Richard Cohen, its time to put away the pen.
— J. C. (@BluesmanJC) November 12, 2013
As far as where he should put it is concerned, tweeters have a pretty good idea.
Now, granted, people have come to expect crap from Cohen:
People haven't been this outraged since the last Richard Cohen column, before the last Richard Cohen column, and the one before that.
— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) November 12, 2013
I'm not naive enough to be surprised by any of this, but that doesn't mean I'm not pissed. Fuck Richard Cohen. And fuck @washingtonpost too.
— Joshua Yu Burnett (@joshuayuburnett) November 12, 2013
But the WaPo opinion columnist has managed to pull off the impressive feat of pissing off just about everyone across the political spectrum with his most recent offering. For this column, Cohen “took the Internet Express out to Iowa, surveying its various newspapers, blogs and such to see how [Gov. Chris Christie] might do in the GOP caucuses.” What he concluded was that a moderate like Christie would fare poorly in Iowa thanks to the state’s “cultural conservatives.” And here’s why:
Today’s GOP is not racist, as Harry Belafonte alleged about the tea party, but it is deeply troubled — about the expansion of government, about immigration, about secularism, about the mainstreaming of what used to be the avant-garde. People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York — a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts — but not all — of America. To cultural conservatives, this doesn’t look like their country at all.
Attention, people with “conventional views”: Multiracial families and lesbianism make you physically ill.
Sorry, but what the hell?
Lots of people criticizing Richard Cohen’s column today, so presumably I follow a lot of anti-Semitic Iowan tea partiers.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) November 12, 2013
Well Richard Cohen just managed to offend everyone and it's not even noon yet.
— Stephen Miller (@redsteeze) November 12, 2013
The day is young, yet.
To his credit, Richard Cohen has successfully found a way to get John Nolte and Ezra Klein to agree about something
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) November 12, 2013
It’s true:
No, gagging over interracial marriage is not the ‘conventional view’ http://t.co/uqMIgGfdNp
— Ezra Klein (@ezraklein) November 12, 2013
Nice going, Richard.
Huh? "People with conventional views… repress a gag reflex when considering a white man married to a black woman." http://t.co/yXSjJuCtkx
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) November 12, 2013
How can the Washington Post not can Richard Cohen after this? pic.twitter.com/DR3dCrQ4si
— Mike Riggs (@MikeRiggs) November 12, 2013
It’s easy to see why Cohen’s column has conservatives so disgusted. After all, we’re once again being told that being conservative automatically makes us racist and homophobic. But what about the Left? What’s got so many liberals upset enough to demand that Cohen gets the boot?
SOMEONE (“someone”?) EDITED (“edited”?) THAT RICHARD COHEN COLUMN, PEOPLE. That is what I’m trying to say. http://t.co/uEfvMRjJj6
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) November 12, 2013
So This Is The One That Is Finally Going To Get Richard Cohen Fired From Washington Post, Right? RIGHT? http://t.co/DX6HmC5JVS
— Wonkette (@Wonkette) November 12, 2013
Our Richard Cohen splash pic.twitter.com/MYKshDx00A
— HuffPost Media (@HuffPostMedia) November 12, 2013
There’s even a petition up at Change.org:
I enjoy the brevity of this http://t.co/oNxzCgRQIo petition saying Richard Cohen should be fired (via @RSwirling) http://t.co/5rWo8UCI2s
— Elise Foley (@elisefoley) November 12, 2013
From the petition linked above:
Richard Cohen’s columns are filled with racist assumptions and statements that have no place at The Washington Post. The latest instance is his assertion that the “conventional view” is to gag at interracial relationships (nevermind that 87% of Americans disagree). He previously wrote that a fear of Trayvon Martin was “understandable” given the way he was dressed at the time of his death. These views are reprehensible, and The Washington Post should not provide Richard Cohen with a platform to espouse his racist beliefs. Tell Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post – It’s time to fire Richard Cohen.
But why? Many of the angry liberals seem to think that Cohen himself feels like gagging when he sees multiracial families.
http://twitter.com/#!/astrocanine/status/400303165804773376
Woke up this morning to find out that my marriage is gag inducing. Thanks, Richard Cohen! I might have gone on forever in ignorance.
— Shivam Bhatt (@elektrotal) November 12, 2013
But, frankly, that’s not what he wrote.
@gholson: The way that bolded passage is written makes it sound like he is one of those people with "conventional views," even if he isn't.
— Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) November 12, 2013
@gholson @mousterpiece It's the word choice. "People with conventional views" don't want to throw up when they see an interracial couple.
— Jason Bailey (@jasondashbailey) November 12, 2013
@gholson: Sure. Again, I think it's a case where his tone and word choice were poorly chosen.
— Josh Spiegel (@mousterpiece) November 12, 2013
Poor word choice, perhaps. But those words are nonetheless being misinterpreted by the Left to suit the “Richard Cohen is racist” narrative. Speaking of which:
Gawker shaming Richard Cohen for writing a piece characterizing Tea Party like every Gawker commenter ever would
— Robert James (@RobertJamis) November 12, 2013
Exactly. Liberal media outlets like Gawker have made falsely bashing conservatives their bread and butter. If they’re angry with Cohen, it’s certainly not because he made “conventional” conservatives look like backward racist homophobes.
Trying to decide if #RichardCohen is crazy or if he's a liberal plant to make righties look bad http://t.co/EzBy2cppuw
— Rachael Larimore (@RachaelBL) November 12, 2013
Tough call. If anything, Cohen’s column has reinforced one of the Left’s most cherished demonization tactics.
I find Cohen's column substantially indistinguishable from much of the liberal election year punditry.
— David Freddoso (@freddoso) November 12, 2013
Exactly.