I wrote on Friday about the “Disinformation and the Erosion of Democracy” conference that was held this week at the University of Chicago, and how the media types in attendance at the conference had a hissy fit when student reporters asked them questions about the media’s disinformation.
You had folks like CNN’s Brian Stelter deflecting away from CNN’s lies. When asked about why the media failed to cover the Hunter Biden laptop scandal, the Atlantic writer Anne Applebaum said she thought it was “totally irrelevant” and just “not interesting.” The token conservative (Never Trump, of course) — Jonah Goldberg — made fun of one student, saying the cover-up of the laptop wouldn’t have had any effect on the 2020 election, despite the poll showing that 16 percent of people who voted for Biden wouldn’t have done so if they had known. There was also The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was so ticked off at the students for daring to question him that he called that “disinformation.” Talk about a group of people who need to check a mirror and get a little bit of self-awareness — that’s these folks.
But there were also a few politicians at this conference, and the choices were perfect examples of disinformation — Barack Obama and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (RINO-IL). We had eight years of Obama lies, so I’m going to leave him aside for the moment and talk about Kinzinger. Adam Kinzinger appeared on a panel titled “Targeted by Lies: How Disinfo Spurs Political Violence.” He even styles himself as “aggressively calling out conspiracy theories” in his Twitter bio.
Yet Kinzinger is a constant purveyor of disinformation and fake news, plus he falls for some of the dumbest things imaginable.
He tweeted this fake quote from Tucker Carlson on April 4.
I gotta say, if @TuckerCarlson is not a Russian asset he should be, he is absolutely over-qualified for the job. Is he a Russian asset? I don’t know, just asking questions https://t.co/1Vw4zYAMpD
— Adam Kinzinger (@AdamKinzinger) April 5, 2022
It was false — it was made up by another Never Trumper, Joe Walsh (funny how these guys make up so much stuff). It was such an obvious lie, Politifact had to weigh in and bust it. After being busted on it, Walsh claimed it was a “joke.” Yet, five days later, Kinzinger has still not taken the lie down from his account, despite the fact he has been told — repeatedly — it is false. Talk about disinformation. This is a man who likes to claim that he operates from conscience, when what he operates from is his hot air. Yet, he keeps lying, saying that Tucker Carlson is supporting the war, when Carlson has condemned it.
Kinzinger has also fallen for the ridiculous internet joke about Same Hyde, this time being the “Ghost of Kyiv.” It doesn’t even occur to him not only isn’t it real, but that it would be dangerous to post about it if it were.
and when I say Kinzinger has a war propaganda problem
it's dialed to 11… yes that is Sam Hyde and Kinzinger punked himself with a comedy photo pic.twitter.com/ZlBXYIHOeW
— The Virginia Project (@ProjectVirginia) February 26, 2022
He took that down because it made him look stupid, which says so much. He’ll delete a lie for himself, but if the lie might help his cause against Tucker Carlson, he’ll leave it up. That tells you everything you need to know about his honesty.
I pointed out last week how Trump broke Adam, and Tucker Carlson seems to have finished him off. But it’s a window into why Kinzinger is on the wrong side, to begin with — he doesn’t care about truth or reality, just narrative.
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