We are destined to repeat our mistakes over and over again When it comes to media criticism and China analysis there is no one I trust more than James Fallows. Over the course of many decades he has proven himself to be fair and knowledgeable about many things but these two issues are his wheelhouse. This piece On “Breaking the News” about the reporting on the Wuhan Lab theory is a must read. (I urge you to subscribe to his newsletter. It’s always good.) This post is a followup on the highly-publicized report last fall from ProPublica and Vanity Fair about Covid’s origins. (Henceforth PP and VF.) It’s prompted by another PP item five days ago, revisiting and revising their approach to this enormously consequential topic. I realize that what follows could be confusing. I’m going to be talking about three government reports, and three journalistic stories. Here’s a guide, with names I’ll try to use consistently (and will place in bold). The three reports are: The House Report, which came out in August, 2021. It was from the Republican staff of the House Foreign Affairs committee and it argued that Covid had begun with a “lab leak” in China. (Ie, that it wasn’t natural “zoonotic” spread from wild animals.) You can read it here. The “interim report” was an early version of a report by GOP staffers on the Senate committee on on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. It came out in October, 2022, and also argued for a lab leak. You can download a PDF here. The DNI report, from the Director of…