What led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the 1970s was not the break-in to the Watergate complex to get information on his political opponent. It was not the petty burglary. It was the cover-up of the crime approved by the president himself. If a president abuses his power to such an extent, our very democracy is threatened.
We are witnessing today not just a well-established accusation of corruption against a presidential candidate and his family; we are witnessing total collaboration by a media that refuses even to acknowledge its possibility. Despite convincing evidence of a computer hard drive and testimony given by a business associate, the press refuses to report one word on the potential game-changing scandal against Joe Biden and family.
Facebook, Twitter, The New York Times, CNN – you name it – have gone into total and unabashed collaboration to protect Mr. Biden, their chosen candidate. This is scary. It marks the end of the free press as we know it.
Their claim that the accusations are unproven rings very hollow. They had no problem in printing countless stories and editorials against Donald Trump and his family based on “anonymous” sources. There was a frenzy of media speculation about Donald Trump, Jr. holding a meeting with some Russian agent in the room years ago. Aha! Gotcha! Trump is guilty of collusion with the Russians.
Now you have a hard drive carelessly left in a computer repair shop with as much evidence as you need to show that, at the very least, “the big guy,” aka Joe Biden, was very aware of his son Hunter’s business dealings with Burisma and Ukraine, plus China, despite Biden’s strong assertion that he was not involved at all. It also points to the fact that Joe may have been assigned a cut, which explains his apparent wealth despite 47 years in public service.
Along comes an eyewitness to their business dealings, Tony Bobulinsky, and corroborates the same. It’s a perfect setup for a serious investigation.
The media reaction? Yawn! Nothing to see here, folks. Twitter and Facebook block any reference to the scandal on their platforms. Even the New York Post, the source of the information, has its own Twitter account blocked. The New York Times and the rest of the mainstream media are more than happy to join the blockade.
Gee, I wonder what their concern is. Uncle Joe couldn’t possibly be guilty, so what are they afraid of? What happened to independent investigative reporting? They were great when it came to Watergate. They certainly dug as deep as they could with the Russian collusion charge against Trump and family. Then, nebach, nothing to show for it. After three years of Democrats desperately trying, and millions of taxpayer dollars spent, it was all one big hoax. The victims? You and me.
And let’s not forget the impeachment trial, which was based on a “whistleblower,” i.e., unknown and unnamed source. Real grist for the media mill.
Let’s list some other huge scandals and the media reaction:
Benghazi: In 2012, American Ambassador to Libya John C. Stevens is attacked in the US Embassy by terrorists. He pleads for help, which goes unanswered before he is brutally killed. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton create the false narrative that there was no time to plan a rescue as this attack was the spontaneous result of an insulting video on Islam produced by some guy in Texas – nothing to do with planned terror. Obama dispatched Susan Rice to repeat this lie several times on Sunday talk shows. Media reaction? Nothing to see here, folks.
IRS: Politically-conservative organizations made the claim during the Obama administration that they were being unfairly targeted for audits. Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’ department of tax-exempt organizations, pleads the Fifth and goes home. Mr. Obama’s response? “I found out about it when you found out about it.” A complete lie. Media reaction? Nothing to see here, folks.
Clinton Foundation: The Clintons raise billions of dollars toward some unspecified goal. Many millions come from countries that Ms. Clinton was dealing with as Secretary of State. Much of the money is still unaccounted for. Media reaction? Nothing to see here, folks.
Hillary Emails: During the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s being loose with her email correspondence using unprotected computers, Ms. Clinton destroys 30,000 of her emails claiming they were about Yoga classes and her daughter’s wedding plans. Right. And my dog ate my homework. FBI Director Comey ruled while it was not a nice thing to do, it was not a crime, since she did not do it intentionally. Media reaction? Nothing to see here, folks.
Iran Nuclear Deal: The controversial foreign affairs deal, which involved allowing the arch-terrorist state of Iran to ultimately develop nuclear weapons, and then literally ship the Iranians about a billion dollars in cash, was done in an “echo chamber,” according to Obama Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. In other words, to get the deal passed, they created a repeated false narrative that this was something delicately worked out with the moderate Hassan Rouhani following his election. In fact, it had been worked out way before his election, with the hard-core Iranian leadership. Media reaction? Nothing to see here, folks.
The same is true with the Russian collusion hoax and the Ukrainian call. It was all orchestrated by zealous Democrats such as Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, and enthusiastically pushed by Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Democrats.
#Metoo: Remember how candidate for SCOTUS Brett Kavanaugh was mercilessly accused by a group of women for harassment going back to his days in high school? The narrative was that if a woman makes an accusation against a man, she must be believed. #Metoo was rampant. Countless working men and celebrities were fired simply due to an accusation by a female at work. Then Joe Biden gets accused of the same, with recorded phone calls to prove it. His reaction? “Yes, I believe her, but in my case it’s not true.” Media swallows it hook, line, and sinker. End of #Metoo.
One of the criticisms of the Ultra-Orthodox press is that it never publishes articles of misdeeds in their community. How can their readership ever learn that it is wrong to behave in irresponsible ways if nothing wrong ever happens? Everything is just wonderful with our chosen lifestyle. It is true of most publications catering to a specific audience, Ultra or Modern Orthodox, and even with secular Jewish publications.
What we have seen with today’s mainstream media makes the Ultra-Orthodox seem like an open book in comparison. A total lockdown against any information is harmful to their cause. Worse yet, unlike the frum publications, this is orchestrated and done in obvious collusion. All the protests of the Republicans have not gotten them very far.
This is an abuse of power worse than the crime of Watergate. The media sets and controls the agenda for our entire society on the social and political scene. It is extremely troubling that we have allowed a self-imposed state-controlled media. Is it that much different from the communist newspaper Pravda (“The Truth”), which controlled the Russians’ way of thinking for decades? If the Democrats attain power, wait for things to only get worse. Except we’ll never know it.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
