Immediately, there was a spate of commentaries, op-eds, and editorials mocking and ridiculing any speculation about whether Epstein had been murdered or possibly even been secretly whisked out of the jail in which he was incarcerated. And all this took place even before an autopsy had been conducted on Epstein's body!

Okay, I'm not saying that Epstein was in fact murdered or that someone else's body was secretly substituted for his. He very well may have committed suicide, something that the autopsy ultimately said he had done. What I'm saying is that there was absolutely no skepticism among the investigative reporters, editorial writers, and op-ed writers in the mainstream press, not even before the autopsy was conducted.

Why? Wouldn't we ordinarily expect the press to have skepticism when it comes to governmental conduct? Isn't that one of the ideas behind freedom of the press — so that journalists will be free to keep a sharp and critical eye on what government is doing? If all that the press does is automatically accept whatever the government says, then what happens to the famous "watchdog" role that we have all been taught comes with a free press?