Profiles in Cowardice: Rich Lowry and National Review

As I suspected, due to his rant, which I did defend; John Derbyshire was terminated from his position at National Review.

Anyone who has read Derb in our pages knows he’s a deeply literate, funny, and incisive writer. I direct anyone who doubts his talents to his delightful first novel, “Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream,” or any one of his “Straggler” columns in the books section of NR. Derb is also maddening, outrageous, cranky, and provocative. His latest provocation, in a webzine, lurches from the politically incorrect to the nasty and indefensible. We never would have published it, but the main reason that people noticed it is that it is by a National Review writer. Derb is effectively using our name to get more oxygen for views with which we’d never associate ourselves otherwise. So there has to be a parting of the ways. Derb has long danced around the line on these issues, but this column is so outlandish it constitutes a kind of letter of resignation. It’s a free country, and Derb can write whatever he wants, wherever he wants. Just not in the pages of NR or NRO, or as someone associated with NR any longer.

via Parting Ways – By Rich Lowry – The Corner – National Review Online.

I happen to agree with Jeff over at Protein Wisdom, when PC rules the day, we have lost badly. Because of this, I will be removing National Review Online’s entries from the blogroll here and replacing it with something else. If freedom of speech is subject to that sort of nonsense at NRO; than I have nothing in common with them and I hardly consider them a truly conservative website and publication.

Let me say emphatically, the staff of National Review and yes, that includes Rich Lowry — can go to hell.