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

[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.