OPINION:
We are awash in so many media lies that I thought it might be useful to list a few for easy reference, in no particular order.
No. 1. The Capitol Hill riot on Jan. 6 was an “armed insurrection” in which five people were killed, including a U.S. Capitol officer hit by a fire extinguisher in the head. Reality: The rioters had no firearms or even knives. Two of the five died from a stroke and heart attack. The officer, Brian Sicknick, was not hit by a fire extinguisher, did not die from “blunt trauma,” and his death the next day was from “unknown causes,” as The New York Times eventually admitted.
Of the two young women Trump supporters who died in the riot, one was shot by an unnamed police officer (the media are, to say the least, incurious) and the other may have had a medical emergency and was trampled. The deaths, plus injuries to many officers, are tragic. But the media narrative is false: “Five killed in armed insurrection.”
No. 2. President Trump “incited” the riot. Despite the House impeachment managers falsifying evidence by doctoring his remarks in an inflammatory video, none of what Mr. Trump said could be construed as “incitement.” Evidence indicates that instigators planned the riot long before the Trump rally.
No. 3: President Trump referred to Nazis and White supremacists as “very fine people.” Joe Biden made this a centerpiece of his campaign. It is patently false. After the Charlottesville riot, Mr. Trump on Aug. 15, 2017, said, “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. It has no place in America.”
The “very fine people on both sides” comment referred to the debate over taking down statues. To make sure he wouldn’t be misunderstood, Mr. Trump added, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists, because they should be condemned totally.”
For more than three years, all major media routinely misreported that Mr. Trump had called the Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people.” They still do. Because the smear works.
No. 4. Joe Biden and the Democrats are “moderates” who would return us to “normal.”
Nancy Pelosi began the new session by issuing House rules wiping out any gender-specific terms, including those defined by familial relationships, such as mother, father, son, daughter, aunt or uncle. This is Looney Tunes, not “moderate” or “normal” governance. Last Thursday, the House passed the Equality Act, the most dangerous threat to religious liberty and conscience ever conceived in America.
Mr. Biden has issued dozens of executive orders so radical that many people even now refuse to believe it could be this bad: Opening up our southern border, already in crisis. Killing the Keystone pipeline. Resuming travel from terror-prone nations. Re-joining the Paris climate treaty without Senate approval. Ordering the military to include men who think they’re women, and vice versa.
Ordering schools to allow biological males into girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and sports. Winking at Iran’s violation of nuclear limits. Appointing far-left radicals such as pro-abortion zealot Xavier Becerra to head Health and Human Services, and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden to run the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
No. 5. “Racist police” are out to get Blacks, a mantra of Black Lives Matter. In a typical year, police have 375 million annual contacts with civilians, as noted by author Heather MacDonald. In 2019, police fatally shot 1,004 suspects. Despite proportionally far higher crime incidence, Blacks accounted for only 235 of the total, or less than a quarter. Of those, nine were unarmed (police also fatally shot 19 unarmed Whites). Any of these deaths is tragic, but the media narrative is dangerously false: Police are Nazis, enforcing a “systemically white supremacist America.”
No. 6. BLM/Antifa protests were “mostly peaceful.” In 2020, 48 of the 50 most populous cities in the nation had protest-related riots, with dozens murdered, hundreds of police injured and billions in damages to businesses. Democrats demand an inquiry only into the Capitol Hill riot, which threatened them, not the hundreds of other riots that they openly encouraged.
No. 7. Silicon Valley Democrats believe in freedom of speech. No, they don’t. Amazon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo and Instagram routinely censor or disparage conservative content. They de-platformed the fast-growing Parler (which has since re-emerged). Two Democrat Congress members from California are demanding that cable providers Comcast, Verizon and Cox, and digital companies Roku, Apple and Hulu actually remove Fox News, One America News and Newsmax. This is Soviet-style thuggery, fit for a communist or Nazi regime, not America.
No. 8. Hydroxychloroquine is not only useless against COVID-19, but extremely dangerous. Used worldwide for 70 years, the drug has been a key part of effective early treatments, according to many doctors. Widespread use may have saved many lives had the drug not been trashed by the anti-Trump media.
No. 9. Children in the womb are not human and therefore disposable. Perhaps we need a new civil rights category: “tiny little people who identify as a human baby.”
No. 10. The “For the People Act,” which would destroy election safeguards and usher in one-party Democrat rule, is “for the people.” It’s part of the lie that “voter suppression” is rampant and that vote fraud is virtually nonexistent.
These are just a sample of the daily gusher from Big Media, Big Tech and their Democratic Party.
What will happen when no one listens to them anymore? One word: Freedom.
• Robert Knight is a contributor to The Washington Times. His website is roberthknight.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.