The election might not have gone the way Republicans wanted, but there’s one bright spot that no one can take away from them. Oddly enough, it doesn’t have anything to do with any vote total.

I’m talking about the congressional retirement of Adam Kinzinger, who was redistricted out of his seat by Democrats in Illinois despite his cozying up to Nancy Pelosi for the last several years. Even with what looks like a bare majority in the House for the GOP, Kinzinger is about to be relegated to MSNBC hits with Joy Reid, and that’s an incredibly good thing.

What’s not good is Kinzinger as a person. He decided to take a childish victory lap on social media on Sunday, attacking Joe Kent, who was defeated in Washington’s 3rd district. In doing so, he revealed exactly what kind of human being he is.

If this is what “decent” conservatism looks like, I want no part of it.

I know Joe Kent. I knew Joe's wife. I visit her grave at Arlington when I visit my fallen brothers and family. Don't like the politics, fine, but this is a level of scum that I thought @AdamKinzinger was incapable of. pic.twitter.com/FyTlrJvTdc

— Tim Wood (@TimOnPoint) November 14, 2022

As noted above, Kent’s wife died while on tour in Syria as a member of the US Navy. She is buried in Arlington Cemetary in Virginia. Expectedly, her passing has had a profound impact on Kent as a person and politician, specifically animating some of his more critical views of American foreign policy. Kent himself is a US Army Special Forces veteran, who did multiple tours overseas.

In short, Kent has paid his dues, and to attack him in such a grotesque way reveals that Kinzinger is just a piece of garbage as a human being. I hate going there, but he’s crossed too many lines for me to not make that assumption at this point. Ironically, his slam of Kent is very “Trumpian,” despite Kinzinger being a leading Never Trumper. Once again, the former president has managed to expose his enemies as guilty of being exactly what they claim he is.

Regardless, just because you don’t like someone’s politics, that doesn’t make them a “white supremacist,” and Kent did nothing to deserve being treated that way. We know why it happened, though. Kinzinger, a rabid neoconservative, has often chosen to attack anyone who doesn’t want to be at war at all times. The soon-to-be ex-congressman famously stumped for the US to set up a no-fly-zone in Ukraine, which would have led to direct hostilities with Russia. Had that happened, Europe might have been embroiled in a nuclear war. But when have neoconservatives ever bothered to think through the consequences of what they support?

Making Kinzinger more pathetic is his assertion that he’s “never lost.” Quitting is losing, especially when the only reason he quit was that Democrats betrayed him on redistricting. Still, he bends the knee to the very people who destroyed his political career because he’s a sad, shell of a man who desperately desires public adulation.

On the other hand, Kent, whether you like his politics or not, is a good person. He’s shown that over the last several years. This ridiculous trend happening in politics where people are labeled traitors and “white supremacists” because they are against foreign intervention (which in Kent’s case, killed his wife) or illegal immigration needs to stop. Kinzinger can go pound sand, which all he’s really capable of at this point.