Topic: Media Research Center
We've shown how the Media Research Center tried to Heather former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger for failing to adhere to the right-wing pro-Trump, pro-insiurrection narrative, but it wasn't done yet. Tim Graham complained further about Kinzinger in a Nov. 5 post:
In promoting his Republican-trashing memoir, ex-Rep. Adam Kinzinger not only was awarded two PBS interviews, but two NPR interviews. First on NPR, he trashed Republicans as the "terrorist caucus." In an hourlong Halloween tongue-bath on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, Kinzinger compared the GOP to ISIS, and he suggested Sean Hannity and Mark Levin fans have "brain rot." Your tax dollars at work.
Here's how it was summarized on NPR.org:
The former Illinois congressman reflects on confronting the "fanaticism of the hardcore" of his own party. Kinzinger served on the House committee investigating the attack on the Capitol.
Terry Gross wanted to underline the tale of how Kinzinger's own family disowned him because they listen to too much conservative talk radio:
When Kinzinger noted that he was accused of having "lost the trust of great men like Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. And it goes to show, to me, the brain rot - right? - the rot going on, the absolute abuse of people that put their trust in some of these - you know, these radio folks or these TV folks," Graham only sneered, "NPR fans believe that, deeply."
instead of actually trying to address anything Kinzinger said in a substantive way, Graham played whataboutism, huffing that "What's amazing is the NPR interviewer seemed to have brain rot, asking Adam 'Republicans Are Terrorists' Kinzinger um, shouldn't his enemies tone down their rhetoric?" He concluded by whining that Kinzinger was "a showboat who has been bathing in laudatory liberal interviews all over TV and radio and cashing in on a book deal."
It was Alex Christy's turn to whine about Kinzinger in a Nov. 18 post:
Former GOP Rep. and current CNN political analyst Adam Kinzinger continued to prove that his turn against the GOP isn’t just related to the aftermath of the 2020 election and January 6 when he traveled to HBO and Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday to once again compare Speaker Mike Johnson to the Taliban.
The liberal atheist Maher had some crazy analogies of his own, “So, here's something really scary, Mike Johnson, he’s the Republican Party new head chief over there in the House. This came out, he was talking to a prayer group. He said ‘depraved America deserves God's wrath’ -- came out there, exactly sounds like Bin Laden. Now, the Republican guy sounds like bin Laden and Trump sounds like Hitler, and the kids sound like—”
Christy rushed to Johnson's defense pretending that what he said wasn't really what he said:
It should be noted that “’Depraved’ America deserves God’s wrath” is a Rolling Stone headline summation of what Johnson said, but “deserves God’s wrath” is not in quotes. What Rolling Stone actually quotes Johnson as saying is, “The only question is: Is God going to allow our nation to enter a time of judgment for our collective sins? … Or is he going to give us one more chance to restore the foundations and return to Him?... We have to ask ourselves: How long can His mercy and His grace be held back?”
It’s honestly a question every country should ask itself because sin has consequences, but by reaching for the bin Laden card, Maher seemed to suggest that Johnson would justify terrorism or acts of war against America which is not at all what he was saying.
Actually, it pretty much is, but Christy is being paid not to acknowledge that fact. Instead, he rehashed an earlier complaint that Kinzinger portrayed Christian nationalism of the kind Johnson advocates as little different from the Taliban:
Deep down even Kinzinger probably knows just how absurd that is because he would immediately proceed to tie himself into a pretzel, “Now, maybe the end is different maybe the means are different but there's no difference in saying this is a government run on religion.”
So, Kinzinger logic says that things are the same except for all the ways that they are different. This is the man the media demands Republicans listen to and take seriously.
Again, Christy made no effort to explain why Chrstian nationalism -- which, at its heart, is about forcing a specific religion on Americans through government imposition -- is not Taliban-ish, and he offered no evidence that such a thing would not happen.
