The Atlantic to Conservative Writers: You Need Not Apply

Kevin Williamson is a smart writer who developed a name for his hard-hitting, thoughtful writing over at National Review.  Recently, he transitioned from the conservative publication that William F. Buckley founded, and moved over the The Atlantic.  The Atlantic is not a conservative publication, neither is it supposed to be a liberal publication.  Ideology is not part of the constitution of the publication…  at least on the surface.

But when Williamson was hired, the editor-in-chief had lots of explaining to do.

“I have disagreed with him more than I have agreed with him (an irrelevant metric when you’re the editor; not when you’re a reader), but I recognized the power, contrariness, wit, and smart construction of many of his pieces,” said The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg after the hire.  Funny, why should the editor-in-chief feel the need to justify the hiring of a conservative, if the magazine has no political bent?

Williamson’s hiring caused all sorts of internal turmoil… turmoil that was short lived when after one piece, he was unceremoniously fired.  Apparently, people went back and listened to a podcast that he recorded with National Review a few years ago, in which he answered a hypothetical question.  He was asked what should happen to women who have abortions, if abortions were actually outlawed.  He said that he would prefer the death penalty.

Now, I disagree with that position.  However, Williamson obviously takes his pro-life stance seriously, a stance that he has talked about for years and years — one that should be discussed. This is what makes Ben Shapiro believe that The Atlantic simply caved to pressure.  Shapiro pointed out the egregious double standard.

… the Left is fine with abortion-on-demand and eugenic abortion targeting Down Syndrome babies. And The Atlantic is totally fine with Ta-Nehisi Coates, who wrote that 9/11 first responders were “not human to me,” but Williamson is unacceptable.