So, is this Kevin Williamson person really a good writer? At first we couldn't imagine that he isn't, since The Atlantic wanted to hire him. But then, here have been plenty of talented people who have been awful excuses for human beings. (Ezra Pound and Richard Wagner, for example, were notorious anti-Semites.)
Williamson, it turns out, is a crude hatemonger. He's gone after African Americans, transgender people, Mexicans, Muslims, federal workers, union members, the Obamas, Maya Angelou and the Parkland kids. But it's his penchant for saying women who have abortions should be hanged that's just forced Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg to can him.
As a result, Williamson is trending on Twitter tonight — and there are plenty of tweeps, most of them with male names and avatars, who are bemoaning his plight. Forgive us cats if we continue to insist that nobody without a uterus has credibility on this issue.
What's more disturbing is The Atlantic's willingness to hire Williamson in the first place. Editor Goldberg, who's probably never given the idea of unplanned pregnancy a second thought, apparently believed that bringing a vaguely menacing-looking right winger on board would generate buzz. He insisted that Williamson was an "excellent reporter" and that the hanging tweet was just an isolated incident. This website performed an important public service by proving Goldberg wrong.
Jeffrey Goldberg not only revealed his cluelessness about Williamson. He also betrayed all non-male readers of his magazine and, not incidentally, every woman on his staff. In his change-of-heart email, he tried to backtrack by saying Williamson did not represent "the values of our workplace." Too late, Jeff: You violated those values already. We cats are super-glad we don't work for you, and we HISS.
(IMAGE: Cat Ballou, of course!)
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