The internet never forgets. The Wayback Machine is fully functioning. Archive.is exists for a reason. Like black-and-white stock footage and written accounts of what transpired during the 20th-century’s darkest periods, the world wide web has stored from the last four years the inventory of fake news, feigned outrage, and fraudulent commentary by Fourth Estate propagandists who would make Joseph Stalin proud. Now that Joe Biden has increased his odds of arriving at the National Mall for Inauguration Day, journalists have rediscovered the industry’s codex of ethics and principles – the very same ones they abandoned as they participated in a quest to oust President Donald Trump from the Oval Office by any means necessary.

April Showers Bring Media Cowards

Joe Biden

In a recording obtained by The Intercept, Biden was caught slamming the defund-the-police movement, claiming that the issue is beating “the living hell out of us across the country.” The audio also revealed that Biden would not present his plans for reforming the police until after the contentious Senate runoff elections in Georgia next month. Biden emulated his previous position on Supreme Court packing and a diverse array of other subjects: Stay quiet.

This type of journalism is prevalent throughout political reporting. It is supposed to hold the powerful to account and shed some sunlight on the truth. The Intercept‘s reportage revealed the chasm between Biden’s public statements and private thoughts.

But that ostensibly perturbed CNN’s April Ryan, who expressed her disapproval of using such tapes. Ryan, who rose to fame by getting into battles with former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, tweeted:

“I asked an incoming White House source was the meeting contentious with civil rights leader and @JoeBiden and the answer was ‘no’. A rights leader at the meeting says @JoeBiden was passionate.

“The question is who taped this meeting and why? What is the agenda?”

Yikes. Let’s hope she lashed out at CNN for airing a secret recording of first lady Melania Trump, or the media going to town on secretly recorded audio of Trump’s sister, Maryanne. Is this what the American people have to look forward to for the next four years with a Biden in the Oval Office? Would you expect anything different from an industry devoid of integrity?

Truth to Power Is Passé

Donald Trump

From the moment the billionaire real estate mogul ventured down his iconic escalator, the pearl-clutching establishment press has been handwringing, shedding tears, and delivering soliloquies about speaking truth to power, defending democracy, and protecting a free press. Petulant journalists were conquered and victimized by Trump’s words, crying on national television, and going on rants about Trump’s mental health. And these are supposed to be objective reporters.

Since Biden became the Democratic nominee, men and women of the press were either diagnosed with selective memory loss or signed up to be volunteers on his presidential campaign. Whether it was questioning Trump’s soul over a disputed “losers” and “suckers” report or suppressing news stories that would have diminished Biden’s electoral odds, the directive of the media – unsurprisingly – was to defeat Trump at all costs, even if this meant contradicting themselves from the last few years.

Imagine if Trump had told 20% of the U.S. population that “you ain’t black” if you do not vote for him. Imagine if Trump had revealed he liked having kids jumping on his lap. Imagine if Trump uttered Biden’s remarks from the recording mentioned above. Ryan and her merry band of journalists-turned-activists would be apoplectic, somehow comparing this to a dictator’s attitude. Since it is Biden, the big-box media chains are willing to go along. As Liberty Nation recently wrote:

“Should Joe Biden be officially certified as the 46th president, the Fourth Estate will finally catch its breath after four years of hyperventilating over tweets and anonymous source-driven fake news coverage. Until 2025, softballs and fluff will rule chyrons and headlines, as was evident during the home stretch of the 2020 election and Thanksgiving weekend.”

Voltaire famously wrote, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Of course, this would now be compared to something out of Mein Kampf. The press would add a caveat to this brilliant philosophy: “…as long as you are a Democrat, loathe Trump, and hold opinions we approve.”

Whom Do You Trust?

The mark of a patriot is never to believe anything that emanates from the government and never trust what the media have to say. Politicians and pundits are snake oil salesmen with unscrupulous motives, peddling the next big policy proposal or scandal. Be it on the Iraq War or a bogus dossier – how do entities with such poor track records survive in a meritocracy? They succeed by tapping into our tribal instincts, pitting the public against the other, and telling us whom to detest. For the last four years, the 3×5 card of allowable opinion said to despise President Trump and his 70 million supporters. For the next four years, the edict might well be to bow down to Biden or Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) and keep quiet about scandals, and 2024, the dinosaur media will awake from its one-term slumber and accuse anyone opposed to the incumbent administration of the same tired, eye-rolling tropes of sexists, racists, and yada yada yada.

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Read more from Andrew Moran.