No one would think of the Beltway as being a place of the naive innocents of our society. Washington is the only ecosystem composed entirely of apex predators. Yet, this week everyone seems to be eternally shocked by what has been obvious for years.
The press and pundits are coming off an embarrassing couple of weeks where the Hunter Biden laptop was authenticated in federal court as real. This occurred in the trial of the president’s son almost on the anniversary of a debunked letter of intelligence officials claiming that the laptop appeared to be Russian disinformation. Biden then repeated the claim in the last presidential debates to avoid answering questions over the massive influence peddling scheme of this family revealed by the laptop.
After the story was suppressed before the 2020 election, it took years for the media to admit that, oops, the laptop is surprisingly real.
For years, the press and pundits piled on experts who suggested that Covid 19 escaped from a Chinese lab. The New York Times reporter covering the area called it “racist” and implausible. Now, even W.H.O. accepts the lab theory as possible and federal agencies now believe it is the most likely explanation.
The response: surprise and spin.
This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the Justice Department has unlawfully charged hundreds of people with obstruction of an official proceeding after the January 6th riot. For years, objections to the excessive treatment of these cases were dismissed as the view of the radical right. Now, even Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson voted to toss out these convictions.
Surprise.
Whether it was the false story about agents whipping migrants in Texas or the photo op claim in Lafayette Park, false stories were disproven only to have a collective shrug from those who spread them.
For years, the press and pundits have repeated like gospel that Trump had called neo-Nazis “fine people.” At the time, most of us noted that Trump condemned the racists and neo-Nazis and made the statement about fine people on both sides of the controversy over the removal of historic statues.
Six years later, Snopes finally decided to do a fact check and, surprise, found that Trump never praised neo-Nazis as fine people. The only person not surprised was Biden who repeated the false story on Friday as true.
Heading into the presidential debate, the White House and the media attacked Fox News and other outlets for “cheap fake” videos designed to make the President look confused and feeble. For months, politicians and pundits have insisted that Biden is sharp and commanding in conversations even after Special Counsel Robert Hur cited his decline as a reason for not charging him criminally for the unlawful retention and mishandling of classified material.
On MSNBC, Joe Scarborough stated “start your tape right now because I’m about to tell you the truth. And F— you if you can’t handle the truth. This version of Biden intellectually, analytically, is the best Biden ever. Not a close second. And I have known him for years…If it weren’t the truth I wouldn’t say it.”
Then the presidential debate happened and, after years of being protected by staff, tens of millions of people watched the president struggle to stay focused and responsive.
After the debate, there was total surprise, if not shock, on CNN and MSNBC. Suddenly, it is not a cheap fake but reality.
Just seven days before the debate, the New York Times was running cheap fake articles on how Biden was being wrongly portrayed. The day after the debate, it was calling for him to withdraw from the race after expressing shock at his appearance.
On CNN, Biden biographer and CNN contributor Evan Osnos admitted that many Americans were likely “shocked” by Biden’s appearance: “I don’t think there’s any other way to put it. This was clearly a person who was diminished from where he was on the debate stage four years ago.”
Pro-Biden columnist Thomas Friedman wrote that he was floored by what he saw and that “heartbreaking” appearance of Biden made him “weep.”
Washington is now full of surprises. It is a city of people who display that practiced faux shock that you adopt when you learn in advance that your friends are throwing a surprise party. The key is to look stunned and then mingle.
It is a city of Claude Rains:
The laptop is real, the President is really old, and Washington is really really phony.
The only thing that would be more surprising is if pundits and the press started being a lot less shocked and more honest.
You know I used to think the left was very smart like a fox.. They messaged better than the GOP, they seemed to have everyone hoodwinked. But lately I am really starting to question that. They seem to do stupid move after stupid move. Like even after Biden’s poor performance at the debate, and Newsom saying that he would blindly follow Biden and never turn his back on him, I can see the left choosing him to replace Biden as the nominee. So take the trainwreck, and replace him with Trainwreck 2.0. They seem to be really losing their edge and it is about time they are exposed.
“Like even after Biden’s poor performance at the debate, and Newsom saying that he would blindly follow Biden and never turn his back on him”
Joe better never turn his back on Gavin or he’ll be mumbling “Et tu, Gavin” as the knife goes in
scpatriot1956 said: “I can see the left choosing him to replace Biden as the nominee. So take the trainwreck, and replace him with Trainwreck 2.0.”
They could, and I suppose they might, try that. My prediction is epic failure if they do. Gruesome and his bedfellows have totally destroyed California even quicker and more thoroughly than Biden’s crew and policies are destroying the rest of America. Gruesome’s national poll numbers don’t (yet) reflect that, because most people in the middle and eastern part of the country don’t pay a great deal of attention to headlines about what is going on in California. Nomination of its Governor to be the Demon candidate for President would change that in one Hell of a hurry.
the sky is falling the sky is falling the sky is falling
Right on your loser head
Denial…its not just a river
Turley’s headline is disingenuous, whether accidently or intentionally, I do not know. An accurate version would begin: “The Art of ACTING Eternally Surprised” (CAPS mine). It is an important distinction. “Being” eternally surprised, under the circumstances, would imply stupidity. Stupidity is unfortunate, but not a moral failing. The media and its minions know very well that what they are purveying is a putrid and patently perverse pack of lies. At the level and for the purpose they are pursuing this, it is purely evil, as are they, and both the message and the messenger should be roundly condemned on that basis.
Excellent
Number 6 nailed it!
A good list, Professor, but you left off the “Russian Collusion” and “most secure election in history” obvious lies. I suppose they’re in the ‘pending’ file.
Morning Joe likes to suggest he has inside knowledge based on his past life as a Republican congressman. In fact, he is a fraud. His wife, Miss Bird-the- Brain, gets more right by sheer accident.
Maybe that’s how they got Julian to plead guilty. He probably has the audio tapes and that was the deal. Don’t leak them and everything will be fine.
Since you Jonathan Turkey Esq. brought it up the SCOTUS got the facts wrong. I’ll use an Analogy of a wedding to show the mistake in the court’s analysis. On January 6th Mary and Larry are getting married. The ceremony reaches the point where the priest asks the crowd if anyone has a reason why this marriage ceremony should not take place, speak now or forever hold you peace… And Jimmy stands up and says I have a reason why the marriage can’t be made…and at that instant a motorcycle gang breaks in and scatters every to the four winds. The police arrive and arrest the gang and the principals return to finish the ceremony. Jimmy stands up to give his reasons why the marriage can’t take place,but the priest envokes a special rule which bans any further discussion and proceeds with the marriage. On Jan 6th a member of the house and a Senator stood up to raise objections to certifying and confirming Mr Biden as president. If the Housechad not been breached Joe Biden would not have been confirmed as President that day. There would have been a dicussion which would have lasted a least 2 days. Nancy Pelosi used a special house rule canceled the debate and unilaterally made Biden President. So in fact the breach of the Capitol expedited he confirmation not delayed it.
Your argument dies on the fourth word. You seem to think that by insulting someone, your argument is stronger and you have a superior intellect. Quite the opposite. You diminish your argument, and quite frankly, it makes you look the fool.
Econ,
Well said.
Upstate how would you know
it’s ‘well said’
if you don’t read anonymous comments?
BS
I don’t think this was unknown at all, but a setup. They couldn’t remove him without showcasing him… this was the way. They knew he was horrendously diminished, so instead of pushing for this and looking like traitors, they parade him out there and show he’s done and now they can remove him with ease.
“Then the presidential debate happened . . .” (JT)
It is hard to fathom the evil of a wife who permits an addled husband to walk alone around a neighborhood. More baffling is the one who pushes an addled husband to be on stage alone.
Baffling — until one remembers Lady Macbeth:
“Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round,
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem
To have thee crown’d withal.”
She and Joetard very much deserve each other.
It’s like the famous scene in Casablanca:
Captain Renault: I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Croupier : Your winnings, sir.
Morning Joe is the funniest I’ve seen so far. I’m sure that there will be others competing for the biggest liar prize. How do these people keep their jobs?
They keep their jobs by saying these idiotic things in favor of their agenda. Shamelessness pays very well.
The only way democrats can exist in today’s world of information access is by being willfully ignorant.
Nicely done Professor. Thanks for the good Saturday morning read
Only a few people can persuade Biden to drop out, and so far they show no signs of wanting to do so. The only thing that might persuade them is a substantial deterioration in state level internal polls, showing that Biden is virtually certain to lose the electoral college vote. The only thing that matters to them is the electoral calculus. And the SCOTUS decision on immunity on Monday and the July 11 sentencing could affect that as well. Biden could be a vegetable, but so long as he might win they will not risk forcing him out. Choosing an alternative with a materially better chance is very difficult for them
Daniel,
I think you are right. It seems they are going to run with dementia man, then have him drop out. I think there are people in the Biden admin that really depend on keeping the Biden admin in power and are willing to do anything to stay in power.
Daniel, I would add that what will force Biden out is for the polls to show that he is hurting THEIR chances down ballot in November. Self-preservation will end this fiasco.
The electoral calculus is really bad for Biden. The No Tossups electoral map is about 300:200 for Trump.
Biden MUST win WI, MI, and PA just to remain in the race – losing ONE of those and he is done. He is behind in all – but only by a small amount.
In addition he MUST NOT lose VA, NJ, MN, ME at large, NE Omaha and NH
Trump has dozens of routes to 271 – Biden has very few.
Todays betting odds are 5:2 Trump.
Even if SCOTUS adopted the 5th circuit the DC case is highly unlikely to proceed prior to the election.
If it does it almost certainly will piss people off further.
Two counts have just been flushed, and that will limit the evidence they can introduce – nothing J6 will get in.
And that is the best case. SCOTUS’s options are remand to DC with directions for further proper review
Kick it to next term
Give Trump a small win which would significantly delay the trial
Give Trump a big win which would end the trial and could upend Bragg, Willis and even Smith.
I am better kick it til next term
The Press does not know how to be honest. They simply write what the Biden/DEM’s/Radical Left want, hell with the truth? They are rewarded for their lieing or closing their eyes. There needs to be a change in Mangement and the need for Real investigative journalist who will write the truth vs propaganda.
East Coast journalists see themselves as Party propagandists. They will express novel opinions only when someone at the upper echelons of the Party signals that change is permitted.
One would think that self preservation and humility would prevent the Washington elite from engaging in such an embarrassing display of deception . . . and apparently . . . One would be wrong!
As Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda said, repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth. It is the evil twin of Al Gore’s ‘inconvenient truths’ – convenient lies. The stock-in-trade of Machiavellian actors everywhere. The siren call of political power mixed in with ideological purity – strong enough to blind even the most sophisticated of university educated technocrats. What a Felliniesque carnival of political predators.
Nobody is “blind”. They all know Biden is unfit. Democrat donor Bill Ackman wrote a long essay on X describing how they all knew about Biden’s cognitive decline but attacked HIM – Ackman – for noting it.
Whether tacitly or explicitly, the Democrats and the media conspired to defraud the public about Biden’s mental state to interfere in the election. The dam broke when several tens of millions of Americans and others saw with their own eyes that Biden’s brain is mush making him unfit to serve another day – let alone 4 more years. No amount of spinning, lying, distorting, or deflecting to “but Tump” can change what we all saw.
Jack Smith and Merrick Garland charged Trump with “conspiring to defraud the United States, conspiring to disenfranchise voters, and conspiring and attempting to obstruct an official proceeding”. Why aren’t he and Garland indicting the Biden campaign operatives and members of the media for THEIR fraud in interfering in the election?
In an ideal world, Garland would be investigating/prosecuting those named in Hunter’s laptop as well as the 51 signers of the fake Hunter letter. But that would be cutting off his nose to spite his face — the only reason he’s in power at all is thanks to Joe.
We can remember to daily thank Mitch McConnell for holding up his USSC nomination.
Speaking of which, the immunity decision due on Monday will be fascinating. How will they thread the needle between lawfare and the collusion necessary to get Joe into office and keep him there while allowing “guys with lanyards” to run our country into the ground in his absence (mental in addition to all of his vacations). These are situations that the framers never could have envisioned.
18 USC 1512(c) them all
Goose, meet gander.
Garland can share a cell with Navaro and Fischer.
Excellent, tit for tat
Had to pick up the wife from the airport yesterday afternoon.
NPR was running, on repeat, of a Biden rally yesterday and kept NOTING the difference between his debate performance and at the rally. Of course what they did not mention, was he was reading from a teleprompter.
The debate was reality, just as the good professor and all us normal people know, is pointing out.
The Biden rally, as NPR knows, is the lie.
@Upstate Farmer: RE: “The Biden rally, as NPR knows, is the lie.” as is the well worn phrase, ‘Once all the evidence is known, I will be found innocent.”
So NPR is still propping up this political corpse even after the debate? Shameless!
Ken,
Yes they are.
And the excuses they are making for him are even more pathetic.
My father had vascular dementia which is similar but moves much faster.
For short periods under optimal circumstances. low stress and nothing challenging he could come off as highly competent.
Regardless, while I am no fan of the once competent joe biden, What his family and others are doing to him to win elections and hold power is criminal
Joe needs care, not stress. The people who are propping him up as president are doing no one but themselves a service
Joe is being pimped out by his relatives, just like he previously pimped out the relatives. It’s the Biden Way.
He got over that cold pretty quickly, don’t you think?
What? No mention or concern about his “cold”? If he indeed had a cold, shouldn’t he have been home resting in bed? Or was that another lie that everyone knowingly winked at?
It only shoe polish until its stepped in and walked across your Persian rug.
You always knew the difference but now you’re forced to own it.
Those of us who have watched a dear one travel the long road of dementia noted the signs in 2020. Joe Biden showed clear signs of MCI (mild cognitive impairment) then. We have watched the MCI progress to overt dementia over the past four years. Again, not subtle. Those close to JB, including and especially his wife, have watched and known. He himself knows; hence his refusal to take a cognitive test. This is not something one would wish for anyone, friend or foe. But wishes are not always reality. Anyone who truly cares about JB and / or who cares about our country will counsel him to withdraw. Failure to do so is a travesty and a grave injustice to the American people.
He should also be forced to do what he never thought possible. Step down and kamala harris become the 47th president of the united states.
The indignity of being replaced by the woman who pegged him as a racist and then became his DEI virtue signal hire, would be most appropriate.
Totally agree. He should step down now!
They absolutely knew he was incompetent. He’s been that way for some time now and it was quite evident in videos. The debate was simply intended to convince the inept Democrat base that removing Joe at the last minute wasn’t “an attack on democracy. Oh, no! It’s an act of mercy even.” I call BS.
The DNC and Deep State hid this as long as possible to minimize the chances of Kamala Harris becoming President. Now these political gangsters will step in and handpick a successor, hoping to buy off Harris. Judging by the back-and-forth in the Party and the media, that part of the gameplan may be running into problems.
Kamala Harris should already be President. Like it or not, that’s the spirit of the law. That’s how this democracy was intended to work, but apparently, all those primaries meant nothing. Apparently, it’s Bernie Sanders all over, again.
President Harris may not be convenient for East Coast Democrats who don’t want to share their sinecures with West Coast hipsters, but too bad. The unprecedented and bizarre timing of the debate (right before both conventions, no sooner, no later) and the absurd denials from Democrats strongly suggest this has been about rigging the nomination from the get go.
If they can swindle their own party base, they can certainly rig the next election. Get ready for the biggest psy-op in history.
Hurr ys that video of him and his biographer from 2016 showed significant signs of decline
Most forms of dementia proceed very slowly.