False information and conspiracy theories are proven to be accurate repeatedly

It seems as though nowadays a conspiracy theorist is often someone who was right, just at an inconveniently early time.

Shortly before the 2020 presidential election, a laptop that once belonged to Joe Biden’s son Hunter surfaced.

Hunter, not known for his reliability, had left the laptop for repair at a store in Delaware and never returned to pick it up.

With unpaid repair bills, the laptop eventually became the property of the shop.

The computer, as reported by The Post, contained incriminating evidence of bribery, drug use, payoffs from shady foreigners, and more.

This was a major news story with significant implications for the election.

However, efforts were made to prevent this information from being widely known or believed.

Former intelligence officials dismissed the laptop story as “Russian disinformation.”

Press outlets chose not to report on it.

One newspaper even rejected a column on this topic, leading to the author’s departure to The Post.

Anyone who believed the laptop story was labeled as a conspiracy theorist.

Social media platforms censored the story.

Twitter, now X, even blocked direct messages containing links to the story.

Now it has been revealed that the story was true and the real disinformation came from retired “civil servants” and pundits who sought to protect Joe Biden.

Hunter’s laptop is now being entered into evidence in his trial on weapons law violations.

There was indeed a conspiracy to keep the Hunter story under wraps until after the election.

It’s not just Biden-related allegations that are dismissed as conspiracy theories.

When COVID-19 emerged and was believed to have originated from a wet market in Wuhan, some experts suggested it could have come from a lab in Wuhan instead.

These suggestions were labeled as conspiracy theories but have since been proven true.

Even the lab leak hypothesis was dismissed as a conspiracy theory, but it’s now considered the most likely origin of the virus.

Opposition to water fluoridation, long considered a conspiracy theory, now raises health concerns for babies.

The only truly unbelievable conspiracy theory now is the one that claims those in power are honest and competent.

In 2024, this narrative is no longer convincing.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a professor of law at the University of Tennessee and founder of the InstaPundit.com blog.