It was understandable that The New York Times would not want to speak ill of the late blogger Steve Gilliard in its obituary — our estimable host took the same classy approach.
But Matt Bai — appropos of apparently nothing six months later — has decided to whitewash the dead in the latest NYT magazine.
With a headline (which, to be fair, may not have been Bai’s idea) that conflates Gilliard’s admitted insignificance with the work of Ralph Ellison, Bai combines a McCarthyite smear about “some right-wing bloggers… gloating over his death” (I’m aware of two, but think the NYT should have to substantiate that sort of claim) with a sanitized account of Gillard’s modus operandi:
In the incident that brought him the most infamy, Gilliard acidly attacked Michael Steele, the black Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Maryland in 2006, as a traitor to his race. Black conservatives like Steele infuriated Gilliard, who couldn’t understand how any African-American could support a party that exploited racial prejudice. “I’s Simple Sambo and I’s Running for the Big House,†read Gilliard’s caption, below a doctored photo of Steele as a minstrel. Only after the post earned him headlines in major newspapers and recriminations from politicians of both parties did a lot of readers come to understand that a white man hadn’t written it  although, for Gilliard’s critics, that hardly made it less offensive.
Bai makes no argument as to why it should be less offensive, as it is undoubtedly self-evident within the circles he inhabits. Though Bai notes that many were unaware Gilliard was black, it is telling that Bai — who often covers the blogger beat — does not acknowledge that if “on the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog,” what you publish has to stand on its merit, rather than identity politics.
More telling is Bai’s reluctance to recite the background of the incident. Gilliard undertook the blackfacing of Steele because Steele refused to condemn MD Gov. Erlich for attending a fundraiser at an all-white country club, saying “it was no big deal.” Steele may have so opined due to the history of Maryland Democrats holding fundraisers at the same club. Apparently, Gilliard thought that was “no big deal.”
Or Steele may have said it because he was a partisan Republican. Left unmentioned in Bai’s airbrushing of Gilliard is that Gilliard supported nutroots fave Ned Lamont, glossing over Lamont’s current membership in an all-white country club. Apparently, Gilliard thought that was “no big deal,” because of the… well, you know.
Update: Welcome, Michelle Malkin readers!
Let’s dig up his skeleton and fuck his eye-sockets.
I could make a really really long list of People Whose Graves I Would Piss On Before Steve Whatever’s If I Didn’t Think That Pissing On Graves Was Really Really Bad Karma And Had Some Kind Of Point To It.
Oh. Enoch makes it sound kind of festive. I guess I might be more prone to doing something like that as a group activity cause I am easily led and very suggestible.
” I guess I might be more prone to doing something like that as a group activity cause I am easily led and very suggestible.”
Bet ur one of them thar Republicans, ain’t ya?
Busted.
Somebody gotta have de job o’ keepin’ dem darkies down on de plantation. An’ de foreman, he get to have a wife an live in his own house, too.
‘Sides, he’s dead, an’ it don’ matter no more ‘n de New York Times Magazine.
Someone always has to bring up race. Sigh.
No, let’s do dishonest puff-pieces about him. In life, Gilliard was called many things, but “dainty” was not one of them. Wherever he is now, I’m sure he’s chuckling over the irony of the airbrushing he just got from Bai.
Warn’t he 1 uf Koz’ house niggerz?
Well, I guess I’d rather get a “fresh whitewashing” than a “stale blackwashing”
The latter being Gilliard’s schtick.
Dig up his skeleton? Gillard is gonna take about 500 years to decompose to bone. Ever see that boy?
A true hack if ever there was one. Partisan, race baiting, immune to logic…you name it, Gilliard was everything that is wrong with bloggers.
Dig it up? Who wants to rent a freakin’ crane?
Someone always has to bring up morbid obesity. Sigh.
Has their ever been an article detailing how black republicans are called oreos, sell outs, house n@ggers, and such?
Well, he was a big, BIG man.
no, I dont believe so, LiveFromFortLivingRoom… but I do know this: “n@ggers”, as you referred to them prefer being called “Afro-Americans”. Just a tip.
That’s true, what Enoch said. They did a Nightline on it.
No, they write puff-pieces about those who did the slurring.
Karl – I think the pc term for that is Pouf-Pieces.
Here’s one thing I like in the Bai piece:
Black conservatives like Steele infuriated Gilliard, who couldn’t understand how any African-American could support a party that exploited racial prejudice
Shouldn’t Bai indicate that Gilliard thought the party exploited racial prejudice? Instead, he makes it read as if it is a fact that republicans exploit racial prejudice, and Gilliard couldn’t understand why.
Also, via Althouse:
They must have been confused when Gilly’s online pals, sickened by the way some right-wing bloggers were gloating over his death, advised them not to disclose where he was buried, out of fear that someone might deface the site. The grave, like Gilliard himself, is known only to a few.
Why would they scare his poor parents like that? What a mean thing of his “friends” to do, to make it sound like their dead son had made such enemies.
As Gilliard lay dying, the left blogosphere made fools of themselves, trying to take control of his medical situation and ostracizing his family. If you want to get into a racial discussion, we could discuss whether they would *ever* do that to a white man and his family.
**** and Gilliard couldn’t understand why. ****
couldn’t understand why a black man would support that.
I was wondering how many times I was going to have to call it a puff-piece for someone to go pouf.
“Can’t we have one meeting that doesn’t end with digging up a corpse?”
“As Gilliard lay dying, the left blogosphere made fools of themselves, trying to take control of his medical situation and ostracizing his family.”
I missed all that, what was the deal?
They thought he wasn’t getting adequate care. Let me see if I can find it again, but I saw it in the diaries of Daily Kos. His old blog from that time is gone now, but here’s a sample:
I wonder if Steve ate any dogs.
Sorry about the formatting. Everything from the word “sample” on is from a Kos commenter, discussing what Steve’s friend Jen said Steve’s mom said.
There are several old diaries on similar issues.
I still think we should fuck his eye-sockets… I mean unless you all think that would be considered gay or a hate crime. If not, let’s do it. For the adopted children of gay couples.
There was this gay guy at Ralph’s and he was coming out in the elevator and he had the two cutest little black kids in his cart and they were wearing matching camos and he was talking to them and he was saying like papa will open that when we get home and they were just giggling to no end – he called himself “papa” which I thought was kind of a cool touch but anyway when I got into Ralph’s he had gotten the last two.
Enoch_root, that makes you sound like a person with slightly different, more artistic, and likely more progressive tastes in how and where tongues and penises are stuck.
MayBee – maybe.
Enoch = Moby
Enoch not Moby. Enoch special individual. He comes and goes but he is not of ill-intent and I like his askance take on things really.
Mostly.
He’s like Thor. And The Swede (I think).
I hate it when you guys talk about me as if I’m not even here. Just wait… one day you’ll all be sorry. all of you. and them. and those others, too. [gets naked and cleans high-powered rifle for 4th time today (first time in the nude, though)]
John started it.
Let us remember how wrong he was.
http://stevegilliard.blogspot.com/2006/05/another-duke-player-indicted.html
I like his NO SURGE thinger too. What a loss.
Gilliard, 6 months dead, is black in the news…
From Karl at Protein Wisdom, a link to a New York Times Magazine story on Steve Gilliard, liberal blogger who’s early death is much lamented in Progg world. I remember clearly the weekend Gilliard died, as I was much saddened by the death of The Skip…
I’d forgotten about all that ripple effect, serr8d… thanks there.
Paul L.,
Ah, yes.
That’s all you needed to know. Might as well just have lynched them right there.
“He lamented that he didn’t know what it was to “wake up naked in a strange bed,â€Â
Damn, brother, I don’t believe I’d have told that.
B Moe – I’m not sure he understands what he was missing there. It was pretty damn scary sometimes. “Kinda cute in a last call sorta way” can have a whole ‘nother meaning when the sun comes up, not necessarily in a good way.
There was this gay guy at Ralph’s
Oh, you mean the grocery store. I’ve never sold small black children.
Right. It’s owned by Kroger’s, so they get to leverage off that volume.
so they get to leverage off that volume
Are they free range, ghetto, third world, organic or what? Are there any pricing or seasonality differences?
They looked domestic, and they looked like actual brothers too so I’m not sure if that’s extra of if there’s a multi-unit break.
*or if*
I’m frankly shocked that this post hasn’t attracted any trolls.
That being said, I’ll go ahead and scream “RACISTS!!!” for them.
I realize the first comment was tongue in cheek, but the Moonbats won’t. They’ll use it as proof we all want to desecrate their corpses. Would they all put us to the test, please?
Hey, I object to the characterization that I “gloated over” the foul-mouthed, low-talent Gilliard’s death. The less said about him the better. I wish no man … make that few men … OK, a lot of men ill, but he hardly met the criteria. Someone tell me how highlighting his work, while refering to him as a “great voice silenced” is gloating.
I’ll grant that, given the nature and quality of his work, it might arguably be seen as mockery of those who rended their garments and gnashed their teeth while lauding the departed as some kind of great visionary plucked from our midst. But that’s only if you don’t share their view upon actually reading the great man’s words.
Put another way: “Friends, Americans, Fellow Right-Wing Nutjobs, lend me your eyeballs. I come not to praise Gilliard, but to bury those dolts who would have you think ‘Fuck You’ is insightful and inspired political commentary.”
Imagine my surprise when I saw the New York Times was among them.
Hey, my little post attracted a minor troll! Something called ‘rightwingsnarkle’, who’s entire bloglife is set up to bash the lovely and talented Rightwingsparkle.
I don’t deal well with trolls. Attracting trolls to me is like walking across a field, stepping in a doggerel patch of nastiness and having to clump along until you find a nice stick with which to remove it. The ones I’ve had, this one included, are just foul-mouthed dullards who think swearing and cursing is high prose.
Learned from his bloggod, I suppose…“Friends, Americans, Fellow Right-Wing Nutjobs, lend me your eyeballs. I come not to praise Gilliard, but to bury those dolts who would have you think ‘Fuck You’ is insightful and inspired political commentary.â€ÂCan’t I just use my stick?
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