We’d completely forgotten that retiring Arizona Senator Jeff Flake had even written a book. “Conscience of a Conservative” reportedly explained Flake’s break with the Republican party on many issues, which of course resonated with the New York Times’ Jennifer Senior, who gave the book a positive review.
But now she’s taking that review back.
Every once in a while, a book critic gets it wrong. I was wrong to praise Jeff Flake's book. My column about it: https://t.co/LQXMDF3miG
— Jennifer Senior (@JenSeniorNY) November 13, 2018
So why praise Flake’s book and then change your mind? Senior maintains that Flake is a class act, but …
But are these our only standards for Trump critics? Good manners?
When his book came out last year, I saluted Flake for doing something politically contraindicated and Rubicon-crossing, establishing himself as the first Republican senator to call President Trump the domestic and international menace that he is. I applauded him for describing the president’s tweets as “all noise and no signal” and for daring to charge his administration with Orwellian doublespeak, “dividing us along fissures of truth and falsity and keeping us in a kind of low-level dread.”
So Senior applauded Flake for some of his anti-Trump tweets, but then something shocking happened: Flake voted with Trump 84 percent of the time, and therefore his entire book was null and void. Orange man bad, Jeff Flake bad.
Isn't there a difference between praising Jeff Flake and praising Jeff Flake's book? What does one have to do with the other? You look petty.
— BigJim (@BigJimNC55) November 13, 2018
Recommended
Did the NYT threaten your job?
Did you get ratioed on Twitter for giving praise to a conservative?
Did Antifa threaten you and your family?— Bitter Grizzly (@Bitter_Grizzly) November 13, 2018
"Jeff Flake voted for policies I disagree with so I'm taking back nice things I said about his book." That doesn't seem petty at all.
— George Graham (@george_f_graham) November 13, 2018
You think he was obliged to become a liberal? That’s a nonsensical argument. https://t.co/wX29H6YzCp
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) November 13, 2018
So basically, if you don't vote against Trump 100% of the time, NO PRAISE FOR YOU! https://t.co/dsrlcTfvme
— Pam D (@lifebythecreek) November 13, 2018
So you’re not allowed your own opinion?
— Matt P (@Mpachol) November 13, 2018
Pathetic
— Lewis P. (@_Sweet_Lew) November 13, 2018
Luckily the people who never took you seriously weren’t wrong.
— Brosnan Hamilton (@brosnanhamilton) November 13, 2018
Your commitment for standing up for your own beliefs is truly inspirational.
— renoirfuzzlebutt (@renoirfuzzlebu1) November 13, 2018
So basically, you have no spine. Got it. Guess you don't need one working for the nyt.
— Doug Kenney (@Acyalone) November 13, 2018
Point to the doll where Jeff Flake hurt you.
— Henry Brooks (@HudsonBrooks2) November 13, 2018
Hey Sen. Flake … consider this a preview of how the media will treat you if you try to run as a centrist in 2020. It won’t go well for you. Maybe CNN will take you on as a token “conservative” panelist if you smile more, though.
Related:
Wolf Blitzer asks Jeff Flake if Trump has a ‘unique responsibility’ to apologize to CNN at Wisconsin rally https://t.co/KwyrAWLQY2
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) October 24, 2018
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