"Women-Should-Be-Hanged for abortions" conservative loses his writing gig

[Demovictory9]

The Atlantic is “parting ways” with conservative grenade hurler Kevin Williamson, after Media Matters surfaced a podcast appearance in which the writer reiterated his stance that women who had abortions should be hung. In light of this new information, Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in a letter to staff on Thursday, “I have come to the conclusion that The Atlantic is not the best fit for his talents.”

The magazine’s decision last month to hire Williamson as one of its new “ideas columnists” was met with an immediate backlash, thanks to his track record of extreme anti-abortion, racially insensitive, and transphobic commentary. (I personally referred to him as a “verbose and hateful troll,” because his writing often seems aimed at needlessly provoking and demeaning his targets.) Much of the discussion about Williamson’s hiring focused on a 2014 Twitter exchange in which the longtime National Review writer suggested that women who terminate their pregnancies should be hung. As the controversy spiraled, Goldberg wrote a memo to Atlantic staffers arguing that while Williamson’s comments weren’t necessarily acceptable, he was a talented writer who deserved another chance, and had shown some personal growth by deleting his Twitter account.

***

It turns out Williamson’s women-should-be-hanged comment wasn’t just an offhand tweet. In a 2014 episode of a National Review podcast, Williamson said he was “absolutely willing to see abortion treated like a regular homicide under the criminal code,” adding, “I would totally go with treating it like any other crime up to and including hanging.” He later explained his preference for hanging: “I’m kind of squishy about capital punishment in general, but I’ve got a soft spot for hanging as a form of capital punishment. I tend to think that things like lethal injection are a little too antiseptic.”

https://slate.com/business/2018/04/the-atlantic-parts-ways-with-kevin-williamson-over-women-should-be-hanged-comments.html

[DetlefK]

1. I have a counter-proposal: What about death-penalty for white-collar crimes?

If you get sentenced in a case that carries more than $1 million in damages, it's an automatic death-penalty.

In cases of theft or bribery or insider-trading or falsification of documents or tax-evasion... If the money we're talking about is more than $1 million, you get the death-penalty.

[JHB]

4. ...and if corporations are people, my friend,...

...perhaps their executives, board members, and top shareholders should also be personally responsible for criminal actions by their collective “person”.

[Iris]

2. Deleting Twitter account shows personal growth?

Jesus, Goldberg. No, it doesn’t. It shows you are trying to cover something up.

I’ve been done with The Atlantic for years now.

[femmedem]

3. The Atlantic is one of my favorite magazines. "The Case for Reparations" by Ta Na-hesi Coates

which ran around the time you stopped reading The Atlantic is masterful and opened many people's eyes to redlining, racially restrictive covenants and the explicit racism in federal housing policies throughout much of the twentieth century.

Their marking of the 50th anniversary of MLK's assassination is terrific.

It's a shame that their brief hiring of this hateful misogynist is overshadowing the overall excellence of their writers.

[Lonestarblue]

5. I agreeThe Atlantic is well worth reading.

I wrote an email to the magazine objecting to their hiring of Kevin Williamson, as I suspect many other subscribers did. Such email messages may or may not have made a difference, but it’s hard for a reputable magazine to defend keeping a writer who is so blatant in his hatred for women’s rights.

[oberliner]

6. Was he doing satire/parody?

Even a RW op-ed writer wouldn't suggest "hanging" women who have abortions and be serious about it.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Probably Not

Now, just being a verbal bomb thrower might be a reason, but that doesn't make it satire. It just makes it opportunistic nonsense.

[MrsCoffee]

8. No. Did you even read the article?

In his letter announcing Williamson’s departure, Goldberg wrote that 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. The tweet was not merely an impulsive, decontextualized, heat-of-the-moment post, as Kevin had explained it. 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.”

[Demsrule86]

10. Yes there are people who want to see women receive the death penalty for abortion.

Many are called Republicans...and Trump himself has called for women to be 'punished' in a TV interview for having an abortion.

[Demsrule86]

11. I am surprised also at the defense of the RW...of course they would call for the hanging of women

who have abortions or sending them to jail to rot...it is who they are.

[KitSileya]

14. No. He was serious.

Link to tweet

[oberliner]

15. Yeah - I get it now

Unbelievable that this sort of thing is considered legitimate on the right.

[dlk]

9. Republicans Have Emboldened the Women-Haters

It's not just Isis and the Taliban.

[Cha]

12. Jaysus.. "real talented".. I remember

it was posted here when it happened. Nice to see the Atlantic(Jeffrey Goldberg) got woke up about it.

[Freddie]

13. That's how they think

Williamson just left his filter off a few times. In "pro-life" world our lives are completely negligible compared to a few cells.