Alan Colmes: Slate’s Isaac Chotiner Trashes Liberal Pundit In ‘Cruel’ Obituary
Alan Colmes died on Feb. 23 after a battle with lymphoma at the age of 66, and while his family and friends continue to mourn his passing, one Slate writer has penned an obituary that many are calling out as “cruel” and “soulless” on social media.
One of the lone Fox News liberal pundits, Alan Colmes was one half of the popular Hannity & Colmes talk show alongside conservative Sean Hannity.
In the aftermath of his ideologically opposed friend’s death, Hannity shared warm remembrances of Alan Colmes as a “kind” man with a big heart. “Alan was a dear friend,” Hannity said. “I miss him dearly. Please pray for my friend and his family.”
Others on both sides of the aisle shared similar sentiments — all except Slate‘s Isaac Chotiner, who posted this less than 24 hours after it was announced that Colmes had died.
My obituary for Alan Clomes, for @Slate: https://t.co/umlH15YHp9
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) February 23, 2017
In the piece itself, the liberal Chotiner attacks Alan for being a “weakling,” writing that he was “the most absurd, useless, and mocked television personality in America for many years, precisely because he was nice.”
And while Colmes may have been a nice guy, Chotiner reasons, “he wasn’t a complete moron either; in short, he was smart enough to know he was being used, and to take the money that his services demanded.”
Chotiner continued.
“If this is something less than morally reprehensible, it is still pretty gross. We can mourn that Alan Colmes won’t be around to watch the political era he, as an important cog in the Fox News machine, helped usher in; unfortunately, the rest of us have no choice.”
Since posting the piece on the same day of Alan Colmes’ death, the obituary has come under fire, mostly by conservatives.
Hannity himself weighed in, stating that only “mean, soulless a**holes could ever write and print something this vicious, cruel, and heartless.”
“You are so ignorant, wrong, and hateful!” Hannity said, adding that Slate should be ashamed for having run the piece and not taking it down.
As you can see from the link above, Slate has not done anything to counterbalance the piece, and Chotiner has moved onto other matters like hammering Tom Cotton and interviewing author Zadie Smith.
My interview with Zadie Smith, for @Slate: https://t.co/sroKxH3hKf
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) November 16, 2016
The furor, however, is not going away. Mediaite‘s Justin Baragona went after Chotiner with the proverbial guns blazing in a piece entitled, “Slate finally finds the bottom of the barrel with tasteless Alan Colmes obituary.”
Baragona was so angry at the piece that he refused to link to it and said “the writer” had seen Colmes’ death as an opportunity to be provocative for the sake of provocation and claimed that it was yet another new media example of saying anything to get clicks.
“What’s going to get more attention when a largely uncontroversial prominent person dies?” Baragona asks. “An earnest, well-intentioned, tasteful obituary detailing his or her accomplishments? Or an in-your-face, merciless, and cold-blooded takedown full of savage pull quotes?”
At the time of this post, Slate has not responded to repeated attempts by news organizations seeking comment.
The original Twitter post that Chotiner shared is riddled with angry comments from people wanting the obit taken down, the writer fired, and Slate to have its White House access pulled.
But what do you think, readers?
Did Slate err in running this as an obituary? Do you agree with Chotiner’s assessment of Alan Colmes? Sound off in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Justin Hoch/Flickr Creative Commons/Resized and Cropped/CC BY 2.0]
