US corporate media accused of 'normalizing the hate group' Moms for Liberty

[turbinetree]

Written by Brett Wilkins and Common Dreams July 04, 2023

ABC News this week joined other U.S. corporate media outlets in being accused of "normalizing" Moms for Liberty after publishing what one critic called a "puff piece" on the right-wing group that's behind a wave of school book bans and is linked to the neofascist Proud Boys and the Qanon conspiracy theory.

On Saturday, ABC News published an article by Brittany Shepherd titled "Moms for Liberty Are Fired Up in Philadelphia" as the self-described "parental rights" organization held its annual conference in Pennsylvania's largest city, where crowds of protesters turned out to denounce the group's bigotry.

"They call themselves joyful warriors—but this group of conservative moms are mad," Shepherd wrote in her lede.

https://www.alternet.org/moms-for-liberty/

Reads like the "reporter" should put in a resume and go work for this fascist organization....

[bucolic_frolic]

1. They stand for fascism, suppression, and control, not "Liberty"

[SWBTATTReg]

2. They shouldn't be called 'Moms for Liberty' but instead, be called 'Moms for Hate'. After all,

that's exactly what they stand for, Hate.

[Midnight Writer]

3. I haven't seen a single positive position put forward by them.

It is all "We don't like this, we hate that, this needs to be banned" whining, just like the other "grassroots" MAGA Tea Party organizations.

[tanyev]

4. Same thing the corporate media did with the Tea Party.

Covered them like they were a legit popular uprising, full of quirky eccentrics who liked to wear 1700s costumes.

[Wild blueberry]

5. Proud Moms for Bigotry

Funded by ultra right-wing dark money. Astro-turf assholes.

[Blue Owl]

6. Moms for Lunacy

[TheRickles]

9. "This group of conservative moms is mad". So the reporter agrees with you. Oh, wait....

[ZonkerHarris]

7. her email is right there on her twitter home page. I wrote her about it

[yaesu]

8. Like they normalize a Russia asset tRump, they just want to 🪓 democracy. nr

[dobleremolque]

10. In the British sense of the word ....

"They call themselves joyful warriors—but this group of conservative moms are mad," Shepherd wrote in her lede.

i.e "crazy", "insane", "mentally unbalanced"

[rlegro]

11. I think an important point here is being missed.

The news media got sucked into the precept that "Moms For Liberty" is really a large group of self-organizing moms. It is much closer to the truth that movement conservatism co-opted a small local group of that name or one similar to it and then used the movement's clout to expand the group into a nation-spanning organization. And why that name? WELL, BECAUSE: WHO CAN BE AGAINST MOMS? And another underlying assumption: MOMS MUST BE RIGHT, or at least more right than institutions that are faceless including news media.

Of course those are silly memes, but as linguist George Lakos has pointed out, conservatives get away with a lot simply because no one challenges the underpinnings of their assumptions or the origin of their cause. The "tea party" wasn't a self-organized faction inside the GOP, it was a creation of far-right GOP politicians, aided by movement conservatism and its vast resources. Further, Moms For Liberty is tailor-made to generate news coverage because it has some real moms who are talking heads. Not particularly articulate, but forceful. Politicians who say that stuff aren't particularly believable, but moms are.

[senseandsensibility]

12. Same kind of BS on CNN

yesterday.

[Initech]

13. There is no normalizing Nazi scumbags like Moms For Liberty.

They are a hate group and they are currently responsible for book bans and fucking up our school boards. Do not give them air time, they do not deserve any kind of praise. They are evil people with evil intentions.