Before the firing of Kevin Williamson from The Atlantic passes into history, let me use it to illustrate a weapon often wielded by “progressives” in battles against conservatives in the Western world. When the firing was announced, the reliably ridiculous Jessica Valenti chimed in with her hot take on Twitter:
I still believe Williamson never should have been hired, but I’m so glad @TheAtlantic is now taking this seriously. Most of all, I am very relieved for the women who work at the magazine.
I call this the pretension of menacing, or Pretend-Menacing, the feigned belief that the very presence of a conservative in a given institution causes women, homosexuals, trans, or whatever justifiable fear in the workplace. The only solution to such a state of affairs is to remove the conservative from the institution; no more Kevin Williamson at The Atlantic, even if he lives in Chicago. (Notice this is the same sham justification Google gave for firing James Damore).
The notion that Kevin Williamson, an overweight middle-aged man with no history of violence would cause fear among The Atlantic’s female staff is ridiculous on its face and should be dismissed out of hand. And in fact, very few people believe it. But many people pretend to believe it for ideological and partisan gain. They pretend to believe in Pretend-Menacing to exclude conservatives from public life.
When leftist radicals gain absolute power, such as in Cuba and Venezuela, they proceed to exclude conservatives from public life though the power of the state. Magazines, television and radio stations are ‘bought’ or closed. Access to the internet is curtailed. Before long, people are afraid to express their views in public, fearing for their livelihood, or even their lives. What people like Jessica Valenti are attempting to do, through litigation, is a lighter version of the same thing; you better watch what you say in public, or else you won’t be able to ply your trade.
Menacing, actual menacing, is a crime defined by state legislatures in the United States. Pretend-Menacing is a power play.
