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On the hiring and firing of Kevin Williamson

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nota bene

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Conservative writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic last month and was fired this week. His hiring angered liberals; his firing has angered conservatives. Here are links and various points of view:

NY Times:
The outrage over the writer, who spent many years as a correspondent for National Review, fell squarely into a burgeoning culture war over free speech, gender issues and questions about which views deserve a megaphone as prominent as The Atlantic, a magazine that relies on a heavily liberal readership.

In announcing Mr. Williamson’s new role last month, [Editor-in-Chief] Goldberg acknowledged that he had “disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him.” But he praised Mr. Williamson’s writing as stylish, witty and “ideologically interesting,” and said he envisioned The Atlantic as “a big tent for ideas and argument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

Jack Shafer writing at Politico, says that Williamson, who is an excellent writer, is not the loser here and that Goldberg’s “rapid embrace and rejection make the Atlantic a lesser place” and “Let’s be real here: Kevin Williamson wasn’t sent packing for expressing strong language on abortion but for being Kevin Williamson. The very things that made him so appealing to Goldberg were destined to lead to his exit.” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/06/kevin-williamson-atlantic-jeffrey-goldberg-217831

When Kevin Williamson’s name came up during lunch yesterday, this, by David French, is what I quoted:

And so it goes, the steady, inexorable division of America into the tolerable and the intolerable — with the range of tolerable people narrowing ever-so-rapidly. There’s no grace in this brave new world. There’s no charity. It’s not enough to disagree. Now we must ruin. Now we must humiliate. Saying “you’re wrong” is no longer enough. The argument isn’t sufficient. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-williamson-firing-by-the-atlantic-cowardly/

This is my great concern, that it’s not enough to disagree, even vehemently or savagely, that now we must ruin. And by "we," I mean "all of us" rather than just one "side" or another.
 
I need to look into the "right to my job". What amendment is that?

Firing someone isn't "ruining them". He can get a job like anyone else.
 
nota bene said:
Conservative writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic last month and was fired this week. His hiring angered liberals; his firing has angered conservatives. Here are links and various points of view:

NY Times:
The outrage over the writer, who spent many years as a correspondent for National Review, fell squarely into a burgeoning culture war over free speech, gender issues and questions about which views deserve a megaphone as prominent as The Atlantic, a magazine that relies on a heavily liberal readership.

In announcing Mr. Williamson’s new role last month, [Editor-in-Chief] Goldberg acknowledged that he had “disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him.” But he praised Mr. Williamson’s writing as stylish, witty and “ideologically interesting,” and said he envisioned The Atlantic as “a big tent for ideas and argument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

Jack Shafer writing at Politico, says that Williamson, who is an excellent writer, is not the loser here and that Goldberg’s “rapid embrace and rejection make the Atlantic a lesser place” and “Let’s be real here: Kevin Williamson wasn’t sent packing for expressing strong language on abortion but for being Kevin Williamson. The very things that made him so appealing to Goldberg were destined to lead to his exit.” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/06/kevin-williamson-atlantic-jeffrey-goldberg-217831

When Kevin Williamson’s name came up during lunch yesterday, this, by David French, is what I quoted:

And so it goes, the steady, inexorable division of America into the tolerable and the intolerable — with the range of tolerable people narrowing ever-so-rapidly. There’s no grace in this brave new world. There’s no charity. It’s not enough to disagree. Now we must ruin. Now we must humiliate. Saying “you’re wrong” is no longer enough. The argument isn’t sufficient. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-williamson-firing-by-the-atlantic-cowardly/

This is my great concern, that it’s not enough to disagree, even vehemently or savagely, that now we must ruin. And by "we," I mean "all of us" rather than just one "side" or another.
Click to expand...

I guess that comment on abortion, a crime punished by up to an including hanging did him in

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

The podcast in question was a National Review show called “Mad Dogs and Englishmen,” which is hosted by Mr. Williamson and the NationalReview.com editor, Charles C. W. Cooke. The episode that dealt with abortion received renewed attention after it was turned up this week by the liberal media watchdog group Media Matters. At one point during the episode, Mr. Williamson said of abortion, “I would totally go with treating it like any other crime up to and including hanging.”
Click to expand...
 
I'm tired of hate being spewed daily by the Right and Cons.

Mr. Williamson said of abortion, “I would totally go with treating it like any other crime up to and including hanging.”
Click to expand...

I'm no fan of abortion, but it's NOT a crime so this hate filled moron is calling for the hanging of women who get abortions and doctors who perform them. He's supposedly pro-life, but is calling for the killing of people..

So in other words, **** Mr. Williamson.
 
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nota bene said:
Conservative writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic last month and was fired this week. His hiring angered liberals; his firing has angered conservatives. Here are links and various points of view:

NY Times:
The outrage over the writer, who spent many years as a correspondent for National Review, fell squarely into a burgeoning culture war over free speech, gender issues and questions about which views deserve a megaphone as prominent as The Atlantic, a magazine that relies on a heavily liberal readership.

In announcing Mr. Williamson’s new role last month, [Editor-in-Chief] Goldberg acknowledged that he had “disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him.” But he praised Mr. Williamson’s writing as stylish, witty and “ideologically interesting,” and said he envisioned The Atlantic as “a big tent for ideas and argument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

Jack Shafer writing at Politico, says that Williamson, who is an excellent writer, is not the loser here and that Goldberg’s “rapid embrace and rejection make the Atlantic a lesser place” and “Let’s be real here: Kevin Williamson wasn’t sent packing for expressing strong language on abortion but for being Kevin Williamson. The very things that made him so appealing to Goldberg were destined to lead to his exit.” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/06/kevin-williamson-atlantic-jeffrey-goldberg-217831

When Kevin Williamson’s name came up during lunch yesterday, this, by David French, is what I quoted:

And so it goes, the steady, inexorable division of America into the tolerable and the intolerable — with the range of tolerable people narrowing ever-so-rapidly. There’s no grace in this brave new world. There’s no charity. It’s not enough to disagree. Now we must ruin. Now we must humiliate. Saying “you’re wrong” is no longer enough. The argument isn’t sufficient. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-williamson-firing-by-the-atlantic-cowardly/

This is my great concern, that it’s not enough to disagree, even vehemently or savagely, that now we must ruin. And by "we," I mean "all of us" rather than just one "side" or another.
Click to expand...

We have entered an era of politics where disagreement MUST be treated as a grave and imminent threat to the continuation of our chosen political path. We are at the doorstep of a change from a Republic founded on the principles of individual liberty to a quazi socialist state where individual liberty must be limited "for the good of the whole".

The Globalists can never implement the changes they sincerely believe to be the only way to save society from itself unless they eradicate Individualists. Individualists aren't about to allow such a usurpation of fundamental liberty to happen so we're at an impasse.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
I'm tired of hate being spewed daily by the Right and Cons.



I'm no fan of abortion, but it's NOT a crime so this hate filled moron is calling for the hanging of women who get abortions and doctors who perform them. He's supposedly pro-life, but is calling for the killing of people..

So in other words, **** Mr. Williamson.
Click to expand...

Thanks for being part of the problem. :roll:
 
nota bene said:
Conservative writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic last month and was fired this week. His hiring angered liberals; his firing has angered conservatives. Here are links and various points of view:

NY Times:
The outrage over the writer, who spent many years as a correspondent for National Review, fell squarely into a burgeoning culture war over free speech, gender issues and questions about which views deserve a megaphone as prominent as The Atlantic, a magazine that relies on a heavily liberal readership.

In announcing Mr. Williamson’s new role last month, [Editor-in-Chief] Goldberg acknowledged that he had “disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him.” But he praised Mr. Williamson’s writing as stylish, witty and “ideologically interesting,” and said he envisioned The Atlantic as “a big tent for ideas and argument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

Jack Shafer writing at Politico, says that Williamson, who is an excellent writer, is not the loser here and that Goldberg’s “rapid embrace and rejection make the Atlantic a lesser place” and “Let’s be real here: Kevin Williamson wasn’t sent packing for expressing strong language on abortion but for being Kevin Williamson. The very things that made him so appealing to Goldberg were destined to lead to his exit.” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/06/kevin-williamson-atlantic-jeffrey-goldberg-217831

When Kevin Williamson’s name came up during lunch yesterday, this, by David French, is what I quoted:

And so it goes, the steady, inexorable division of America into the tolerable and the intolerable — with the range of tolerable people narrowing ever-so-rapidly. There’s no grace in this brave new world. There’s no charity. It’s not enough to disagree. Now we must ruin. Now we must humiliate. Saying “you’re wrong” is no longer enough. The argument isn’t sufficient. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-williamson-firing-by-the-atlantic-cowardly/

This is my great concern, that it’s not enough to disagree, even vehemently or savagely, that now we must ruin. And by "we," I mean "all of us" rather than just one "side" or another.
Click to expand...

Well, it's understanding that, he really means the brutal and intolarant things he puts forth, it's not an act. He was inciting violence against people who had abortions. It's one thing to have an opinion about abortion and to disagree with it, .. another to incite violence.
 
nota bene said:
Thanks for being part of the problem. :roll:
Click to expand...

Are you implying that people believing it is okay to hang women who have abortions isn't the problem but rather the problem being that people get outraged over someone saying the execution of women who have abortions is a good thing?
 
nota bene said:
Thanks for being part of the problem. :roll:
Click to expand...

Yeah, so called 'pro-life' people calling for the death of others isn't the problem, people like me pointing out their hate and hypocrisy is. :roll:

You fit right in with the current Republican party and their hate filled allies in the Con media like Williamson. In other words, YOU are THE problem. Instead of criticizing Williamson and his hypocrisy you attack the people who point out how wrong and hypocritical his position is.
 
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SenorXm/Sirius said:
Yeah, so called 'pro-life' people calling for the death of others isn't the problem, people like me pointing out their hate and hypocrisy is. :roll:

You fit right in with the current Republican party and their hate filled allies in the Con media like Williamson. In other words, YOU are THE problem. Instead of criticizing Williamson and his hypocrisy you attack the people who point out how wrong and hypocritical his position is.
Click to expand...

My point, which you missed entirely, is stated in the last two sentences of the OP. So I guess I should also explain that I did not comment at all on the pro-life/pro-choice debate because this wasn't my point. :roll:
 
RAMOSS said:
Well, it's understanding that, he really means the brutal and intolarant things he puts forth, it's not an act. He was inciting violence against people who had abortions. It's one thing to have an opinion about abortion and to disagree with it, .. another to incite violence.
Click to expand...

Is it inciting violence to declare that people who rob should be incarcerated or that people who murder should be executed? NO, it is not. So his statement was not inciting violence. Thats silly. I dont know the man, but clearly he has beliefs about abortion that most dont share. Obviously, he considers it murder and feels those who commit murder should be dealt with as murderers. I think he is wrong about that and his language fairly absurd, but it is not 'incitement' nor 'hate'
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
Yeah, so called 'pro-life' people calling for the death of others isn't the problem, people like me pointing out their hate and hypocrisy is. :roll:

You fit right in with the current Republican party and their hate filled allies in the Con media like Williamson. In other words, YOU are THE problem. Instead of criticizing Williamson and his hypocrisy you attack the people who point out how wrong and hypocritical his position is.
Click to expand...

No, actually you are the problem. It was you who injected hate and intolerance into the thread
 
nota bene said:
My point, which you missed entirely, is stated in the last two sentences of the OP. So I guess I should also explain that I did not comment at all on the pro-life/pro-choice debate because this wasn't my point. :roll:
Click to expand...

Your 'last 2 sentences of the OP' is just a dodge, nothing more. This guy is calling for the killing of people, that's not 'ruining' people's lives, it goes far beyond that. Being fired and calling for the killing of people is day and night. You're trying to compare the 2 so you can minimize what Williamson said, and what many on the Right believe.

All he did was lose his job, he can easily get another job on Fox or Breitbart.
 
Fletch said:
No, actually you are the problem. It was you who injected hate and intolerance into the thread
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me? Read the OP. That's what Williamson message is all about. Killing and hanging people.

I didn't start the thread. I didn't 'inject' anything.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
Are you kidding me? Read the OP. That's what Williamson message is all about. Killing and hanging people.

I didn't start the thread. I didn't 'inject' anything.
Click to expand...

Apparently Williamson believes that abortion is murder and that people who murder should be put to death. Thats an extreme view to be sure but it isnt hate. If you are confused about what hate is and what hate looks like, read your own posts.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
Your 'last 2 sentences of the OP' is just a dodge, nothing more. This guy is calling for the killing of people, that's not 'ruining' people's lives, it goes far beyond that. Being fired and calling for the killing of people is day and night. You're trying to compare the 2 so you can minimize what Williamson said, and what many on the Right believe.
Click to expand...

No my last two sentences are my thesis. What apparently hasn't occurred to you is that I created this thread in this forum and wrote the OP that I did, concluding with my thesis, because there is a larger issue to discuss than Williamson himself or the particulars here.

And with that, I'm going to Dante patiently explaining to you.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
I'm tired of hate being spewed daily by the Right and Cons.



I'm no fan of abortion, but it's NOT a crime so this hate filled moron is calling for the hanging of women who get abortions and doctors who perform them. He's supposedly pro-life, but is calling for the killing of people..

So in other words, **** Mr. Williamson.
Click to expand...

Well, at least you started off with a unifying theme, such luuuuv you show for those hate spewing "Rights and Cons".

Its obvious to us all, the hate is all from the right, doz dirty wotten paytwee-ots

I'll hand it to you, you do practice what you preach. I think it easily surmised that carrying out the law against murder in the womb will only be painful at first. Then the offending women and their doctor accomplices start serving time... or worse. Message sent.

Dont worry...yet. Of course, of course that will only be after we change the law, not before...even though they, doctors and parents, will be no less the true and contemptible culprits they really are until then.

Yano?

And look, you ended full cicle back on your original spewing of pure love theme, bless your kind heart.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
Yeah, so called 'pro-life' people calling for the death of others isn't the problem, people like me pointing out their hate and hypocrisy is. :roll:

You fit right in with the current Republican party and their hate filled allies in the Con media like Williamson. In other words, YOU are THE problem. Instead of criticizing Williamson and his hypocrisy you attack the people who point out how wrong and hypocritical his position is.
Click to expand...

What is a problem is your side putting an innocent life on the same level as a convicted, by his peers after judge and jury render a guilty beyond reasonable doubt verdict on a premeditated murderer...and then side with the convicted planner of taking an innocent life.

Maybe you could advocate for both, but not the criminal over innocent. Itd be kinda like giving illegal immigrants rights superior to U S citizens.

Thats batsy at best.
 
Fletch said:
Apparently Williamson believes that abortion is murder and that people who murder should be put to death. Thats an extreme view to be sure but it isnt hate. If you are confused about what hate is and what hate looks like, read your own posts.
Click to expand...

I have yet to call for the deaths of anyone. So don't put me in with Williamson. I know that's a favorite tactic of you Cons, you don't defend the haters in the GOP, you instead attack the people who point out the hate and flaws of the GOP. But that doesn't work with me.

You're saying calling for the murder of people isn't hate? BUT my posts are hate? Like I said use that BS tactic elsewhere.
 
SenorXm/Sirius said:
I have yet to call for the deaths of anyone. So don't put me in with Williamson. I know that's a favorite tactic of you Cons, you don't defend the haters in the GOP, you instead attack the people who point out the hate and flaws of the GOP. But that doesn't work with me.

You're saying calling for the murder of people isn't hate? BUT my posts are hate? Like I said use that BS tactic elsewhere.
Click to expand...

So calling for murders to be put to death for their crimes is hate? How so?
 
Fletch said:
So calling for murders to be put to death for their crimes is hate? How so?
Click to expand...

Crimes Mr. Williamson? Is that you? I know you Cons can't see past the 2nd Amendment. But abortion is not a crime.

I'm done here. You are proving me point. No need to continue.
 
nota bene said:
Conservative writer Kevin Williamson was hired by The Atlantic last month and was fired this week. His hiring angered liberals; his firing has angered conservatives. Here are links and various points of view:

NY Times:
The outrage over the writer, who spent many years as a correspondent for National Review, fell squarely into a burgeoning culture war over free speech, gender issues and questions about which views deserve a megaphone as prominent as The Atlantic, a magazine that relies on a heavily liberal readership.

In announcing Mr. Williamson’s new role last month, [Editor-in-Chief] Goldberg acknowledged that he had “disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him.” But he praised Mr. Williamson’s writing as stylish, witty and “ideologically interesting,” and said he envisioned The Atlantic as “a big tent for ideas and argument.” https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html

Jack Shafer writing at Politico, says that Williamson, who is an excellent writer, is not the loser here and that Goldberg’s “rapid embrace and rejection make the Atlantic a lesser place” and “Let’s be real here: Kevin Williamson wasn’t sent packing for expressing strong language on abortion but for being Kevin Williamson. The very things that made him so appealing to Goldberg were destined to lead to his exit.” https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/04/06/kevin-williamson-atlantic-jeffrey-goldberg-217831

When Kevin Williamson’s name came up during lunch yesterday, this, by David French, is what I quoted:

And so it goes, the steady, inexorable division of America into the tolerable and the intolerable — with the range of tolerable people narrowing ever-so-rapidly. There’s no grace in this brave new world. There’s no charity. It’s not enough to disagree. Now we must ruin. Now we must humiliate. Saying “you’re wrong” is no longer enough. The argument isn’t sufficient. https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/kevin-williamson-firing-by-the-atlantic-cowardly/

This is my great concern, that it’s not enough to disagree, even vehemently or savagely, that now we must ruin. And by "we," I mean "all of us" rather than just one "side" or another.
Click to expand...

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kevin-williamson-fired-atlantic_us_5ac66563e4b09d0a1191532b

Earlier Thursday, a company-wide event had been scheduled in which Atlantic editor Adrienne LaFrance was set to interview Williamson in front of staff, according to several Atlantic employees, but the meeting was canceled at the last minute.

This news comes just weeks after The Atlantic announced Williamson’s hiring, which immediately sparked an uproar from people concerned that the publication was giving space to a man who compared a 9-year-old black child to a primate and, now most famously, said that women who get abortions should be hanged.
Click to expand...

THAT'S why they got rid of him, and well they should have. The guy that hired him needs a trip to the woodshed himself.
 
Lutherf said:
We have entered an era of politics where disagreement MUST be treated as a grave and imminent threat to the continuation of our chosen political path. We are at the doorstep of a change from a Republic founded on the principles of individual liberty to a quazi socialist state where individual liberty must be limited "for the good of the whole".

The Globalists can never implement the changes they sincerely believe to be the only way to save society from itself unless they eradicate Individualists. Individualists aren't about to allow such a usurpation of fundamental liberty to happen so we're at an impasse.
Click to expand...

Williamson IS a grave an imminent threat. His thinking does not need to out in the mainstream.
 
Fletch said:
So calling for murders to be put to death for their crimes is hate? How so?
Click to expand...

But did Kevin Williamson call for this? Did he actually incite violence? Was he simply being over-the-top provocative, particularly given that he also said that he's generally "squishy" on capital punishment?

Here are snippets of what he said (in 2014), which presage his tweet: https://www.mediamatters.org/blog/2...-who-ve-had-abortions-should-be-hanged/219857

But trying to return to the topic, Katherine Mangu-Ward at Reason.com says (while acknowledging that she herself has been the "beneficiary of this doublethink on ideological diversity):

Williamson expressed the view that abortion is murder and should be punished to the full extent of the law (although he also later indicated that he has mixed feelings about capital punishment). I do not share his view. But by declaring Williamson to be outside the Overton window of acceptable political discourse because he believes strongly that abortion is a serious, punishable crime, The Atlantic is essentially declaring that it cannot stomach real, mainstream conservatism as it actually exists in 21st century America.

...But if The Atlantic purports to capture a broad spectrum of American political views, Williamson's firing is a sign that it hasn't yet figured out how to do so. And the reader outcry against him (and his rightish heterodox kinfolk at The New York Times) is a sign of a market that has grown increasingly squeamish about a genuinely inclusive journalistic vision. https://reason.com/blog/2018/04/05/kevin-williamson-fired
 
jet57 said:
Williamson IS a grave an imminent threat. His thinking does not need to out in the mainstream.
Click to expand...

So you're a fan of thoughtcrime being punished.
 
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