Slate Attacks NR for ‘Crying Rape’ Column, Then Uses Exact Same Headline Months Later

Months after publishing an article attacking an NRO writer for a column entitled “Crying Rape,” last week Slate published a column with literally the exact same headline — and nobody at that august publication batted an eye.

On May 19, A.J. Delgado published an article discussing the phenomenon of false rape allegations on college campuses, blaming it partly on changing definitions of “consent” and over-sensitive college administrators.

The headline — “Crying Rape” — drew the ire of Slate writer Katy Waldman, who penned a vitriolic response calling Delgado’s column merely the latest from “the Web’s new shower nozzle for rape denial and victim-blaming” and the piece itself “wildly offensive.” She accuses Delgado of “reflexive skepticism” and “judgment” (apparently serious character flaws).

Cut to September 18, when Slate published a column by Cathy Young entitled — no joke — “Crying Rape.” 

“False rape accusations exist,” the sub-headline reads, “and they are a serious problem.” Couched in careful language, the article nevertheless makes many of the same points Delgado laid down months earlier — including the idea that a minor level of intoxication ”is far from the legal standard for incapacitation required in a criminal finding of sexual assault.”

TownHall’s Kevin Glass succinctly illustrated the absurdity of Slate’s attack on Delgado’s piece:

https://twitter.com/KevinWGlass/status/515159805955440640

Delgado reached out over Twitter to Waldman and others who criticized her piece back in May. Unsurprisingly, the Slate columnist and her co-conspirators stayed silent.

But Huffington Post editor Tyler Kingkade — whose publication devoted an entire HuffPost Live segment to criticizing Delgado’s “Crying Rape” piece — unwisely took the bait:

Which makes one wonder if he even read the sub-headline — much less the entire piece. 

It’s never about the message, and always about the messenger.