Ross Douthat
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Ross "Chunky Reese Witherspoon" Douthat is a conservative columnist for The New York Times, a position he earned by being safer than William Kristol.
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[edit] Background
[edit] Harvard
Douthat attended Harvard from '98-'02, graduating with a concentration in history and literature. Douthat has written extensively about his time at Harvard; however, since using those sources entails reading Douthat's work,[1] his background remains a mystery to most.[2]
Douthat was a dedicated conservative even in college, a position that may have harmed his social life. Of course, his rampant self-absorption and apparent obsession with the film Gladiator probably didn't help.[3] Nor were his opinion pieces for The Harvard Crimson, which were an odd mix of articles on how awful Harvard and his peers were[4] and the occasional column arguing that everyone who didn't go to Harvard was a waste of skin.[5]
When the time came to write his first book - Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class - he chose to focus on the latter. However, that's a subject for another subheading.
[edit] The Atlantic
Douthat worked at The Atlantic from 2002 to 2009, rising to the position of editor. He was also a blogger on the Atlantic website, wowing the world with his observations on the dishonesty of blacks[6] and the unfair lack of Muslim villains in films.[7]
[edit] The New York Times
Douthat moved to the Op-Ed page of the Times in April 2009. His first column was entitled "Cheney For President." Make of that what you will.[8]
On the other hand, his op-ed in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris is exactly spot-on.[9]
[edit] What does Reese Witherspoon have to do with anything?
Sometimes, a writer will pen something that will haunt him forever. Economist Brad DeLong managed to find such a passage deep in Privilege:
“”One successful foray ended on the guest bed of a high school friend's parents, with a girl who resembled a chunkier Reese Witherspoon drunkenly masticating my neck and cheeks. It had taken some time to reach this point -- "Do most Harvard guys take so long to get what they want?" she had asked, pushing her tongue into my mouth. I wasn't sure what to say, but then I wasn't sure this was what I wanted. My throat was dry from too much vodka, and her breasts, spilling out of pink pajamas, threatened my ability to. I was supposed to be excited, but I was bored and somewhat disgusted with myself, with her, with the whole business... and then whatever residual enthusiasm I felt for the venture dissipated, with shocking speed, as she nibbled at my ear and whispered -- "You know, I'm on the pill..."[10]
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That passage went viral in the blogosphere. Today, anyone who pokes fun at Douthat is obligated to make a joke about it.[11]
[edit] Criminalizing homosexuality?
Ross Douthat is an outspoken opponent of same sex marriage[12] and gay rights more generally[13], and frequently writes about gay rights issues in his New York Times column (usually under the guise of "religious liberty"). On October 16, 2014, Ross Douthat, spoke at a fundraiser for the Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly known as the Alliance Defense Fund), a right wing legal funding group that supports the criminalization of homosexuality[14], among other far-right causes.
Douthat later apologized, stating that he was not aware the event was a fundraiser and would not have participated if he had known it was.[15]. However, Douthat has yet to repudiate his stance on homosexuality or state that he would not have spoken at a non-fundraiser event for the ADF.
[edit] See also
- David Brooks - Another VSP who writes for the Times.
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ A task on par with cleaning the Augean Stables in a single day.
- ↑ Including Wikipedia!
- ↑ When Ross Douthat Was 'That Guy' at Harvard, Gawker
- ↑ Like this column, and this column, and this column, and this column.
- ↑ "The Harvard Syndrome", The Harvard Crimson, November 5, 2001. Don't read this if you have a low tolerance for insufferable smugness. In fact, don't read it even if you have a high tolerance. (Hint: the column can be summarised as "they're just jealous." It also uses the words "understandable arrogance" without apparent irony.)
- ↑ "The 'Myth' of Welfare Queens"
- ↑ "The Return of the Paranoid Style"
- ↑ Cheney For President! - In all fairness, it's not quite as bad as it sounds. Douthat thought that running Cheney for president and losing would have rejuvenated the moderate wing of the GOP.
- ↑ The Blasphemy We Need
- ↑ Fear of Reese Witherspoon Look-Alikes on the Pill
- ↑ The Internet will never let him live this one down. And Jim Toth is a very happy man.
- ↑ Ross Douthat's Fantasy World
- ↑ Ross Douthat’s Canny (and Utterly Dishonest) Defense of Homophobia
- ↑ A New York Times Columnist Spoke At A Fundraiser For A Group Working To Criminalize Gay Sex
- ↑ Columnist Ross Douthat Apologizes For Attending Fundraiser For Anti-Gay Legal Group