Once upon a time, The Atlantic hired Kevin Williamson, a conservative columnist who likened a black child to a primate, wrote that transwomen were effigies, and tweeted that women who have abortions should be hanged. The Atlantic said all this was OK, because that was just a bad tweet. Then it transpired it wasn't just a bad tweet after all. Then The Atlantic fired Kevin Williamson. And everyone li͞v̕ed̷ h̞͈͉̠̙͙̯a̻̫̭̥̼͚p̤͔̮̺̣̳͡p͞ily̗̭̱̞ ͓͙̗̖ͅe̡̼̣͓̤͐̋v͙̗͛͗̚͜ẻ͊͊ͭͭ̈ṟ̊̆̊ ̷͉̦͈͓á̸͍̮̪̮̥̼̳̗̱̲̼͕̦̩̭̤̩̯̺f̵̳̝̣̳͖͜͢ͅt̨̢̳̠̗̲̯̦͇̲̝͍̦̰̪͍͔́͘ȩ̗̠͚̯̺̣͔͕̥̜̖̘̭̘͎̘͞r͏̻̜̪̱̳͔̪̠̗͖͚͈̀͘͘͟
Atlantic EIC Jeffrey Goldberg:
"The language he used in this podcast—and in my conversations with him in recent days—made it clear that the original tweet did, in fact, represent his carefully considered views."
What an absolute moron. The real problem was never Williamson. It was the blithe, disinterested, detached hiring of any spicy Never-Trump conservative that comes along without the slightest reflection or serious regard given to what they otherwise write, say and believe. Goldberg humiliated himself, and in their rush to defend him countless conservatives made absolutely clear that political violence -- which is what hanging women means in a country where no-one has been hanged for decades -- is quite to their taste.
When people tell you who they are, believe them.
