of facts’.
Therefore it is no coincidence that Fox employee Johnathan Turley is constantly attacking mainstream media. Turley would have us believe ‘free speech’ is so precious we must tolerate false election claims; even if they result in a national catastrophe like January 6th.
Murdock, Fox news corp & their lawyers are like French Tanks, one forward gear & 5 reverse gears.
Now Murdock & Fox are only 1/2 pregnant. lol;) Idiots!
Anonymous green body (‘Murdoch’s Deposition..’) What the H does ANY of your rambling propaganda on the Dominion voting machines belief that no one is entitled to voice their opinion have to do with any of this column on the Covid Scandal…?? FYI False claims (e.g., Steele Dossier by MSNBC & CNN) are pushed by the MSM all the time, in case you’re unaware…FYI Prof. Turley is NOT a ‘Fox employee’ as YOU Falsely Claim… so why don’t you lead by example in the ‘false claims’ department and perhaps raise the worthiness of anything worthwhile you might have to say….
Hey bro, you do know, don’t you, that the corruption is not just about voting machines, right?
Listen to this testimony and see if it helps you understand *how* elections are compromised. Just listen to what she says.
It’s the Sen. Elections and House Oversight hearings in Arizona last week.
Her testimony details corruption in Arizona via the Sinoloa drug cartel. Massive scheme of organized crime using real estate, fake mortgages, deeds, bribing politicians, paying off public officials, judges, cops, election officials — from both parties.
It’s not just about the machines. It’s a massive racketeering operation that’s been going on for years.
It helps explain why Katie Hobbs didn’t even campaign and refused to debate the issues in the governors race. She knew the election was rigged to put certain people into positions where they would carry out the corruption schemes already in place.
Let the coverups begin. Things are going to get very interesting….
Again you seem to think any of this is meaningful – it is not.
One of the First HUGE Problems that Dominion faces – and that Murdock and Fox are Wrong about is that
The allegations of DVS driven Fraud were ALWAYS something that shoudl have been thoroughly investigated.
You seem to think that we decide what is true by clairvoyance.
What is criminal is that the Rest of the Media did nothing about allegations of election fraud.
It is absolutely critical that we can trust the results of our elections – more so than anything else government does.
It is more important that election results are trust worthy than that the election itself is convenient.
It does not matter how unlikely some claim of election fraud is – either it must be self evident – because of the transparent process the election was conducted under that the claim is false, or the claim MUST be thoroughly investigated.
There is no such thing as – we should not look into something – because we do not beleive it. Not with government generally,
and not with elections specifically.
I would further note – that while you appear to revel in the fact that many in Fox did not beleive the DVS rigged the election claim.
As if beleif is the relevant criteria.
You completely ignore the FACT that you have been Wrong about most everything in the past – probably decade.
Need we list all the errors regarding Covid ?
Do you think that maybe the media – Fox, MSNBC, CNN, … should have done a FAR BETTER job of investigating those ? Rather than just “beleiving” ?
What about the Biden’s foreign crime syndicate ? Should the Press have been deeply investigating that almost a decade ago ?
There is nothing wrong with Fox or any other news story believing or disbelieving various allegations.
There is a great deal wrong with their not investigating. With their taken the word of those in our institutions.
The purpose of the media is NOT to be the propoganda arm for those in power.
What are the “FACTS” ?
Do you have evidence that disproves all the election fraud claims ?
You do not – even the DVS claim – only 3 counties in the Entire US actually audited the machine counts of votes.
Windham, Antrim and Maricopa County.
All three of those Counties found problems with the DVS equipment – though none of those only 3 audits revealed a Problem with DVS equipment that DID alter the outcome of the election.
There are about 7,000 counties in the US – 3 counties does not even make a high quality random sample.
The Windham county audit found that DVS equipement miscounted ballots that had Folds in them – All Mailin ballots have folds.
The Antrim county audit found programming errors that gave Biden thousands of Trump votes – but not enough to alter the election.
And not deliberate errors.
The Maricopa county audit found that the DVS equipment relatively accurately counted the ballots.
But that the equipment was incredibly insecure and could easily have been hacked.
While the Maricopa county equipment was not hacked, do you not think that is important to know ?
That we shoudl do something about it ?
Do you think that pretty much means that those claiming the 2020 election was secure – were blowing smoke out their asses ?
‘Do you think that it is not Fox’s and MSNBC’s and CNN’s actual job to INVESTIGATE ?
I do not care what you beleive.
I do not care what Murdock beleives.
What matters is whether it is PROVEN that our elections are trustworthy.
Anything less that full transparency, as well as elections conducted so that there is no possibility of fraud that could alter the outcome is NOT sufficient.
And the fact that those on the left have been so lawless, so dishonest, and so secretive, and so censorious is enoguh to not merely Beleive they rigged the election – but to KNOW it.
You lost this issue when you censored the NY Post Biden laptop story.
You lost this issue when you want lawless in the 2020 election.
You lost this issue when you refused meaningful inquiry,
When you tried to silence anyone that challenged your beliefs.
You lost this issue because you have conducted yourselves without morals.
And we are all free to beleive that those who would commit one large immoral act would do others.
This isn’t really censrship….it’s willingness to bury your head in the sand. It’s like in Alabama 2009….denied they had rabies…..only because they didn’t test for it. Or like today they won’t test for mycobacteriam vaccae….even tho there is a train of ppl going nuts. They just don’t want the rules to apply to their facist contracts. Too much money involved.
A private contractor would have to for the welfare of the people: comply with…..1006 on farm land. Zoning. Wetlands. Osha. Mining. Epa. Dust. Cwa. Etc etc….water run off. How to get around the welfare of the ppl….a ‘public private’
‘ Parnership…why of 20 years!? Because what needs recorded. ? I rest their conspiracy case. They don’t know if they actually own the mineral rights. But we’ll know when they start searching to see if they do! Because of they dont. They owe. But from this well see something! A scurry to find out. That they can’t read from their bank deed. If there is a scrurry…it means one….they monitoring me….two they don’t know! Haha!
Who wants to be their lawyer?
Meanwhile even if missing murdaigh didn’t pull the trigger….he put his family in peril. So he’s guilty. Felony murder guilty. But for him….the cartel wouldn’t have point blank executed his family. The prosecution though has to show it wasn’t the boat cranks. Or do they? He clearly have his kid beer. And saved his kids rest and his own more than once. So even if someone retailed……it’s on him. Dad! yet the rest of us ought to be very scared the level m se 13 is real! And infiltraded. Already!
Tucker’s opening tonight was all about this:
And all of the censors and criminals will go totally unpunished because they are Leftists. This is the new American Way.
I am disappointed in group think by intellectuals. The lab leak is the last Big Lie. Covid is fake. No virus has been isolated by anyone. Claims otherwise are bogus. FOIs reveal that health/science institutions around the world have no record of SARS-COV-2 isolation/purification, anywhere, ever.
FOIs ( 212 and counting!) reveal this. https://www.fluoridefreepeel.ca/fois-reveal-that-health-science-institutions-around-the-world-have-no-record-of-sars-cov-2-isolation-purification/
Would a sane person mix a patient sample (containing various sources of genetic material and never proven to contain any particular virus) with transfected monkey kidney cells, fetal bovine serum and toxic drugs, then claim that the resulting concoction is “SARS-COV-2 isolate” and ship it off internationally for use in critical research (including vaccine and test development)?
Because that’s the sort of fraudulent monkey business that’s being passed off as “virus isolation” by research teams around the world.
A colleague in New Zealand (Michael S.) and I (CM) have been submitting Freedom of Information requests to various institutions around the world seeking records that describe the isolation of a SARS-COV-2 virus from any unadulterated sample taken from a diseased patient. Other
Our requests have not been limited to records of isolation performed by the respective institution, or limited to records authored by the respective institution, rather they were open to any records describing “COVID-19 virus” isolation performed by anyone, ever, anywhere on the planet.
Thus far (November 25, 2020) 9 Canadian institutions have provided their final responses: Health Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac), McGill University, the Region of Peel (Ontario), the University of Toronto, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, McMaster University and Mount Sinai Hospital (Toronto) (researchers from the last 4 institutions had publicly claimed to have “isolated the virus”).
Every institution has indicated the same: that they searched their records and located none describing the isolation of any “COVID-19 virus” directly from a patient sample that was not first adulterated with other sources of genetic material. (Those other sources are typically monkey kidney aka “Vero” cells and fetal bovine serum).
Critical thinking where early analysis reports where concerned nailed this hide to the wall long ago.
When the proles and serfs are treated to a spoon-fed run-down, it is way too late… the damage has already been done.
It is so much more than a scandal of censorship. Censorship is but one important tool of many tools employed by the Left to gain and secure complete control over mankind.
Both Theories Are Credible
As a longtime subscriber of The New York Times and Washington Post I have seen many articles supporting both the lab theory and open air market scenario with regards to the origins of covid-19.
Which leads me to think that no one in the U.S. government is totally certain which theory is correct.
The Chinese government is a totalitarian regime that tried to hide the pandemic when it first developed. Therefore the lab theory is perfectly credible. Yet China has open air markets where shoppers can buy exotic animals for human consumption. What’s more, Covid is related to the bird flu. So the open air market scenario is also quite credible.
But if one is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, they naturally hate Dr. Fauci. Fauci was that rare official who contradicted Trump and got away with it. Therefore, if Fauci supported the open air market theory, then he has to be part of a ‘deep-state cover-up’, or so it goes in the minds of Trump supporters.
For his part, Johnathan Turley is obsessed with impeaching the credibility of mainstream media. This effort comes at a moment when Fox News is revealed as having actively promoting election lies. Turley’s effort coincides with a larger effort by House Republicans to ‘prove’ that a ‘deep state’ exists. Turley is essentially a lawyer representing far-right talking points.
Anonymous – As someone who has been a supporter of Donald Trump, I must take issue with your view that conservatives believe in the lab leak theory because they resent Fauci’s independence of Trump. This kind of analysis greatly simplifies Fauci’s position in this debate. Fauci played a major role in disregarding warnings about this dangerous research and pushing through funding for the research in Wuhan. Then he disregard warnings about the sloppiness of the research being done there. Then, when the invevitable leak occured, he joined a conspiracy to intimidate other professionals from asserting the obvious fact that the expected leak had occured. Then he opposed travel bans from China. Then he praised the CCP’s transparency. Then he supported useless and drastic prototcols such as mandatory masking and wide-spread shut-downs. Then he denied in a Congressional hearing that he had ever promoted gain of function research. During this period, he disloyaly courted the critics of Trump, correctly seeing this as a way of protecting himself from Congressional and media examination. So, Fauci has earned skepticism from everyone, not just conservatives, a million times over (which is far less than the number of deaths caused by the Fauci-Wuhan Virus.) But. of course, Trump must be blamed.
The open air market theory is impossible.The so called virus included horseshoe bat DNA and this WAS NOT sold in any market.If anybody wants the truth why don’t they ask the finder of the nutrient which,until she had extracted it from human Dna had been responsible for our protection from diseases in animals.Her name is SRI Vengliish and she is still
giving talks about it.No virus has ever been found to be isolated so how can you treat something you know nothing about.This started off as a nice little earner for some sickos until Eugenicism reared it’s ugly head and a new world order thought up by another load of sickos underlined by Darpa and big pharma.The chinese warned us about all this in 2019 and the whole story can be set out in chronological order and all the patents seen.Whether the chinese had a hand in this I woudn’t know but if they did it was only secondary..I suspect that
there is a hope of an elixir of life which has been promised to certain people,Amazing results have been obtained in mice and that was 2 years ago.How much of that science has been
improved?
In Jan 2020 it was possible to view Both theories as credible.
Today the odds dramatically favor the lab leak theory – by many orders of magnitude.
When a epidemic has natural origins the animal that is the source is usually found within a few months at most.
Despite gargantuan efforts, the closest source to Covid found in nature is in Bats and Pangolins, and that is far far to distant to have jumped to humans mutated to covid and infected the world.
This is the fundimental problem with the natural origens theory.
Though not the only one.
The furin cleavage site in the RNA is not found anywhere in nature. It is highly unlikely to have evolved naturally – that was noted by scientists in 2020.
But the sceintific odds are not really the big problem.
The big problem is that like everything else about Covid – Institutional and govenrment forces decided what the truth was – and then did everything in their power to silence inquiry and debate.
Everyone that disagreed was silenced or canceled, or slandered and maligned. Called buffons and anti-science.
On some issues we still do not know the truth for certain – but we do know that those censored and silenced had as good a basis for their views as those doing the censoring and silencing.
It is not being often wrong that is the big deal. It is silencing those who disagreed.
You keep repeating this nonsense about Fox. While Fox overall is far more accurate than the MSM, overall that really does not matter much.
But the FACT is that the “revelations” you rant about are no revelation at all.
Fox was openly hostile to the DVS rigged the election theory – they were so at the time. Sidney Powel was criticised on Fox.
All these revalations “prove” is that Fox behind the scense held the same views as they did in front of the cameras.
But your argument is even WORSE than that.
Like the left wing nut you are you pretend not only that Fox disbeleived ALL claims of election fraud – which these revelations did not prove, but that even if True would be meaningless.
We do not decide what is actually true by consensus, by polling people. Facts are determined by evidence.
The 2020 election was conducted lawlessly – inarguably. But Worse it was not conducted even close to transparently.
This is not about Trump or Guilliani, or Powell.
This is about the voters, the american people.
If YOU Trust recent elections – that is your business.
But the majority of americans – even as much as 37% of democrats DO NOT.
And the primary reason they do not is Because of the tooth and nail fight to prevent lifting the curtain on the election.
You revel in 60 court decisions that Refused to allow any discovery. You rant that essentially Fraud must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt BEFORE anyone can go to court to throw open the curtain of elections to see what actually went on.
You revel in your success at HIDING everything about the elections and then wonder why there is no trust ?
We are already seeing a shift regarding J6 as supressed evidence is being made public. Absolutely the right is trying to spin it their way – So What ? You put YOUR false spin on it for 2+ years. Turn about is fair play.
What we need – Regardless of the issue, J6, Elections, Covid, is Transparency, as well as a truly skeptical press that investigates EVERYTHING,
That DISbeleives Our government our institutions.
THAT is supposed to be the norm.
I would far rather that Fox and CNN and MSNBC and WaPo and NY Times were skeptical of EVERY election – and demanding that whatever is hidden be brought to light – and turning out to be wrong much of the time. That what we have now – where much of the press is in the pockets of those in power.
We are not supposed to Trust government. We are ALWAYS supposed to demand PROOF of Everything from our government.
You think it is important What Fox Belived ? That is idiocy.
What is important is that Almost NO ONE made the real effort to pull back the curtain on the election to expose whatever there actually was to expose.
And that remains the case now.
Your own claims – if True do not damn the challenges to the election. They damn Fox and you for failing to allow anyone to look into them.
You can not find out the truth – whatever it may be – without looking into it.
I am glad that Tucker Carlson has the J6 video – but it really should have just been made fully public.
Let the left and the right crowdsource reviewing the video – and let the chips fall wherever they lie.
The goal is to get to the truth. Not to get to the prefered narative of the left or the right.
Everything about J6 should have been made public at the start.
Everything about every election should ALWAYS be made public.
John Say, thank you for these comments! As a life long democrat who recently converted to Independent, i am relatively neutral on most political (and social) matters, and i think your comments are not only right on the money but also important for all to consider. People from all political and social backgrounds will never agree on all the “facts” and their interpretation…but we should all hope that we can come to agreement about how to go about establishing facts. Clearly “those in power” and influence have gone to great lengths in recent years to protect their views and actions from the light…that our country so desperately needs!
At the absolute top of the list is “We Can Not Censor” – Especially Political Speech, and increasingly today somehow everything is political.
John Stuart Mill wrote a whole Book on Freedom – and most of it was about Freedom of Speech – “On Liberty”.
If you have a problem with 19th Century English Heterodox Academy has “translated” it to modern english, “All Minus One”
https://heterodoxacademy.org/library/all-minus-one/
“If all mankind minus one were of one opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.”
John Stuart Mill
We censor others to our own Harm.
We got an excellent reminder of that with Covid.
Purported Public health experts in government determined what we were going to do as a nation – even as a planet.
While dissent was not entirely censored it was significantly foreclosed.
The very institutions that are supposed to question those in power aided Government in suppressing and marginalizing the voices of dissent.
As a result we did nearly every possible thing Wrong – and there was no consequential questioning of what was done.
The problem is not that innocent errors were made with best intentions – that happens sometimes and we accept that.
But in many cases those with power KNEW or should have known that what they were doing was Wrong.
They not only Knew. but they silenced or marginalized dissent.
So we destroyed a booming economy. We created significant inflation. We increased drug abuse, we increased suicides. We increased violence. we lost over a year of education for a full generation – and we did so more skewed towards the poor and minorities. We increased anxiety, we increased depression.
Each of these was a predictable consequence – but the voices telling us all that were silenced. Called nutters.
It is harms like this that are the consequences of censorship.
Some of us are incapable of ever getting past whatever our ideologies are to see the truth. This is true on both sides. Today it is far more of a problem for the left than the right – but that has not always been true.
But most of us can sort out the conflicting claims of left and right and find our way to the truth – or something fairly close to it.
If exposed to all sides of the argument.
I have used Covid as an example – because we are all familiar with the issues and debates and most of us grasp that we failed.
We did not fail in our treatment of Covid – there was never very much we could do to actually treat covid. Covid mortality from state to state and nation to nation varies based almost entirely on demographics and geography, not public policy or treatment.
But we failed in that in our fruitless response to Covid we harmed the rest of our lives.
And a major contributing factor to this was silencing people.
When we silence those whose views we do not like. Those we think are spreading misinformation.
Those we think are spreading lies and hate.
We harm ourselves.
OT;
Looks like Fox News CEO was trying to throw its hosts under the bus in just released depositions.
“According to additional court filings unsealed Monday, Murdoch said during a deposition last month that specific hosts at Fox News did endorse the “false notion” that the election was stolen from Trump, including Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro and Sean Hannity. Murdoch also said that he “would have liked us to be stronger in denouncing it, in hindsight.”
“While Fox does argue at times that its hosts were reporting neutrally without endorsing any of the lies about Dominion, the record demonstrates the opposite,” Dominion Voting wrote in the filing. “The hosts of the accused shows repeatedly endorsed the stolen election lies. Even Rupert Murdoch had to concede the point.”
Murdoch, however, attempted to differentiate between Fox as a whole and specific hosts that were endorsing Trump’s claims. When asked if he was “now aware that Fox endorsed at times this false notion of a stolen election,” the executive responded: “Not Fox, No. Not Fox. But maybe Lou Dobbs, maybe Maria, as commentators.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/rupert-murdoch-reveals-which-fox-news-hosts-endorsed-election-fraud/ar-AA18139N?cvid=b9aadbdfc2234bbdb0049d31488abc33
Fox News is in big trouble. It must be increasingly difficult for Turley to remain silent about his employer’s journalistic failure.
If they were lying about this willingly there’s no reason to assume that they have been lying about the Hunter Biden “scandal”.
Svelaz – Since you are an authority on Fox News, can you cite me to a broadcast in which Hannity or Dobbs or others said “the 2020 election was stolen.”
Thank you, Professor. This post is a tour de force.
The issue Covid-19’s origin will long be debated and even in the distant future will remain a matter of dispute.
But by focussing on free speech and the dangers of censorship/advocacy journalism you’ve provided the readership here and of the NYP with a framework for winning that is without dispute. Could free, vigorous and open debate — denied us by the legacy media colluding with academia and the feds — have prompted a more certain conclusion if we had been able to debate the issue freely in the early stages of the pandemic.
We’ll never know.
My personal view is that those who suppressed all debate of Covid’s origins and squelched those who questioned our response to it (think Great Barrington Declaration) are responsible for destroying millions of lives worldwide and are candidates for induction into the same pantheon that includes the likes of Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Hitler. But that’s just me.