So, apparently, it's ok to eat bats after all?
After last night's exclusive report from Fox News, we might need to re-think our "racist" condemnation of disgusting, unsanitary wet markets and the diseases that have historically bred and multiplied within them.
Maybe.
First to Fox News' report:
There is increasing confidence that COVID-19 likely originated in a Wuhan laboratory not as a bioweapon, but as part of China's effort to demonstrate that its efforts to identify and combat viruses are equal to or greater than the capabilities of the United States, multiple sources who have been briefed on the details of early actions by China's government and seen relevant materials tell Fox News.
Since you are a Townhall VIP member, none of this comes as a surprise to you. You've been reading about the charges made by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) blaming communist China for this virus and suggesting the wet market story may have been fabricated.
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You've also seen our analysis of how the American mainstream media has been parroting the deceptive propaganda pumped out by the Beijing regime, and you've even seen some explanations as to why American media has refused to follow the trail that leads directly to the despicable actions the authoritarian communists.
In fact, the exclusivity of Fox News' report lays bare how most mainstream news outlets are willfully ignoring China's culpability. In the world of DC journalism, once a major outlet has a blockbuster exclusive like this, most other competitors scramble to get their own, independent confirmation so they can get in on the story. But with this incredible scoop, they are nowhere to be found. Why?
Fox News's White House Correspondent John Roberts quizzed President Donald Trump about his network's report at Wednesday's coronavirus briefing:
"Multiple sources are telling Fox News today," he said, "that the United States government has high confidence that while the coronavirus is a naturally occurring virus, it emanated from a virology lab in Wuhan."
ROBERTS: “Because of lax safety protocols, an intern was infected, who later infected her boyfriend and then went to the wet market in Wuhan where it began to spread. Does that correspond with what you have heard from officials?”
TRUMP: “Well I don’t wanna say that, John, but I will tell you that more and more we’re hearing the story and we’ll see. When you say multiple sources, now there’s a case when you can use the word ‘sources’, but we are doing a very thorough examination of this horrible situation that happened.”
ROBERTS: “In your many conversations with President Xi, Mr. President, did you ever discuss with him State Department concerns about lax safety protocols that had been reported to the State Department from the embassy in Beijing about that laboratory?”
TRUMP: “I don’t want to discuss what I talked to him about the laboratory, I just don’t want to discuss it, it’s inappropriate right now.”
In the realm of non-denial/denials, that may be the most transparent non-denial in the history of the English language.
When the Wuhan coronavirus began its extraordinary worldwide spread, the speculation was that it began (as many similar viruses have begun in recent years) at a wet market where exotic livestock like bats and pangolins are openly slaughtered and quickly blanched in a weak broth. The consumption of these beasts is believed to aid the medicinal needs of the locals. That's right... it's supposed to make you healthier!
When those of us in the West learned of these barbaric and unhygienic practices we dared to stick our necks out and said what any normal person was thinking: "Hey, let's not eat stuff like that and let's not keep these dead animals in such disgusting, unsanitary conditions, ok?"
You can guess what happened next.
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That's right. Those of us who suggested the wet markets might not be the best thing for 21st-century civilization were immediately called racist and xenophobic because... well because that's just what the Left does. So what? We're used to it, right?
But, here's the beauty of it all... it turns out, according to this Fox News report, the idea for casting the blame on the Wuhan wet markets for the genesis of this virus appears to have originated from the Chinese government in an effort to cover their culpability.
Documents detail early efforts by doctors at the lab and early efforts at containment. The Wuhan wet market initially identified as a possible point of origin never sold bats, and the sources tell Fox News that blaming the wet market was an effort by China to deflect blame from the laboratory, along with the country's propaganda efforts targeting the U.S. and Italy.
Yup, the racism and xenophobia condemning the culturally beautiful and totally normal practice of eating bats and pangolins in an open market butcher pens came from those China-bashing Chinese people in China.
Nice.
So, it appears all is well. Go ahead and get your pangolin groove on—nothing to worry about. Bat soup is a-ok and there's no danger in eating these things when they've been slaughtered in an open square and stored right next to other carcasses and livestock. In fact, it's probably really good for you!
Go ahead. Eat it.
If you don't, you're probably racist.
Yeah... go ahead...
You first.
