We’re seeing reports that The Atlantic has fired conservative columnist Kevin Williamson for the crime of actually standing behind what he has said publicly:
Kevin Williamson has been fired from The Atlantic.
From Jeffrey Goldberg's letter to staff: "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."
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) April 5, 2018
"The tweet was not merely an impulsive, decontextualized, heat-of-the-moment post…Furthermore, the language used in the podcast was callous and violent. This runs contrary to The Atlantic’s tradition of respectful, well-reasoned debate, and to the values of our workplace."
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) April 5, 2018
I still believe Williamson never should have been hired, but I'm so glad that @TheAtlantic is now taking this seriously. Most of all, I am very relieved for the women who work at the magazine.
— Jessica Valenti (@JessicaValenti) April 5, 2018
Full memo:
Full memo from Atlantic editor Jeff Goldberg to staff on Kevin Williamson pic.twitter.com/8R7rtEoS5L
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) April 5, 2018
This makes it clear that Williamson was fired for his views that abortion is murder and should be treated as such:
Wow. This memo makes it clear that if Kevin had not really held his deep convictions on the criminal immorality of abortion, he'd still have a job. https://t.co/d9nfGsRGZr
— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) April 5, 2018
Here’s some of the early reaction:
This makes it sound like Kevin Williamson was a violent sexual predator or something. My goodness #Snowflake https://t.co/2ELYKp8ffU
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 5, 2018
Disgusting to see the liberal thought police punishing Kevin Williamson for a decade of things written, tweeted, and said during a series of heated gaming moments.
— David Roth (@david_j_roth) April 5, 2018
Someone needs to print up Kevin D. Williamson t-shirts with the phrase "The limits of acceptable public debate." And that says a lot about the Atlantic and the NY Times, not Kevin. https://t.co/RY6XbQuo8I
— Jazz Shaw (@JazzShaw) April 5, 2018
If this is true, then this is completely shameful on @TheAtlantic. https://t.co/35oovJFzER
— Elliott Hamilton (@ElliottRHams) April 5, 2018
Editor’s note: Kevin Williamson was Greg Pollowitz’s editor while at NRO.
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