Thread by @ilyseh

.@nytimes on @TheAtlantic decision to fire Kevin Williamson. nytimes.com/2018/04/05/bus… #FireKevin Let's explore some of the outrage on the other side about this, shall we? /1

Free speech is a constitutional guarantee and it guarantees that the government will not jail you for what you say. It does NOT guarantee you to a job ever, and certainly not when your employer is losing readership and therefore money bc of your bigoted views. #FireKevin /2

Consumers also have free speech to voice their opinion of your speech to those who decide whether you stay employed (see how those rights work? everyone gets them. yay democracy!) More people spoke against your bigotry than stood up for it. Fair and square. #FireKevin /3

This is not an intolerance for opposing views on abortion or for conservatives writ large. We hear them all the time. Look at who's in the White House and many conservative writers occupy large platforms to make this case. We disagree but do not ask for dismissal. #FireKevin /4

This is a case of a writer using a giant platform to preach violence against women who use their constitutional right to abortion. That's not a difference of opinion. That's dangerous and not a conservative viewpoint as I understand an engage with conservatives. #FireKevin /5

Scholar @davidcohen writes about stochastic terrorism: that people w/powerful platforms can know their words will move others to action even if they're not telling them to take action directly. He applies this to terrorism against abortion providers but same can apply here. /6

Law still protects their rights to speech and it should, but it does mean the stakes are higher when they have capacity to broadcast more widely. Women are threatened all the time in on and offline space by men who don't like what they do. Kevin makes those men feel justified. /7

And lest you think he's alone: as @voxdotcom reports, GOP lawmakers in Idaho and Ohio are also on the kill women who have abortions train. This would be me and many, many people I love. vox.com/2018/4/5/17202… /8

Time to get real about fact that there are men in this country (blessedly, not most or all, but too many in power) who believe--as Trump said during the campaign--that women who do not conform to their wishes should be punished. We reject them and ask you to fight with us. /fin