Anti-LGBTQ evangelical Tony Perkins attempts to soft pedal lies about 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins

It shouldn't surprise anyone that anti-LGBTQ hate group the Family Research Council and its president, Tony Perkins, is participating in Republican lies about the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection which was the direct result of those lies.

But unlike other Republicans, FRC and Perkins aren't outright spinning the lie that the 2020 election was 'stolen' or that the January 6 insurrection is being falsely 'overhyped' by the media. Instead, the group has chosen to walk a thin line and play the passive-aggressive game, as witnessed by a portion of some nonsense found on its webpage. Via this drivel, Perkins and FRC are attacking Associated Press writer Nicholas Riccardi. They are angry at Riccardi for writing a very good article on how the GOP is exploiting Trump's stolen election lie in order to grab the power to control future elections. 

This passage from the FRC piece caught my attention:

The riot at the U.S. Capitol -- a year ago this week -- has provided all the ammunition the media needs to smear anyone working to erase the doubts about the fairness of U.S. elections. In the 12 months since that unruly mob, Democrats have rushed to paint every conservative trying to safeguard elections with the broad brush of treason. "They're laying the groundwork," former Democratic operative Mark Brewer claims in the AP piece, "for a slow-motion insurrection." How? By trying to ensure that everyone's vote is sacred? 

 It's a ludicrous claim -- and yet the AP, in one of the greatest affronts to journalism, is passing it off as fact. To suggest that people who are changing the laws -- or using the process to reinforce the laws that already exist -- are trying to overthrow the government isn't just biased reporting, it's dangerous reporting. Taking the earnest efforts of citizens and wrapping them in a loaded term like "insurrection" is like the AP taking a pitchfork to democracy.

And then there was this passage:

What 2020 taught us is that there are major vulnerabilities in our election system -- many of which were exploited, thanks to COVID. And anyone who doubts that these issues exist can check out Heritage's new election integrity scorecard and read the detailed ratings of every state. "[We look at it] from the standpoint of do they protect security and integrity? And you'll find, boy, there [are] a lot of states around the country that have serious problems in their election systems."

It's stuff like this by Perkins and FRC which is as dangerous as the firebrand nonsense spewed by Trump and his most rabid supporters. Probably more dangerous. It's concern trolling at its worse; psychological manipulation created to sow doubt about a situation in which there should be no doubt.

The 2020 election was not stolen. No one exploited any 'vulnerability' in our election system because of COVID. Donald Trump was an ineffective, incompetent boob who should have never been let anywhere near the Oval Office Not even to clean the toilet. He never received close to a 50 percent approval rating while in office. He was never a popular president and if anything, his unpopularity was probably the reason why so many - including Republicans - voted for Joe Biden. But instead of simply taking into account these facts, his supporters worked themselves into a frenzy and stormed our nation's Capitol on January 6 with the full intent of keeping him in office, no matter who they would have hurt to get it done.

None of it had anything to do with legitimate questions about the election. And yes, as the AP article clearly details,  some people are still exploiting the 'stolen election' lie to endanger future elections.  And while they are attempting these things, Perkins and FRC are attempting to deceive us all with media slick phrases like 'election integrity.' Bear in mind that these are the same folks who label anti-LGBTQ discrimination as 'religious freedom.' 

Perkins and FRC are invested in the spread of  GOP lies about the 2020 election and the January 6 insurrection. Don't let them fool you.  Trump was a simpering, ineffective president so desperate to kiss the ass of anyone supporting him that he allowed evangelical leaders like Perkins and religious right groups like FRC to pollute his administration's already deplorable policies with their brand of religious supremacy. Trump gave them everything they wanted and like the hogs coming to the trough, they gorged themselves. But now they want to sidestep the bill  which is due for their overindulgences.

But they can't. 

 There simply is no middle ground on the 'stolen election' lie or the January 6 insurrection and anyone attempting to manufacture one is an unapologetic liar. There isn't any middle ground about that either.