Conservatives are blaming the mainstream press for not covering Hunter Biden enough, even though Rudy Giuliani wouldn't let MSM reporters have access to the files he had.

It's like the national GOP blaming PA for counting mailed ballots late because of choices made by the PA GOP
This sort of broken brain thinking is why there literally are scores of journalists who began their careers at right wing outlets but eventually leave. It's not because they "sold out," it's because they followed the facts.
Any conservative writer could report and verify what I'm saying but they never do. That's bc for all their complaints about the media, conservatives are just whiners.

They think people they believe are liberals should be producing conservative propaganda. Why would they ever?
I spent years talking to conservatives about journalistic standards.

If you want to be credible in criticizing the media, I said, then you have to be more honest, more fair, and smarter than them.

But my advice fell on deaf ears. It was a lot easier to whine than to be better.
I tried making these critiques out of public view since no one wants their dirty laundry aired in public but my pleas were ignored. Now that I've gone public, I've lost tons of former colleagues who once followed me on Twitter.

They never debate, they just unfollow.
It's important for those outside the right to understand that many people follow Trump because of faulty cognitive processes that deliberately and subconsciously avoid inconvenient truths.

When you believe falsehoods, protecting them becomes part of your identity.
For most Americans on the right, this process originates w/a fundamentalist worldview that tells them they are God's servants.

It's uncomfortable for many liberal or moderate people to see this since we're taught to respect others religions. We should, but not when it's toxic.
This viewpoint is literally the core motivation of so many GOP activists. And it's why they will excuse and accept any of Trump's lies.

He stands for Christians so his actions are justified, no matter how dangerous or terrible they are.
Kayleigh McEnany is a perfect example of this. She's repeatedly said since becoming press secretary that God put her there "for such a time as this." That's a Bible quote from the Bible story of Queen Esther saving her people from genocide.
If you doubt me, please watch this recent Fox News interview she did where you can see her religious fanaticism on full display.

This is a must-watch if you don't understand what I'm saying foxnews.com/politics/the-o…
This mentality is extremely commonplace among elite conservatives. They literally think they are God's instruments. Mike Pence believes this, Mark Meadows does, lots of Fox News anchors do.

None of them seems to ever consider that Democrats might see themselves this way, too.
This mentality is not rational, needless to say, but it's why the voice of liberal and moderate Christians who respect pluralism and secular people is so important right now.

They know all the same verses but they are humble enough to admit that humans can't know God's thoughts.
The voices of former fundamentalists are important here as well. I don't think I'm being biased when I say that we also know the verses, and we see them differently as well.

America needs more conversations about faith and about those who are post-faith.

/end
PS: This article about Kayleigh McEnany by a former college prof is worth a read if you want to explore Christian supremacist thinking further.

She isn't faking these beliefs, she's had them for decades newrepublic.com/article/158042…
PPS: The natural outgrowth of believing you are God's servant is that any of your ideas, no matter how vile are true. McEnany's favorite Bible verse has another GOP fan as well, one who's an open white nationalist

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More from @mattsheffield

13 Dec
The most fascinating figure from the God-Trump "Jericho March" was its emcee, Chrystal Christian radio host Eric Metaxas.

He started off hosting "Socrates in the City" pop philosophy discussions in NYC but his insatiable desire for fame took him to hosting Alex Jones. 1/x Image
It's a terrible story but, sadly, it's one that is extremely typical of aspiring conservative media figures.

People who try to bring nuance and to mix it up with religion skeptics always get stymied.
Because there is no center-right power in America, only far-right, this means that if you want to have a media career as a reasonable conservative, you must somehow win the NYT or WaPo lottery or labor in relative obscurity, regardless of your talent or achievements.
Read 11 tweets
11 Dec
How can we as a society overcome a GOP that cynically embraces insanity?

By using grace to educate the mistaken while never enabling the malicious.

It won't be easy, but there is no other way.
What does this mean in practice? 1) Reformed defamation laws that contract the definition of a public figure so that liars can be sued. 2) Actively debunking extremist figures as they make their lies and hate. 3) Getting people to read more instead of using TV and radio.
4) Talking & taking action about racial injustice as matters of inclusion rather than exclusion. 5) Exposing how ignorant & emotional that right wing pundits are. 6) Helping conservative Christians see that a better faith community exists outside the GOP & would love to have them
Read 13 tweets
10 Dec
This video of creationist Ray Comfort is so old but I still can't help but laugh at it. It's utterly ignorant while also being unintentionally gay at the same time.
I don't see anything wrong with believing in creators, what is absurd though is Comfort's ridiculous theorizing about a piece of fruit, one which actually was cultivated for thousands of years by humans to the shape and seedlessness that he remarks on.
This clip is, sadly, the sort of thinking that is so dominant within fundamentalist conservative Christian media. It's best to leave science to the scientists and leave the preaching to the preachers but there's such a misbegotten desire of the latter to speak to the former.
Read 6 tweets
5 Dec
The Washington Post contacted all 249 Republicans in the Senate and asked them who won the 2020 presidential election. Only 10% told the truth that Biden did. 1% of them lied and said Trump won. Let's talk about the 89% who refused to answer.
Before I start the thread here, here's the link to the WaPo piece for those who haven't seen it yet: washingtonpost.com/politics/surve…
The 221 GOP members know that Biden won. It's blatantly obvious. Fear of Trump is a factor but it's more than that.

Despite their posturing, it is conservatives who practice "political correctness" much more than liberals.
Read 23 tweets
5 Dec
So it's been 41 minutes now since @MattNegrin, a producer at the "Daily Show," called out Breitbart for calling him the host of "Hardball," a show that has been canceled for months. The site still has not fixed its mistake.

Don't worry, @BreitbartNews, I saved it for you!
This is the exact sort of unprofessionalism that I regularly encountered when I worked in conservative media. The Breitbart piece has other problems as well, chiefly that it uses an opinion essay to smear the Post's news operation. Full archive: archive.is/JxA69
I have no idea where they got the idea that Breitbart thought that Negrin hosted "Hardball." In the WaPo essay from him that it complains about, there's nothing on the page that says Negrin even works for NBC. Which, spoiler, he does not washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/1…
Read 6 tweets
30 Nov
National Review's editorial is just the beginning of an avalanche of criticism that Trump will receive once out of office.

GOP elites hated Trump but they were too afraid to oppose him while he had power. This is how conservative media has worked since Bush 41...
Literally without fail since those days, conservative media unfailingly support the top Republican, no matter who it is.

Once he/she loses or retires, then they will actually say what they thought. It's why so few conservative journalists should be on debate shows.
The adulation that Trump received from most right wing sources was the exact same treatment that George W. Bush received when he was in the WH.

Once he left though, suddenly and miraculously, conservative figures somehow figured out he was a terrible president!
Read 18 tweets

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