OPINION:
The best jobs in Washington are the ones in which you never have to admit error and apologize.
These jobs are mostly in government and the major media. While “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” (as a married man, I know that’s not true), messing up in government means one can blame others or feign ignorance. Most recently, we saw that reflected in Dr. Anthony Fauci’s testimony before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Similarly, news organizations’ misreporting or censoring of stories never seems to be corrected.
Now comes the laptop computer that is serving as a powerful witness against Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in a Wilmington, Delaware, courtroom.
In a 2020 debate between then-candidate Joe Biden and then-President Donald Trump, Mr. Biden cited a letter signed by 51 former intelligence officers, including five former CIA directors, claiming the laptop had “all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.”
The FBI finally blew that up when it admitted in court the laptop was real. The agency has been in possession of the laptop since 2019. One post-election voter survey showed enough voters would have changed their vote from Mr. Biden to Mr. Trump and swayed the election had they known about the laptop and its contents.
The New York Post practiced what used to be called journalism by exposing the 51’s claim as a lie. Because the major media viewed the newspaper as a “conservative” publication, the Post’s reporting was largely ignored.
A quick trip down recent memory lane should remind the public how the major media frequently ignore stories that harm Democrats while promoting stories that harm Republicans.
In the run-up to the 2020 election, Twitter and Facebook refused to report the laptop story. Their excuse was that the FBI had warned them of a potential hack and leak operation targeting Hunter Biden, even though the bureau knew it was real.
In October 2022, a self-styled “opposition research group for the American people” published a 640-page report on the laptop that documents “459 crimes involving the Biden family and their associates.” Read it for yourself at https://www.marcopolo501c3.org. It costs $45, but it is worth it to read what was covered up by the major media. Reporters should get a copy, but probably won’t because it would shame them for dereliction of their duties.
The website says the report “provides evidence of Foreign Agents Registration Act violations, money laundering and tax fraud,” all seemingly revealed on Hunter’s laptop. It also claims it “exposes how federal law enforcement agencies influenced by politics, protect the Biden family from prosecution while targeting President Biden’s primary election opponent, Donald Trump.” These are the real stories, not the charge that Hunter lied about his drug use to obtain a gun permit.
The major media and liberal cable news networks were unanimous in refusing to question the claims of the former intelligence agents.
Typical was “CBS News Sunday Morning” correspondent Tracy Smith’s interview with Hunter Biden, in which Ms. Smith called the assertions against Hunter “rumors” while failing to enumerate hardly any of the allegations swirling around Hunter and his family.
In January, when the Justice Department finally acknowledged the laptop was genuine, the three broadcast networks, which had previously hyped the falsehoods, declined to carry the story. They did not correct their previous misreporting or apologize for getting it wrong.
It’s revealing that so many talking heads on the TV networks sounded alike. The Media Research Center has put together a video compilation.
I’ve cited a 2022 Gallup Poll that revealed trust in the media is at a near-record low. The media won’t do anything to elevate the trust in them because they are prisoners of their own ideology, and there are fewer real journalists today who cover the news without fear or favor.
• Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book, “A Watchman in the Night: What I’ve Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America” (HumanixBooks).
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