Thread by @VABVOX

In the flurry of attention to #KevinWilliamson, there's been zero mention that the exchange that resulted in Williamson's firing from @TheAtlantic was with the insufferable editor of @NRO, Charles Cooke, who agreed 100% that women should be executed for having abortions.

"I would totally go with treating it like any other crime up to and including hanging,” Williamson said.
Cooke quickly concurred: “I absolutely agree.” (see @Shareblue for more of this exchange)

Whither comment from @NRO either affirming they are fine with hanging women or no?

In February I had a testy exchange with Cooke who called me "stupid" for calling him out for being the first person to attack David Hogg. Note that because he's a white guy with a British accent, neither he nor @NRO received any internet penalty except, apparently, from me.

Here is said exchange, with Cooke's piece above my comment and our exchange below:

External Tweet loading...
If nothing shows, it may have been deleted
by @VABVOX view original on Twitter

One presumes a man who puts two middle initials in his Twitter handle takes himself quite seriously and having heard him interviewed on @NPR's @MorningEdition, he sounds very Seb Gorka. But my point is not to make Bond villain jokes about him but to ask about @NRO's policy.

.@TheAtlantic has decided that executing women for legal abortions is, after a week of saying otherwise, a bridge too far. But having seen @EWErickson and @NoahCRothman charge to Williamson's defense,are we to presume that ALL conservative men agree that women should be executed?

After all, Cooke isn't just an opinion columnist hire like Williamson was--he's editor at @NRO. So one assumes (although Cooke has already called me "stupid" so be forewarned) this IS indeed the policy of @NRO: women who have abortions should be executed.

.@brianstelter was in a rush to have @EWErickson on his show to discuss Williamson. I offered myself as counterpoint, believing as I do that who should be interviewed are those who DON'T think women should be executed for having abortions.

I have yet to hear back from Stelter,

The entirety of the Williamson debacle has been framed as a mere difference of opinion. @NoahCRothman referenced Williamson's talents as did Erickson. No doubt Cooke thinks he's worthy or he wouldn't have deigned to speak with him.

Yet HANGING women for abortion is NOT a POV.

So I just wanted to raise this, since many of my feminist cohort seem to think this is over because #KevinWilliamson got canned when he never should have been hired.

It's more than that.
If you don't see it in the circling of the wagons, ask yourself why.

In the age of Trump, the #WarOnWomen is more real than ever. And we've seen from Bernie Sanders' endorsement of anti-choice candidates and claims that #reprorights are not essential progressive values, that men are very much framing the "debate" over women's bodily autonomy.

I have argued forever that women having control over our own bodies is vital to every aspect of women's liberation from our 2nd-class economic status to our ability to work outside the home. Our choice when and if to have children is inextricable from every other choice we make.

For men in their 30s and 40s--not doddering dinosaurs of a different era--to assert that women should be HANGED for choosing our legally protected rights in addition to the annual whittling away of abortion rights signals something.

We should not ignore it.

Here's my thread from a year ago on #reprorights as fundamental to women's equality and how forced pregnancy has determined women's lives for centuries. All still true--perhaps more so than ever, in light of the past week's events with #KevinWilliamson.

External Tweet loading...
If nothing shows, it may have been deleted
by @VABVOX view original on Twitter