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Zombie "Lab Leak" Theory Emerges from the Depths. Again. Here's How to Send it Back. [1]

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Date: 2023-02-26

Every day there’s another case study of misinformation seized upon by bad actors for malignant purposes. Last week it was Bret Stephens using far right sources to distort research on masking, effectively debunked in Xaxnar’s excellent diary, Bret Stephens - what's behind his latest column is not good. WTF NY Times? UPDATED.

Today it’s a WSJ story about a Department of Energy Report supposedly confirming the Wuhan Lab Leak origins of COVID. Recently, the excellent, must-listen podcast, If Books Could Kill devoted an episode to thoroughly debunking the Lab Leak theory. What’s striking is how this largely right wing conspiracy theory makes its way into “centrist” writing by people like Matt Yglesias and Nate Silver. At the slightest prompt, no matter how dubious, these guys emerge and say “We were right all along.” No you weren’t and no you aren’t today.

And it’s dangerous. “Lab Leak” has become synonymous with “Fauci is a criminal” and is used to further undermine public health, like the Stephens mask lies.

In the irrational right wing world, “Lab Leak” also means “Trump was right about COVID. The Chinese were totally to blame and we did nothing wrong.” There’s no logic to this. Even if it were a lab leak, Trump’s malfeasance still led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. But logic is no longer required in arguments on the right, and among their “centrist” accomplices.

Two threads debunk this latest viral lie. The first is by Joe Pierre, a psychiatrist and expert on conspiracy theories :

x 2/ Not clear why the Dept of Energy is looking into this anyway, but theirs is a minority opinion among the 6 other intelligence agencies who have opined on the subject.



Most others say Lab Leak unlikely. pic.twitter.com/em5nOYsbmS — Joe Pierre, MD (@psychunseen) February 26, 2023

x 4/ DOE doesn’t say how they arrived at their opinion or whether they included virologists and epidemiologists in the process. pic.twitter.com/FvidazIP4m — Joe Pierre, MD (@psychunseen) February 26, 2023

The second is by Michael Hobbes, co-host of If Books Could Kill

x The market theory, however, is supported by

1. Majority of early cases directly linked to market

2. Cases clustered in part of market where animals are sold.

3. Early indirect cases clustered around market

4. Virus found in animal cageshttps://t.co/vhHBzhgyOv pic.twitter.com/HO2fZg98in — Michael Hobbes (@RottenInDenmark) February 26, 2023

x 2/ Not clear why the Dept of Energy is looking into this anyway, but theirs is a minority opinion among the 6 other intelligence agencies who have opined on the subject.



Most others say Lab Leak unlikely. pic.twitter.com/em5nOYsbmS — Joe Pierre, MD (@psychunseen) February 26, 2023

x 4/ DOE doesn’t say how they arrived at their opinion or whether they included virologists and epidemiologists in the process. pic.twitter.com/FvidazIP4m — Joe Pierre, MD (@psychunseen) February 26, 2023

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/26/2155109/-Zombie-Lab-Leak-Theory-Emerges-from-the-Depths-Again-Here-s-How-to-Send-it-Back

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