Today's the day the Biden debate debacle saga actually broke the very foundation of how the media and political establishment operate. It broke the fourth wall. A glitch in the matrix. An existential crisis. Here are 3 examples. 1/ Reporter finishes live hit with Biden statement about Clooney, tosses back to Jake Tapper and he's like "wait what does that mean that doesn't make sense." Then he tosses to pundit to give her take and she's just goes "this is not good, this is bad." 2/

https://x.com/justinbaragona/status/1811135879450132657

Did Biden break a "one term" promise? It's complicated... and it involves the Acela media, partisan spinsters, and some very careful, strategic, language.

I dig into the facts - and explain why it matters NOW - in my latest @TheHill column:
thehill.com/opinion/white-… It matters the NYT decided to fact check Biden's "tall tales" this week - and the WSJ did their "slipping" story that had the Democratic establishment freaking out.

Biden's approval rating in the 538 average ticked down to its all-time low, 37.4 percent:
thehill.com/opinion/white-…

Nicolle Wallace meltdown on MSNBC about Ronna McDaniel hiring:

'What we've said to election deniers is not just that they can do that on our airwaves, but that they can do that as one of us - as badge-carrying employees of NBC News. As paid contributors to our sacred airwaves.' Jen Psaki addresses the Ronna McDaniel story, and "right-wing ecosystem" comparisons to her.

Psaki says her political experience "only matters, and only has value to viewers... if it it paired with honesty, and with good faith" .. "service to the country vs. service to one man"

The 20 Day "Sweet Spot"

There has been a lot of reporting about what might happen if President Biden drops out of the presidential race, but almost all of it ignores a scenario that is simultaneously the most chaotic and the most controlled.

Here's how it would work. 1/ In October, @ChrisStirewalt appeared on The @MegynKellyShow and laid out a variety of options for the Democrats if Joe Biden stepped aside. It all depends on the timing.

If he steps aside now, there'd be a rushed primary. If he does it later, a contested convention. But... 2/

A few days ago @AbeGreenwald wrote an excellent piece about the ongoing investigation into the death of Detroit synagogue president Samantha Woll.

She was killed two weeks ago and there is still no arrest. And barely any media coverage anymore. 1/
commentary.org/abe-greenwald/… Within two days, the Detroit police chief said they were close to an arrest, and also assured the public they were confident it was not "anti-Semitism" that was behind the murder. The Acela Media took the word of the police chief and coverage evaporated. But what do we know? 2/

This will be the last long thread about #Uncovered for awhile… but I wanted to give you an idea what you’ll find in the book, by showing exactly what you see in the pages…

Find the hardcover, audiobook (featuring dozens of interviewees!), or ebook here: ReadUncovered.com Tucker Carlson tells me in the prologue how he knew the Hunter Biden laptop was real and not “Russian disinformation” - he was sent emails on it between him and Hunter. He and Hunter were friendly, he tells me, until Hunter “started doing a ton of blow.” Readuncovered.com

“Some pilots said the object ‘interfered with their sensors’ on the plane…Some pilots also claimed to have seen no identifiable propulsion on the object, and could not explain how it was staying in the air...”

This is weird! So… I have a theory… 1/

cnn.com/2023/02/11/pol… We have to start with how bizarre the Chinese spy balloon story was. Why wasn't this dealt with immediately?!

Well we heard this happens all the time, actually. That the balloon was simply "off course."

That seemed hard to believe. But... what if it was true? 2/

Here comes the truth about John Fetterman, in today's New York Times - months too late:

"When it’s bad, Mr. Fetterman has described it as trying to make out the muffled voice of the teacher in the 'Peanuts' cartoon, whose words could never be deciphered."
nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/… More John Fetterman revelations from the NYT, as we watch the Information Hostage Taking in action:

"He has had to come to terms with the fact that he may have set himself back permanently by not taking the recommended amount of rest during the campaign."
nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/…

Chris Wallace was a serious hard news journalist and host for decades. Now he's singing duets with Dionne Warwick. What happened?

I spend 1,500 words digging into the current Wallace-CNN relationship for my first @FourthWatch #RabbitHole deep dive (paid):
fourthwatch.substack.com/p/whos-watchin… @FourthWatch Chris Wallace was CNN's big bet for the now-defunct CNN+. Is the investment paying off?

Last weekend he was talking to actor Hugh Jackman about the height of a comic book character. It was a far journey from his 18 years hosting Fox News Sunday:
fourthwatch.substack.com/p/whos-watchin…

This viral tweet from the former CDC director is true, but wildly out of context. Is he doing so on purpose or accidentally?

Look how a bias of omission by presenting the CDC's data with as much of a broad brush as possible distorts the reality of the science... 1/

https://twitter.com/DrTomFrieden/status/1611222112668381185

Frieden uses data that groups people between the ages of 5 and... 80+. Take a look at the age breakdown on the CDC's site.

Unvaccinated 80+ is the top line. The 2nd line is unvaccinated 65-79-year-olds. The 3rd line? VACCINATED 80+year-olds...
2/

covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra…

Damar Hamlin's injury likely had nothing to do with COVID vaccines.

But part of the reason the story grew is the corporate press' refusal to engage with vaccine reality - treating all discussion as toxic.

My @FourthWatch newsletter - now on Substack:
fourthwatch.substack.com/p/allornothing… @FourthWatch Too often our media treats issues it deems "toxic" as "all or nothing" - pretending there are no vaccine side effects, while another side assigns vaccine side effects to everything it reads.

But life isn't that way - we need a media engaged in nuance. fourthwatch.substack.com/p/allornothing…

Grant Wahl's death wasn't related to the COVID vaccine.

But that doesn't mean vaccine injuries don't exist. And a press that treats the topic as too toxic to discuss breeds further conspiracy theories. My @FourthWatch newsletter (the first on Substack!):
fourthwatch.substack.com/p/allornothing… @FourthWatch The press is still covering for SBF (and now his ex too).

A media that showed such a keen disinterest in the duo before, enabling their rise and crimes, is now trying to work overtime to justify their inaction. @FourthWatch: fourthwatch.substack.com/p/allornothing…

1. "Twitter Files" are a fascinating look at the inner workings of Twitter, and its coziness with power (both sides). There isn't a smoking gun, and anyone who has followed these stories for years (COVID suppression for example), shouldn't be surprised.

https://twitter.com/mtaibbi/status/1598828932395978752

2. The Hunter Biden laptop suppression in October 2020 is THE story that tells us so much about our moment. It's why I made it the prologue to my book, #Uncovered, out in February.

Download that chapter now for free here. Let's go down memory lane:
bit.ly/uncoveredbook

We don't yet know the motive behind the horrific shooting at the Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub.

But I've seen a lot of comparisons to the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando in 2016. So it's important to remember what that story ended up actually being about. 1/ In 2018, @HuffPost published a fascinating investigation headlined "Everyone Got The Pulse Massacre Story Completely Wrong."

What seemed to be a story about homophobia and a hate crime against the gay community turned out to be... not that at all.

huffpost.com/entry/noor-sal… 2/

CBS News has paused posting on Twitter over “uncertainty” with the platform due to @elonmusk “out of an abundance of caution”… while they continue posting on TikTok.

Because it’s about perception, not reality This week the head of the FBI there’s "national security concerns" about the Chinese government’s involvement in TikTok: “There’s plenty of reason by itself to be extremely concerned.”

CBS News continues posting there, but (performatively) not Twitter.

npr.org/2022/11/17/113…

Yesterday's conspiracy theories are today's legacy media news reports...

A thread on some interesting stories that have emerged in just the past 9 days since the midterm elections have been held, surely no relation of course on the timing... 1/ NBC Bay Area reporter @BigadShaban reported on the Pelosi attack based on source who saw body cam footage. It was almost identical to what Miguel Almaguer said 11/4 that got him suspended.

DA says Pelosi will "need to explain...why he did what he did"

nbcbayarea.com/investigations… 2/

Here's a representative example of the terrible media coverage surrounding the Paul Pelosi attack:

CNN's John Miller begins to describe the 9-1-1 call as "there's this person in my house" then yadda yaddas with "so on and so forth" - but Miller never heard the call himself. 1/ CNN's Miller says "you can barely hear him because he sounds like he's whispering," then sneaks in the truth "...according to people who have heard the conversation."

He's describing a tone of voice and a phone call... that he's never actually heard. 2/

NY Mag's Hunter Biden laptop cover story is the kind of meticulous, comprehensive reporting that has the power to change perceptions - and enlighten a skeptical audience.

I talked to reporter @OliviaNuzzi about her scoop in my @FourthWatch newsletter:
mailchi.mp/thefirsttv/fou… @Olivianuzzi @FourthWatch .@OliviaNuzzi on the Hunter Biden laptop story: "I wanted to interrogate the groupthink...self interest and a lack of intellectual courage seemed to come together to form what amounted to an industry-wide posture towards a subject."

@FourthWatch:
mailchi.mp/thefirsttv/fou…

If you don’t see what’s happening, you’re not paying attention.

This Loudermilk tour story is the first major moment of the January 6 hearings.

Watch this softball interview by Erin Burnett of 1/6 committee member Zoe Lofgren, and let’s dissect what’s really going on. 1/ Lofgren responds to Burnett’s question about the Capitol police clearing Loudermilk and his tour group of wrongdoing by first calling the man in question a “rioter.”

Even the 1/6 committee doesn’t do that. They say he participated in the “unpermitted march." 2/

I can certainly be convinced that the n-word is inappropriate for white people to say in every context. That there isn’t an actionable difference between *saying* the n-word and *using* the n-word.

But I think it’s reasonable to discuss this on a spectrum with nuance to it. 1/ I may not be a fan of Madonna, but I think it’s reasonable for others to be, despite the fact that she described her child as an n-word, and later apologized for it.

cnn.com/2014/01/18/sho… 2/

.@JoeRogan has COVID.

He says he immediately took monoclonal antibodies, ivermectin, a z pack, prednisone, an “NAD drip” and a vitamin drip.

After 3 days he says he’s feeling fine.
instagram.com/p/CTSsA8wAR2-/ @joerogan Social media outlets don’t like people sharing information about ivermectin being a potential COVID treatment, but they are totally cool with blue-check dudes sharing misinformation about ivermectin only being “horse dewormer”...

https://twitter.com/zachzachzach/status/1433165332928032768