The other day, I read a long Politico piece about why Salon has went so far down the shitter as of late. I could sit here and recap the whole thing for you, but I think many of you already know the basic reasons why. After all, it’s not hard to imagine paeans to pedophilia causing some problems for a publication. It not just that, though. The editors in charge over there frequently run clickbait designed to enrage. Yesterday was no exception…

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Yes, because the day after the worst mass shooting in American history is definitely the time to try to score some points for radical feminism. As you can see, the column was written by Amanda Marcotte, who might be an even bigger scumbag than Jessica Valenti (which is saying a lot). She backed the UVA Rape Hoax and also continued to libel the Duke Lacrosse team even after the charges were thrown out. That’s the type of trash we’re dealing with here. No facts or contrary evidence will ever dissuade her from the radical feminist agenda she wants to see foisted upon the country.

The article itself doesn’t offer much. It’s a rambling and at times incoherent mess…

For obvious political reasons, conservatives are hustling as fast as they can to make this about “radical Islam,” which is to say they are trying to imply that there’s something inherent to Islam and not Christianity that causes such violence. This, of course, is hoary nonsense, as there is a long and ignoble history of Christian-identified men, caught up in the cult of toxic masculinity, sowing discord and causing violence in our country: The gun-toting militiamen that caused a showdown in Oregon, the self-appointed border patrol called the Minutemen that recently made news again as their founder was convicted of child molestation, men who attack abortion clinics and providers.

Toxic masculinity aspires to toughness but is, in fact, an ideology of living in fear: The fear of ever seeming soft, tender, weak, or somehow less than manly. This insecurity is perhaps the most stalwart defining feature of toxic masculinity.

I would argue that conservatives didn’t really have to do much hustling to make it about “radical Islam,” since the shooter himself called 911 ahead of his killing spree and proclaimed allegiance to the Islamic State and it’s chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (who may be dead now, according to published reports). You don’t have to spin the facts very hard to make this about Islamic terrorism. In fact, you have to spin a lot harder to try to make it about “toxic masculinity” instead.

I could sit here and go through the whole thing, but to be honest with you all, it’s not worth the effort. It’s better to just highlight this fraud and remember to add it to her litany of offenses against reason and logic, not to mention public decorum. It would be like me writing an article about the Orlando shooting really being about ethics in gaming journalism the day after the shooting. Actually, I’m fairly certain that post would make more sense than Marcotte’s did, come to think of it.

The bottom line is, desperate attempts by the media to make this about guns, gaming, and guys should not be allowed a free pass. It was about a terrorist and his radicalization. The sooner the American populace and it’s mendacious media comes to grips with that, the better.

 

PS: This is nothing new for Salon. Look at what they printed in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing

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http://archive.is/iKCrO

 

UPDATE: More on Marcotte, including a more detailed look at her article, from R.S. McCain