Why Alan Pyke Ought
to Resign – and Won't
by Alexander Marlow & Stephen K. Bannon 15 Aug 2014
On Thursday, Alan Pyke, an economics editor at Think
Progress, the blog of the Center for American
Progress, the liberal think-tank in Washington, tweeted out that he
wished Fox News chief Roger Ailes would die
a “slow, painful” death—“and soon.” Why? Because, in Pyke’s view, Ailes is
“evil.” As Pyke explained it, referring to Ailes, “The evil that man has done
to the American tapestry is unprecedented for an individual.”
A few hours later, after Breitbart News called him on his venomous
tweet, Pyke deleted the tweet and apologized, sort of: as he wrote, “Deleting
my hateful Roger Ailes tweet from earlier. Hoping that another human being dies
is a shitty thing to do, and I'm sorry.”
But we might ask: Did Pyle personally apologize to Ailes for
wishing him dead? Or did Pyke apologize for calling Ailes “evil?” The answer to
both of those questions, of course, is “no.” Pyke did a little—make that very
little—damage control. He deleted the tweet and then just said, “I’m sorry.”
As far as we can tell, Pyke is still on the payroll at CAP,
still doing his thing. He has sent out some 30 tweets since his “I’m sorry,”
mostly focused on the Ferguson, MO protests; he sure seems to be more of an
activist than an economist. (Yes, it’s amazing what an economics editor at a
liberal think tank can delve into.)
Well, that shouldn’t be the end of this story. There are a
few more things—three things, in fact—that have to get settled.
First, let’s talk double standards. If a conservative, a
moderate—anyone but a liberal—had tweeted out something like that, there’d be a
suspension or even a firing. The most recent example is Sean Bergin, the New
Jersey reporter whose un-PC opinions on the state of the black family,
expressed on the air in July, cost him his job.
Second, let’s ask: Where is the accountability of the Center
for American Progress? Let’s start with the President of CAP, Neera Tanden.
Does she in any way have any responsibility here? As of publication, calls to
her office have not been returned.
How about the board of directors of CAP, including
former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright?
Do any of them feel any responsibility?
Also on the board of CAP is Tom Steyer, the green
billionaire crusader. Steyer and another left-wing billionaire, George Soros,
have given millions each. But in the
meantime, is anyone holding them accountable for what one of their hirelings
has to say?
And how about all the other donors
to CAP, from the American Beverage Association to Wells Fargo? Any contrition
on K Street?
And come to think of it, CAP is a tax-exempt outfit. So in
effect, we’re all—all of us taxpayers—chipping in to subsidize Pyke’s hate.
Third, where are the usual watchdogs of civility? When a
conservative gets out of line, outfits such as the Poynter Institute can be
counted on to provide a tut-tut quote about “coarsening the culture,” etc. But
when a good liberal from CAP does it, all we hear are crickets.
If nobody else will say it, we will: Alan Pyke ought to
resign. And since he won’t, he should be fired. And until that happens, nobody
in the CAP hierarchy—from Tanden, to Soros, to Steyer—should rest easy.
Fox News
Note:
Media Matters
monitors Fox News.
Eric Alterman was
a senior fellow at Media Matters,
and is a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for Media Matters, and the Center
for American Progress.
George Soros was
the chairman for the Foundation to
Promote Open Society, a supporter for the Center for American Progress, and is the Open Society Foundations.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Center for American Progress.
Thomas F. Steyer
is a director at the Center for American
Progress.
Madeleine K.
Albright is a director at the Center
for American Progress.
Michael S. Barr
is a fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and was an assistant
secretary at the U.S. Department of the
Treasury for the Barack Obama
administration.
Ronald W. Bloom
is a fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and was an assistant to the president for the Barack Obama administration.
Carol M. Browner
is a senior fellow, director at the Center
for American Progress, and was the energy czar for the Barack Obama administration.
William A. Burton
is a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress, and was the deputy press secretary for the Barack Obama administration.
Tom
Daschle is the chairman for the Center for
American Progress, was the nominee for health and human services secretary
for the Barack Obama administration,
and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).
Ezekiel Emanuel
is a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress, and was the health care policy adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
Jocelyn C. Frye
is a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress, Michelle Obama’s
Harvard Law school friend, and was the policy & projects director to Michelle Obama for the Barack Obama administration.
Austan D.
Goolsbee is a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and was the director Economic
Recovery Board, council of economic advisers chairman for the Barack Obama administration.
Peter Ogden is a
senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and was a director for climate change & environmental policy,
National Security staff for the Barack
Obama administration.
John D. Podesta is
the founder of the Center for American
Progress, and a counselor for the Barack
Obama administration.
Lawrence H. Summers is a distinguished senior
fellow at the Center for American
Progress, was the National Economic Council chairman for the Barack Obama administration, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference
participant (think tank).
Peter Swire is a
senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and was a
special
assistant to the president for the Barack
Obama administration.
Richard R. Verma
is a fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and was the assistant secretary of state for the Barack Obama administration.
Todd Stern was a
senior fellow at the Center for American
Progress, and is the special envoy for climate change at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration.
Gene B. Sperling
was a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress, and is the assistant to the president for economic
policy for the Barack Obama
administration.
Dan Restrepo was a
senior fellow; former Americas Project director at the Center for American Progress, and a special assistant to the
president for the Barack Obama
administration.
Jennifer M.
Palmieri was an SVP at the Center
for American Progress, and is a communications director, assistant to the
president for the Barack Obama
administration.
Esther M.
Olavarria was a director of immigration policy at the Center for American Progress, and is the deputy assistant
secretary, homeland security for the Barack
Obama administration.
Denis McDonough
was a senior fellow at the Center for
American Progress, and is the chief of staff; former deputy national
security adviser for the Barack Obama
administration.
Jeanne Lambrew was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and is the deputy assistant to the president
for health policy for the Barack Obama
administration.
Bradley J. Kiley
was a VP for the Center for American Progress, and a director
of management and administration for the Barack
Obama administration.
Derek Douglas
was an associate director of economic policy at the Center for American Progress,
and a special assistant for urban affairs for the Barack Obama administration.
Philip J. Crowley
was a director of homeland security at the Center
for American Progress, and an assistant
secretary of state for the Barack Obama
administration.
Cassandra Q. Butts
was an SVP at the Center for American Progress, and the deputy
White House counsel for the Barack Obama
administration.
Melody C. Barnes
was an EVP at the Center for American Progress, the domestic
policy council, director for the Barack
Obama administration, and is Barack
Obama’s golf partner.
Karen Kornbluh was
a visiting scholar at the Center for American Progress, and a policy
director for Barack Obama.
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