I first heard it, very faintly, in 2017. At the time, President Donald Trump was accused of spying for Russia. If true, this would have been the biggest act of treason in American history, bigger than Aldrich Ames, bigger than the Rosenbergs, bigger than Benedict Arnold.
The New York Times and Washington Post published long articles that detailed Trump’s treachery, for which they shared a Pulitzer Prize. Adam Schiff, head of the intelligence committee, stood up night after night on cable news, claiming he had secret “bombshell” information proving that Trump was a traitor.
The charges were investigated and ultimately dismissed. Trump was not a Russian agent. He was not working for Putin. The greatest security threat in the history of the country was — a hoax. And then I heard it: nothing. Very few outlets reported that Trump was innocent, that the attempt to rout him from office had failed. Schiff disappeared from view. There were no corrections, no apologies, no firings. The Times and the Post did not return their Pulitzer Prizes.
The sound of silence grew still louder during the COVID pandemic. The government fed the panic with a heavy-handed assist from social media. As revealed in the Twitter files and more recently, from Mark Zuckerburg himself, the security state worked with X and Facebook to quash any questions about the efficacy of the vaccine and ultimately, the need for massive government intervention in the economy. This cabal worked together to censor respected scientists like Jay Bhattacharya, who argued, correctly as it turns out, that special care should be given to the infirm, but the country could remain open. Shutdowns were not necessary. We did not have to crater the economy. The kids could stay in school. We didn’t need $7 trillion in runaway government spending. This was a gigantic story. But there it was again — a curious absence of sound where honest reporting should be.
After Biden’s disastrous debate performance, we all saw what the media had denied: Biden was in an advanced state of dementia and clearly incapable of running the country. (You can stay in the basement, Mr. President, just don’t touch the big red button.)
The media expressed shock and outrage at having been misled about Biden’s decline, blaming everyone but themselves for the coverup. No one suggested that the fourth estate might have asked a few obvious questions about the president’s health. Instead, they bobbled their heads like Soviet commissars and told us Biden was just fine, sharp as a tack, in complete control of the free world. When the president’s condition could no longer be concealed from the public, the media had nothing to say about the whitewash, let alone their part in it. The sound of silence was deafening.
Chris Costes
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