Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg hired the brilliant conservative writer Kevin Williamson away from National Review two weeks ago. At work this week Williamson published his first Atlantic column, “The passing of the libertarian moment.” It also proved to be his last Atlantic column.
Was it something he said? Well, sort of, but not in the column. He was fired for previously expressed views advocating the propriety of treating abortion as homicide and the justice of capital punishment for the women who undergo it.
Goldberg is one whipped pussy. But Goldberg himself is little more than a symptom. He is a symptom of the left’s intolerance and hate. We didn’t need this particular demonstration to drive the point home. It is, however, a useful reminder. Below is the statement Goldberg issued yesterday.
Full memo from Atlantic editor Jeff Goldberg to staff on Kevin Williamson pic.twitter.com/8R7rtEoS5L
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) April 5, 2018
Victor Davis Hanson responded to Williamson’s Atlantic column at NR yesterday afternoon, shortly before his firing became public. VDH presciently observed: “Sadly, I think Kevin Williamson will soon find that National Review was far more tolerant of his controversial views than will be true at The Atlantic. As I noted in the essay in question concerning progressives’ situational regulation, so too the Left also embraces situational free speech.” You could say that again, but not before Goldberg fired Williamson.
We don’t yet have a full account of these events. The Daily Caller’s Justin Caruso sets forth the basics here. I hope we will hear from Kevin himself before long. At this point I defer to the comments of others. The Washington Post’s Callum Borchers collects a sampling of comments from Twitter here. I recommend:
• David French (NR);
• Jim Geraghty (NR);
• Erick Erickson (RCP;
• Matt Continetti (Free Beacon);
• Amber Athey (Daily Caller);
• Warren Henry (Federalist); and
• Ben Domenech (Federalist).
They are all worth reading.
Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.