National Reivew/David French: Roseanne Barr Downfall: ABC was right to fire herNo. This is wrong. His old tweets were 100 percent offensive and gross, but this is not how we judge people. This is not how we determine the fate of a person’s career: https://t.co/U8hcO403Lw— David French (@DavidAFrench) July 20, 2018
So David French, maybe you can parse this tweet for us peasants?
So how do you reconcile these two positions by David French? I fully support free speech, but I also fully support free association. That means if you don't care for or disagree with the speech of a person working for you, you should be able to separate yourself from that speech (fire them or not hire them) within reason. So if ABC was justified for firing Roseanne Barr (who is admittedly unhinged and offensive in how she communicates) why isn't ABC/Disney justified in firing James Gunn for positions that could potentially harm ABC/Disney's business and reputation?
I liked Guardians of the Galaxy. I do not like flash social media outrage mobs, but such mobs are typically focused on conservatives. If #MeToo opened a pandoras box that has been taking out anyone in its way, well then everyone needs to live by these new rules. If Gunn wanted to be a provocateur, well maybe ABC and Disney do not want to have to spend time explaining the nuance of his humor to their customers (in Disney's case parents of kids)? An employer booting James Gunn over pro pedophilia tweets (even if couched as jokes) is not out of line. Most employers would take a dim view over public statements like that.
James Gunn's mistake, beyond making those tweets in the first place, is he should have deleted them a long time ago. Once Guardians became a hit, he was a public figure and a potential target. He also made enemies and tried to start social justice mobs on others. Karma, Bitch!
Note that Twitter, who will ban or suspend a conservative over any tweet deemed offensive, gave James Gunn a pass. Stacy McCain was banned from Twitter for far, far, less. French is apparently fine with that double standard for Twitter btw.
But if you think that RealConservatives™ like David French are really want to get that high paying gig as a network commentator or pundit, then it all makes sense. Because if David French is too partisan for the networks and media, he will never get hired in the first place. The media really wants to work with the right kind of people, the type who won't ask embarrassing questions, or slander refined art collections, or talk about those private parties with young people that folks in Hollywood and the media like to have.
WSJ: Anything goes becomes, you're firedIt is very hard to reconcile this, unless you consider that Ben Shapiro really really wants to work for a big network someday. https://t.co/dQckx5pujm— Evi L. Bloggerlady (@MsEBL) July 20, 2018
Don Surber: David French and James Gunn
American Power: USA Today Fires Cheri Jacobus
Lem's Place: Hey Mitch, you are a loser, now go away...
Legal Insurrection: False racism accusations just as bad as real ones
AoSHQ: Turns out James Gunn was a scalp hunting SOB and Gunn Fired
The Wrap: Sean Gunn defends his brother James: Guardians made him better...
Instapundit: Don't Cry For Gunn, Left Wing Politics and Hollywood, Left don't dig new rules and Ricochet: How To Handle The Outrage Mob
Twitchy: Don't Cry For Gunn, Looks Like Disney Took James Gunn’s Advice When They Fired James Gunn, Gunn Gone from Guardians, and Gunn endorse boycott of Ingraham
TOM: Disney Drops Gunn Over Tweets, She Keeps On Frisching (there is free speech, and then there is criminal and psychotic behavior) and Maybe This Immigrant is a James Gunn Fan?
It's pretty easy to reconcile when you remember free speech is about grievance with the government. The government won't throw you in jail for your speech, unless progressive socialists get their way. But it used to be businesses always judged employees and customers on speech. It just wasn't plastered across the internet and sent to everyone's home; such that nobody could learn from mistakes, but always punished by the mistakes of the past.
ReplyDeleteNo. This is wrong. His old tweets were 100 percent offensive and gross, but this is not how we judge people. This is not how we determine the fate of a person’s career: https://t.co/U8hcO403Lw
ReplyDelete— David French (@DavidAFrench) July 20, 2018
Say that to Tim Hunt. (A nobel prizewinning scientist who's career was destroyed for FAR FAR less.) Not some pervert in the pedophile AHEM I mean Hollywould film industry.