Last week, Kurt Bardella, formerly of the Lincoln Project, compared the GOP--a party he once was supposedly affiliated with--to Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban. Not only did he do so during his segment on The Reid Out, but he then doubled down on it on Twitter. It turns out he's not the only to do so.
The @thereidout @JoyAnnReid segment that "triggered" Fox News and their apparently very sensitive viewers:
— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) May 6, 2021
“Al Qaeda, bin Laden, the Taliban, the people who wanted to do harm to our nation and to our way of life & our democracy, they got nothing on what the #GQP is doing..." pic.twitter.com/4qGHfNBwat
On Thursday, USA Today published David Mastio's opinion piece, "After ousting Liz Cheney, Republicans prove they're a bigger threat than 9/11 hijackers."
ICYMI: After ousting Liz Cheney, Republicans prove they're a bigger threat than 9/11 hijackers https://t.co/GdxB3gLKux via @usatoday
— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) May 14, 2021
After ousting Liz Cheney, Republicans prove they're a bigger threat than 9/11 hijackers https://t.co/GdxB3gu95X via @usatoday
— David Mastio (@DavidMastio) May 13, 2021
Mastio references Bardella, in that he was "At first... inclined to agree" with the backlash, but then the events of January 6--which killed 5 people--happened. Mastio also writes, with added emphasis, that "lawmakers might well have been held hostage or killed." Okay, well, 2,977 people were killed on September 11.
But there's plenty more where that comes from. Here's the worst part, focusing on the "Big Lie," which is also the crux:
The fact that the majority of Republicans believe our election was stolen is a sure sign that more violence is to come.
After 9/11, the leaders, financiers and backers of the terrorists had had their one shot at tearing America down. Their only hope was to hide in caves and pray we wouldn’t find them. After Jan. 6, the leaders, financiers and backers of the insurrection feel no such fear. Trump is plotting his comeback in Mar-a-Lago. Fox News is busily rewriting the history of Jan. 6. The members of the House and Senate who voted to overturn the results of the 2020 election are plotting to take over Congress so they can control the results next time.
As surely as the terrorists of 9/11 wanted to tear down American democracy in 2001, the terrorists of Jan. 6 want to tear down our democracy as well, even as they pose as its defenders. And unlike the Sept. 11 attackers, they are going to get another chance.
I hope there are some Trump supporters who can be shocked out of their destructive fealty to a man who would put his ego before American democracy even if his agenda costs people their lives.
Yes, 9/11 cost many more lives than Jan. 6 has so far, but comparing the two attacks is reasonable because the Big Lie is more dangerous to our way of life than the 2001 terrorists’ medieval ideology ever was. (USA Today)
For all his talk about a "sure sign" of and "guarantees" of violence--the latter which is even highlighted in the sub-headline--Mastio never does an adequate job of outlining how Americans, who happen to be Republicans, are going to kill thousands of their fellow citizens. And what on earth does Mastio mean by "another chance?"
No, "comparing the two attacks is" not "reasonable." It's anything but.