Twitter Erupts at Bret Stephens' WWII Column With a Stunning and

[comradebillyboy]

Not-Very-Subtle Reference to ‘Bedbugs’

Online critics erupted after Bret Stephens included a not-so-subtle — and highly dubious — “bedbugs” quote in his latest New York Times column, just days after deactivating his Twitter account for trying to bully and professionally intimidate a professor who jokingly called him a “bedbug” on Twitter.

Topped with a massive photo of Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels, Stephens’ latest column, entitled “World War II and the Ingredients of Slaughter,” cited an alleged quote from Polish Nazi sympathizer watching Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto burn: “The bedbugs are on fire. The Germans are doing a great job.” Some quick online sleuthing, however, suggested that Stephens may have carelessly misinterpreted the line.

But it was the broader implication of Stephens’ argument that inflamed his online critics, who were aghast at its audacious framing and exceedingly self-defensive nature.

https://www.mediaite.com/online/twitter-erupts-at-bret-stephens-wwii-column-with-a-stunning-and-not-very-subtle-reference-to-bedbugs/

I didn't copy the tweets responding to Stephens embarrassing editorial but they are hilarious and well worth reading.

Bedbug Bret is still upset with the GWU prof and implicitly compares their twitter spat to the Nazis persecuting the Jews. The until now obscure prof is the Nazis unleashing a Holocaust on poor Bret's fragile ego.

[greyl]

1. I recommend backing off from this one. Bedbug is a term used in Mein Kampf. nt

[comradebillyboy]

2. Many many words are used in Mein Kampf. We can't ban them all.

The story is about Stephens' ridiculous over reaction to an obscure professors obscure tweet making fun of Bret. He made a joke about an actual bedbug infestation in the NYT offices.

https://www.vox.com/2019/8/27/20834957/bret-stephens-bedbug-meltdown-dave-karpf-new-york-times-explained

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-28/bedbug-bret-stephens-twitter-speech-civility-new-york-times

[JonLP24]

3. Bret Stephens is the one who is wrong here

It all started when some professor said the bedbugs in the NY Times was a metophor and that Bret Stephens is the bed bug. Keep in mind Bret Stephens is a big free speech guy. He emailed him and CC'd his provost in an attempt to get him fired.

This latest column is him not letting it go and people get called worse than bedbug on social media (which the tweet wasn't even sent to him.)

https://amp.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/30/bret-stephens-bedbug-column-twitter?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium=&utm_source=Twitter&__twitter_impression=true

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. So, for example, is 'leech'. But that doesn't mean that all the jokes about the Washington leech

with 3 jaws and 59 teeth were wrong, and worth reporting someone to their superior about. If you see a news story about Washington DC and leeches, the jokes write themselves, and you don't expect to find some thin-skinned politician saying it's a Nazi tactic to compare an individual, or a group, to a leech for their behaviour. Similarly, you don't expect a standard joke riffing off bedbugs in the NYT building and a dubious person (hated for his opinions, not what he was born as) in there to get called Nazi-like.

The author of the joke has replied on Twitter:

Link to tweet

"The premise of my Monday joke was that Bret Stephens is irritating and impossible to remove from the NYT newsroom.

Last night, Stephens used his column to pursue a personal grudge. He implied I'm a nazi. The NYT has said nothing.

Stephens is irritating & impossible to remove."