The Media Research Center’s Kristine Marsh huffed in a July 13 post:
All three networks came to the Democrats’ defense Friday morning after the heated Congressional hearing Thursday where lawmakers questioned anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok about his biased role involved in the Clinton and Russia investigations. ABC, NBC and CBS didn’t hide their contempt for Republicans questioning Strzok, while they touted Democrats, ironically, as the ones were trying to uphold justice. Not only that, while they highlighted one Republican’s over-the-top line of questioning, they flatly ignored Democrats who also went over the line, absurdly calling for Strzok to get a “Purple Heart.”
[…]What else was inappropriate that CBS didn’t have time for? Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen telling Strzok that he deserved a “Purple Heart” for having to endure these questions. That also happened during the hearing:
“Mr. Strzok, I don’t know where to start. If I could give you a Purple Heart, I would. You deserve one,” he gushed to Strzok, before going on to complain Republicans were simply trying to distract from the Mueller investigation.
That distinguished honor is of course awarded to those who are injured or killed in the line of duty. A far cry from one FBI agent having to answer a few tough questions.
This newfound concern over a military medal — under a headline calling the idea of giving one to a civilian for facing hostile congressional questioning “offensive” — is much different from the MRC’s reaction to a different mocking use of it. In a August 2004 item, the MRC defended attendees at the Republican National Convention wearing bandages featuring a purple-shaped heart, justifying it because they were “meant to make light of John Kerry earning purple hearts in Vietnam for superficial wounds,” and cheering how Newt Gingrich found them “funny.”
The MRC’s Rich Noyes complained that anti-Kerry forces who participated in the partisan, dubious Jerome Corsi book “Unfit for Command” weren’t being covered to their satisfaction, complaining that a controversy over the Purple Hearts Kerry was awarded for his service in Vietnam was a “one-day story, even though the records Kerry released failed to include the paperwork supporting the Purple Heart award.”
It’s so weird that the MRC wasn’t bothered by partisan attacks on one man’s Purple Hearts that dismiss them as meaningless, while defending their honor when it’s politically expedient.