Arguably the best piece of advice to give a young professional these days is: “Never tweet.” Following that policy certainly would have saved Washington Post reporter Dave Weigel a month’s pay.
Weigel’s sin was retweeting a sexist joke from a comedian and podcast host @hamcarless, who wrote, “Every girl is bi. You just have to figure out if it’s polar or sexual.”
This admittedly would not be appropriate office banter, but after Post colleague Felicia Sonmez confronted Weigel through internal Washington Post communications, Weigel apologized and undid his retweet.
But this wasn’t enough for Sonmez, who also blasted Weigel in public on Twitter by screenshotting Weigel’s retweet and then sarcastically adding, “Fantastic to work at a news outlet where retweets like this are allowed!” (Sonmez was fired after tweeting her dissatisfaction with the Post for nearly a full week.)
After Sonmez’s internal and external complaints about Weigel’s behavior, the Washington Post suspended Weigel without pay for a month. Sonmez then commented on Twitter: “I have long considered Dave a good friend as well. It’s painful and confusing when friends say and do things that are wrong, and makes it all the more uncomfortable to call them out — even though it’s necessary to do so.”
Setting aside whether it was at all “necessary” for Sonmez to elevate a retweeted joke (that had since been unretweeted and apologized for) into a suspendable offense, where was the labor union that supposedly represented Weigel’s best interests?
After all, the Washington Post Guild’s webpage proudly claims that “if you are unfairly disciplined … the Guild can help.”
And in fact, just two years ago, when Sonmez herself was placed on paid administrative leave after tweeting stories about Kobe Bryant’s civil rape suit just minutes after he died, the Washington Post Guild organized a letter signed by 400 Post employees (including Weigel) defending Sonmez.
So where are Weigel’s union defenders?
They aren’t coming. Everyone knows that a woke union like the Washington Post Guild would never defend a white male who has been accused of offending a woman. It would just never happen.
Now, if this were a police union, then sure, all members would know that regardless of their race, sex, or religion, their union would be there to defend them. But police unions are decidedly unwoke. If the Left had its way, there would be a lot fewer law enforcement officers to begin with.
If America’s labor movement wants to know why its membership keeps declining, it should look at the Washington Post Guild’s silence on Weigel’s punishment. Millions of men throughout the country, black and white, know that today’s woke unions would never take their side against management if they are accused of offending a woman, even with just a single joke.
