As RedState reported, new classified intelligence from the US Department of Energy reportedly shows that a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the most likely cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. That comes after years of censorship of the theory under the guise of policing “misinformation.”
In the wake of that, the bill is coming due for some in the press who rushed to vehemently defend China and push the farcical notion that the virus originated naturally and spread via a wet market. One of those people is The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, who is ostensibly their top “fact-checker.”
Back in mid-2020, there was a desperate attempt to blame COVID-19 on Donald Trump, and part of that gambit was the dismissal of the lab leak theory. Why? Because if the virus was created in a lab via otherwise banned gain-of-function research, China would hold full moral responsibility for its spread. The orange man was bad, though, so Kessler and others just couldn’t allow that to be the narrative.
Think about how absurd Kessler’s original post was, which came just four months after COVID-19 became publicly known. In the midst of all that chaos and confusion, he actually believed that an animation put out by the Post was definitive. His proclamation that “we deal in facts” was dripping with condescension toward Cruz.
Here’s the “how it started” and “how it’s going” side-by-side to illustrate just how wrong Kessler was.
Has there ever been a better illustration of why appeals to authority are often meaningless? Kessler snarked that the Post had done “many interviews with actual scientists.” But who were those scientists? And why did they turn out to be so wrong? Did the Post bother to vet them or look at their claims with any skepticism? Of course, not, because to do so might have left them giving credence to Cruz’s statement, which also happened to be what the Trump administration was saying as well.
Take this as an important lesson. When a news outlet cites “experts,” they are usually just cherry-picking people with credentials who support the narrative they want to promote. That’s what the Post was doing way back in 2020, and that’s what Kessler was doing in citing that report as infallible. It wasn’t about getting to the truth. It was about finding people who would give them the political fodder they desired.
The wet market theory never made any sense. How could the Chinese have possibly known the virus came from a bat in a specific wet market? And why would anyone be expected to believe anything they said? The lab leak theory was always Occam’s razor in this case. It was the simplest, most practical explanation for what happened. That so many in the press trashed those As RedState reported, new classified intelligence from the US Department of Energy reportedly shows that a leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the most likely cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. That comes after years of censorship of the theory under the guise of policing “misinformation.”
In the wake of that, the bill is coming due for some in the press who rushed to vehemently defend China and push the farcical notion that the virus originated naturally and spread via a wet market. One of those people is The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler, who is ostensibly their top “fact-checker.”
Back in mid-2020, there was a desperate attempt to blame COVID-19 on Donald Trump, and part of that gambit was the dismissal of the lab leak theory. Why? Because if the virus was created in a lab via otherwise banned gain-of-function research, China would hold full moral responsibility for its spread. The orange man was bad, though, so Kessler and others just couldn’t allow that to be the narrative.
Think about how absurd Kessler’s original post was, which came just four months after COVID-19 became publicly known. In the midst of all that chaos and confusion, he actually believed that an animation put out by the Post was definitive. His proclamation that “we deal in facts” was dripping with condescension toward Cruz.
Here’s the “how it started” and “how it’s going” side-by-side to illustrate just how wrong Kessler was.
Has there ever been a better illustration of why appeals to authority are often meaningless? Kessler snarked that the Post had done “many interviews with actual scientists.” But who were those scientists? And why did they turn out to be so wrong? Did the Post bother to vet them or look at their claims with any skepticism? Of course, not, because to do so might have left them giving credence to Cruz’s statement, which also happened to be what the Trump administration was saying as well.
Take this as an important lesson. When a news outlet cites “experts,” they are usually just cherry-picking people with credentials who support the narrative they want to promote. That’s what the Post was doing way back in 2020, and that’s what Kessler was doing in citing that report as infallible. It wasn’t about getting to the truth. It was about finding people who would give them the political fodder they desired.
The wet market theory never made any sense. How could the Chinese have possibly known the virus came from a bat in a specific wet market? And why would anyone be expected to believe anything they said? The lab leak theory was always Occam’s razor in this case. It was the simplest, most practical explanation for what happened. That so many in the press trashed those who were simply asking questions is another blight on an industry that has already destroyed its credibility.who were simply asking questions is another blight on an industry that has already destroyed its credibility.
As RedState reported, the US Department of Energy now claims that the theory that COVID leaked from the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology is the “most likely” explanation for its emergence.
For many, this revelation is hardly a shocker. Here is the story Dr. Anthony Fauci and the WHO tried to tell us for years: a new dangerous bat virus was discovered in central China in the city of Wuhan. And, oh, by the way, just coincidentally, there’s a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facility just a few miles away designed to study the world’s most dangerous pathogens—including, you guessed it, bat viruses. The conclusion?
The virus came from a wet market.
You can’t make this stuff up. That was the moment I truly came to believe the world had gone mad. Millions of people accepted this illogical explanation, and our leaders and the media shamed, censored, and canceled anyone who thought otherwise.
While many are advising forgiveness, few are offering apologies. This despite the vaccines not working as advertised, the effectiveness of masks doubted, and the devastating toll of lockdowns becoming more and more clear every day.
But not everyone is going to forgive and forget:
Missouri Republican Senator Eric Schmitt blames Fauci:
Earlier this month, House Oversight committee Republicans announced the launching of an investigation into the origins of COVID and whether U.S. funds were sent to the Wuhan Lab. Their response to the Energy Department report:
Chairman James Comer (R-KY) previously explained his efforts on the Committee’s webpage:
The relationship between the NIH, the WIV, and EcoHealth raises serious questions about use of taxpayer dollars for gain-of-function research and when U.S. health officials became aware of the WIV’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic. The public health community—including the NIH—and the American people deserve the truth. The truth will enable American public health officials to prevent and minimize the effects of future global pandemics.
Comer is looking remarkably prescient now as this new Energy Department report rocks the nation. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH) also weighed in, tweeting, “So the government caught up to what Real America knew all along.”
As my colleague Bonchie reported, Senator Ted Cruz got the last laugh on Washinton Post “fact-checker” Glenn Kessler, who in 2020 superciliously tried to shame Cruz by tweeting, “We deal in facts, and viewers can judge for themselves.” Yes, Glenn, you deal in facts—they just happen to be incorrect.
Attorney and George Washington University Law School professor Jonathan Turley (not a Republican) wrote an excellent piece in the NY Post Sunday, reminding us of just how out-of-control our government and media became during the dark days of the pandemic:
However, for my part, the most alarming aspect [of the government response] 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.
He goes on to list many examples of cancellation and censorship, concluding:
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.
Hear, hear, Professor Turley. As Bonchie wrote in his piece, “never forget.”