Russian disinformation

The recent conclusion by the Department of Energy that Covid likely originated in a Wuhan lab is only the latest example of public officials and their media allies intentionally discrediting a legitimate news story, only for the initial reporting to be deemed correct. The list of similar attempts to repress honest journalism is disturbingly long and goes well beyond the pandemic. It includes the attacks on questions raised about the veracity of the Steele dossier (the pretext for the first impeachment of President Trump), the discrediting of the Hunter Biden laptop as Russian disinformation, and accusations of racism directed against journalists who documented the intentional opening of the southern border.

Former director of national intelligence James Clapper made a hamfisted attempt this week to tidy up statements he made in 2020. Allow Cockburn to guide you on a trip down memory lane: In October 2020, Clapper was one of more than fifty ex-intelligence officials who signed a "Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails" (see here). The statement said the emails published by the New York Post bore “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation” and that the signatories of the letter were “deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case.” Clapper appeared on CNN, too, where he said, “To me, this is just classic textbook Soviet Russian tradecraft at work.” https://twitter.com/cnn/status/1317307227963678721?

As usual, Elon Musk cut to the chase with a tweet that's both funny and accurate: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1619770090530181120 Pretty good, isn’t it? And do note the little rainbow in the background for the the sexually exotic. Musk’s tweet was in response to the revelation last week (hat tip to the great Matt Taibbi for ferreting through the garbage to retrieve it) that a shadowy group called “Hamilton 68” had been doing exactly what the title of Musk’s imaginary Golden Book says: accusing anyone and anything they don't like of being, or being influenced by, a Russian bot.