This week, the Washington Post took the extraordinary step of suspending longtime political journalist David Weigel without pay. The offense that cost him one month’s salary was his decision to retweet a distasteful joke, one that caught the attention of his colleagues and inspired a full weekend of outraged extrapolation about the reporter’s motives, the biases of the institution that employs him, and the society that allows events like these to occur. But while this very public spectacle is revealing of the professional jealousies roiling the Post, it is also indicative of a principle with increasing purchase on the left that regards dark humor as a sin.
“Every girl is bi,” the crude joke authored by YouTuber Cam Harless began. “You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.” Weigel shared the joke with his followers. He was likely admonished for the offense, as he quickly withdrew the retweet and apologized for the “harm” he had caused. But his colleague, Post national political reporter Felicia Sonmez, rejected his appeal. “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed,” Sonmez wrote, in an indictment of both Weigel and her employer.
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