David Weigel Resigns: Why the Right Wanted Him Out

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After making disparaging remarks about conservatives, Washington Post blogger David Weigel has resigned. Weigel, a libertarian of sorts, covers the Republican Party and conservative movement at large. His remarks were made on a liberal off-the-record list-serv called JournoList. They were then leaked to FishbowlDC and published Thursday. In his e-mails, Weigel targets conservative publisher Matt Drudge, Washington Examiner columnist Byron York and Ron Paul Supporters:

This would be a vastly better world to live in if Matt Drudge decided to handle his emotional problems more responsibly, and set himself on fire. ...

I'd politely encourage everyone to think twice about rewarding the Examiner with any traffic or links for a while. I know the temptation is high to follow up hot hot Byron York scoops, but please resist it. ...

It's all very amusing to me. Two hundred screaming Ron Paul fanatics couldn't get their man into the Fox News New Hampshire GOP debate, but Fox News is pumping around the clock to get Paultard Tea Party people on TV.

After the remarks were published—but before Weigel resigned—conservatives contemplated Weigel's words. Reactions ranged from outrage to disappointment to sincere support.

• That's the Last Straw, writes Donald Douglas at American Power: "I've given Weigel the benefit of the doubt in the past, largely because Robert Stacy McCain has vouched for him. But no more. If you're mostly hanging out with lefties... you're mostly going to echo left-wing talking points. On occasion Weigel bucked the stereotype, but I think this episode pretty much destroys what little credibility among those on the right who might otherwise have trusted him."

• Weigel Has Always Had an Agenda, writes James Joyner at Outside the Beltway: "Do I think someone more sympathetic to the movement would be a better fit for the beat?  I do.  It would be more insightful to get a broad spectrum view of a Tea Party rally, say, than a series of posts making fun of the looniest members of the crowd. Dave does actual reporting and provides interesting insights that someone writing longer form articles for the paper would miss.   But the tone of Right Now is one of someone on a mission to expose just how crazy conservatives are."

• Weigel Should Have Disclosed His Membership on Journolist, writes Will Collier: "Weigel's personality aside, the fact that he's a contributing member of Klein's liberal propaganda-coordination clique should have been disclosed from the very beginning of Weigel's 'reporting' on conservatives. It says nothing good about either Weigel or his bosses at the WaPo that none of the above thought Weigel's membership in a glorified version of Media Matters would be something worth notifying readers about."

• Weigel Isn't All That Bad, writes Robert Stacy McCain: "Anyone who has ever worked in DC can testify that in Washington, the more you succeed, the more knives will be aimed at your back. The nation’s capital is a place where the whisper campaign and the poison-pen letter have been refined to a high art. If you wonder why I’ve defended Dave, contemplate the moral of Androcles and the Lion: Gratitude is the sign of noble souls."

• He Wasn't Fooling Anybody, writes Another Black Conservative: "Basically, Weigel pretends to be conservative so that he can have a big and cushy job with the MSM. His formula is to study enough of the right so that he doesn't sound like your typical knee jerk liberal. He then goes about supporting the left by finding some way to pan the right. We get the M.O., it’s tired, it’s trifflin’ and oh so transparent."
  

• Weigel Is a Good Guy, tweets Matthew Vadum, a contributer at the American Spectator cited by McCain:
  

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