Truth Emerging

For John, BLUF:  Mnetioned in Dispatches.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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'We Were Badly Misled' About COVID Origin, Says ...

From Hot Air, by Capotain Ed Morreissey, 17 March 2025, 9:20 AM.

Here is the lede plus one:

Were they 'misled'? Or did they lead the charge against anyone who dared question the consensus?

Now that the cat has come out of the bag, suddenly the New York Times feels the need to get out in front of the backlash. For years, the NYT ran story after story, scathing column after column, about anyone who dared to challenge The Science®. How dare people suggest that a novel coronavirus might have emerged from the nearby lab being run under questionable practices doing exactly the kind of research intended to produce novel coronaviruses! Those dissenters were all raaaaaacists, remember?

Now, the NYT -- and not even in its own editorial voice -- wants to play victim of The Science®:

Since scientists first began playing around with dangerous pathogens in laboratories, the world has experienced four or five pandemics, depending on how you count. One of them, the 1977 Russian flu, was almost certainly sparked by a research mishap. Some Western scientists quickly suspected the odd virus had resided in a lab freezer for a couple of decades, but they kept mostly quiet for fear of ruffling feathers.

Yet in 2020, when people started speculating that a laboratory accident might have been the spark that started the Covid-19 pandemic, they were treated like kooks and cranks. Many public health officials and prominent scientists dismissed the idea as a conspiracy theory, insisting that the virus had emerged from animals in a seafood market in Wuhan, China. And when a nonprofit called EcoHealth Alliance lost a grant because it was planning to conduct risky research into bat viruses with the Wuhan Institute of Virology — research that, if conducted with lax safety standards, could have resulted in a dangerous pathogen leaking out into the world — no fewer than 77 Nobel laureates and 31 scientific societies lined up to defend the organization.

So, the Wuhan research was totally safe and the pandemic was definitely caused by natural transmission: It certainly seemed like consensus.

We have since learned, however, that to promote the appearance of consensus, some officials and scientists hid or understated crucial facts, misled at least one reporter, orchestrated campaigns of supposedly independent voices and even compared notes about how to hide their communications in order to keep the public from hearing the whole story. And as for that Wuhan laboratory’s research, the details that have since emerged show that safety precautions may have been terrifyingly lax.

And it goes on and gets better.  Read the whole thing.

There is little doubt in my mind that we, the Citizenry, were fed disinformation about the COVID-19 Pandemic.♠  I would like to put all the blame on Dr A Fauci, but that would not be fair.  He was aided and abetted by others in the medical community.  And, there was the Trump-despising Press, who went with Dr Fauci, because it was the easy way to place the burden on President Trump 45  Sad.  Very sad.

It is going to tqke time for experts, in and out of Government, to regain the confidence of the American People.  I hope those "experts" starat working on it soon.  I owuld like to get back to the time that Sergeant Friday and Inspector Lewis Erskine represented what was best in Government.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  An Undertaker friend of mine pointed out early on that the typical surgical mask was not suited to dealing with the COVID-19 virus.  Rather, we needed the N-95  But, I have been at hospitals that rejected the N-95 and asked me to don the ineffective mask.

Disinformation Again?

For John, BLUF:  It is That City, so who knows what to trust coming out beyond the Beltway?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Pardon Me

Here is the sub-headline:

There are two sides to Joe Biden's pardon of his son Hunter ... and lots of shades of gray

From Truth and Consequences, by Political Analyst Michael A Cohen, 2 D3cember 2024.

Here is the lede plus two:

So this is a tricky one.

It’s tough to defend Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter on the merits. Biden has used his absolute pardon power to grant a reprieve to his son, who earlier this year was convicted of lying on a gun application and pleaded guilty to a series of tax evasion charges. Even if the president believes, as he claims, that the criminal justice system mistreated his son, the fact is Hunter Biden committed multiple felonies — and a jury of his peers found him guilty.

And Biden’s pardon went beyond these two cases — he issued a sweeping pardon that covers any criminal behavior by Hunter Biden dating back to 2014.

I am not believing this "Biden pardons Hunter" story.  President Biden has assured us he would not pardon his Son, Hunter Biden.   He gave his word as a Biden.  His Press Secretary, Ms Karine Jean-Pierre, assured us President Biden would not pardon his Son.

Might not this be another case of Disinformation, like The New York Post article on the alleged Hunter Biden Laptop?  Fifty-one Intel Leaders assured us the laptop srory actually had all the earmarks of Russian disinformation.

Wold Presidet Biden betray us that way?  Remember, he promised to bring us together

Hat tip to Speech Boy.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Fabulist

For John, BLUF:  President Joesph Biden seems to be a congentital pathological liar.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden says he doesn't debate as well as he used to but knows "how to tell the truth"

From CBS News, by Reporters Kathryn Watson and Aaron Navarro, 28 June 2024, 2:32 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus five:

President Biden bluntly addressed his lackluster debate performance during an campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, speaking with notably more energy and vigor than he had hours before.

Some Democrats expressed concern after the president, in a raspy voice, struggled to correct former president Donald Trump's falsehoods as he faced a national audience on prime-time television Thursday night. The president's at times gaping facial expressions and rambling answers to key questions didn't help either, at a time when many Americans believe Mr. Biden, now 81, may be too old for the job and too old to relate to them.

"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," the president said. "Well, I know." He addressed a supportive Democratic crowd Friday, one that welcomed him with chants of "Four more years!"

"Folks, I don't walk as easy as I used to," he continued. "I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth ... I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up."

The president also sought to assure his audience that he wouldn't be running again if he didn't think he was up to the job.

"Folks, I give you my word as a Biden — I would not be running again if I didn't believe with all my heart and soul, I can do this job," he said. "The stakes are too high. The stakes are too high."

His word as a Biden?  Really?  There is a phrase I haven't trusted since I first heard it.  Are the Bidens some form of nobility?  I am doubtful.

President Biden is a story teller.  He takes a piece of information and elaborates on it.  His Uncle was shot down during World War II and it becomes his Uncle having been eaten by cannibals.  He hears Neil Kinnock's speech about Kinnock's own past in Wales and takes it as his own as an elaboration of his familty story out of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  He is aided in this by fellow Democrats.

My favorite came up again duirng the debate, in which President Biden talks about Republicans rejecting a bi-partisan Southern Border Bill.  The idea is thst President Trump has ordered Republicans in Congress to not support a bill to solve the border crisis.  The problem is there is more to the story.

This accusation by President Biden ignores the fact that the Republican House had already forwarded a Border Bill to the Senate, which has been sitting on Senate Majority Leader Schumer's desk for months.  In fact, the House, for a long time, held up legislation on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in an effort to force a vote on their bill.  Ignored by the President and Senate Maajority Leader Schumer, nothing happened.

Then there is the so-called bi-partisaan border bill in the Senate.  It is bi-partisan to the extent that one Republican Senator had signed on to it.  And, what does it do for border security?  Restrictions are triggered only after the flow of illegal immigrants exceeds 1.8+ million illegal immigrants a year.  That seems like almost no action at all.  In essence, the story is a lie.

Perhaps worse, President Biden has maintained, after cancelling the border rules of President Trump, that he lacks the authority to fix the border by Executive Orders.  Then he does just that.  But only enough to provide him with some cover.  Not enough to actually fix the problem.  In essence, he is lying to us about the Southern Border, so gather votes, without making a major change in Administration illegal immigration policy.

Regards  —  Cliff

NPR and Truth

For John, BLUF:  NPR is scamming the average taxpayer.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NPR’s queen of the Karens

From The Washington Examiner, by Reporter Conn Carroll, 16 April 2024 10:50 am.

Here is the lede plus four:

Sometimes, a person enters the public spotlight and is such an embodiment of an established stereotype that it seems impossible for him or her to be a real person. If Tom Wolfe wanted to capture the essence of arrogant, alienated progressivism, he would reject NPR’s new CEO, Katherine Maher, as too unbelievably on point.

The daughter of wealthy parents whose wedding was announced in the New York Times, Maher grew up in a wealthy white suburb of New York City before studying at the American University in Cairo, the Institut français du Proche-Orient in Syria, and finally New York University.

She then got internships with the Council on Foreign Relations and Eurasia Group in London and Germany before landing a job in New York City at UNICEF. She had stops with the National Democratic Institute and the World Bank, among other global nonprofit groups, before rising to become the CEO of Wikimedia in 2019.

It would be impossible to create a resume of a person more disconnected from Americans and more intertwined with the wealthy, urban, globalist elite who run the largest banks, media companies, and nonprofit groups in the United States. In other words, Maher has the perfect resume to run NPR.

And her tweets prove she is the perfect person for the job.

My favorite comment, via "X", of new NPR CEO, Katherine Maher, is (via InstsPundit):

Our reverence for the truth might be a distraction that’s getting in the way of finding common ground and getting things done.

It appears Ms Maher did not get enouogh Superman when she was young.  The concept of "Truth, Justice and the American Way".

Without truth there can be no justice.  Without truth we are all just lying to ourselves and each other.  Ms Maher's line makes me think of another historic character, Pontius Pilate, who asks, "What is truth"?.♠

Mr Tom Knigjhton, at Tilting at windmills, wrote:

The problem is that, among other things, NPR is expected to be an unbiased news source. Most mainstream media outlets pretend to be, but NPR gets taxpayer money, which means it’s paid by all of us, be we liberal, conservative, libertarian, or some other flavor of ideology.

But as we now know, not only is their reporting not unbiased but there’s absolutely no interest in ideological diversity.

And there is the rub.  Neither CEO Maher, nor the News Room are interested in the truth or in the nuances that make news interesting.  So, they are scamming us.

Is this all Mr Trump's fault?  Would things have been different if, in 2016, the Republican Convdention had nominated Senator Cruz or Senator Rubio?  How about if they had given us Governor Sarah Palin?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff
♠  Found in John's Gospel.

Getting the Truth

For John, BLUF:  Initial News reportds on the explosion at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza blsmed it on Israel, but it sorted out that the explosion in the Hospital parking lot was the result of an Hamas short round incident.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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BBC confronts its own journalist over false reporting about Gaza hospital strike — and a stunning response follows

From The Blaze, by Reporter Chris Enloe, 27 November 2023.

Here is the lede plus five:

journalist who helped fan the flames of misinformation about the alleged Al-Ahli Arab Hospital strike is refusing to apologize for his mistake.

After a jihadist rocket fell on the parking lot of the hospital last month, the legacy media uncritically regurgitated Hamas' claim that Israel struck the hospital, totally destroying it and killing more than 500 people.

BBC international editor Jeremy Bowen is one such journalist who joined the chorus claiming the hospital was destroyed. He reported:

The missile hit the hospital not long after dark. You can hear the impact. The explosion destroyed Al-Ahli Hospital. It was already damaged from a smaller attack at the weekend. The building was flattened.

In a recent interview on the BBC's "Behind the Stories" program, Bowen was asked if he regrets his false reporting.

"To answer your question: No, I don't regret one thing in my reporting because I think I was measured throughout. I didn't race to judgment," Bowen answered.

It is a sign of arrogance, and a lack of humility for a reporter to get it wrong in an initial report and to not feel some regret.  What kind of an upbringing did this person have?

This reporting fail does not reflect well on the Beeb, maring its reputation as an excellent news source.

In a Democrcy, or a Republicsan form of Government, we, as Citizens, need to sample a number of differenta sources.  As Luther "Suitcase" Simpson says:  "The truth is out there.  All you have to do is let it in."

Regards  —  Cliff

Avoiding the Term Terrorism

For John, BLUF:  To not properly name something is to not understand it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Yes, Hamas is Legally, Morally, and Factually a Terrorist Organization

From Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks, by Jonathan Turley, 25 October 2023.

Here is the lede plus three:

Below is my column in the New York Post on the Associated Press guideline for reporters to avoid calling Hamas a terrorist organization.  Voice of America and other media outlets have made the same decision.  This is not about supporting the Palestinian cause.  It is about correctly describing a group that commits terrorist attacks as a terrorist organization.

Here is the column:

Confucius once said that “the beginning of wisdom is the ability to call things by their right names.” That does not appear to be the approach of the Associated Press this week after the media organization told its reporters not to call Hamas fighters “terrorists” after they massacred civilians, raped women, and took a couple hundred hostages from Israel on Oct. 7.

I urge you to read the whole thing.  And to contemplate the slippage in our national media as a source of solid information for our American Citizens and their decision making.

To deny that Hamas used terrorism on 7 October is to obscure the brilliance of their action.  They have pub Israel in an awkward poosition.  The brutality of of the attack demands a reaction, and a strong reaction.  However, too much of a reactioon would bring the condemnatioon of the world.  As it is, before Israel started its ground incursioon into Gaza, there were large demonstratioons on various US Ivy League Campuses in favor of, believe it or not, Hamas.♠ 

Since "war is the continuation of politics by other means"♥, a goal of Hamas is to garner world wide support for an independent Palestine on the land now making up israel.  To deny that this is terrorism is to fail to understand what is going on and to try and make it into something it is not.  Again quoting Carl von Clausewitz and On War.

The first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish by that test the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its nature.

Name it and know it.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  While the Students may not realize it, by chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine must be free" they are calling for the elimination of Isrsel as a state and the death of the seven million Jews living there.  Not very attractive.
♥  Carl von Clausewitz, On War.

Seeking Truth and Jutice

For John, BLUF:  The below describes an revered institution of higher eduction that is not reflective.  Otherwise, they would be appalled by their conduct in this situation.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Ilya Shapiro resigns from Georgetown following reinstatement after 122-day investigation of tweets

From The Fire, by Ms Sabrina Conza, 6 June 2022.

Here is the lede plus two:

After a more than four-month investigation that led to his reinstatement last week,  Ilya Shapiro resigned today from Georgetown University Law Center.

On June 2, Shapiro was reinstated as senior lecturer and executive director for the Georgetown Center for the Constitution after a 122-day investigation — which began before Shapiro started his first day on the job.  Georgetown investigated Shapiro after he tweeted that Sri Srinivasan, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, would be President Biden’s “best pick” for the Supreme Court.  He continued:  “But alas [Srinivasan] doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman.”  Shapiro’s “lesser black woman” phrasing gained considerable attention on Twitter and within the Georgetown community, and led Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor to denounce the tweet as “appalling” and “at odds with everything we stand for at Georgetown Law.”

Although Georgetown was correct to reinstate Shapiro, its initiation of an investigation transgressed its purported commitment to “the untrammeled expression of ideas and information.”  Investigations of protected speech produce a chilling effect.  Moreover, Georgetown, in its stated justification for reinstating Shapiro, made little effort to defend these principles, making clear that it is not interested in protecting the expressive rights of faculty and students with dissenting viewpoints.  For this reason and more, Shapiro’s decision to resign from Georgetown is readily understandable — indeed, his resignation letter is mandatory reading for anyone interested in FIRE’s issues.

In her article, including two of the three quoted paragraphs, Ms Conza provides a number of links.  Plus, she publishes Mr Shapiro's letter of resignation.

If my friend Jim Shannon, from Church, were still with us I would tell him how sorry I felt for him, what with his graduation from and affection for Georgetown University.  This is an embzrrassment for Georgetown University, for Higher Education, for the Catholic Church and for the Jesuits.  As a person who has persued a college degree and a post graduate degree, but never associated with Georgetown, I am embarrassed.  As an American I am embarrassed.

As for Mr Shapiro's tweet, it might hurt the feelings of some, but seems a fair assessment of the situation at the time.  Back in the old dsys we would say "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."  Can't we all grow up a little and learn to accept comments and criticism?

The more importnt lesson to be lerned is tht the western tradition of free inquiry, which moves forward science and the humanities, is in jeopardy.  That will be a loss for all of us.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Ignoring the Data

For John, BLUF:  Reuters, the fabled news reporting organization, apparently curates information to meet its audience's perceived prejudices.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The data about police shootings just didn't add up, but no one at Thomson Reuters wanted to hear it.

From Bari Weiss Substack, by Reporter Zac Kriegman, 12 May 2022.

Here is the lede plus three:

Until recently, I was a director of data science at Thomson Reuters, one of the biggest news organizations in the world. It was my job, among other things, to sift through reams of numbers and figure out what they meant.

About a year ago, I stumbled on a really big story. It was about black Americans being gunned down across the country and the ways in which we report on that violence. We had been talking nonstop about race and police brutality, and I thought: This is a story that could save lives. This is a story that has to be told.

But when I shared the story with my coworkers, my boss chastised me, telling me expressing this opinion could limit my ability to take on leadership roles within the company. Then I was maligned by my colleagues. And then I was fired.

This is the story Reuters didn’t want to tell.

Here is a data person who looked at the data and found that many public pronoucements on Black Lives Matter are not solidly based on data science.

The problem here is that an organization curating information to conform with the prejudices of members of the organization.

I thank Bari Weiss for letting this appear on her substack.

Regards  —  Cliff

Telling the Truth

For John, BLUF:  Sometimes Government begin to think things are all about them, when, in fact, it should be about the People.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Not just Russia:  America has a problem speaking truth to power, too

From The New york Post, by Professor Glenn H. Reynolds, 31 March 2022, 8:02pm.

Here is the lede plus three:

Russian President Vladimir Putin is in trouble in Ukraine, and it’s because people lie to him.

That’s the story put out by US intelligence officials, and it has the ring of truth.  Apparently, Putin wasn’t told of the miserable state of readiness of Russian troops, the unavailability of spare parts and repair facilities, the shortage of transport, the inefficiency of the Russian air force, the lack of trucks needed to haul ammunition, food and fuel to the front or the surprising effectiveness of the Ukrainian military.

Putin’s “senior advisers are too afraid to tell him the truth” about “how badly the Russian military is performing and how the Russian economy is being crippled by sanctions,” according to the White House’s Kate Bedingfield.

. . .

Thing is, the hide-the-bad-news dynamic is growing by leaps and bounds right here in America.

And there is the problem.  We, as Americans, are facing the same problem as President Putin.  As he is Sovereign in Russia, we, the People, are sovereign here in the United States, and we are not getting the truth.  And while some might point to this President or that President, I believe the problem is in the permanent Bureaucracy.

The permanent Bureaucracy has institutional interests and will act to defend those interests.  It is the job of Congress, and the president, to fight those institutional interests and substitute the interests of the People.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Financing Gain of Function Research

For John, BLUF:  This is a topic that has been going back and forth for quite some time now.  I am hoping this this will be bring us to a conclusion.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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NIH Corrects Claims by Collins, Fauci that U.S. Had Not Funded Gain-of-Function Research in Wuhan

From The Tennessee Star, by Reporter Cooper Moran, 21 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus two:

The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Wednesday sent a letter to Representative James Comer (R-KY-01), correcting claims that the U.S. had not funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

The assertions, made by NIH Director Francis Collins and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, detail that EcoHealth Alliance violated certain terms and conditions of the grant.

“EcoHealth failed to report this finding right away, as was required by the terms of the grant.  EcoHealth is being notified that they have five days from today to submit to NIH any and all unpublished data from the experiments and work conducted under this award,” the letter stated.

This seemed a while in coming, but it is the kind of revelation that says the basic institutional Federal Government is accountable, at least to some degree.  That is good for Democracy.

The NIH, in its letter did say that the COVID-19 virus is not connected to the EcoHealth studies.

Regards  —  Cliff

Portland State University Earns an F

For John, BLUF:  .  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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My University Sacrificed Ideas for Ideology.  So Today I Quit.

Here is the sub-headline:

The more I spoke out against the illiberalism that has swallowed Portland State University, the more retaliation I faced.

From Bari Weiss Substack, by Professor Peter Boghossian, 8 September 2021.

Here is the lede:

Peter Boghossian has taught philosophy at Portland State University for the past decade.  In the letter below, sent this morning to the university’s provost, he explains why he is resigning.

Back when I was young and in Elementary School, one of my teachers told my Mother I was "a critical thinker".  Within our family that was translated into "critical stinker", but that is a different story.

It appearas "critical thinking" has now become aligned with being a conformist.  This is a major change.  Further, Portland State University has forfeited its connection to great Universities of the past.  It has become a fascist institution.  Fascist.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Spinning Everything

For John, BLUF:  i accept that the job of the Press Secretary is to spin the story, but there has to be a strong vein of truth or no one will buy the spin.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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If Joe Biden’s Team Will Lie About His Dog Biting People, What Won’t They Lie About?

Here is the sub-headline:

The White House press secretary showed once again that the administration has misled us even about small things since the very beginning.

From The Federalist, by Attorney John Lucas, 30 August 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Jen Psaki’s press conference last Friday illustrated how she, and by extension, her boss, the president, have continued to destroy their credibility with the American people. The White House press secretary showed once again that the administration has misled us even about small things since the very beginning. And if they will lie to us about small things, then they will lie about big things.

In common law, there is an expression, “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” It means “false in one thing, false in everything.” It is a principle judges have used for centuries to instruct juries on how to evaluate the truthfulness of witnesses’ testimony.

Psaki’s performance on Friday provided another example of that maxim. With no visible trace of irony or self-awareness, she attempted to pass off a blatant evasion as a responsive and truthful answer. It illustrated why we cannot believe anything this president or his administration says.

On Friday, a reporter from The New York Post asked Psaki why anyone should believe her and the administration about big things when they don’t tell the truth about small things. He illustrated his point by asking about a misleading briefing Psaki gave on March 9, on a relatively insignificant matter.

Then, less than two months into the administration, Psaki responded to a question about an incident when the president’s younger dog, Major, had bitten a Secret Service agent. At that March 9 briefing, Psaki misleadingly glossed over the incident as a minor matter caused by the fact that the dogs were still getting acclimated to the White House. She identified only a single bite one day earlier, saying that “on Monday” (the previous day), Major had been “surprised by an unfamiliar person and reacted in a way that resulted in a minor injury”.

The dog bit eight people, not just one.

The author quotes Aesop:

A liar will not be believed even when he speaks the truth.

.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

SPLC Strikes Out, Again

For John, BLUF:  In a previous Blog Post I linked to Reporter Glenn Greenwald talking about how near everyone has memory holed the reason US Domestic Terrorist Omar Mateen shot up the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida.  Now comes the Southern Poverty Law Center.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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SPLC Uses Anniversary of Islamic Terror Attack to Demonize Conservative Christians

From PJ Media, by Reporter Tyler O'Neil, 14 June 2021, 10:05 AM ET.

Here is the lede plus one:

Five years ago on Saturday, a radical Islamic terrorist opened fire in Orlando’s Pulse Nightclub, killing 49 people and wounding 53 others.  He pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) during the attack, and ISIS later claimed responsibility.  Yet, because Pulse is a gay bar, leftists have memory-holed the terrorist’s intentions and blamed “anti-LGBT hate” for the heinous attack.  On Saturday, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) used the anniversary of the shooting to demonize conservative Christians and efforts to restrain the excesses of the transgender movement.

In a fundraising email, the SPLC noted the horrific Islamic terror attack, saying, “Today, we remember those we lost. We grieve for their families and friends.  And, we honor them by keeping up the fight against anti-LGBTQ hate.”

To quote Agent Maxwell Smart, "Missed it by that much."

This is the kind of thing that discredits efforts to fix our race problem.  The Southern Poverty Law Center may have been doing God's work in the beginning but today it is just hustling money and putting bad spin on the views of those who don't worship at its altar.  Sad.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

China as Culprit

For John, BLUF:  Five Eyes is a term for the Intelligence cooperation amongst the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Bombshell 'Five Eyes' Western intelligence dossier claims China lied about human-to-human transmission, 'disappeared' whistle-blowers and refused to help other countries prepare a vaccine for coronavirus

Here are the sub-headlines:

• A leaked 15-page dossier from the 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance says China's secrecy over the pandemic is an 'assault on international transparency'
• The US, Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand intelligence agencies have exposed a series of cover-ups It claims Five Eyes found a 'deadly denial of human-to-human transmission'
• Researchers who tried to raise the alarm have been silenced or disappeared and evidence of the outbreak was destroyed, it adds
• Report shows China refused to hand over virus samples to develop vaccines and censored its internet
• China also allegedly censored virus news on search engines from December
• The leaked files show the nations have evidence the virus was leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

From The Daily Mail, by Reporters Rachel Sharp, Jack Elsom and James Tapsfield, 2 May 2020.

Here is the lede plus five:

China lied about the human-to-human transmission of coronavirus, made whistle-blowers disappear and refused to help nations develop a vaccine, a leaked intelligence dossier reveals.

The 15-page document drawn up by the Five Eyes security alliance brands Beijing's secrecy over the pandemic an 'assault on international transparency' and points to cover-up tactics deployed by the regime.

It claims that the Chinese government silenced its most vocal critics and scrubbed any online scepticism about its handling of the health emergency from the internet.

China has roundly come under fire for suppressing the scale of its early outbreak which did not afford other nations time to react before the disease hit their shores.

Five Eyes - the pooling of intelligence by the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand - laid bare its scathing assessment of the Xi Jinping administration in a memo obtained by the Australian Saturday Telegraph.

The smoking gun file claims to have found evidence the virus spawned in the Wuhan Institute of Virology, close to the wet market China says it came from, and unearths 'risky' research on bat-related diseases stretching back years.

Yes, this is sensationalism.  It is The Daily Mail, after all.  However, it is reporting on the kind of thinking one finds in authoritarian regimes.  Maintain the narrative, come what may and keep doubling down.  Truth, or freedom of information or thought, is not a consideration.

This kind of thing can lead to miscalculation and that can lead to conflict, especially when the lying party is also engaged in other international activities, like naval confrontations in the South China Sea.  And here.  And here.

Hat tip to my Wife.

Regards  —  Cliff

Clueless in the Senate

For John, BLUF:  Senator Chris Murphy, Democrat from Connecticut, has an ambiguous relationship with the truth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Sen. Chris Murphy Exonerates China from Blame for COVID-19

From Town Hall, by Reporter Reagan McCarthy, 15 April 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) followed the trend set by fellow Democrats of exonerating China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of any fault for the spread of COVID-19.  In an appearance with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Sen. Murphy deems China innocent:

Go to the Link for the quote.

Is this the Senator from Connecticut who lied about his service in Southeast Asia (DaNang in particular)?

This seems standard for Senator Murphy.  Don't you think the Senate Minority Leader, Chuck Schumer, would be embarrassed by this kind of thing?.

How can we expect Senator Murphy to make informed decisions in others areas related to COVID-19?

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Schiff's Folly

For John, BLUF:  Representative Adam Schiff, both before and after the Articles of Impeachment, has been given to exaggeration, to hyperbole, to distortions of the truth.  This is just over the top.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Schiff: Trump Will Sell Alaska To Russia If We Don’t Impeach Him

From The Federalist, by Reporter Tristan Justice, 3 February 2020 By .

Here is the lede plus four:

Lead House Impeachment Manager Congressman Adam Schiff of California claimed during closing arguments in the Senate impeachment trial Monday that President Donald Trump will sell a U.S. state to the Russian government if not removed from office.

If “abuse of power” was not impeachable, Schiff argued, “then a whole range of utterly unacceptable conduct in a president would now be beyond reach.”

“Trump could offer Alaska to the Russians in exchange for support in the next election, or decide to move to Mar-A-Lago permanently and leave Jared Kushner to run the country, delegating to him the decision whether they go to war.”

Schiff’s fearmongering of consequences conceived in pure fantasy come as the impeachment case against Trump officially collapsed on Friday after the Senate declined to hear new witnesses testify at the trial.

A vote on the president’s acquittal is now expected to come on Wednesday, exonerating the president of the three-and-a-half year impeachment effort launched by the Democrats even before Trump took office in 2017.

Sell Alaska?.  Really?

Does Representative, and House Impeachment Manager, Adam Schiff really think that will persuade any Senators?  Any voters in the Heartland?  This is a very sad move.

Sad.  Very sad.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Keeping You Safe

For John, BLUF:  Ideas need to compete and that requires freedom of thought and speech.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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LIZ WARREN FINALLY HAS A GOOD IDEA

From Powerline Blog, by Blogger John Hinderaker, 29 January 2020.

Here is the lede plus one:

Elizabeth Warren wants to jail fellow Democrats who spread the Russia collusion hoax and, more recently, the Ukraine impeachment fraud.  That, at least, is how I read her latest proposal:  “Elizabeth Warren proposes criminal penalties for spreading voting disinformation online.”

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday released a plan to fight disinformation and to hold tech companies accountable for their actions in light of the 2016 election.

***

Warren proposed to combat disinformation by holding big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google responsible for spreading misinformation designed to suppress voters from turning out.

“I will push for new laws that impose tough civil and criminal penalties for knowingly disseminating this kind of information, which has the explicit purpose of undermining the basic right to vote,” Warren said in a release.

I assume she refers to Democrats who spread the ridiculous Russia collusion hoax, which was implausible on its face, in an effort to discourage Republican voters from turning out and to dissuade other voters from voting for Donald Trump.  As to 2020, the most obvious targets of her proposed statute would be the Democrats who smeared President Trump on the basis of the Ukraine fraud.

Yes, the question is who gets to decide truth from fiction?

Not the Government.  They have been recently found to have lied, numerous times, to the FISA Court, thus abusing the rights of Citizens.

Not the media, which distributed the lies of the Steele dossier, a collection of political lies.

The Judiciary?  Not likely.

Maybe this is about what we call social media, which is replacing newspapers,♠ and the idea is that faceless corporate censors will, in the absence of journalistic skills, decide right from wrong for us.

Senator E Warren's idea is one that may look good at first glance, but is actually fascist in its execution.  Like a couple of Senator Warren's ideas.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  Here is a short history of newspapers, which became a common thing after the invention of the printing press, with the first European newspaper beginning publication in 1605 AD.

The Media Adrift

For John, BLUF:  I used to watch CNN all the time, and then it seemed to drift away from me.  I trusted the three major news networks, until they became less credible in my mind, like pushing the fake letter on Candidate George Bush's National Guard Service.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Chuck Todd Finds All the Disinformation In 'Ecosystem Problem' on the Right

From News Busters, by reporter Tim Graham, 29 December 2019.

I just watched today's edition of Meet the Press, "Alternative Facts Inside the Weaponization of Disinformation," with Host Chuck Todd.

By and large Mr Todd and his guests were totally lacking in introspection, except perhaps for the Mohawk coiffured Mr Joshua Johnson. Mr Todd made it all about the Russians and the Republicans.  Even when he talked about the DNC Server and Crowd Strike he never approached the question of what happened to the Server and why it was not turned over to the FBI.  With Russia supposedly hacking our 2016 Presidential Election, why would that analysis be subcontracted out to a Ukrainian Company?  There may be a very good explanation, but it was skipped over with a "Trust Me" assertion.

The show did not take any of the issues that Republicans felt bubbled up during and following the 2016 Presidential Election, and were dismissed by the Main Stream Media.  For example, the Steele Dossier, the conflicting memos between Representatives Nunes and Schiff (which the DOJ IG found to be in favor of Rep Nunes).  There was the violations of Mr Carter Page's Civil Rights by the Department of Justice.  Then there was the boasting of the Mueller Investigation and the continued support of it as proving President Trump as corrupt and a traitor.  And then the support for Ms Rachel Maddow and her pumping of the Steele Dossier.  There is no reflection on the possibility the Main Stream Media has been wrong here.  Look at their dealing with BREXIT and with the recent British Election.  It felt like dealing with the Proud and Clueless.

I don't expect things to get better any time soon.

Regards  —  Cliff

Healing Past Wrongs

For John, BLUF:  We need to have a better knowledge of our past, of the wrongs inflicted, if we are going to move forward.  No flinching from the truth.  And, no placing blame on the people of today for what wrong was done in the past, if it has been renounced.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Possible Mass Graves Discovered From 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Massacre

From PJ Media, by Mr Rick Moran, 17 December 2019.

Here is the lede plus four:

It was the worst spasm of racial violence in the history of the United States. And it has been largely ignored in history.

The Greenwood district in Tulsa was the richest black neighborhood in the country, known at the time as "The Black Wall Street."  In 1921, a riot began over the Memorial Day weekend when a young black man was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old white girl.  Angry whites gathered at the jail while some black men, hearing rumors of a lynching, also headed to the jail.  At that point, history and myth merge and what happened to set off the crowd is unknown.

At one point, planes were employed to strafe the crowds of black women and children fleeing for their lives.  Property damage was immense.  More than 10,000 blacks were left homeless and an unknown number had been killed.  Official statistics put the number of dead at 36 with about 800 seriously injured.  Some believe the actual number of dead is in the hundreds.

The state established a commission in 1996 to investigate exactly what happened.  At that time, the commission found evidence of three possible mass grave sites, but the evidence had been inconclusive.

A more recent survey using far more sophisticated technology may have given state authorities enough evidence to begin an archaeological dig at some of the sites.

A blot on our history, and worthy of further investigation.

We need, as Americans, to make right what was wrong.  We need to acknowledge that the Tulsa Riot of 1921 was people, Caucasian American people, behaving badly.  Apologies are in order.  And good historic research to reveal all that really happened.  And, if we want to ever heal and unite, it includes acceptance of apologies.

If we are going to move forward as a nation, rather than breaking down into squabbling states, like we are the new Balkans, we have to unite going forward.  Please.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Just The Facts, Ma'am

For John, BLUF:  We should always tell the truth.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Andrew Cuomo: ‘We Didn’t Have Hurricanes’ Before Climate Change

From The Daily Caller, by Reporter William Davis, 1 November 2019.

Here is the lede plus two:

Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo blamed climate change for damaging floods in upstate New York, and claimed that natural disasters didn’t happen before climate change.

“Ali, anyone who questions extreme weather and climate change is just delusional at this point,” Cuomo told MSNBC anchor Ali Velshi.  ”We have seen in the State of New York and we have seen — it is something we never had before.”

“We didn’t have hurricanes or super storms or tornadoes,” Cuomo added.

How do you explain to an eight year old that the Governor isn't lying, exactly, but is confused?

Explain that we should respect adults, especially those in positions of authority, but that we should also respect the truth.  Maybe this is the time to introduce the idea that some people, some ideas, are wrong.  We still love the person, but gently hold on to other views.  There is no point in getting mad at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff