As the saying goes, “When people tell you what they are, believe them.” Because the worst that can happen is you fire somebody for ADVOCATING violence, lynching and or genocide but didn’t really believe in them. Because even if they don’t really mean it, or they’re just being provocative, or trolling, they are serving to make those who DO want those things more comfortable. And people like that should be clear on how far outside the mainstream they are.
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Good but the damage is done.
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Well not legally at any rate.
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I don’t want to be pedantic, but I think this is a meaningful distinction. The Angelou quotation is that when people show you who they are, you believe them. (Or, the Forrest Gump version: stupid is as stupid does).
If Goldberg has any defense, it is that Williamson told him he didn’t really believe that stuff. But doesn’t matter if Williamson says he is or isn’t a misogynist or a bigot. Someone who calls for nearly one in four women to be hanged is a misogynist.
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This guy’s discourse was out there earlier and yet they hired him. Did they not look into his background at all? Just, I met this guy in a bar and after a couple beers he seemed ok?
I’m still skipping the Atlantic for the time being. Don’t hire cretins in the first place, sheesh!
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They did look into it and the hire was carefully premeditated and purposeful.
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The idotic concept of “Lets give press and air to all views” is stupid.
You should have some integrity and some views are objectively evil and vile.
They didn’t fire him because of the actual words he wrote…they fired him because “Damn, he really means that shait” Until then they where cool with it because of the page hits generated.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them” - Maya Angelou
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I was going to say something about “Dawson’s Creek” but oh, different guy.
Even if these weren’t his carefully considered views, and assuming his comments were just a wacky one-off, why would a magazine ostensibly devoted to well-crafted writing want to employ someone who trolls for a living? Trolls add nothing to a conversation. They’re not part of a serious discussion. They’re not an opposing viewpoint. They’re narcissists who get their jollies making the most incendiary statements they can in order to upset people. That doesn’t further discourse or lead to greater understanding of anything. And it’s intellectually dishonest: because the troll’s goal is simply to aggravate people, there’s no knowing what he really believes. So not only is he a narcissist, but he’s probably lying about his position.
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Yes, the writer of Scream must be having a very bad week.
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How about Vile Scumbag of the 1st Quarter. I know he’s called for the executions of millions of innocent women, but the year is young and the competition is strong.
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FTFY; he should have absolutely nothing to do with any self-respecting woman, and most others as well.
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The distinction was intentional. Telling is as close as most writers get to showing, after all.
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This was always the weird energy lurking in the whole imbroglio – the palpable but deniable impression that Williamson was hinting at lynchings. The audio recording was heavy with this leering implication. I don’t doubt for a minute that when Goldberg listened to it his heart sunk at how completely fucked he was.
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Weird, their response seemed slow to me. Other media outlets have immediately fired people mere hours after the announcement that they were hired because unpalatable things they had previously said were instantly brought to light. This situation was identical except it took weeks, during which time there was pushback by the Atlantic, actually defending him (until, presumably, the outrage grew too large to ignore). I guess I’m finally getting used to “internet time.”
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Good! But he really shouldn’t have been hired in the first place.
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In Washington and New Hampshire hanging is an available method of execution though.
And the search for a Republican who isn’t a complete asshole continues…
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Be careful. That straw in your grasp looks pretty weak from here. (Edited for a tzpo)
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