# WSJ's James Taranto: Moral Blowhard **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 26, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409 "2012-07-26T02:14:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dostoyevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/1 "2012-07-26T02:14:55Z")
While reading Andrew Sullivan’s blog on The Daily Beast, I ran across [this post](http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/07/malkin.html) from Andrew. \*The \*\*Wall Street Journal’s \*James Taranto’s latest tweet is quoted, which talks about the Aurora girls whose boyfriends saved them when the latter used their bodies in a self-sacrificial effort to absorb the theatre shooter’s bullets. Taranto says, “I hope these girls whose boyfriends died to save them were worthy of their sacrifice.” Of course, this insensitive tweet produced a backlash, documented [here](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/25/james-taranto-wsj-editor-tweet-aurora-shooting-girlfriends-boyfriends_n_1702217.html) on HuffPo. Taranto, facing pressure from his tweet’s critics, decided to clarify what his tweet really meant with: > [@](#): > > We intended this to be thought-provoking, but to judge by the response, very few people received it that way. The vast majority found it offensive and insulting. This column has often argued that a failure of public communication is the fault of the public communicator, and that’s certainly true in this case. What follows is an attempt to answer for this failure with a circumspect accounting of our thoughts. > … > > These three women owe their lives to their men. That debt can never be repaid in kind, because life is for the living and cannot be returned to the dead. The closest they can come to redeeming it is to use the gift of their survival well–to live good, full, happy lives. What the hell does he mean by “good, full, happy”? Specifically, what does he mean by _good_? Is this just supposed to be a colloquial way of wishing the survivors well, as in saying “Have a good life”? Or, is this supposed to be a moral mandate, like, “Be good”? Who fucking knows. Either way, the clarification of his tweet has problems. If he is claiming that his tweet solely intended to express hope that the survivors live long and prosper, then there is no way, even for James Taranto, to plausibly infer such sentiments from what he tweeted. Whereas, if he intended to morally lecture the survivors by telling them to be good, then one needs to ask this particular conservative why it’s too early to talk about gun control but not too early to lecture the grieving. ---
**Author:** ![Dostoyevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/2 "2012-07-26T02:22:30Z")
Also, note that Taranto’s tweet reads that he hopes that these girls “were worthy.” Kinda hard to pass this off as a statement about the remainder of the girls’ lives, when used the past tense. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/3 "2012-07-26T02:22:31Z")
He was telling them not to be sluts, i.e., not to fuck anyone until they married, and to vote Republican. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/4 "2012-07-26T03:53:45Z")
He’s also not expressing any admiration for Stephanie Davies. I guess it doesn’t matter if a woman is worthy unless a man dies. I am really fighting an urge to point out that she managed to save someone who was actually injured, for several terrifying minutes, without … Nevermind, those young men did a good thing, and I can’t let Tarantor taken that away. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/5 "2012-07-26T04:05:46Z")
Taranto sounds like a Marvel super-villain from the early 60s, with the Fantastic Four standing about looking bewildered as he busts in from the skies: Enter… TARANTO! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/6 "2012-07-26T14:25:48Z")
FWIW, it’s the same sentiment expressed by Tom Hanks to Matt Damon near the end of _Saving Private Ryan_: “Earn this.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/7 "2012-07-26T14:32:40Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > FWIW, it’s the same sentiment expressed by Tom Hanks to Matt Damon near the end of _Saving Private Ryan_: “Earn this.” Yeah, and Ryan was tortured by it for the next 50 years. 🙂 Oh, one other thing – it’s real different for the dying hero to say it than some uninvolved jerkwad a thousand miles away. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/8 "2012-07-26T14:33:01Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > FWIW, it’s the same sentiment expressed by Tom Hanks to Matt Damon near the end of _Saving Private Ryan_: “Earn this.” And bookended by his asking his present day wife if he’d been a good man. (And of course the implication is that we all need to earn (live up to) the sacrifices of those who gave their last full measure.) I agree that his original formulation carried potential overtones that I would find distasteful. His amended version doesn’t strike me as particularly questionable. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/9 "2012-07-26T15:13:35Z")
I didn’t realise this guy was a WSJ commentator, but here’s what I posted in the other thread ([Denver Batman Killer](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=659281)): > [@gamerunknown](#): > > I wouldn’t even think to ask something like that satirically. Though now that I think of it, “Colorado woman circuitously causes death of military vet” does have a ring to it. Basically, if a military vet thinks it’s worth it to sacrifice his life to save his lover, who am I to tell him he’s mistaken? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/10 "2012-07-26T15:37:12Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Basically, if a military vet thinks it’s worth it to sacrifice his life to save his lover, who am I to tell him he’s mistaken? Right, and I’d extend that to any sacrifice like this. You don’t have to go out and prove you’re worth it - the person who made the sacrifice already decided you were worth it, and since it’s a debt that can’t be repaid, “I hope you were worth it” is pointless. The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of a stranger sitting in judgment. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/11 "2012-07-26T15:46:15Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of a stranger sitting in judgment. The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of an **asshole** sitting in judgment. FTFY. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/12 "2012-07-26T15:59:39Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of an **asshole** sitting in judgment. > > FTFY. I hope the letters whose keys you used to type that post were worthy of being pressed. While we’re at it, and I think **j666** ’s post sort of hinted at this, but there’s something about this comment that feels sort of vaguely condescending or demeaning to women. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/13 "2012-07-26T16:12:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Right, and I’d extend that to any sacrifice like this. You don’t have to go out and prove you’re worth it - the person who made the sacrifice already decided you were worth it, and since it’s a debt that can’t be repaid, “I hope you were worth it” is pointless. The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of a stranger sitting in judgment. Other than misspelling ‘worthless jerkoff and complete moral leper’ as ‘stranger,’ I’m in full agreement with this. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/14 "2012-07-26T16:17:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I hope the letters whose keys you used to type that post were worthy of being pressed. ROFL! (OK, chuckling out loud while eating lunch at my cube, but still.) And I see **silenus** beat me to the punch - that’s what I get for not previewing. 🙂 > [@](#): > > While we’re at it, and I think **j666** ’s post sort of hinted at this, but there’s something about this comment that feels sort of vaguely condescending or demeaning to women. Hell, yeah. Imagine the soldier who falls on a hand grenade to save the other soldiers in his foxhole - would anyone in this world think to suggest that his buddies might not be worthy of his sacrifice, for any reason? It wouldn’t cross people’s minds. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/15 "2012-07-26T16:21:45Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of an **asshole** sitting in judgment. > > FTFY. > [@RTFirefly](#): > > Other than misspelling ‘worthless jerkoff and complete moral leper’ as ‘stranger,’ I’m in full agreement with this. How am I supposed to choose? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/16 "2012-07-26T16:23:30Z")
If someone sacrificed himself to save me, it would cross my mind that I wasn’t worth it. OTOH, if some third party suggested I wasn’t worth it, it would piss me off royally – I would see this as some kind of insult to the person who sacrificed himself. I think there’s a contradiction in there, but hey, it’s psychology, whaddareyagonnado? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/17 "2012-07-26T16:50:24Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > The only thing it really conveys is an attitude of an **asshole** sitting in judgment. Gotta agree there. He comes off as really, really creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/18 "2012-07-26T21:21:58Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > If someone sacrificed himself to save me, it would cross my mind that I wasn’t worth it. OTOH, if some third party suggested I wasn’t worth it, it would piss me off royally – I would see this as some kind of insult to the person who sacrificed himself. > > I think there’s a contradiction in there, but hey, it’s psychology, whaddareyagonnado? It should have been you, [del]Geordie[/del] Boyo Jim. It should have been you. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/19 "2012-07-26T22:53:08Z")
My point was not that he was rather ugly to the women who were saved - haven’t we agreed that “hoping” the women were worth it, implies it is at least possible, if not likely, they are not? I was angered that he did not even acknowledge Ms. Davies, who was not heroic for one tragic moment, but risked her life for … well, I don’t know - at least a minute? to save her friend. She was luckier than those men, not less heroic. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409/20 "2012-07-27T02:35:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > How am I supposed to choose? Who says you have to choose? Taranto’s both a floor wax _and_ a dessert topping! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wsjs-james-taranto-moral-blowhard/629409.md?page=2)