Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Marter for Congress campaign questions Rep. Kinzinger’s poor judgment for ‘unbecoming, embarrassing’ interview on a Podcast in Washington


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT: Linda Prestia-Communications Marter for Congress
Phone: 815-585-8006
Twitter: #Marter4Congress
Marter for Congress campaign questions Rep. Kinzinger’s poor judgment for ‘unbecoming, embarrassing’ interview on a Podcast in Washington

ROCKFORD, Ill., Jan 22, 2017 – Jim Marter, Republican candidate for Congress in the Illinois 16th District, is questioning Rep. Adam Kinzinger’s good judgement for a juvenile and “unbecoming” guest interview he participated in on a controversial Zero Blog 30 Podcast on October 27, 2017 while in Washington, D.C. representing the district and the U.S. Air Force.

The interview is preserved in a publicly accessible Podcast and was brought to the campaign’s attention by people in the District that Congressman Kinzinger represents in Illinois. The citizens who unearthed the Podcast interview online deemed the interview to be “embarrassing to the people of the district,” who he is supposed to be serving in Washington and in the Air Force, according to the Marter for Congress campaign.

The Podcast interview revealed Rep. Kinzinger went on that show as “Congressman Kinzinger” and a representing Air Force pilot, not as a civilian.

“Whether he broke Air Force rules for doing this type of interview, we don’t know. But we do know that the things he discussed in the interview were unbecoming of a Congressman and Representative, who goes to Washington as a ‘Servant Leader’ as he often describes himself as,” said the Marter for Congress campaign in a statement.

According to Rep. Kinzinger’s interview, he stated, “Hey, you were talking about pranks? This one is kinda one of my favorite ones. We had a junior enlisted guy and we brought him out to the plane and we told him we had to check and calibrate our radar. So we put tin foil on his hands and made him, like, wave his hands and run back and forth across the ramp and he like has this serious face, right? And he thought he was really helping us too. And then we played this in front of his whole squadron for him.” Subject: Zero Blog Thirty ZBT #59: Congressman Adam Kinzinger References Link: https://podtail.com/podcast/zero-blog-thirty/zbt-59-congressman-adam-kinzinger/  Date: 27 October 2017

One Illinois veteran, who listened to the Podcast, pointed out how wrong it is for a Major in the Air Force to demoralize another Junior enlisted the way he discussed in the interview.

“Rep. Kinzinger is a ‘Major.’ He is supposed to be in charge of the wellbeing and morale of all Junior enlisted. He admitted on this show to a level of willfully harassing and demoralizing another Junior enlisted. He shouldn’t be subjecting Junior enlisted Airmen to pranks or fraternity-type hazing. I think Rep. Kinzinger admitted to abusing his authority on a Junior enlisted and publicly doing this is disappointing to hear. If this Junior enlisted was harassed and picked on, he also knows he can’t go to Congress to complain about how he was mistreated because Air Force Major Kinzinger also is a Congressman,” said an Illinois veteran who listened to the Blog.

All Airmen are on-duty and subject to the UCMJ every day, around the clock, according to their website. Anytime you engage in social media you are representing the Air Force in the eyes of the public. Steer clear of anything that might reflect poorly on yourself or the Air Force, it states. http://www.jber.jb.mil/Portals/144/socialmedia/PDF/socialmedia-AF-Social-Media-Guide.pdf
According the “Public Web and Social Communication” regulation for social media rules updated last March 2017, in the wake of the Marines United nude-photo-sharing scandal, it warns airmen to avoid posting anything offensive or illegal online. Service personnel are not to post “any defamatory, libelous, vulgar, obscene, abusive, profane, threatening, hateful, racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive or illegal information or material.” Airmen also should not post information that would infringe on the proprietary, privacy or personal rights of others and should not disguise, impersonate or otherwise misrepresent their identity or affiliation with any other person or identity online, the rules say.

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