# What the fuck is going on at the New York Times?! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 4, 2020, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038 "2020-06-04T12:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/61 "2020-06-04T21:20:10Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > It’s never about **you**. This thread isn’t about you, meathead. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/62 "2020-06-04T21:42:34Z")
[https://www.google.com/search?q=four+dead+in+Ohio&oq=four+dead+in+Ohio&aqs=chrome..69i57.4557j0j7&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8](https://www.google.com/search?q=four+dead+in+Ohio&oq=four+dead+in+Ohio&aqs=chrome..69i57.4557j0j7&client=ms-android-hms-tmobile-us&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8) Anyhoo, I think what the Times is doing is exploiting a colossal GOP blunder. Biden said something like, “If you have trouble deciding between me and Trump, you ain’t black.” You can see what he means, though it is the kind of boneheaded thing Biden will say from time to time. I imagine Fox is playing it incessantly, as if it is the Only thing Biden ever said, and as if it is the biggest slam-dunk gotcha ever. Well, the GOP version is clearly, “Vote for Trump and you ain’t breathing.” If they dare allow even one soldier to fire on a civilian, especially in response to protests over what amounts to a lynching, we’re going to learn the true meaning of blowback. They’re already pretty much fucked with this one. Their own caucus is fracturing over it- double down and it’s Four Dead in Ohio; come to your senses and you split with the party. The black vote matters, and the GOP ain’t getting it. Isn’t there a rule in politics along the lines of, “Stay out if the way when your opponent is destroying themselves”? ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/63 "2020-06-04T21:50:01Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I see this as more than just an irritating opposing viewpoint. The New York Times is providing a platform for a sitting United States senator to advocate a militarized response to legitimate protest. In short, it’s providing a platform to advocate for martial law - to someone who really doesn’t need that platform to begin with. > > All in the name of eschewing the label of being left-leaning or to deflect criticism from the right wing, no doubt. I want this on the record: I agree with you. The NYT was wrong to print this. ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/64 "2020-06-04T21:56:30Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Sice you have assured me that your questions are all posted in good faith and sincerity, and that you truly are interested in the answers, and that they are not just meant as unfounded accusations, then I would have no problem going through them all and answering them meticulously. > > But you have to understand my concern here. Such tedium may very well make **manson1972** lose his place, then he will have to start drinking all over again. > > I don’t want that. Why do you want that? Why do you hate **manson1972** ’s liver? But that’s the thing, isn’t it? I can’t. If I give a five-second sound bite, I’m just spouting off like a Trumpster. If I explain myself in more than six words at a time, I’m putting you to sleep. If I tell you that I hate the candidate for being a harasser, I’m playing into Trump’s hands. If I tell you that I love the hell out of Biden, and I hope he has eight years in, _then_ I would actually be trolling you, because that would be a lie. You have decided on the truth. Not only that, but anyone who tries to dissuade you from that is full-on for Trump. That’s why I keep telling you that you’ve all won on the Internet. Winning on the Internet is easy. You’ve been doing it since I got here in 2003. Winning in real life (and not just in elections) is a bit more complicated. Look at what **asahi** and **QuickSilver** have been posting! These are not happy people. And _I’m_ worked up? Have I talked about anyone’s mother? Have I told anyone to fuck off? **asahi** has gone full-on spitting on the keyboard . . . over a NYT editorial. I might not like the quilt I saw in the farmer’s market, but if I screamed about it to the poor grandmother who screwed up the stitches, it could not be more pointless than the OP. I’ll say it again: You have all been taking the bait dangled in front of you for the past four years. You tell me that you’re doing productive stuff too? In the past three-and-a-half years? Well, I’m going to call bullshit on that, because you sound exactly the same you did in 2016. Before and after the election. You haven’t learned a thing, certainly not since you started that 900-page post about how Trump has pissed you off by . . . winning. But again, _I’m_ worked up, because I post about how maybe you’re not quite as smart as you think you are and how maybe Biden is going to do more harm than good. Well, fine. I stand here defeated on the Internet. But I’ll keep posting. Because why the hell not? Am I not a member? Do I not follow the rules? Do I not have a say? When they close that 900-page thread, maybe I’ll change my tune. In the meantime, _someone_ has to tell you guys what time it is. Might as well be me. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/65 "2020-06-04T22:58:34Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > But that’s the thing, isn’t it? I can’t. If I give a five-second sound bite, I’m just spouting off like a Trumpster. If I explain myself in more than six words at a time, I’m putting you to sleep. Dude, have you read my posts in GD and politics? One thing you cannot accuse me of is having a short attention span. This, however, is the pit. I am just here for **manson1972** ’s entertainment. > [@](#): > > If I tell you that I hate the candidate for being a harasser, I’m playing into Trump’s hands. If I tell you that I love the hell out of Biden, and I hope he has eight years in, _then_ I would actually be trolling you, because that would be a lie. If you make an a priori assumption about a candidate being a harasser, then yes, you are playing Trump’s game. > [@](#): > > You have decided on the truth. Not only that, but anyone who tries to dissuade you from that is full-on for Trump. No, you assert truth when you load it into your “questions” and statements. You have already decided your truth. I believe that you are full on for Trump because of your dishonest debate tactics, not because you question my assumptions. > [@](#): > > That’s why I keep telling you that you’ve all won on the Internet. Winning on the Internet is easy. You’ve been doing it since I got here in 2003. Winning in real life (and not just in elections) is a bit more complicated. Look at what **asahi** and **QuickSilver** have been posting! These are not happy people. And _I’m_ worked up? Have I talked about anyone’s mother? Have I told anyone to fuck off? **asahi** has gone full-on spitting on the keyboard . . . over a NYT editorial. I might not like the quilt I saw in the farmer’s market, but if I screamed about it to the poor grandmother who screwed up the stitches, it could not be more pointless than the OP. Yeah, it’s the pit. If you don’t want to be insulted, don’t want to be told to fuck off, then go somewhere else on the board where your sensibilities are not in such danger. > [@](#): > > I’ll say it again: You have all been taking the bait dangled in front of you for the past four years. You tell me that you’re doing productive stuff too? In the past three-and-a-half years? Well, I’m going to call bullshit on that, because you sound exactly the same you did in 2016. Before and after the election. You haven’t learned a thing, certainly not since you started that 900-page post about how Trump has pissed you off by . . . winning. But again, _I’m_ worked up, because I post about how maybe you’re not quite as smart as you think you are and how maybe Biden is going to do more harm than good. And see, here you say that you think that Trump would be a better president than Biden. That is why I think that you are for Trump. > [@](#): > > Well, fine. I stand here defeated on the Internet. But I’ll keep posting. Because why the hell not? Am I not a member? Do I not follow the rules? Do I not have a say? When they close that 900-page thread, maybe I’ll change my tune. In the meantime, _someone_ has to tell you guys what time it is. Might as well be me. You are welcome to post all you want. Just don’t pretend that you are being productive. If you really think that some people talking some shit on a small messageboard is going to swing the election one way or another, you are an idiot. If you don’t think that some people talking some shit on a small messageboard is going to swing the election one way or another, you are a concern troll. Post your sincere good faith questions in GD or politics, and I’ll take a crack at them. If you want them answered here, then first you have to tell me why you hate **manson1972** ’s liver. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/66 "2020-06-04T23:48:50Z")
Today, [The New York Times says](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/business/new-york-times-op-ed-cotton.html) it should not have published the piece and that it under review. Weirdly, James Bennet, editor in charge of the opinion section, hadn’t read it prior to publication. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/67 "2020-06-04T23:54:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Today, [The New York Times says](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/business/new-york-times-op-ed-cotton.html) it should not have published the piece and that it under review. Weirdly, James Bennet, editor in charge of the opinion section, hadn’t read it prior to publication. Cowardly capitulation. The New York Times did nothing wrong. ---
**Author:** ![yarblek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/71e660/32.png) [@yarblek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yarblek)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/68 "2020-06-05T01:08:09Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > […] > If I tell you that I love the hell out of Biden, and I hope he has eight years in, _then_ I would actually be trolling you, because that would be a lie. > […] That sounds like virtue signaling to me, not trolling! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/69 "2020-06-05T02:25:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Today, [The New York Times says](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/business/new-york-times-op-ed-cotton.html) it should not have published the piece and that it under review. Weirdly, James Bennet, editor in charge of the opinion section, hadn’t read it prior to publication. Wonderful. Now the Times looks stupid and willing to discard principle under pressure. Its enemies will be rejoicing. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/70 "2020-06-05T02:39:59Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > Cowardly capitulation. The New York Times did nothing wrong. They published a terrible op-ed that made bullshit arguments based on false assumptions. That’s wrong, and it’s good that they recognize that. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/71 "2020-06-05T03:05:20Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > They published a terrible op-ed that made bullshit arguments based on false assumptions. That’s wrong, and it’s good that they recognize that. But it was a GOP senator, literally in his own words. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/72 "2020-06-05T04:29:39Z")
The op-ed is pretty dumb, but that’s par for the course for someone like Cotton. The hysterical calls to boycott the NYT over this, OTOH, are not just dumb, but pernicious. I am a subscriber, and I strongly support Opinion editor James Bennet’s response: [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/tom-cotton-op-ed.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/opinion/tom-cotton-op-ed.html) > [@](#): > > We published Cotton’s argument in part because we’ve committed to Times readers to provide a debate on important questions like this. It would undermine the integrity and independence of The New York Times if we only published views that editors like me agreed with, and it would betray what I think of as our fundamental purpose — not to tell you what to think, but to help you think for yourself.[…] > > Cotton and others in power are advocating the use of the military, and I believe the public would be better equipped to push back if it heard the argument and had the chance to respond to the reasoning. Readers who might be inclined to oppose Cotton’s position need to be fully aware of it, and reckon with it, if they hope to defeat it. To me, debating influential ideas openly, rather than letting them go unchallenged, is far more likely to help society reach the right answers. As always in these matters, John Stuart Mill said it best: > [@](#): > > Every man who says frankly and fully what he thinks is so far doing a public service. We should be grateful to him for attacking most unsparingly our most cherished opinions.[…] > > He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for him would be suspension of judgment, and unless he contents himself with that, he is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which he feels most inclination. Nor is it enough that he should hear the arguments of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. That is not the way to do justice to the arguments, or bring them into real contact with his own mind. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them; who defend them in earnest, and do their very utmost for them. He must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form; he must feel the whole force of the difficulty which the true view of the subject has to encounter and dispose of; else he will never really possess himself of the portion of truth which meets and removes that difficulty.[…] > > Our merely social intolerance, kills no one, roots out no opinions, but induces men to disguise them, or to abstain from any active effort for their diffusion…And thus is kept up a state of things very satisfactory to some minds, because, without the unpleasant process of fining or imprisoning anybody, it maintains all prevailing opinions outwardly undisturbed, while it does not absolutely interdict the exercise of reason by dissentients afflicted with the malady of thought. A convenient plan for having peace in the intellectual world, and keeping all things going on therein very much as they do already. But the price paid for this sort of intellectual pacification, is the sacrifice of the entire moral courage of the human mind. A state of things in which a large portion of the most active and inquiring intellects find it advisable to keep the genuine principles and grounds of their convictions within their own breasts, and attempt, in what they address to the public, to fit as much as they can of their own conclusions to premises which they have internally renounced, cannot send forth the open, fearless characters, and logical, consistent intellects who once adorned the thinking world. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/73 "2020-06-05T04:41:46Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > tbf a US Senator advocating the military violently suppress protests is something worth getting worked up about. We’re not talking some random jamoke penning the op-ed here. We’re talking about someone who could realistically make that happen. And that’s all the more reason to have his opinion out in the free marketplace of ideas and not tucked away in some tribalistic GOP safe space. You may think he’s wrong, I may think he’s wrong, but there are powerful people who feel as he does. That’s important to know about. I don’t want my helping of his blather blasted from the stadium-sized, over-driven amps and loudspeakers of Fox News; there’s way too much distortion that way. Too much shrieking feedback. Far better to hear it from a quality PA system like the New York Times. That way I hear it in high-fidelity and can decide what to make of it. I want everyone to also be able to get his message clear and unadorned; raw and real. One way for that to happen is the Times publishing it. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/74 "2020-06-05T04:49:37Z")
Part of me wonders if it would be better for soldiers to deal with protests, since soldiers are held to a much higher standard of discipline, accountability and professionalism than police. Numerous soldiers have said that 19 year olds fighting against insurgents armed with military hardware are held to a much higher standard that middle aged cops dealing with unarmed protesters. They’ve mentioned how the cops have less trigger discipline (pointing their weapons indiscriminately) and have gear that even soldiers in war zones didn’t have. The police want to pretend to be soldiers but don’t want any of the rules, regulations, discipline or accountability that soldiers are required to have. I wonder if soldiers dealt with the protests, if we’d have fewer videos of people being beaten over minor infractions, since apparently teenagers dealing with life or death situations have more maturity, restraint and accountability than middle aged cops dealing with unarmed people. Sadly after all this is over, police brutality will be swept under the rug again and very little will be done. The cops will continue to mistreat the public and only be held accountable when someone videotapes it. Even then, thats no guarantee of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/75 "2020-06-05T04:52:33Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > All the more reason to have his opinion out in the free marketplace of ideas and not tucked away in some tribalistic GOP safe space. You may think he’s wrong, I may think he’s wrong, but there are powerful people who feel as he does. That’s important to know about. 😕 He’s a US Senator. He can have his opinion “out in the free marketplace of ideas”, accessible to all, any time he likes. When you become a Senator, the gummint gives you your very own webpage and everything. If the _Times_ felt they needed to have Cotton’s views discussed in their paper, they could equally well have published an intelligent op-ed by somebody quoting and analyzing Cotton’s words. The notion that either Cotton needs to be invited to publish his own op-ed in the _Times_ or else they’re failing in their journalistic duty by not discussing a politically influential view is a completely false dichotomy. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/76 "2020-06-05T04:52:52Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > The willingness to post Op-eds like this are why the New York times and the Washington post are better than Fox News and the Wall Street Journal. It demonstrates that Trump is wrong, that these papers aren’t the media arm of the Democratic party spewing nothing but left wing propaganda. Spot on. Let’s say that Obama or Liz Warren sent an OpEd piece to the Wall Street Journal but they refused to publish it. How would you feel about that,\*\* asahi\*\*? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/77 "2020-06-05T04:57:36Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > But it was a GOP senator, literally in his own words. So? Senators write things all the time, just like everyone else. That doesn’t mean they are entitled for any private organization to publish what they wrote. It’s not like it’s news, reporting what he has said. It’s giving him a metaphorical open mic. The garbage said in this is tyrannical, anti-democratic propaganda. It’s making case to curtail the rights and freedoms of people in the United States. It’s deliberately fanning the flames a very hot situation, adding more sparks to the fire rather than trying to calm it down. It’s trying rile up people into a fascistic fervor. It has no basis to be put in a paper of the reputation of the Times with no rebuttal, no context, nothing. I honestly wonder who got paid, threatened, or had a favor called in to get this garbage in there. The NYT is not a propaganda arm for the fascistic side of the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/78 "2020-06-05T05:18:41Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Spot on. > > Let’s say that Obama or Liz Warren sent an OpEd piece to the Wall Street Journal but they refused to publish it. How would you feel about that,\*\* asahi\*\*? Assuming it went against everything they supposedly stood for? I’d flat out expect it. Why the fuck would you think otherwise? Hell, I’m uneasy with letting senators write things even if they are saying things that the paper 100% supports. The whole point of the press is to bring truth to power, not to be the mouthpiece of those in power. That way propaganda lies. But I definitely don’t think anyone is ever required to say things that are against their own values. And that is what you are doing allowing someone to write an article. You are loaning the good name of the paper to put behind their words. As pointed out, it’s not like senators or ex-presidents are being silenced, having their freedom of speech taken away. But freedom of speech does not guarantee you any specific platform. Ugh. What you are saying is such a foreign concept that I would find it easier to believe you actually support what Cotton said than that you could actually believe that newspapers should be required to post whatever someone famous or in government says, unchallenged. ---
**Author:** ![Unreconstructed\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/76d3ee/32.png) [@Unreconstructed\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unreconstructed_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/79 "2020-06-05T07:14:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > They published a terrible op-ed that made bullshit arguments based on false assumptions. That’s wrong, and it’s good that they recognize that. Depending on who you ask, the Times does that every day. That’s the nature of Op-Ed pieces. Regardless, Tom Cotton’s opinion is shared by tens of millions of Americans. There’s nothing wrong with giving him a platform to discuss it. Indeed, it’s a good thing because those of us who disagree with it are now in a better position to argue against it. No, the Times capitulated because they were losing subscriptions, and because their younger staff, who can’t tolerate opposing views, felt “unsafe”, even though they’re about as safe as it’s possible to be. It’s weak, gutless, and disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2020, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038/80 "2020-06-05T07:15:54Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Ugh. What you are saying is such a foreign concept that I would find it easier to believe you actually support what Cotton said than that you could actually believe that newspapers should be required to post whatever someone famous or in government says, unchallenged. Not just anyone famous. But I think anyone who is in the U.S. Senate, a governor of a state, a member of the Cabinet, part of the House leadership, or on the Joint Chiefs of Staff should pretty much automatically get their op-ed accepted, at least like once a year. That doesn’t prevent the NYT from publishing a bunch of op-eds taking the exact opposite position, as happened here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-fuck-is-going-on-at-the-new-york-times/855038.md?page=5)