Check out my NYT piece on the right-wing media’s tendentious takes on accused bomb-threatener Juan Thompson. Here’s the lede:
Fate seems to have dropped a giant gift on the doorsteps of right-wing pundits and Twitter activists. Last Friday, the F.B.I. announced the arrest of a suspect in a series of bomb threats aimed at Jewish Community Centers and other Jewish organizations across the country, and he wasn’t some Trump-loving white supremacist with a history of violence and a racist manifesto in tow. No, he was a man of the left, a reporter fired from the left-leaning website The Intercept for fabricating quotes and sources.
Read the rest at the NYT.
That aside, yes, excellent article, David! The fact that everybody in the media, on both sides (as much as “Right-wing idiots” and “Willing to pander for ratings to right-wing idiots” can be considered “Sides”), has brushed this point under the rug has been annoying the shit out of me.
Disclaimer: I don’t think Hillary or Bernie was an ideal candidate and I’m not taking sides on that or “internal Leftist issues” here.
The “Berniebros” are nothing new. They’re essentially libertarian-leaning Democrats who agree with right libertarians on everything except economics. So they’re thoroughly reactionary on almost everything else, and they would be labeled as right-wingers in a traditional sense. The “Left” is traditionally those who critique social hierarchy and support marginalized groups like poor people, women, people with disabilities, various types of minorities, etc. Leftists generally view freedom as a type of self-actualization in community rather than a lack of responsibility to help others. The notion of what a “left-wing” economic position is changed radically over time.
Unfortunately, it’s too common for stalkers to get really extreme if they’re seeking revenge for getting rejected.
Congrats, David!
I remember thinking, some months back, that “world politics have drifted in such a way that David Futrelle has accidentally become one of the most relevant writers in the modern day.” I’m glad to hear that the Grey Lady agrees.
Hello.
Good one, Mr Futrelle.
Indeed, they zap the domestic violence and harassment part, because to them, it is something that does not exist, some kind of pink elephant.
And to everyone, have a nice International Woman Day !
Clarifies both the criminal behaviour, its context and the mess the media have made of reporting it. It’s one hell of a thing, to be able to make an interconnected tangle of fuck-ups so clear – chapeau, David.
Congratulations! Good article. It’s about time your expertise on the harms of the entitled mindset that played a crucial part in gettingTrump into power is highlighted in ever more mainstream publications. Gods know this world needs more level-headed writers and journalists in the public eye.
Adding to the applause. Well done, David!
The NY Times has no standards anymore.
Best wishes for International Women’s Day also!
The women who inspire me:
My first cousin and aunt whose daily strength is only enriched by their ingeniousness at living life to the fullest: no challenge can withstand the force of their ingenuity.
My surrogate sister D., my sister-in-arms who jumped out of planes with me long ago, an amazing soldier, intellectual and bibliophile who shares a passion for learning. Long ago Saddam shot SCUD missiles at her but she was too tough for him. She has loved me as her own brother for 25 years and touched my heart always. I trust her with my life and soul. Having overcome as I did a difficult background, she is the true sister that the Goddess or the universe or whatever you believe in sent so I could feel the pure love between brother and sister.
My beloved partner the brilliant, amazing gorgeous and sexy Ms. Pavlov’s House who works 50 million billion hours per week as the most knowledgeable, professional and compassionate nurse in the entire history of the nursing profession and whose steel-trap of a mind is nevertheless always ready to talk about bibliophily, military history, Russian history, and art and look like a million bucks all the time. “Tireless Brilliance”=her.
Coming on the heels of the Jamie Kilstein revelations… I think it’s incumbent upon all of us to be wary of those who purport to be enlightened because they happen to hold left-wing views. With Kilstein, I’m getting this distinct Hugo Schwyzer vibe with an unhealthy dose of Jian Ghomeshi. I remember listening to his podcast with Allison Kilkenny probably back in… must have been 2009 and as much as I tried to like him, his voice was just insufferable.
As for this Thompson guy… if he was a former Intercept writer, that tells me so much about his character. And if he was too unscrupulous for Greenwald… just says it all.
Congrats on landing an NYT column, Dave! Now they just need to fire David Brooks and Ross Douthat and hire you permanently.
Oh, and happy International Women’s Day all! The Google Doodle was adorable!
Wow, congratulations. Its so fantastic to see your usual great research (and the article was great) get picked up by one of the big mainstream media outlets. Especially at a point where so much of the white supremacist and misogynist fringe has been normalized by the Trump candidacy and administration, as well as ambiguous coverage by mainstream media outlets. Really great news.
@SFHC
Oops, sorry. My bad.
@David:
Nice going, congrats!
@everyone and OT:
We’ve got a stall at #WOWLDN at the Southbank center in London from Friday to Sunday. Just wanted to say please come and say hi if you happen to be there, would be nice to meet you.
Company’s called Ingenues, so you can find us.
Congrats, David! Great article.
Oh, hey, Dave. One card carrying liberal from the North East here at your service! So, to begin, let me say congratulations on getting published in the Times. It says a lot about you and the Times.
I chose the name Veery because a Veery is a bird that makes a beautiful, charismatic sound. It draws you closer. Makes you curious. Isn’t that the effect you seek when you write for the Times, a pulpit with enormous reach? Though I agree with the spirit of your Op-Ed, would you be willing to consider the following?
Is there really such a thing as a phony threat? Isn’t a threat a threat?
Can it really be said that Mr. Thompson’s threats are a-political and not deliberately directed at American Jewish organizations? It’s not as if he threatened The American Society of Numismatics, or Dunkin Donuts along with 97 other non-Jewish organizations.
Is it really fair to say Mr. Thompson’s threats aren’t serious just because they are fueled by an obsession with a woman? After all, John Hinckley shot the President and almost killed James Brady all for the love of Jodie Foster.
I think these questions are important because your piece pivots to the problem of violence against and harassment of women in our society. If carefully argued, an Op-Ed in the New York Times can direct even more attention and resources to this terribly important issue.
You earned a byline on the NYT. Congrats.
My heroines, who work hard at everything they do:
My mother, who grew up in a small conservative town in the 50s and 60s and became a brilliant geneticist. She did some gene-mapping work back in the 80s (which helped pave the way for the Human Genome Project) and now manages a department at her local hospital. She also knits beautiful scarves, hats, and sweaters.
My mother-in-law, a retired lawyer and current professor. She’s also active in the community and in women’s causes, and her hobbies include belly dancing and fitness instruction.
My sister-in-law, an emergency doctor. Her job is harder than most, but she hasn’t given up yet. She’s a fitness enthusiast like her mother, and loves to ride her horse, climb, and run.
Bless them and all the other amazing, inspiring women out there.
Congratulations, David! May this be the beginning of even greater things for you!
I’m celebrating/supporting this Day Without a Woman/International Women’s Day by wearing one of my only* two red shirts, not spending money and nominally looking after my house guest (Husbeast’s nephew).
And, of course, tending to Catbeast, who is doing quite well for a cat we thought wouldn’t make it through the week last week.
*Don’t know why I only have two; I both like red and look pretty good wearing it, as long as it’s not an orangey red.
Congrats, David
@Gussie Jives
I second firing David Fucking Brooks and replacing with David Futrelle. I’d buy a nyt subscription in that event!
Can anybody here access the comments to that article? It seems I can’t from my phone.
Just wondering if there’s any gems in them so far.
Thanks again everyone!
FWIW, I did have one previous NYT clip, in the book review, but that was a loooong time ago.
Hey, Paul Elam noticed my piece:
https://twitter.com/anearformen/status/839569849441521670
https://twitter.com/anearformen/status/839572185324875781
Tate’s Veery, it looks to me like Thompson chose to threaten Jewish organizations because threats to such organizations were in the news and that way he could also smear his ex as being anti-Semitic.
He doesn’t have a history of posting anti-Semitic stuff. Obviously he doesn’t seem to care that his actions hurt Jews but I don’t think that was his motivation.
I’m not sure what point you’re making with the question about the seriousness of his threats. Obviously they had to be taken seriously when he made them; they are terrorism because they scared the hell out of people even though he never actually made or planted any bombs.
Nonetheless I described them as phony because not only were there no bombs but he doesn’t seem to have had any intention of making any bombs.
I think it’s semantically correct to speak of ‘phony’ threats when there’s no evidence that they would ever actually be carried out. We do after all refer to ‘real’ threats when we mean there is a risk of follow up, so it’s not unusual to qualify the word ‘threat’.
I won’t bore you with the legal aspects; although of course there it’s often relevant whether a threat is ‘real’ or not in terms of legal consequences.
And whilst of course the mere making of a threat can have a traumatic effect on the recipient(s)/target(s); even or despite them not knowing if it will be carried out it’s common to ask ‘is this a serious threat?’ and I suspect most people understand what is meant by that.
w00t!
Aaaaand I hit the paywall. Oh well, I did get to read it on my iPad. Big congrats!
Congrats, man!