1. Who wants to watch @sullydish egregiously & completely misrepresent another writer? It's an edifying experience.
2. In New York, @sullydish quotes a tweet from @sarahjeong and characterizes it thus: "Or you could describe an entire race as subhuman."
3. But as @studentactivism points out, @sarahjeong's tweet original belonged to a sequence, which sheds light on what the quoted tweet means.
4. In sequence, the tweets read:
GOTTA HEAR BOTH Sides -- Andrew Sullivan
Are white people genetically disposed to burn faster in the sun, thus logically being only fit to live underground like groveling goblins.
let's hear both sides.
5. In other words, if we read the tweets in context, its clear that Jeong was not (absurdly) arguing that white people are "genetically disposed to burn faster, etc." Rather, she was parodying the scientific racism of ... Andrew Sullivan.
6. This is one example but it stands as a synecdoche for the larger controversy. Jeong made statements which are clearly jokes/satires/jibes & bad faith readers like Sullivan insist on reading them as racism.
7. Now, here is a very clear-cut case of @sullydish misrepresenting someone. Will he apologize? Will @NYMag issue a retraction & apology? LOL.
8. It's easy enough to criticize Andrew Sullivan. Let's take it step further and ask about New York magazine editor Adam Moss (is he on twitter?)
9. Adam Moss made the decision that @sullydish, someone who finds Asian names & accents to be inherently funny, was a good person to write about the Jeong controversy.
10. Addendum. This lays out in an even clearer manner the fact that the tweet Sullivan objected to was one parodying Sullivan himself:
11. Addendum II: This by my colleague @onesarahjones is good: newrepublic.com/article/150404…
12. Addendum: @sullydish is avidly promoting a charming fellow who a) is offended at a joke making "rice cooking app for white people" b) repeatedly uses the phrase "white genocide" without irony. c) reads a joke about alt-right paranoia about "white genocide" literally
13. The concept "white genocide" has a particular provenance. It's a signature concept of the alt-right. @sullydish is helping mainstream this idea and Adam Moss is totally okay with that.
14. Here's the thing. If you are offended by "rice cooking app for white people" how do you deal with "White Men Can't Jump," Eddie Murphy's "White Like Me" or, in fact, 99% of hack stand up comedy?
15. Hypothesis: leftists tend to slightly over-rate Evelyn Waugh & Anthony Powell out of a nostalgia for conservatives who understood irony & satire.
16. Oh look, the Jeong critic that @sullydish avidly promoted & repeatedly re-tweeted thinks we should keep an open mind about Pizzagate. Cool, cool.
17. So, to recap: in his eagerness to discredit Sarah Jeong, @sullydish promoted a guy who believes alt-right theory that "white genocide" is a real threat & is Pizzagate curious. And Adam Moss is okay with this & doesn't think it reflects poorly on New York magazine. Cool!!!!
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