Bari Weiss: Political Discrimination is Bad ONLY After it Happened to Her

Former New York Times opinion columnist Bari Weiss should just come out and say it.

She’s tired of the day-to-day writing obligations and she wants that much sought-after, paid gig as a Fox News contributor. She probably hopes she fits most of their on-air aesthetic requirements.

A lot continues to be made over her resignation letter, so cue the sad, piano music bed….

Dear A.G.,

It is with sadness that I write to tell you that I am resigning from the New York Times.

Seriously, who in the private sector does this publicly?

I joined the paper with gratitude and optimism three years ago. I was hired with the goal of bringing in voices that would not otherwise appear in your pages: first-time writers, centrists, conservatives and others who would not naturally think of the Times as their home. The reason for this effort was clear: The paper’s failure to anticipate the outcome of the 2016 election meant that it didn’t have a firm grasp of the country it covers. Dean Baquet and others have admitted as much on various occasions. The priority in Opinion was to help redress that critical shortcoming.

Twitter is not on the masthead of the New York Times. But Twitter has become its ultimate editor. As the ethics and mores of that platform have become those of the paper, the paper itself has increasingly become a kind of performance space. Stories are chosen and told in a way to satisfy the narrowest of audiences, rather than to allow a curious public to read about the world and then draw their own conclusions. I was always taught that journalists were charged with writing the first rough draft of history.

Whoever told her that must have really been full of his or herself. Then again, we are talking about today’s journalists….

Now, history itself is one more ephemeral thing moulded to fit the needs of a predetermined narrative.

My own forays into Wrongthink have made me the subject of constant bullying by colleagues who disagree with my views. They have called me a Nazi and a racist; I have learned to brush off comments about how I’m ‘writing about the Jews again’. Several colleagues perceived to be friendly with me were badgered by coworkers. My work and my character are openly demeaned on company-wide Slack channels where masthead editors regularly weigh in. There, some coworkers insist I need to be rooted out if this company is to be a truly ‘inclusive’ one, while others post ax emojis next to my name. Still other New York Times employees publicly smear me as a liar and a bigot on Twitter with no fear that harassing me will be met with appropriate action. They never are.

If a conservative accepted a job at MoveOn.org, he or she would know what to expect. When the expected happened, only a narcissist would take to social media and whine about it.

There are terms for all of this: unlawful discrimination, hostile work environment, and constructive discharge. I’m no legal expert. But I know that this is wrong.

I do not understand how you have allowed this kind of behavior to go on inside your company in full view of the paper’s entire staff and the public.

Bari Weiss is either naive or stupid. Despite that, she was still considered New York Times material.

And I certainly can’t square how you and other Times leaders have stood by while simultaneously praising me in private for my courage. Showing up for work as a centrist at an American newspaper should not require bravery.

Sincerely,

Bari

While this made for some sensational headlines, political discrimination is nothing new. Anyone who works with liberals knows this, which is why most conservatives keep their personal politics close-to-the-vest for fear of public ostracization and/or even potential job loss.

Weiss, in her resignation letter, claims not to be a legal expert.

However, all she had to do was take (literally) a few seconds to look it up.

Not all forms of discrimination are illegal, however. It is illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for employers to make job decisions based on race, color, national origin, religion, and sex. Other federal laws prohibit discrimination based on age, disability, and genetic information. However, political views aren’t covered by these laws and the laws of most states. This means employers are free to consider political views and affiliations in making job decisions.
— NOLO, Can Employers Discriminate Based on Political Beliefs or Affiliation?

Bari Weiss has been an outspoken right-leaning columnist and it suited her well as long as she was relatively comfortable and employed. She’s enjoyed opportunities to appear on national media outlets, safe and enemy, and she was able to absorb the incoming… that is, until now.

It appears the “bullying” was too much for her to bear and her very public announcement that she’s bailing on the New York Times could also be looked at as a Times Square sized billboard saying “I’m available!”

Weiss had the convenience of being able to time her job departure on her terms and timetable. Many others who lost jobs, careers, and more due to being blacklisted by intolerant liberals had no such benefit. Weiss had every opportunity to use her various platforms to remind the public of the ramifications of “progressive” tyranny. She could have interviewed, thus talked to Republican leadership on Capitol Hill and directors of federal and state agencies as an advocate for those who have to remain politically silent just to keep a job.

She could’ve pushed for an addendum to current civil rights legislation.

Bari Weiss didn’t do shit.

She was absent to that party, but now that she’s had enough of being picked on, she’s being embraced as yet another potential conservative star.

When it comes to political discrimination and celebrated self-servers like Bari Weiss, when is enough going to be enough?