Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

1. A few thoughts on Andrew Sullivan's response to @tanehisicoates's TNR post:  http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/12/22/excuse-me-mr-coates/ …

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:34:54

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547173463480217600

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:34:54

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

2. I think Sullivan's post is disingenuous on a number of fronts, not least in fact it ignores many central points made by TNC & others.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:37:22

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547174085927518208

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:37:22

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

3. To some degree, best response is to just re-read TNC or my earlier twitter essay:  https://storify.com/JeetHeer1/reckoning-with-the-new-republic-s-racial-history …

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:38:05

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547174264130912257

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:38:05

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

4. Many of Sullivan's arguments are simply besides the point or hand-waivy.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:41:51

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547175212052008961

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:41:51

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

5. TNR couldn't have been racist since it was Jewish & liberal? As if both Jews & liberals don't have history of racism.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:42:28

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547175367409029120

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:42:28

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

6. On Jewish liberal racism against Arabs, see John Judis's excellent book Genesis.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:43:20

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547175586045509636

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:43:20

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

7. On Jewish anti-black racism see Leon Wieseltier's essay on Meir Kahane.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:44:04

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547175770120912896

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:44:04

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

8. Did other media beside TNR have trouble with diversity? Sure. But TNR was far worse than almost anyone else, even than right-wing mags.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:45:17

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547176076409962496

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:45:17

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

9. As of right now, National Review has employed more senior non-white staffers than TNR. True even in 1990s when Sullivan edited

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:46:26

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547176366882308096

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:46:26

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

10. Did TNR cover black culture? Sure, but often with hostility. Magazine notable for hit pieces on black writers & intellectuals.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:48:12

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547176812631949312

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:48:12

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

11. As libertarian Brian Doherty notes, back in 1990s TNR noted for regularly taking whacks at black intellectuals:  https://twitter.com/brianmdoherty/status/541087004218228736 …

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:51:28

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547177631666302976

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:51:28

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

12. Any one of the critical essays TNR might have been defensible but month after month of same swipes at same figures indicated a vendetta

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:52:26

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547177878597554176

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:52:26

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

13. Sullivan defends "Bell Curve" issue by using JAQ (just asking questions) rational.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:53:06

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547178045782507522

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:53:06

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

14. Sullivan says, sure, we published "Bell Curve" excerpt but we also published rebuttal. Just wanted a debate.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:53:46

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547178211499470848

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:53:46

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

15. Worth noting that Sullivan has been consistently two-faced about Bell Curve: sometimes defends it as a science, sometimes as JAQ

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:54:33

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547178408879194113

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:54:33

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

16. In any case, JAQ defense doesn't work since by publishing article, even with rebuttals, TNR was giving it imprinteur.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:55:49

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547178728149639168

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:55:49

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

17. By publishing "Bell Curve" excerpt, TNR was saying, "this is legitimate, this has to be taken seriously, we give it our stamp."

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:56:49

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547178979833020416

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:56:49

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

18. Reasons not to give Bell Curve TNR imprinteur: it wasn't peer reviewed and Sullivan lacked scientific training to evaluate.

Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:58:41

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547179450811445248

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Mon, Dec 22 2014 23:58:41

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

19. Sullivan says Murray was "most influential social scientist in American" when Bell Curve published.

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:00:13

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547179834871255040

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:00:13

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

20. In point of fact, Murray's earlier book had been savaged in the scholarly press. He was only influential because TNR published him.

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:01:02

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547180042510295040

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:01:02

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

21. Sullivan: "It is an axiom of mine that anything can be examined and debated..."

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:02:37

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547180439874465793

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:02:37

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

22. Sullivan: "and that the role of journalism is not to police the culture but to engage in it forthrightly and honestly"

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:03:01

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547180541867347968

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:03:01

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

23. This last claim strikes me as just as patently absurd and dishonest.

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:03:39

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547180697979322369

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:03:39

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

24. If someone from American Enterprise Institute published "scholarly" article saying all gays are pedophiles, who Sullivan publish?

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:04:20

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547180872508514304

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:04:20

Jeet Heer@JHreadsTNR

25. If someone from Heritage published "scholarly" paper saying Jews have inherited tendency towards greed, would Sullivan publish?

Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:05:19

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http://twitter.com/JHreadsTNR/status/547181119267811329

— Jeet Heer (@JHreadsTNR)Tue, Dec 23 2014 00:05:19