NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence

[Jolly]

@lufins-dad said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

Why exactly do we give a shit about this guy?

I don't think anybody does, to be honest.

[George K]

Ahem...

This affair has produced several hypocrisies. First, if the Niskanen Center "draws the line at statements that are, or can in any way be interpreted as, condoning or promoting violence," then it would have to fire its president. Taylor has arguably used Twitter in a manner that suggests he condones violence. He rooted for antifa to punch out Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who waved their guns at protesters encountered on their private street. "If I were in that march, and these racist lunatics were waiving [sic] guns at me, I'd like to think I'd rush them and beat their brains in," said Taylor. "And I wouldn't apologize for it for one goddam [sic] second."

Unlike Wilkinson's tweet, there's little reason to assume this was meant in jest. And unlike Wilkinson, Taylor is the president of the organization and sets the tone for what is permissible. If the boss can tweet an unapologetic call to "beat their brains in," his employees might very well think that edgy humor is okay. Perhaps that's why Taylor deleted his statement regarding Wilkinson's firing—he realized that it impugned him as well. (Neither Taylor nor a spokesperson for the Niskanen Center responded to a request for comment. Wilkinson declined to comment.)

Another hypocrisy concerns the conservative news outlets that wrote about Wilkinson in the first place. Both The Federalist and The Daily Caller complain constantly about cancel culture, and favorably cover those who criticize it. They are often right to do so. (In fact, I have been quoted in The Federalist, The Daily Caller, and even a Niskanen Center report, about the perils of cancellation.) But when the time came to show the exact sort of mercy they otherwise would have called for had the subject been a victim of left-wing activists or the mainstream media, these elements of the right poured gasoline on this fire without any hesitation.

If you only criticize cancel culture when it's your side being canceled, then you aren't really attacking the concept—you're just playing defense for your team. That's why it's important to speak out on behalf of those facing social media mob justice, even when the victim is not a member of one's own ideological coalition.

Indeed, given that I am primarily known for criticizing cancel culture, Wilkinson—who once tweeted "Cancel culture, lol" and also suggested I branch out to "slightly more important stories"—may be the closest thing I have to an ideological foe. In that spirit, I oppose his firing, and encourage his employers to reconsider.

[Doctor Phibes]

@horace said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?

The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.

No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.

My neighbour's Trump-Pence sign is still up, with the Pence crossed-out. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

[Renauda]

Did Pence do something that upset your neighbour?

Personally I always thought Pence was doing as good a job anyone could do under the circumstances he worked.

[jon-nyc]

I think the Trumpiest ones were fine with him until he refused to try to overturn the election by unilaterally canceling certain states electoral votes.

The republicans that broke with Trump on his post election antics tended to gain respect for him, not wish him executed.

[Loki]

Will is toast by his own tribe and Pence is just fine.

That’s the real outcome.

[jon-nyc]

Yeah, the ones calling for Pence’s (literal) head were nothingfries on the plate with the nothingburger.

[Loki]

@jon-nyc said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

Yeah, the ones calling for Pence’s (literal) head were nothingfries on the plate with the nothingburger.

Actually they were part of a day of rapture cult. Cults have always existed and always well. You see it’s ultimately not logical to think a human can intervene to stop the day of rapture. The conclusion is it was the wrong day and false leader, get with the program, Jon.

[Catseye3]

Logical. Right.

[Aqua Letifer]

@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

@horace said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

@doctor-phibes said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

@george-k said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

Sorry to be an ignoranus, but what, exactly was the joke about Pence?

The joke is that the only thing the lefties and righties can agree on is that Mike Pence is a very bad man.

No, the left wants to convince people that the right thinks Pence is a really bad man.

My neighbour's Trump-Pence sign is still up, with the Pence crossed-out. It makes me laugh every time I see it.

The day it comes down I would slip them a letter, congratulating them on accepting reality.

[Jolly]

Basically, y'all are mostly full of crap. But, we knew that, anyway.

Pence's stock is up and if Trump decides not to run in 2024, I'd peg him as the early front-runner.

And if Biden is still alive, or not, I think he has a great shot at being a one-term President.

[Doctor Phibes]

@jolly said in NYT opinion writer calls for lynching Pence:

Basically, y'all are mostly full of crap. But, we knew that, anyway.

Not at all - I'd commented a few days ago that Pence has done himself a lot of good over the last couple of months.

Anybody that actually thinks that he betrayed America is an idiot, IMHO.