I Doubt Those Pieces on Joy Reid's Website Were the Result of Hackers
y Erick Erickson
Joy Reid's comments are too mainstream to believe a hacker went through that much trouble to put them there.
Joy Reid of MSNBC is under attack for some "homophobic" pieces she wrote several years ago on her Reid Report website, prior to joining MSNBC. She claims that they are the result of malicious hackers, but as the Internet Archive explains, that seems unlikely. Actually, it is not technically possible based on how the Internet Archive does its business. She'd be better off admitting her views have changed.
There are a few points, though, worth noting.
First, she's not saying anything really controversial. I mean this is really innocuous stuff a lot of people would agree with:
Keeping it real … most straight men feel exactly the same way, and would have the exact same reaction to the idea of stripping naked in a sweaty locker room in close quarters with a gay teammate. Most straight people cringe at the sight of two men kissing… Most straight people had a hard time being convinced to watch ‘Broke Back Mountain.’ (I admit that I couldn’t go see the movie either, despite my sister’s ringing endorsement, because I didn’t want to watch the two male characters having sex.) Does that make me homophobic? Probably.
Yes to all that. And then there is this:
“Some people use the [word] ‘immoral’ when they really mean ‘distasteful’ — I think a lot of heterosexuals, especially men, find the idea of homosexual sex to be … well … gross, and they lump it in with immorality,” wrote the author in a post dated to 2007. “And then there are the concerns that adult gay men tend to be attracted to very young, post-pubescent types, bringing them ‘into the lifestyle’ in a way that many people consider to be immoral.”
That's not a big deal either and is a pretty commonly shared opinion.
You'd think if hackers had done this, they'd have amped it up a big more, maybe dropped some epithets and other things. Instead, this is something reasonable people say. One could argue Reid has proven herself unreasonable and this stuff sounds too sane, but no. This is the sort of stuff socially conservative people say and think is true, myself included. This is stuff many of you say now in 2018. It is not controversial except the left wants to drive this view from the town square.
But therein lies the rub. Reid has chosen to take up the cause of L'Resistance and so must be right thinking all the time. It is not enough for her to declare she has evolved in thinking. She must have never had wrong thoughts. It is one reason L'Resistance is not long term sustainable. Many on the left, particularly from black and hispanic communities, come from socially conservative backgrounds where abortion might be okay, but homosexuality really has not been widely accepted and transgenderism is seen for the mental health issue it is. The left will turn on them for their socially conservative views. And anyone who had ever thought those things will be driven from their roles or forced into some level of re-education.
What is so interesting here is that in these pieces Reid is articulating what even a lot of prominent Democrats used to say and think. But now they must all be purged. So she can't be honest and say her views have evolved. She must say hackers did this. If so, they're the most reasonable, non-hyperbolic or malicious hackers ever.
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