17 Comments

One point in this blog deeply resonated with me: the Hitchens note. I absolutely identified with that. Hitchens meant the world to me as I was growing up for the same reasons Jack mentions, but I can’t defend a lot of his work today. The way this piece frames growth, and growth beyond your heroes, felt like a revelation. Well done.

Expand full comment

I very strongly feel like the 'please fuck off' series is kind of unsuited for Andrew Sullivan. There should in fact be a meaner titled series of it just for Sullivan because he's been told to fuck off so many times already.

so anyways, I went to check out his silly blog because I hadn't done so till now, clicked on his 'response' to Ben Smith's piece and basically only made it till the subheader: "I've aired every side of the issue. That's what journalists do."

Uhmmm fuck off????? That's what journalists do? What the hell is it with their stupid on steroids neutrality? View-from-nowhere journalism is silly anyways but even if you are super eager to preserve your 'journalistic objectivity', refusing to give — for example — a Nazi or a Racist objective coverage or any coverage at all absolutely does not compromise your journalistic integrity.

But who am I kidding here anyways? Sullivan doesn't give a shit about objectivity, it's basically just a front for him to spread his bullshit and create the impression that it is as valid as the truth because you absolutely have to "air out every side of the issue."

Expand full comment

I didn't know who Sullivan was until he was doing his SullyDish grift. Friends fowarded me his emails, they relished what they thought was his clear-eyed takes on news of the time. It sucked. It was pretty obvious that he was a transphobe and a racist. I told them he sucked. Pretty glad to be on the right side of history. Hopefully he stops posting soon.

Expand full comment
Sep 2, 2020Liked by Jack Crosbie

Ok, so confession time. I copypasted this article into an email for a friend who isn't a subscriber. What that means is Gmail included the HBO video you screenshotted and dear lord. What a murderers row of mediocrities. Hurts my brain thinking about it

Expand full comment
Mar 25·edited Mar 25

Anyone who thinks criticism of a religion or set of ideas and conflates them with race is dumb. Cough cough the writer of this poor blog. End of story. Go take a bath and clean off your guilt instead of attempting to act high and mighty. Pussy

Expand full comment

This article is a bit 2woke4me I'm afraid

Expand full comment

Back when I was a teen, Sullivan's blogs were special to me. I loved reading them, as they were the first shocking things to enter my suburban household. Legal pot! Gay marriage! My uncle had been living with his now husband for several years before I ever read Sullivan, but it was refreshing to see someone I saw as smarter than me champion it and in my defense, growing up in suburban Iowa is boring. To my regret, I never figured out the man's ardent passion for race science until very recently, but the facade really started to break with the onset of Gamergate and his defense of the morons who started it. (He may have deleted the blog post- but it was very stupid and featured somebody who would go on to become a member of the IDW) He's someone whose writing I'm embarrassed to have ever recommended to anyone, and more than anything I want him to log off.

Expand full comment