There seems to be no limit to the right-wing extremism that will be ignored by some mainstream media outlets, so that the right-wing extremist can be passed off as but another acceptable politician. On Sunday, Meet The Press had on its panel Rep.-elect Allen West of Florida, and his bizarre and hateful history wasn't even mentioned. He was asked puffball questions and treated as any other welcome new member of the Village. Which apparently he is.
George Zornick of Think Progress explains:
West has, after all, said that Islam is “a totalitarian theocratic political ideology, it is not a religion.” He believes that terrorism is part of being Muslim: “This is not a perversion. They are doing exactly what this book (the Quran) says.” West is proud of these beliefs — he says that “[u]ntil you get principled leadership in the United States of America that is willing to say that,” we won’t be able to “secure Western civilization.” So it seems natural that Gregory might ask West if he thought every Muslim passing through airport security should be profiled, since, after all, West’s logic dictates that every Muslim is a terrorist. But Gregory did not ask that question.
Gregory also failed to ask West about the recent high-profile scandal involving Joyce Kaufman, the hate-radio host West briefly planned to hire as his congressional chief of staff. Kaufman also has a history of saying inflammatory things, like that when illegal immigrants who commit crimes, the U.S. “should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it.” Kaufman withdrew after an individual in Florida threatened government buildings after hearing Kaufman say on cable news that “if ballots don’t work, bullets will.”
Meet The Press also ignored West's history of making blatantly misogynistic statements, and while the show's graphics bolstered West's stature by noting that he served in Iraq, there was no mention that he resigned from the military after facing a court martial for his brutality while interrogating an Iraqi.
By not revealing West's virulent bigotry, Meet The Press prevented its viewers from understanding the full context of his opinions. The opinions of a virulent bigot were treated as if they are just another part of the political conversation. By ignoring it, Meet The Press enables extremism. By treating extremists as if they are normal, Meet The Press normalizes extremism.