Ezra Klein apologizes for rape of schoolgirl
After Howard Kurtz and other media pundits called on Klein to apologize, Klein wrote “I am sorry for it and will not do it again.”
This is not a photo of Ezra Klein forcing himself on a young woman.
After days of speculation and rumor, and only after being chastised by Washington establishment journalists such as Howard Kurtz, Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein apologized for his part in Saturday’s rape of 14-year-old Lexington Loughner in a Facebook post today.
In his blog on the Washington Post, Klein wrote that “I know I didn’t mean anything by anything I’ve written in the past, and I know they never read anything I’ve written while planning her rape, but if any of my actions contributed to the rape of Miss Loughner, I am sorry for it and will not do it again.”
Klein came under fire for writing that “rape is a quietly honored part of the punishment structure” and that he wanted to “force participation of married women in the U.S.” and especially to “force participation of mothers with young children”. He also repeated a Kinsey claim about scoring being “much better in the classroom”, and later added that “dorms [are] so very entertaining”.
Critics said that his writings, while not technically on topic, could have, would have, and might have incited the high school girl’s rape on Saturday. And probably did, or maybe not.
While there’s no specific proof that Klein participated in the rape, and it’s unknown if any of the verified rapists read any of Klein’s work, most analysts, including those at the Walkerville Weekly Reader, urged him to apologize.
We at the Reader commend him for following our advice and providing us with this most non-non-non-non-non-heinous headline. We assure him that no-one will take it out of the context of this article. Except for our readers, of course. And every news source that syndicates from us. And probably the rest of the print and television media. But nobody pays attention to them anyway, which is part of why we’re angry and lashing out.
Klein says that the controversy means he must resign from his position at the local school, and that only demeaning tasks, such as dog-catcher and journalist, are available to him now. “And no one trusts me with dogs.”
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