Last month Atlantic hired Kevin Williamson, a fiery former National Review writer, what passes these days for a conservative these days. I didn’t considerate it worthy of comment. I just wasn’t interested.
Yesterday Atlantic fired him, apparently for repeating ideas he’d put forward frequently in the past. Is that more interesting and why?
I think it may be. That Mr. Williamson has ideas outside the political mainstream and a harsh way of expressing them should have been no surprise to Atlantic’s editors. Due diligence would have revealed that quite readily. That they are unable to stand up to pressure from others whose views may too be outside the political mainstream but in another direction sounds noteworthy to me, especially for a publication that considers itself a “thought leader”.
I’m not particularly exercised about it either way. I mention it only because it may be a bellwether of political discourse in the U. S. today.
“That they are unable to stand up to pressure from others whose views may too be outside the political mainstream but…..”
That they are unable to stand up to pressure from others whose views may too be outside the Atlantic’s dogma but…”
There. Better.
This was disappointing . They really caved in to the conservatives on this one. Williamson clearly articulates what an awful lot of conservatives believe. They should have left him alone and let him explain why we should prosecute and jail women who have abortions.
Steve
Didn’t know or care about this before first reading something about it here and on OTB. Still don’t care about it. To me it’s just another short chapter of the ongoing DC political soap opera.
” … explain why we should prosecute and jail women …”
I don’t know I’d go that far if I were an Atlantic editor, but perhaps … They could have told Williamson to keep the nasty side comments out of his other pieces and instead write a 3-6000 word piece explaining to liberals why so many conservatives are passionately anti-abortion, and suggesting ways to reconcile the two sides. (Perhaps we should extend Obamacare to subsidize healthcare and housing for poor pregnant women who intend to give up their unwanted infants to adoption?)
It would have left Williamson in a better mental state, I expect. It would have left the Atlantic in a better position with both liberals and conservatives. It actually might have enlightened some readers. Instead, we’ve all got … bupkis! And the heartwarming satisfaction of biting down hard on another ideological enemy.