I want to control it as a business, to keep it respectable

The end of the war in Afghanistan meant a temporary suspension of the media’s Both Sides conventions — pro-Forever War editorializing presented as straight news, and mission accomplished:

Elites who oppose withdrawal have done a very good job of creating this fake third option to hurt Biden politically, but it’s still fake. https://t.co/0MCOSYsQDj— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) September 3, 2021

But when it comes to COVID, we’re back to needing to present cynical liars who have been wrong about everything and have no relevant expertise whatsoever as disinterested experts:

Sources quoted by @washingtonpost:

Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, professor of medicine
Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, professor of medicine
Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, professor of medicine
Julie Swann, PhD, professor of health systems
Alex Berenson, infamous liar with no qualifications https://t.co/awGKhRc7IH— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) September 5, 2021

Apparently Richard Epstein wasn’t answering his emails that day.