A long time ago, when he worked on ABC, Jake Tapper was a decent enough journalist.  Then, around the time he married a former Planned Parenthood official, he started drifting hard left and, naturally, ended up in 2012 at CNN.  Tapper is now the kind of partisan hack who literally questions whether a veteran who lost both legs in Afghanistan is a patriot for refusing to impeach Trump.  The veteran, Rep. Brian Mast, put Tapper firmly in his place.  And Tapper, who's famous for hiding behind "love" for vets whenever he says something stupidly offensive, both stupidly and offensively doubled down.

Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) was the target of Tapper's vitriol.  Mast enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2000, becoming a combat engineer.  By 2006, he had transitioned to active duty and taken on one of the most dangerous jobs there is: an explosive ordnance disposal technician.  In 2010, while doing his job clearing a path for Army rangers in Afghanistan, Mast stepped on an IED, losing both his legs and the index finger on his left hand.

In 2016, Mast was elected to the House.  He won his seat again in 2018 and 2020.  He's a staunch Republican and, as such, voted against the Democrats' frenzied impeachment charge against Donald Trump.

That was too much for Jake.  According to Jake, if you question any of the leftist narrative about the events of January or if you support Trump, it doesn't matter what parts of your better you left behind in Afghanistan while fighting what was then President Obama's war.  You're not a patriot.

Jake Tapper:

"Congressman Brian Mast... who lost his legs by the way fighting for democracy abroad, although I don't know -- about his commitment to it here in the United States" pic.twitter.com/GidrZHUzOe

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 13, 2021

For Democrats, of course, patriotism is always questionable when they've got their man in (or almost in) the White House.

A lot of people were quite appropriately disgusted with Tapper's statement and said so in the strongest terms: "This is DISGUSTING."  "Absolutely vile."  "[E]ven for @jaketapper this is awful."  The best response, though, came from Rep. Mast himself:

Tapper may have lost decency and intelligence at CNN, but he clearly gained arrogance.  That's why he was foolish enough not to take the "L" and apologize.  Instead, he — ahem — "fought" back:

Before going farther, let me be honest here: I have always said and will always say that veterans who suffered serious injuries can still be open to criticism for their political ideologies or unpleasant personalities.  I didn't like John McCain, and I don't like Tammy Duckworth, and their honorable service doesn't affect my feelings about them.

There are two differences here, though: first, there's Tapper's longstanding habit of suddenly praising America's veterans to deflect from his letting the mask drop to show that he's a hardcore Democrat partisan, not a journalist.  Ace explains how this works:

Observers of Jake Tapper have long noted that whenever he says something super partisan, super unprofessional, or super a--------, he attempts to deflect from the mini-scandal, and to gather support from the gaytarded fake conservatives who follow him around like they're in love with the wrinkles of his a------, by tweeting out empty stuff showing how much he supposedly "cares" for "the vets."

It's been his go-to move for years and years. Even before he had heavy Nixonian jowls.

Sean Davis, I think, has dubbed this maneuver "going to Vetcon One." Like going to Defcon One.

Second, Tapper's working from an idiot's premise, which is that Trump's asking his supporters to go peacefully to the Capitol constitutes insurrection or sedition.  It doesn't.

The examples in the picture below are a lot closer to — or actually are — insurrection or sedition, but Tapper was silent when these women spoke:

Tapper was silent when his CNN peer, Fredo Cuomo, demanded, "Show me where it says that protests are supposed to be polite and peaceful."  He also accepted AOC's claim that "the whole point of protesting is to make ppl uncomfortable."  And you'll look far and wide for Tapper talking about insurrection, sedition, or patriotism when anti-Kavanaugh leftists stormed and occupied the Senate office building.

Tapper reminds us that leftists are neither serious nor principled people.

Image: Jake Tapper.  YouTube screen grab.