May 19, 2014
NEW YORK TIMES FIRES EDITOR; SEXISM BLAMED
Last Wednesday, Jill Abramson, The New York Times’ first female executive editor, was abruptly fired, whereupon she abruptly blamed sexism and alleged she was being paid less than the previous editor, an evil white male. She was promptly replaced by Dean Baquet, who became the paper’s first black executive editor.
Many in the press corps eagerly pounced upon Abramson’s “falling off the glass cliff” narrative, citing the presumed dangers of “Editing While Female.”
On Saturday, the Times’ publisher, Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., issued a statement refuting that Abramson was being paid less than her predecessor Bill Keller. Sulzberger claimed that in her last year, Abramson’s pay package was actually 10% higher than Keller’s had been. He stated that she was dismissed “for reasons having nothing to do with pay or gender” and insisted that the Times was “very proud of our record of gender equality,” all while gently insinuating that during her tenure, Abramson had been an insufferable bitch.
Since both Sulzberger and Abramson are Jewish, at least anti-Semitism wasn’t blamed for this one.
STUDY: JEWS STILL NOT UNIVERSALLY LOVED
Speaking of that horribly persistent human soul-virus known as anti-Semitism, a recent survey by the undeniably unbiased Anti-Defamation League concluded that fewer than half of global respondents under age 35 were aware of the Holocaust. The poll included over 50,000 interviews in over 100 countries and asked respondents whether they agreed with statements such as “Jews are more loyal to Israel than [their home] country,” “Jews have too much power in the business world,” and “Jews have too much control over the global media.”
The survey wisely relied on “negative opinions” rather than demonstrable facts, which may be why it replaced the phrase “too much” with “numerically disproportionate.”
For reasons unknown but which are probably humorous, Laos ranked as the globe’s least “anti-Semitic” country. A mere 9% of Americans ranked as anti-Semitic compared to 24% of Europeans and 74% of those in the Middle East and northern Africa. South Koreans scored a robust 53% on the anti-Semitism scale, but it’s common knowledge that they don’t really like anyone.
In other news, the authoress of an entirely fabricated Holocaust memoir was ordered to pay back the $22.5 million she earned in royalties from the book because, well, what she said happened never happened. And a Hispanic cabbie from The Bronx insists that it’s his right to wear a swastika armband while shepherding passengers around his highly Semitic city.
IDAHO’S WACKY G.O.P. DEBATE
Coastal sophisticates enjoyed some good culturally condescending”and thus implicitly bigoted, though they’d likely never admit it”belly laughs at two of the rubes that appeared at last week’s Idaho GOP gubernatorial debate. Standing at podiums alongside incumbent Governor Butch Otter and “serious” challenger Russ Fulcher were two fat white-bearded men named Harley Brown and Walt Bayes. Brown, appearing in a leather vest and an extremely gay-looking leather biker cap, claimed he has “a master’s degree in raising hell” and boasted that he was “about as politically correct as your proverbial turd in the punchbowl.” Bayes, a father of 16, read biblical verses and claimed that his ex-wife had served him with “trumped-up restraining orders” which caused him to temporarily live in “Fat Jack’s cellar.” Video of the full debate can be viewed here.
NEW HAMPSHIRE COP DROPS “N” BOMB, REFUSES TO REPENT
Although public floggings of people who make untoward comments about blacks seem to be a daily occurrence, we can’t remember the last time any of these sacrificial lambs refused to apologize. We bring you glad tidings”the waiting is over! Robert Copeland, reviled as an 82-year-old white police commissioner “in a predominantly white New Hampshire town””as if there’s something wrong with a town being predominantly white”was reportedly overheard referring to Barack Obama as a “nigger” in a local restaurant back in March. In response to the predictable outcry that followed his alleged comment being publicized, Copeland sent an email to fellow officers:
I believe I did use the “N” word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse [sic]….For this, I do not apologize”he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.
We expect him to be either dead or forced out of office by year’s end.
