Propaganda: How The Media Handles Biden’s Rapid Decline And The Trump Shooting
In a much younger life, I was a newspaper reporter. A journalism-school graduate, I was going to help change the world, proclaiming truth and justice under my byline. The job didn’t pay much, but with overtime we got by, and it was a heady experience for this young general assignment reporter to rub shoulders with politicians and celebrities and even have some of them return his phone calls.
Later in life, I had a long academic career in economics. I came to understand the mentality that has affected modern journalism for more than a century, and I believe that what we have seen in the past 25 years is the inevitable result of what happens when progressivism takes over.
Twenty years ago, I wrote in a Mises Wire piece that modern media was a Progressive-era relic that was imploding, and that implosion continues apace today. Since I wrote that article, the mainstream media has run over the cliff many times: in their coverage of the Duke lacrosse case, of covid-19 and its aftermath, and now of President Joe Biden’s dementia. In each of these cases, the news coverage has tried to protect a progressive narrative and cast aside that inconvenient thing we call truth.
I was directly involved in the Duke case and saw firsthand how the media, led by The New York Times, stuck to the narrative that three Duke University lacrosse players raped a black stripper even when the combination of logic and DNA science proved otherwise. When North Carolina’s attorney general investigated and declared the players innocent, most of the media quietly accepted the verdict and moved on. Several years later, journalists tried to resurrect the story. William Cohan’s lauded book claimed the story was more complicated (maybe there really was a rape, but we’ll never know). But the book was riddled with errors. (The book review in The New York Times also was full of errors. They never learned nor did they care.)
The Duke case solidified my view that the modern progressive media is worse than useless. For all its braying that it is “protecting democracy,” our media today does nothing more than protect progressive narratives. Journalists wanted to believe that those dastardly Duke lacrosse athletes beat and raped a black woman because, after all, two white men murdered Emmett Till in Mississippi in 1955. (A Duke history professor wrote an op-ed to that point, and the press ate it up.)
The covid-19 coverage also followed the progressive narrative that truth comes primarily from progressive state-sponsored authorities, even when the truth consists of contradictory accounts. The dominant progressive narratives were that Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins spoke ex cathedra and that their pronouncements represented the very best of that holy concept known as science. Only later did Fauci admit that social distancing was not based on science. When a federal judge ended President Biden’s mask mandate in 2022, the legacy media predicted mass infections that never materialized. In the end, progressive narratives overpowered real medical science, but by then, the media had moved on to other things.
The media turns on Biden
A few days before the disastrous presidential debate in late June, The New York Times published an article claiming that published recordings of the president having serious memory lapses and worse were “misleading videos“ created by dishonest conservatives. After the debate, however, the NYT made a seamless pivot to demanding that Biden drop out of the presidential race due to his obvious diminished capacity.
If there ever was a “We have always been at war with Eastasia” moment, here it is. And not only did the NYT turn on a dime, but it has been publishing a number of op-eds by prominent people (like actor and Democratic Party activist George Clooney) to help push Biden out the door. Suddenly, the NYT has “discovered” what has been obvious even to casual observers for many years: Joe Biden is suffering from dementia and clearly is not mentally fit to be president.
One can accuse the NYT and other progressive media of hypocrisy and outright lying, but hypocrisy and outright lying have been a staple of progressive news coverage for years. This latest episode, while quite revealing, should not surprise anyone who follows American legacy journalism with any regularity.
When we see the progressive media having its “war with Eastasia” moments, the patterns always are the same. First, the media jumps in with both feet on something that fits a progressive narrative and ignores anything that might “cloud their vision.” In the Duke case, for example, almost none of the media claims in the first few weeks were true, including the accusation that the lacrosse team had put up a “wall of silence.”
When the DNA tests that the infamous prosecutor Michael Nifong claimed would reveal the alleged rapists came back negative, the NYT trotted out Peter Neufeld, co-founder of the Innocence Project, to declare that DNA was irrelevant. (The Innocence Project puts DNA evidence front and center to gain exonerations of wrongfully convicted people, but when media progressives wanted the lacrosse players to be guilty, all science went out the window.)
The NYT propped up the false case against the three accused lacrosse players for nearly a year despite the mountain of exculpatory evidence, promoting its progressive narrative against all science and reason.
Likewise, the NYT and its allied media pursued a political narrative on covid, ignoring sound epidemiology and medical science — all in the name of science.
Once a narrative has been proven false, one might expect a mea culpa from mainstream journalists. Think again. They simply move on. After its disastrous Duke coverage, the NYT basically congratulated itself on its coverage. There was no false narrative, only first-rate journalism.
It would seem relevant to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump that President Biden recently called for placing Trump “in a bullseye.” After all, seven years ago, the NYT blamed Sarah Palin for the assassination attempt against Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona because Palin in a political document placed a printed target on Giffords’ congressional district. The newspaper later put a small correction in its editorial, but it was too little, too late.
Will the media look inward this time? After all, we have been reading in the mainstream press that Donald Trump is the latest incarnation of Adolph Hitler and that he will impose a dictatorship if elected. Law professor Jonathan Turley has highlighted a number of similar claims by the media, including that Trump will unleash “death squads” on political opponents if elected.
One recalls that Trump already served four years as president and did not impose a dictatorship nor send out death squads to kill Democrats or recalcitrant Republicans. Not that it really matters to mainstream journalists. As we have seen, once their narratives are upended, their rallying cry is the equivalent of telling us we’ve always been “at war with Eastasia.”
BOMBSHELL: Secret Service Told To Stand Down In Butler, Pennsylvania, Says Trump Event Head
Peter Schiff: Trump’s Election is Assured
In this extra long episode, Peter covers a lot of ground. Starting with the assassination attempt on Donald Trump’s life and the country’s reaction to it, Peter also discusses his hopes for Trump’s increasingly likely second term. He then pivots to Jerome Powell’s remarks from this past week, offers criticism of a recent Supreme Court decision, and wraps with quick coverage of new inflation figures and last week’s price action for mining stocks and Bitcoin.
Peter expresses what seems to be a common sentiment about the failed assassination attempt. Between it and President Biden’s awful debate performance, Trump’s victory in November seems quite likely:
“The one good thing that might have come out of this attempt on Donald Trump’s life is, I think, this assures that he’s going to win. If he wasn’t going to win before, he’s certainly going to win now. Just that photograph— that iconic photograph of President Trump with a bloody ear, with his fist raised high in the air, with the American flag waving in the background— could be one of the most famous photographs, and I think that image alone is enough to get a lot of people to vote for Donald Trump.”
The fact that an assassin targeted Trump is not surprising, given the left’s rhetoric since his victory in 2016:
“One thing that we shouldn’t be surprised at is that somebody did try to kill Donald Trump. After all, the way the media has been vilifying him— “He’s not only a threat to democracy: he’s going to end democracy, but he’s another Adolf Hitler.” This is how the left describes Donald Trump. If Donald Trump really is an Adolf Hitler well, sure, someone’s going to want to assassinate him. Wouldn’t you assassinate Adolf Hitler?”
Given that Trump’s victory is closer than ever, Peter has high hopes for a responsible federal fiscal policy in 2025:
“I may not agree with everything Trump does, and sure, I would have preferred it had he dramatically cut government spending or even cut government spending at all, because he didn’t do that. He increased government spending, but of course government spending would have increased even more had Clinton been elected. … I was disappointed that the president didn’t do anything to reduce government spending, and I hope that in his second term he actually does reduce government spending. I hope he does that. I know that if Biden were reelected, there’d be no hope at all that that would happen!”
Turning to Jerome Powell’s remarks to Congress last week, Peter laments the fact that Powell consistently turns down the opportunity to advise Congress on inflation-reducing fiscal policy. Anytime Powell is asked a question regarding federal fiscal policy,
“He says, ‘Well, I can’t answer that. I’m not allowed to talk about that. I can’t talk about fiscal policy because it’s not my job. I wasn’t elected. I want to stay in my lane.’ What do you mean it’s not his job? Of course it’s his job! His job is to educate congress so that they understand the consequences of the stuff that they’re doing. … If Powell thinks that a particular piece of legislation is bad—it’s gonna harm the economy— he’s supposed to speak up. He’s not supposed to say, ‘I wasn’t elected, so I can’t talk.’ That’s precisely why he can talk—because he wasn’t elected!”
Peter addresses one specific exchange Powell had with Senator Elizabeth Warren, in which she called for action to address risky banking practices. Warren is right to worry about excessive banking risk, but fails to realize it originates with banking regulation:
“She’s really upset that the banks are taking a lot of risk, that executives are taking a lot of risk and getting big bonuses, and she thinks the government—the Fed—should do something about that. Look, the reason the banks take so much risk is because the government guarantees the deposits. That is the problem! It’s not capitalism. … I agree with [Warren] there, but the reason there’s so much risk-taking is the moral hazard created by the government that she created by backstopping all these banks by telling all the bank customers, ‘You don’t have to worry about your bank failing because we’re gonna bail you out.’”
Peter also takes time to address Moore v. United States, a SCOTUS decision from a few weeks ago, which holds important implications for the possibility of a future wealth tax. Peter harshly criticizes the majority in the decision, pointing out that the decision is not consistent with the American Founders’ vision for federal taxation;
“Why does the federal government not have a property tax? Because they can’t do it. Because it has to apportion it. Well now they may be able to do it, now that the Supreme Court has opened up the door and allowed this obviously unconstitutional tax to stand by broadening the definition of income. … This is a horrible decision— probably one of the worst decisions that the high court has ever handed down.”
BOMBSHELL: Secret Service Told To Stand Down In Butler, Pennsylvania, Says Trump Event Head
Video Graphic Shows How Close President Trump Came to Losing His Life
Amazing footage shows a visual representation of how close an assassin’s bullet came to taking out former president Donald Trump.
The video circulating on social media depicts a 3D model of Trump’s head as he was speaking at a rally in Butler, Penn., on Saturday, directing rally attendees’ attention to a giant chart showing an increase in illegal immigration.
Trump plays Neo from the matrix.
— Jedi Hill (@AlchemistJedi) July 16, 2024
Video analysis of the shooting.
This is We the People solving the crime so it can’t end up buried like the JFK assassination.
We must remove the traders from within the federal government@realDonaldTrump @TFL1728 @Sorenthek pic.twitter.com/H2bpgjy4H2
The model emulates Trump’s head movements as he spoke and shows how a slight turn of his head to the right allowed a bullet round to miss him, a shot that would otherwise have likely hit his head and ended his life.
?#BREAKING: New visualization shows just how close Donald Trump was from losing his life during the Pennsylvania rally.
⁰ ?#Butler | #Pennsylvania⁰
Watch as new visualization analysis captures the exact moment when Donald Trump narrowly escaped a life-threatening incident… pic.twitter.com/Zta6lS6onP— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) July 16, 2024
According to the visual model, the sniper’s bullet barely missed Trump’s head, and it’s nothing short of a miracle he survived the assassination attempt.
Former CDC Director Blows Whistle: Covid Vaccine Harms Deliberately ‘Covered Up’
Covid mRNA vaccine side effects were deliberately “covered up” and “under-reported” by the agency to prevent “vaccine hesitancy” in the public, according to former Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Dr. Robert Redfield. […]
The post Former CDC Director Blows Whistle: Covid Vaccine Harms Deliberately ‘Covered Up’ appeared first on The People’s Voice.
Unhinged Leftists Claim Trump Assassination Staged!
From Hollywood actors to Democrat politicians, the far-left is becoming increasingly demented in the aftermath of Saturday’s attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
Actor John Cusack claimed to “hate conspiracy theories” before stating there’s “zero chance” Secret Service didn’t cover the roof the shooter climbed onto.
He also suggested the Secret Service wouldn’t have stopped “for a photo op” after Trump was shot in the ear.
“I hate conspiracy theories because they avoid the open conspiracies we see with our eyes – for rabbit hole nonsense – that said – It’s unthinkable that the secret service doesn’t cover the ONE ROOF staring at the stage – zero chance . Also, no secret service action in history lets the candidate stop for a photo op – they cover the body and move it off site about as fast and completely as possible to imagine – see Regan assassination attempt. Makes zero sense.”
I hate conspiracy theories
because they avoid the open conspiracies we see with our eyes – for rabbit hole nonsense –
that said – It’s unthinkable that the secret service doesn’t cover the ONE ROOF staring at the stage – zero chance .
Also, no secret service action in…— John Cusack (@johncusack) July 16, 2024
“Star Wars” actor Mark Hammill posted an image of Trump wearing a bandage over his ear at Monday’s Republican National Convention, writing, “1st APPEARANCE of ludicrously oversized ear bandage, apparently not needed prior to tonight.”
The comment suggests Trump is faking his injury and the laughing emoji certainly makes light of the assassination attempt.
1st APPEARANCE of ludicrously oversized ear bandage, apparently not needed prior to tonight. ?? pic.twitter.com/Fkc83h3jBN
— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) July 16, 2024
The Democrat Mayor of Aberdeen, Washington, wrote on Facebook, “Ears bleed alot [sic]. I hope they check to make sure it wasn’t just a self inflicted scratch. The shooter is dead so we will never know if it was staged. Not buying it quite yet Any way [sic] you look at it, it was a horrific act. Short of Biden dieing [sic], this is about the only thing that could happen that would artificially gain Trump sympathy votes. I hope I’m wrong, but because of his record of deceit, that’s the first thing that came to mind.”
Random Democrat internet users also pushed the staged shooting narrative, with many posts raking in millions of views.
This video insinuating the Trump assassination attempt was staged has nearly 8 million views, 1.5 million likes, and tens of thousands of comments in agreement
— Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) July 15, 2024
Wasn’t Alex Jones ordered to pay $1 billion in damages for saying the same thing about Sandy Hook? pic.twitter.com/DCUPIavHf9
This smug tiktoker is very sad that the sh**ter missed and suggests it was staged.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 15, 2024
They want us all dead. pic.twitter.com/PsARmoUhMf
25,000 likes on this post claiming Trump staged it. pic.twitter.com/IgNh0spPzm
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) July 16, 2024
If you don’t think that shit was staged? Look at how fast they got trump outta there at just the mention of someone in the crowd having a gun in 2016. Then look at this goofy as shit. pic.twitter.com/zqZMHRO5jT
— Ok (@FirstName736928) July 14, 2024
Lakota Man should be sued in the same fashion as @RealAlexJones. As well as all the other influencers (who are PAID to influence) who suggested and ARE STILL suggesting that this was staged.
— Sarah Fields (@SarahisCensored) July 15, 2024
The families with lost or injured loved ones deserve that at least. pic.twitter.com/6w5dNMLXbp
Several people pointed out Alex Jones was sued for a billion dollars over his comments about the Sandy Hook school shooting and suggested some of the individuals saying the Trump shooting was staged could be in legal trouble.
Responding to a meme about this concept, Jones wrote on X, “The internet questioned the shooting 11 years ago. I only gave my opinion on the controversy. People are allowed to question anything they want. You can see the Trump shooting is real, but people have a right to not believe it. What was done to me by rigged courts should not be used to kill the 1st amendment.”
The internet questioned the shooting 11 years ago. I only gave my opinion on the controversy. People are allowed to question anything they want. You can see the Trump shooting is real, but people have a right to not believe it. What was done to me by rigged courts should not be… https://t.co/WbERGhElKX
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) July 15, 2024
Journalist James Klüg posted a video where he interviewed Americans following the attempted Trump assassination, revealing many leftists are subscribing to the idea that the shooting was “staged” by the 45th President.
BLUEANON: A shocking amount of Dems are fully on board with “Trump staged the assassination”, blaming him for casualties at the rally.
— James Klüg (@realJamesKlug) July 16, 2024
One man even saying the blood on Trump’s ear was drawn by secret service when they ran to cover him. pic.twitter.com/u9foz3QKBH
Many conservatives condemned the leftists for spreading the ridiculous accusations:
Pro-Democrat influencers are spreading another viral lie that Trump faked the attempted assassination shooting that killed a man and critically injured two.
— Andy Ngô ?️? (@MrAndyNgo) July 16, 2024
They’re using a 2022 photo and falsely saying it was taken at the RNC. Posts like these have been viewed millions of… pic.twitter.com/Rfc0j082qO
While libs were calling this “staged” and “the worst acting they have ever seen” this man #CoreyComperatore gave his life to protect his family
— Ƒʉͫcͧкͭιͪηͣ ?к (@__bee_kay__) July 15, 2024
Shame on you creeps for ever typing those words #RIPCoreyComperatore pic.twitter.com/TAzLyDgTSv
And the national media is not covering this. https://t.co/awXrwXtvf7
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) July 16, 2024
The Failed Assassination Attempt on President Trump – Exclusive Report
According to a CNN report, Thomas Crooks purchased a five-foot ladder on his way to the rally and was able to somehow carry this ladder along with his rifle to a building with a direct line of sight to Trump’s podium… A building that was occupied by heavily armed police.
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