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> The short summary is that he actually does not believe that abortion should be punished by hanging as you suggest. An excerpt: It wasn't really my suggestion

> The short summary is that he actually does not believe that abortion should be punished by hanging as you suggest. An excerpt: It wasn't really my suggestion, it was a quote from a larger NYT article. Sorry, I should have sited it, but it hardly seems crucial to what I was saying: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-williamson-atlantic.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/05/business/media/kevin-will... Evidently the decision to fire him was informed by more than a single ill-considered statement. (Of course it was.) Let's be honest, from the viewpoint of an Atlantic editor, hiring a guy who thinks it's a funny joke to make would have been as bad as hiring a guy who actually believes it. The problem appears to be that The Atlantic did not do proper due diligence before hiring. That is bad for everyone concerned.

zeveb 9y ago
> Let's be honest, from the viewpoint of an Atlantic editor, hiring a guy who thinks it's a funny joke to make would have been as bad as hiring a guy who actually believes it. The Atlantic hired Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is far more extreme on the other side of things. It wouldn't have hurt to have someone to counterbalance him.
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- justin66 9y ago
  Te-Nehasi Coates went from being a nobody to a prominent writer during his tenure at The Atlantic. It's possible their readership would enjoy a conservative "counterbalance" of some kind in addition to the conservative contributors they currently employ, but if there's a group that's likely to be offended in a big way by jokes (or sincere, heartfelt positions) that involve hanging people, this is it. The only anomaly here is that the guy was hired in the first place. > far more extreme on the other side of things If you say so.
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- watwut 9y ago
  Ta-Nehisi Coates is not trolling. I cant recall a single trolling article from him. He is serious. And also, there was nothing that striked me as extreme in his articles. He is also remarkably not emotional in his writing - he does not go out of his way to elicit emotional response the way Williamson does. Nor he is having serious argument, pardon joking, pardon serious, oh really just a joke but I kinda mean it in his writing.
humanrebar 9y ago
He didn't say it was funny. He said it was ridicule. Getting people all worked up in their ignorance was the goal. His error was being too effective in practice.
- justin66 9y ago
  What you've described sounds a lot more like a candidate for an AM radio gig than The Atlantic. You've got to wonder if the editor in chief vetted him at all.

zeveb 9y ago

> Let's be honest, from the viewpoint of an Atlantic editor, hiring a guy who thinks it's a funny joke to make would have been as bad as hiring a guy who actually believes it. The Atlantic hired Ta-Nehisi Coates, who is far more extreme on the other side of things. It wouldn't have hurt to have someone to counterbalance him.

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justin66 9y ago
Te-Nehasi Coates went from being a nobody to a prominent writer during his tenure at The Atlantic. It's possible their readership would enjoy a conservative "counterbalance" of some kind in addition to the conservative contributors they currently employ, but if there's a group that's likely to be offended in a big way by jokes (or sincere, heartfelt positions) that involve hanging people, this is it. The only anomaly here is that the guy was hired in the first place. > far more extreme on the other side of things If you say so.
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watwut 9y ago
Ta-Nehisi Coates is not trolling. I cant recall a single trolling article from him. He is serious. And also, there was nothing that striked me as extreme in his articles. He is also remarkably not emotional in his writing - he does not go out of his way to elicit emotional response the way Williamson does. Nor he is having serious argument, pardon joking, pardon serious, oh really just a joke but I kinda mean it in his writing.

humanrebar 9y ago

He didn't say it was funny. He said it was ridicule. Getting people all worked up in their ignorance was the goal. His error was being too effective in practice.

justin66 9y ago
What you've described sounds a lot more like a candidate for an AM radio gig than The Atlantic. You've got to wonder if the editor in chief vetted him at all.