Trump Derangement: Lab Leak Edition

They say the coverup is worse than the crime. In the case of the origin of the COVID virus, "worse" is a matter of perspective. Origin is secondary to death toll, obviously, but knowing the origin would be useful in reducing the chance of another pandemic of similar origin. Covering it up is not only detrimental to humanity, it is extremely corrosive to the relationship between government and the people government serves.

For several years, our government dismissed the lab-leak theory, peddling a natural origin and an animal-to-human transfer in one of China's "wet markets." Absent evidence to the contrary, it passed Occam's Razor.

The problem in applying William of Ockham's test lies in what you know at the time. If you don't have all the facts at your disposal, that 'razor of scrutiny' isn't the right tool, and a cautious inquisitor reserves reaching a conclusion until he has high confidence in the completeness of the available information set.

Hold onto that word "confidence."

The people that we elect and pay to represent us in many matters, COVID included, did look into the various origin theories. As recently reported by The Wall Street Journal, the majority of investigating entities settled on the natural origin theory, with "low confidence." Meanwhile, the FBI concluded with "moderate confidence" that a lab leak was the likely source.

Set aside some time to read the whole WSJ article, here, and a "recap" article at the NYPost, here.

One might think that, at this point, a functional government would gather all those entities in a room and have them hash out their evidence, analyses, and logic chains.

I hope you laughed at the notion of "functional government." Dysfunction is a forever feature of government, even when its intentions are pure. As the story has unfolded, we now know that intentions were pretty ****ing far from pure when it came to COVID's origin.

Turns out that some other people had also concluded the lab leak theory was more likely, but their assessments were quashed.

Yes, quashed. When Biden ordered an assessment and briefing on the matter, the lab-leak proponents weren't invited, so Biden was never given a full range of analysis. The FBI, the entity that was advancing the lab-leak theory, was also denied corroborating analysis generated by scientists at the Defense Intelligence Agency. Per one source, they were forbidden from providing their findings to Senator Chuck Grassley despite his request. And as James Bovard reported,

In September 2023, a senior CIA analyst told a congressional committee that six key CIA analysts had been bribed by the agency to abandon their conclusion that COVID originated in a lab leak.

This isn't mere incompetence or dysfunction. Powerful people in positions of responsibility made conscious decisions to tip the scales toward the natural origin, and persisted in that scale-tipping even as our representatives on Capitol Hill tried to dig for the truth. Many of you will recall Anthony Fauci's smug condescension toward Senator Rand Paul when Paul pressed him on this matter and on American funding of the Wuhan lab's "gain of function" research that is now the most probable source of the virus.

The big question that arises from all this is, "Why!?"

Here are the possibilities that come to mind.

1. Parochialism: The natural origin theory tickled the right people's fancy, so it became the official story of the Deep State. For a historical analogue that reveals how government elevates fashion over fact, see Lysenkoism.

2. Chinese sympathies: For whatever reason, the information gatekeepers were more empathetic to China's reputation than to the truth.

3. Realpolitik machinations: Some spooks or chess-playing masterminds felt that keeping China’s culpability under wraps would serve some US-beneficial end, though I’ve no idea what that might be.

4. Chinese Bribery: The information gatekeepers were compromised by China in some fashion. For the record, I've seen no evidence for this, I am just spitballing ideas.

5. Xi-Biden coziness, as is now starting to come to light.

6. Trump Derangement: Because Trump had voiced his belief in the lab-leak theory, and had hinted at (but didn't share) evidence, the common behavior of the day, which was "if Trump said or did A, then we will say or do not-A" contrarianism, overrode any fealty to the truth. In other words, showing Trump up was more important than informing the public. Or Congress. Or the President.

I am inclined to conclude #6, because that knee-jerk reflex was on perpetual display across during and after Trump's presidency. How many of those Best-and-Brightest were vaccine refuseniks simply because Trump successfully fast-tracked their development (and then changed their tune the moment Biden became President)? How much scorn was heaped on Trump's mention of ivermectin? How often did Trump suggest a policy that was immediately pooh-poohed by the intelligentsia?

Yes, indeed, Trump Derangement Syndrome was and is a thing. We now have Musk Derangement Syndrome to contend with, as well, even when Musk says things that should not be considered controversial. This tells us how not "best-and-bright" those Best-and-Brightest are.

Many of them approached the pandemic with a "the public cannot be trusted" mindset. This allowed them to rationalize massive infringements on our liberties "for our own good," and then to wash their hands of the damage those infringements caused after the fact.

I am prompted to recall Jack Nicholson's Colonel Jessep from A Few Good Men, who thundered, "you can't handle the truth!"

News flash, for all the Jesseps in our government: We aren't your pawns. You serve us, and when you lie to us, we don't owe you a shred of deference.

If Fauci lied under oath in an effort to perpetuate this massive deceit, he should be prosecuted. If other officials actively suppressed relevant information, they too should be called on the carpet. Trump's detractors will scream "payback," but "a reckoning" is far more accurate.

And necessary.

Re-establishing accountability in the entrenched bureaucracies is vital to repairing the public's broken trust. To restoring some semblance of confidence.

Do I think that will happen?

Have any of the 51 "experts" who lied to us about Hunter Biden's laptop been taken to task?

You know the answer.

And thus you, here, have reason #2,022,804 to distrust the government.

Covering up the lab leak origin of COVID isn’t remotely as catastrophic as the virus’s death toll, but the behavior will arguably have a longer lasting impact on the nation.