{"id":1577830,"date":"2022-07-29T09:17:32","date_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1577830"},"modified":"2022-07-29T09:18:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-29T13:18:31","slug":"washington-post-flops-in-disingenuous-attack-on-powerhouse-claremont-institute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/washington-post-flops-in-disingenuous-attack-on-powerhouse-claremont-institute\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post Flops In Disingenuous Attack On Powerhouse Claremont Institute"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwashington-post-flops-in-disingenuous-attack-on-powerhouse-claremont-institute%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1577830&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>In case you haven\u2019t been paying attention \u2014 and frankly at this point why would you? \u2014 left-wing legacy corporate media have been trying to make the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/07\/01\/heres-what-the-jan-6-show-trials-are-really-after\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jan. 6 clown show<\/a> (I mean hearings) into the most important news story of the year. Every day, The Washington Post, The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the mouthpieces of the Democratic Party remind readers and viewers that the hearings represent <em>the <\/em>existential battle to preserve American democracy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no surprise then that The Washington Post would set its sight on any and every conservative individual and organization it can associate with the treason charges they have leveled at all those even tangentially connected to the Trump administration. In the case of a 3,500-word article published on July 24, that target is the Claremont Institute, a prestigious and influential conservative organization. The article, coupled with Claremont\u2019s clever response, embodies both what is wrong with legacy media and how conservatives must fight back against this once-legitimate institution of the republic.<\/p>\n<h2>Not Exactly a Smoking Gun<\/h2>\n<p>For those unfamiliar with the Claremont Institute, it is one of the most distinguished and intellectually rigorous conservative organizations in the United States. That\u2019s not just because its quarterly publication, Claremont Review of Books, is widely regarded as the best conservative print journal in the country, but because of its prestigious fellows program, which has trained and informed the thinking of an entire generation of leading conservative voices, including some at The Federalist. It seeks to present a conservative vision that is both contemporary and relevant but also deeply faithful to the principles of the founding. Thus an attempted takedown of Claremont is by extension an attempt to malign a broad swath of the conservative movement.<\/p>\n<p>So what exact crime is Claremont guilty of committing? \u201cThe Claremont Institute triumphed in the Trump years. Then came Jan. 6,\u201d reads The Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2022\/07\/24\/claremont-john-eastman-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">headline<\/a>. How deep in the \u201cinsurrectionist\u201d conspiracy were those West Coast conservatives?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe institute \u2014 along with its journal, the Claremont Review of Books as well as related journals such as American Greatness, and allied organizations, including Michigan\u2019s Hillsdale College \u2014 gained influence during Trump\u2019s tenure, funneling ideas and personnel to the administration despite Trump\u2019s lifelong suspicion of academics and other experts,\u201d Washington Post journalists Marc Fisher and Isaac Stanley-Becker explain. What <em>kind <\/em>of influence?<\/p>\n<p>The primary \u201chenchman\u201d in The Washington Post\u2019s tale is John Eastman, a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a prominent Claremont contributor, and a major proponent of Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. He was present in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, rallying Trump supporters at the Ellipse prior to the mob\u2019s storming of the Capitol. Claremont folks debate the prudence (or arguments) of Eastman, but he remains officially affiliated with the organization.<\/p>\n<h2>Not Even Hitting the Broadside of a Barn<\/h2>\n<p>Before we get to Eastman, it\u2019s worth noting that some of the WaPo\u2019s attempts to smear Claremont are simply risible. \u201cThe institute remains divided and other conservative journals ask what \u2018happened to the Claremont Institute?\u2019\u201d What conservative journals, you ask? The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thebulwark.com\/what-the-hell-happened-to-the-claremont-institute\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">neocon website The Bulwark<\/a> founded by Bill Kristol, of course. In other words, a publication whose claim to the title of conservative is as tenuous as that of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theamericanconservative.com\/michael-gersons-tedious-anti-trumpism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jennifer Rubin<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/spectatorworld.com\/topic\/michael-gersons-descent-into-liberalism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Gerson<\/a> is their best example of the right\u2019s consternation over Claremont.<\/p>\n<p>It cites a former Claremont fellow, \u201cspeaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid alienating friends at the institute,\u201d who claims the institute will \u201cjustify any means necessary to preserve the republic\u2026. That\u2019s how Claremont goes from this quirky intellectual outfit to one of the main intellectual architects of trying to overthrow the republic.\u201d <em>Overthrow the republic?<\/em> Where\u2019s the evidence for that incredible accusation? The article and the anonymous source provide none.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the WaPo\u2019s citation of one of the most prominent voices at Claremont, Charles Kesler \u2014 a senior fellow at the institute, editor of the Claremont Review of Books, and a government professor at (the unaffiliated) Claremont McKenna College \u2014 does not exactly support the \u201cinsurrection\u201d thesis. \u201cI\u2019m persuaded that John [Eastman] was wrong in the advice he gave Trump,\u201d said Kesler, citing many other people at Claremont who think the same. In other words,<em> the leading intellectual at Claremont<\/em> does not agree with Eastman regarding the 2020 election. For an organization whose reputation is supposedly \u201cin tatters,\u201d its revenue and influence have continued to grow since 2020 <em>in spite of<\/em> its ambivalence about the 2020 election.<\/p>\n<h2>Punching Back<\/h2>\n<p>But perhaps the worst (or best) part of this misguided hit piece is its attempt to smear Claremont through an attack on Claremont\u2019s president, Ryan P. Williams, who declined an interview through a spokesman and requested written questions. \u201cThose yielded no response.\u201d The WaPo reporters even went to his house (\u201cno answer\u201d) and visited Claremont\u2019s headquarters, \u201ca two-story unit with gold-colored chandeliers at the back of a drab office building.\u201d (What purpose do those details serve? To accuse Claremont of having poor taste?). The receptionist told the journalists that Williams was gone.<\/p>\n<p>Just prior to publication, Williams offered a statement to The Washington Post:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>We\u2019re proud of what we do at the Claremont Institute; for over 40 years, our scholarship and teaching have had a positive and substantive effect on the nation\u2019s political discourse. \u2026 That said, the Claremont Institute is not interested in participating in the fiction that the Washington Post is a legitimate media outlet, or that its chronically discredited journalists are dispassionate fact-finders intent on bringing their readers objective news.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Doesn\u2019t that say it all? Why pretend that The Washington Post is a neutral and objective disseminator of information in 2022? Just look at the WaPo\u2019s very obvious pro-choice <a href=\"https:\/\/spectatorworld.com\/topic\/the-lefts-great-abortion-freakout\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">coverage of abortion<\/a>. Or the <a href=\"https:\/\/spectatorworld.com\/topic\/washington-post-libs-tik-tok-doxxed-taylor-lorenz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">great latitude<\/a> it gives their reporters to <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/04\/19\/taylor-lorenz-blasted-for-doxxing-libs-of-tiktok-creator\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">try and dig up dirt on conservatives<\/a>. Name a Democratic Party talking point, and you will see the Post has devoted prime real estate supporting that talking point within the last month. Williams has succinctly stated what even many moderate Americans now recognize: legacy corporate media such as the WaPo and The New York Times have lost their legitimacy as dispassionate sources of the news.<\/p>\n<h2>They Don\u2019t Even See It<\/h2>\n<p>There\u2019s little indication that any of the staff at these outlets have enough self-awareness to see this. \u201cDemocracy Dies in Darkness\u201d remains the Post\u2019s front-page slogan, emblematic of an industry with a savior complex so great it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisismagazine.com\/2022\/anti-catholic-bigotry-is-always-acceptable-in-america\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">actually believes<\/a> it should be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crisismagazine.com\/2021\/the-new-anti-catholic-bigotry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dictating terms<\/a> to the Catholic Church regarding doctrine. They have become an echo chamber, promoting a political ideology indistinguishable from that of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n<p>The Post\u2019s attacks on Claremont \u2014 and the broader conservative movement \u2014 fail to deliver. (Though, of course, they arm the Dems with rhetorical bullet points for the midterms.) It\u2019s a sad state for an industry Americans across the political spectrum once trusted. The Post\u2019s old motto was \u201cIf you don\u2019t get it, you don\u2019t get it.\u201d Whether we are talking about the WaPo or CNN and MSNBC, <a href=\"https:\/\/news.gallup.com\/poll\/355526\/americans-trust-media-dips-second-lowest-record.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fewer Americans<\/a> are \u201cgetting it\u201d \u2014 and they are better off for it.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Casey Chalk is a senior contributor at The Federalist and an editor and columnist at The New Oxford Review. He has a bachelor\u2019s in history and master\u2019s in teaching from the University of Virginia and a master\u2019s in theology from Christendom College. He is the author of The Persecuted: True Stories of Courageous Christians Living Their Faith in Muslim Lands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In case you haven\u2019t been paying attention \u2014 and frankly at this point why would you? \u2014 left-wing legacy corporate media have been trying to make the Jan. 6 clown<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":658,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1577830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/658"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1577830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1577830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1577830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1577830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}