Media
May 9, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I have posted three previous editions of footnotes to our coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. My purpose here is to provide background on the legal issues in the case for those who seek to understand them. I post these footnotes in the form of bullet points and differentiate facts and law from (my) opinion. Previous editions are included below under May 5,
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May 8, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The Star Tribune drew on the work of three reporters and its collaboration with “Frontline” (through its Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) for Andy Mannix’s story on the federal indictment of Derek Chauvin and his three former colleagues on federal civil rights charges in the death of George Floyd. With all hands on deck, I thought
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May 7, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Are we free at last? The big news is that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is to end his mask decree no later than July 1 and withdraw size restrictions on business and social gatherings on May 28. Effective at noon today, size limits on outdoor gatherings are out. Mandated early closing times at bars and restaurants are eliminated. Other restrictions continue in place, all as set forth in Walz Emergency
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May 4, 2021 — Scott Johnson
If I may borrow Glenn Reynolds’s formulation, I would like to say that we’ve descended into some sort of bizarre hellworld in which Glenn Greenwald is the voice of reason. In his observations on what he calls “corporate journalism,” he is also the voice of fairness and responsibility. Over the weekend I wrote about the Giuliani corrections served up by the Washington Post, the New York Times and NBC. In
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May 4, 2021 — Scott Johnson
My law school classmate Kevin Roche is the former general counsel of UnitedHealth Group and former chief executive officer of its Ingenix division. When it comes to the Covid epidemic, he has mastered the published research and related issues. His Healthy Skeptic site provides a wealth of relevant commentary and analysis that has proved a highly reliable guide to the course of the epidemic over the past year. Kevin’s reliability
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May 2, 2021 — John Hinderaker
For a long time I have believed that the New York Times is America’s worst newspaper, with the Washington Post close behind. Sadly, news coverage in the Wall Street Journal, while not in that dismal league, has declined. If it weren’t for the editorial page, one wonders whether the Journal would be worth subscribing to. Its news coverage is liberal, and in these days, largely “woke.” A case in point
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May 2, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I expressed my doubt about two of Rudy Giuliani’s statements to Tucker Carlson last week here. They discussed the search warrants executed at his home and office in connection with the investigation of an alleged Foreign Agents Registration Act violation. In that post I also took a cynical look at two New York Times stories on the case giving rise to the warrants. I don’t take anything either Giuliani or
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May 2, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Last Sunday I posted a few footnotes to our coverage of the trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd. I posted the footnotes in the form of bullet points. Last week’s footnotes are included below under April 25. Today I want to add footnotes in the same form and keep this going as warranted: • Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder and two lesser included offenses. Minnesota
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May 1, 2021 — Steven Hayward
Needless to say, Power Line has a history with “60 Minutes.” Hence I thought it worth passing along a note from Robert P. George to “60 Minutes” this week. Prof. George—”Robby” to his friends—is the McCormick Professor at Princeton, the chair originally created for Woodrow Wilson, and subsequently filled by Edward Corwin and now by Robby. He is renowned for his genial nature (as you might expect from a proficient
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April 30, 2021 — Scott Johnson
The Washington Free Beacon has compiled a supercuts video displaying the judgments of prominent media gasbags on the speeches of President Joe Biden and Senator Tim Scott this past Wednesday evening. The Free Beacon provides this brief introduction: The media’s adulation of President Biden was in full display after his first joint address to Congress Wednesday night. MSNBC’s Brian Williams drew attention multiple times to the president’s “extraordinary use of
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April 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
According to a source whose affiliation is not even hinted, the Department of Justice will seek federal indictments of Derek Chauvin and his three former colleagues in the death of George Floyd. The unidentified source leaked this and related news to the Star Tribune’s Andy Mannix. I assume that Mannix’s source is affiliated with the Department of Justice, either the Office of the United States Attorney for Minnesota or the
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April 29, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Joe Biden’s speech to a joint session of Congress last night was Twilight Zone material. The White House has posted the text here. As always, Biden himself looked like an escapee from Madam Tussauds, but he appeared to have had a touch-up for his appearance last night. Through the proliferation of falsehoods, clichés, and incredibly tired language, the theme was that too much is not enough and Biden’s head emerged
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April 28, 2021 — John Hinderaker
Over the years, I have followed the New York Times Corrections section, on and off, as a window into the ignorance of our journalist class. The howlers the Times has printed have often caused me to wonder whether that paper actually employs editors. The current selection illustrates how quickly formerly well-known people and events are receding into history. From today’s Times: An item on Tuesday about the capture of Benito
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April 28, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I took the New York Post cover story by Laura Italiano that ran with the tabloid headline “Kam on in” at face value. I have treated the Post as a trusted source, but it turns out that this story appears to be fake news. The following correction is now appended both to Italiano’s original story and to a follow-up story by Mark Moore: Editor’s note: The original version of this
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April 28, 2021 — Scott Johnson
Governor Tim “tear down this” Walz continues to wage the war on Covid. He clings to the temporary emergency powers he has exercised under state law in order to control the “dials” of our lives. It’s a long way to temporary. However, the war is over. There is no emergency. This series should come to an end. With the assistance of Kevin Roche, I continue to submit questions to the
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April 26, 2021 — Steven Hayward
There are days when you wonder whether the New York Times editorial staff is working overtime to amuse us, or whether it comes naturally. They’re keeping alive the stale old sixties cliche, “Any country that can land a man on the moon can solve. . .” Of course, it is the perfect cliche for a president who hails from liberalism’s mesozoic era. Like this story from their gnomish jester Ezra
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April 25, 2021 — Scott Johnson
I want to add a few footnotes in the form of bullet points to our coverage of the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd: • The thirteenth and fourteenth seated jurors served as alternates and were released at the end of the trial. Juror number 96 — Lisa Christensen — was the thirteenth seated juror. She made the media rounds last week
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