Moments of honest disagreement, where both sides make good arguments in good faith, are becoming rare. The current debate over tax reform is one of those infrequent occasions. But Ashley Feinberg is not making good arguments, and Ashley Feinberg certainly isn’t arguing in good faith.
The normally funny HuffPost reporter took a cheap shot at the family of Sen. John McCain, who is dying from brain cancer and who recently announced his support for tax reform. “Congratulations to John McCain’s wife and children,” Feinberg tweeted “on their upcoming tax-free inheritance.”
Because the tax bill would do away with the death tax. Because brain cancer is good material for a joke. Because, apparently, the only thing better than making fun of a dying old man is making fun of his family.
Now granted, McCain is a public figure, meaning a certain amount of criticism is merited. Even when the senator passes away, it will not be out of bounds to criticize his policy positions and his personality. Two good places to start, for instance, are his relentless appetite to invade just about every nation on Earth and his ballyhooed decision to torpedo Obamacare repeal.
But whatever world McCain finds himself in, either this one or the next, his career will always be fair game. His family, however, never will.
This sort of thing isn’t new. We’ve trod this ground already, in fact just over Thanksgiving when Malia Obama was spotted smoking something on Harvard’s campus. And we’ve all more or less concluded that the kids are off limits — especially kids who will soon watch their dad die.
Knowing this, Feinberg deleted the tweet. The senior reporter didn’t apologize at the gaffe though. She simply said that all the backlash “wasn’t worth it.” That’s a shame. She should try again and apologize for real this time.
