The American Spectator

Bucknell’s “Young Hipublicans” and the New York Times.

This is in regards to Paul Beston’s very objectionable “Once More, With Sneering.” The NYT finally did something good, and he can’t seem to see that. The following are quotations from the article and my rejoinders. I was featured in the New York Times article about which Beston wrote.

“[Story author John] Colapinto has a grudging admiration for them.”

Not true —John has a genuine, heartfelt admiration for us, which is evident if you meet him. Did you see the stuff he said about me on Fox?!

“Unfortunately though, Charles Mitchell isn’t kidding, and so Colapinto is forced to descend from his Mount Olympus of faux detachment.”

Give me a break — John’s “the temptation is to assume he’s kidding” sentence was a joke. It’s about my $@#$()*+&*(# room, and I’m amused!

“In the usual sidewinding, subtle manner of Times journalism, Colapinto consistently sounds warnings about these young conservatives the way one might expect if he were writing about, say, student members of the Aryan Nation.”

Not even close …

“Colapinto’s main issue with campus conservatives is his contention that they are merely the mouthpieces, if not the pod people, of conservative think tanks and leadership groups.”

This entire argument (much of the piece) is just patently untrue —John does not think that! Maybe he didn’t make it clear enough in the article — and he did, beings that he was TRYING TO GET THE NEW YORK TIMES TO PUBLISH A HIGHLY COMPLEMENTARY PORTRAIT OF SOME RIGHTIES, have to devote a lot of words to the theory — but his thesis is precisely the opposite. It’s unfortunate that this writer can’t see that, and it makes our movement look like a bunch of crybabies.

“The young male conservatives are bad enough, but women conservatives bewilder Colapinto even more.”

No, they don’t — the discussion of this matter was something John was ORDERED TO PUT IN BY A FEMALE, LIBERAL EDITOR AT THE MAGAZINE.

“He was complimentary and gracious; you would never get the idea that this is the writer who alleges that the young conservatives are nothing but parrots for a well-funded, well-oiled rightwing machine out to conquer the American university.”

BECAUSE HE DOESN’T THINK THAT!

“It’s unlikely Charles Mitchell and his colleagues have failed to see through Colapinto’s hot and cold routine.”