The warriors of bad faith claim another victim

The Niskanen’s Center’s Will Wilkinson engaged in some cutting dark humor about the MAGA insurrectionists demanding the lynching of Mike Pence and the public officials who incited them. In a move we’re familiar with around here, a MAGA hedge fund guy responded by trying to get him fired by taking the tweet literally:

Tagging the secret service, LOL.

Pathetically, the Niskanen Center fired him, and the MAGA guy paraded his trophy:

The New York Times is apparently also considering letting him go.

“In any way” apparently includes “cynically and dishonestly.” Here’s the thing: literally nobody involved here actually thinks that Wilkinson was “calling for violence against a public official.” Hoffman is pretending to be offended and Taylor pretended to believe him rather than standing up for his employee against an attack that’s bad faith all the way down. What a disgrace.

The search for bright-line rules and the overbroad application of terms like “cancel culture” is not helpful; ultimately, judgment is required. And here, a think tank allegedly committed to liberal principles exercised terrible, terrible judgment.

I mean, it would just be the perfect closing to the Trump era if the only public figure to suffer any real consequences for fomenting violence over the last two months is Will Wilkinson, for an obvious goddamn joke.— Radley Balko (@radleybalko) January 22, 2021

I hope the Times at least will come to its senses.