Patterico's Pontifications

7/17/2020

Sully: If MSM Will Not Host Diversity of Opinions, Non-MSM Needs To Pick Up The Slack

Filed under: General — Dana @ 12:42 pm



[guest post by Dana]

He’s right.

From Andrew Sullivan’s farewell letter:

A critical mass of the staff and management at New York Magazine and Vox Media no longer want to associate with me, and, in a time of ever tightening budgets, I’m a luxury item they don’t want to afford. And that’s entirely their prerogative. They seem to believe, and this is increasingly the orthodoxy in mainstream media, that any writer not actively committed to critical theory in questions of race, gender, sexual orientation, and gender identity is actively, physically harming co-workers merely by existing in the same virtual space. Actually attacking, and even mocking, critical theory’s ideas and methods, as I have done continually in this space, is therefore out of sync with the values of Vox Media. That, to the best of my understanding, is why I’m out of here.

Two years ago, I wrote that we all live on campus now. That is an understatement. In academia, a tiny fraction of professors and administrators have not yet bent the knee to the woke program — and those few left are being purged. The latest study of Harvard University faculty, for example, finds that only 1.46 percent call themselves conservative. But that’s probably higher than the proportion of journalists who call themselves conservative at the New York Times or CNN or New York Magazine. And maybe it’s worth pointing out that “conservative” in my case means that I have passionately opposed Donald J. Trump and pioneered marriage equality, that I support legalized drugs, criminal-justice reform, more redistribution of wealth, aggressive action against climate change, police reform, a realist foreign policy, and laws to protect transgender people from discrimination. I was one of the first journalists in established media to come out. I was a major and early supporter of Barack Obama. I intend to vote for Biden in November.

It seems to me that if this conservatism is so foul that many of my peers are embarrassed to be working at the same magazine, then I have no idea what version of conservatism could ever be tolerated.

If the mainstream media will not host a diversity of opinion, or puts the “moral clarity” of some self-appointed saints before the goal of objectivity in reporting, if it treats writers as mere avatars for their race and gender or gender identity, rather than as unique individuals whose identity is largely irrelevant, then the nonmainstream needs to pick up the slack. What I hope to do at the Weekly Dish is to champion those younger writers who are increasingly shut out of the Establishment, to promote their blogs, articles, and podcasts, to link to them, and encourage them. I want to show them that they have a future in the American discourse. Instead of merely diagnosing the problem of illiberalism, I want to try to be part of the solution.

While Sullivan lost me when he ghoulishly obsessed over Sarah and Trig Palin, I nonetheless hope his new/old gig provides a “safe” space for vigorous and open debate from every political persuasion.

–Dana

39 Responses to “Sully: If MSM Will Not Host Diversity of Opinions, Non-MSM Needs To Pick Up The Slack”

  1. Hello.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  2. […] or puts the “moral clarity” of some self-appointed saints before the goal of objectivity in reporting […]

    When I hear the words “objectivity in reporting”, Andrew Sullivan is definitely the first name that comes to mind.

    Dave (1bb933)

  3. I came back to Sullivan’s writing last year after a long hiatus, and it was as good as ever, without all the excitable overreactions (including his obsession over Palin’s uterus). I wish him well. I think he and Bari Weiss should team up, become the liberal wing of The Dispatch.

    Paul Montagu (5ffc5f)

  4. Oh good grief. I’m glad Sullivan wasn’t cancelled and unemployed, but damn if I’m now going to applaud him because the crocodile ate him last. Sullivan never lost a day’s sleep over conservatives – and I mean real conservatives (not those who vote for Pelosi/Schumer/Biden) – getting cancelled. He quotes stats that on 1% of Professors self-identify as Conservatives. Well, how did it get that way? How many true right-wingers did Sullivan hire when he was editor of the New Republic? Very few if any.

    Basically, after “cancelling” everyone to the Right of Joe Biden and Barrack OBama, the LEft is now going after the few remaining heretics. Its nothing more than Stalin going after his fellow communists as “counter revolutionaries”. Like Trotsky, Sullivan was fine sending all the Right wingers to the “Gulag” – but now its his turn and he doesn’t like it.

    What makes it even funnier, is no one was/is more intolerant than Sullivan on issues he cares about. When he supported the Iraq war, everyone who opposed was an patriotic traitor, or a Jew hater. When he flipped to opposing the war, then everyone who supported it was a warmongering monster and Arab hater.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  5. BTW, Sullivan is now on Substack, and each writer charges what they think the market will bear a month. Its an interesting group, and I assume it frees the writer to concentrate on his writing and not have to worry about details of having their own blog.

    I noticed Erickson had a blog at $7/month which made me laugh out loud. As if someone would pay $7 for someone to say “both sides are wrong” and “Google and CNN sure are great”.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  6. rcocean’s right that there’s a lot more money in taking a side and zealously carrying water for it. It’s been quite a show watching formerly conservative pundits, some quite clever and dry during Obama’s admin, become just plain stupid and angry. But we all know why. $$$$$

    Dustin (d0158a)

  7. Sullivan is prickly, pompous, and petty. He and I would probably get along like gangbusters. And I agree with Dana that his behavior towards Sarah Palin was bizarre and inexcusable. It will always be a huge stain on his record. But at heart he seems to understand that conservatives are correct on at least half of the issues (hence his slow drift back towards the leftmost edge of the center-right), and to his credit he recognizes how modern progressive orthodoxy threatens to undermine the whole American Experiment.

    JVW (ee64e4)

  8. I came back to Sullivan’s writing last year after a long hiatus, and it was as good as ever, without all the excitable overreactions (including his obsession over Palin’s uterus).

    Yeah, I couldn’t get over that. That a journalist would be so immensely invasive and destructive toward a family, toward a woman and her baby was beyond the pale. I think that Sullivan has long-owed Palin a public apology for his bad judgment and hurt caused her and her family.

    Dana (25e0dc)

  9. And how:

    “ As of March 31, the group had raised at least $2.5 million from donors who appreciate its anti-Trump extremism. Attacking the entire GOP and all of conservatism while still calling yourself a conservative is, evidently, a lucrative gig. “The Lincoln Project reported spending nearly $1.4 million through March,” according to Open Secrets. “Almost all of that money went to the group’s board members and firms run by them.”

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/principled-conservative-lincoln-project-is-paving-the-way-for-pelosi-and-schumer-to-overhaul-the-economy
    __

    harkin (5af287)

  10. rcocean’s right that there’s a lot more money in taking a side and zealously carrying water for it.

    I agree. However, even here at this site, I have felt a push from certain commenters to go hard right, or else be negatively labeled X (fill in the blank). As time goes on, there seems to be less room at the inn for moderate center-left or right, at least not without some condemnation from the edges of the spectrum. Hm, all of which might explain why there isn’t “a lot more money” here at P’s place!

    Dana (25e0dc)

  11. There’s zero evidence Sullivan “in his heart” is 50% conservative. Sullivan always votes for liberal democrats, he trashed Trump, he trashed Palin, he’s not a conservative at all. In fact, he deliberately labels himself a “conservative” or a “Moderate Conservative” because he knows it upsets REAL conservatives.

    He’s a perfect example of these weird ying/yang thing the Left and Right have. The Left labels you a non-Leftist if you disagree with them on 3 issues. Three Strikes and you’re out. The Right is so pathetic and needy, it will call anyone who agrees with them on three issues their friend for life, and a conservative. Good Lord, remember Charles Johnson. He had to call conservatives Nazis and fascists for six months before they FINALLY accepted their relationship was OVER and Johnson was a lefty.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  12. Just as a reminder. Sullivan is a big-time Pot smoker and used to go “bareback riding (look it up) when he had AIDS. I don’t trust his judgment, to say the least.

    rcocean (2e1c02)

  13. 11. 12.

    I’m a proud small-l libertarian for just that reason. Being “conservative” means less and less these days in any practical sense.

    Gryph (08c844)

  14. he’s learned nothing, like syme, in 1984, new york would never allow another tom wolfe type iconoclast, taibbi is interesting on substack, so is kaus,

    narciso (7404b5)

  15. chaitred is another minitrue worker likely to be cancelled,

    narciso (7404b5)

  16. @10 I run into this problem a lot as well.

    Nic (896fdf)

  17. I agree. However, even here at this site, I have felt a push from certain commenters to go hard right, or else be negatively labeled X (fill in the blank). As time goes on, there seems to be less room at the inn for moderate center-left or right, at least not without some condemnation from the edges of the spectrum. Hm, all of which might explain why there isn’t “a lot more money” here at P’s place!

    Dana (25e0dc) — 7/17/2020 @ 2:11 pm

    Yeah something tells me you won’t get rich writing posts here. And I’m exhibit A that it’s more tempting to comment when you disagree than when you’re nodding your head.

    Over time I think the loud partisans are boring and the post Trump era will lead to a lot of reflection. Andrew Breitbart’s passing was probably one of the biggest losses for folks who think like I do. Things seem to have really gone downhill from there.

    Instapundit is also a fantastic way to compare cognitive decline on the right. Quirky geek con law professor on 9/11. Relentless volume of work. Interesting discussions of literature, science, medicine, law, culture. Certainly has a predictable perspective, but it was based on ideas, and not really ‘in the tank.’ Eventually a pack of (bluntly) losers start commenting and half the posts are literally selling something, and the blog is more of a reassurance to a specific set that they are always right, and anyone who disagrees is a crazy horrible unperson. It became a much less happy place.

    It’s like my Chief told me when he heard I was going back to school. Why go to your death bed pursuing a bigger paycheck when you love what you’re doing right now? What’s that really worth? (I still went back to school though).

    Dustin (d0158a)

  18. Andrew is incrasingly irrelevant, day-by-day; sooooooooooo 20th century.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  19. Mr Sullivan wrote:

    If the mainstream media will not host a diversity of opinion, or puts the “moral clarity” of some self-appointed saints before the goal of objectivity in reporting, if it treats writers as mere avatars for their race and gender or gender identity, rather than as unique individuals whose identity is largely irrelevant, then the nonmainstream needs to pick up the slack.

    But that’s just it: how many people read our host’s very popular but still very much non-mainstream medium compared to those who read even the circling-the-drain Los Angeles Times? How many people listed to various conservatives’ podcasts compared to CNN or MSNBC?

    The Dana in Kentucky (229a56)

  20. JVW wrote:

    Sullivan is prickly, pompous, and petty. He and I would probably get along like gangbusters. And I agree with (the much nicer) Dana that his behavior towards Sarah Palin was bizarre and inexcusable. It will always be a huge stain on his record.

    Don’t jump on the bandwagon because Mr Sullivan is right on this particular issue; he’s no conservative, and is wrong about almost everything else. In a way, he’s like Bari Weiss, who proclaimed herself a centrist, and supported two conservative causes, the preservation of Israel as a Jewish state, and freedom of speech. In everything else, she falls on the liberal side of the spectrum, though she does at least avoid the whacko left.

    The Dana in Kentucky (229a56)

  21. Sullivan may annoy, or go off on a snipe hunt at times, but he does not bully easily. In a world that seems composed of bullies from the Oval Office to assistant deans of faculty, when Twitter has become a bullyverse, the person stands up for principle — ANY PRINCIPLE — is fighting on the right side.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  22. no goya for sullivan

    mg (8cbc69)

  23. And maybe it’s worth pointing out that “conservative” in my case means that I have passionately opposed Donald J. Trump and pioneered marriage equality, that I support legalized drugs, criminal-justice reform, more redistribution of wealth, aggressive action against climate change, police reform, a realist foreign policy, and laws to protect transgender people from discrimination. I was one of the first journalists in established media to come out. I was a major and early supporter of Barack Obama. I intend to vote for Biden in November.

    There’s a reason he put conservative in quotes because even he admits he isn’t one. But he wouldn’t walk in lockstep with the communist left so he no longer has a job with “proper” company.

    But it’s not that different with how so many establishment Republicans think they will throw Trump supporters away after the establishment supports Biden in November.

    NJRob (d214ac)

  24. He disowned conservatives when they stood by marriage and didn’t support homosexual unions.

    NJRob (d214ac)

  25. Sullivan may have described himself as a conservative, but he never convinced me of it. Some of his positions may be moderate or right-leaning but, to me, that’s as far as it goes. Nevertheless, he’s at least willing to engage with those on both sides of the aisle, and he can make some well thought out arguments. Like with Bari Weiss, he’s an important voice who shouldn’t be canceled or shouted down by Intolerant Illiberal Left.

    Paul Montagu (5ffc5f)

  26. The first lesson is to realize who is the real enemy

    https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray/status/1284291133099536384

    Narciso (7404b5)

  27. Sullivan may annoy, or go off on a snipe hunt at times, but he does not bully easily.

    But he does easily bully others. (See: Sarah Palin)

    Dana (25e0dc)

  28. JVW @7

    (hence his slow drift back towards the leftmost edge of the center-right)

    Wouldn’t that just be the center? 🙂

    norcal (a5428a)

  29. harkin (5af287) — 7/17/2020 @ 2:04 pm

    It seems a lot of people din’t understand that the GOP is no longer a conservative party. It’s a reactionary right wing party. The Democrats are trending towards becoming a reactionary left wing party, bur they haven’t gone as far down the road as the GOP has.

    Kishnevi (0ec3f1)

  30. Heck they barely react, much less active proactively against left attacks on every institution at every level.

    Narciso (7404b5)

  31. It seems a lot of people din’t understand that the GOP is no longer a conservative party. It’s a reactionary right wing party. The Democrats are trending towards becoming a reactionary left wing party, bur they haven’t gone as far down the road as the GOP has.

    Kishnevi (0ec3f1) — 7/17/2020 @ 8:22 pm

    The Democrat party is now an openly communist party.
    I see Eliot Engel just lost his primary to another AOC backed communist.

    NJRob (eb56c3)

  32. They dont care njrob, they just hope to eaten last

    Narciso (7404b5)

  33. “The line it is drawn and the curse it is cast. For the times they are a changing!” The new black plague (virus) and trump’s incompetence speeded up the process of the break down of authority. 60 years ago bob dylan saw the future. What does sanctity of life or right to life mean when we have triage. People are being given post natal abortions for not wearing masks. Monty pythons “bring out your dead!” or the last scene in ingmar bergmans 7th seal Where everyone is holding hands as they dance with the grim reaper to the grave yard scythe in hand!

    asset (a82779)

  34. @33 and @34 Do you understand that the far right has said so many things are “communist” over the last 20+ years that the word is just whitenoise at this point? You have diluted the meaning so much by calling everything you don’t like “communist” that you just sound like the boy who cried wolf. Maybe some day something you’ll say is “communist” is actually communist, but everyone will just tune you out.

    Nic (896fdf)

  35. @35 I’m definitely feeling the Dylan vibe.

    Now the bricks lay on Grand Street
    Where the neon madmen climb
    They all fall there so perfectly
    It all seems so well timed
    And here I sit so patiently
    Waiting to find out what price
    You have to pay to get out of
    Going through all these things twice

    Oh, Mama, is this really the end
    To be stuck inside of Mobile
    With the Memphis blues again

    Dave (1bb933)

  36. Andrew Sullivan:

    If the mainstream media will not host a diversity of opinion,

    But if course they deny that they are doing it – part of his is to tell, obvious lies, ad refuse to let them be contradicted.

    Sammy Finkelman (37a793)

  37. 36. Nic (896fdf) — 7/17/2020 @ 11:28 pm

    @33 and @34 Do you understand that the far right has said so many things are “communist” over the last 20+ years that the word is just white noise at this point?

    Communist is the wrong word, but AOC and company are something. Iff the wall, if serious, and too closely connected to what Jonah Goldberg called liberal fascism.

    Sammy Finkelman (e1ddc6)


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