The Washington Post Needs to Get It Together

A warm breeze is blowing, the grass is growing, and the Washington Post has suspended blogger Dave Weigel for a dumb retweet.

This is what happened. Over the weekend, Weigel retweeted an extremely idiotic tweet about bipolar. I’ll embed it below. Post reporter Felicia Sonmez then tweeted a screenshot of his retweet saying “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!”

Weigel un-retweeted the tweet and apologized. The Post then sent out a note about how people should be kind to one another and suspended Weigel without pay for what seems to be a month.

Sonmez herself was suspended for tweeting a story about Kobe Bryant’s rape case shortly after he died in January 2020 while the entire internet wailed with grief over the loss of their perfect basketball god. Now that was a fuckin boss tweet. I suppose they should hold Weigel to the same standard and suspend him, but the shame of retweeting a dumbass joke should be enough.

Sonmez also sued the Post last year for discrimination after they disallowed her from covering sexual assault because she is a sexual assault victim; the suit was dismissed. Obviously, the Post has greatly bungled the Sonmez situation. But is suspending Weigel for a month supposed to be some kind of succor for how the Post has grossly mistreated her? Some proof that they care? Will Dave Weigel still be allowed to cover bi girls?

It’s funny how legacy papers can’t figure out their stance on social media. Their indecisiveness creates a culture of snitching and loserdom. It turns adults into children — and children need rules.

Anyway, what can I do to get suspended for a month? It’s so bi-eautiful out, I am absolutely bi-side myself.