UPDATED below: Politico removes item, writer explains/apologizes decision to highlight the list.
Yesterday, Playboy writer Guy Cimbalo published a top ten list of conservative women against whom he would like to commit vulgar and violent sexual acts. His piece, which has since been removed by the skin mag's Web site, was actually promoted to conservative sites like NewsBusters by Playboy's PR people (see editor's note at bottom of the post). Cimbalo's hate-filled and misogynistic write-up drew the condemnation of many conservatives and even some liberals.
Yet Anne Schroeder Mullins of Politico.com remains unimpressed and disturbingly amused by Playboy's sick hit list. She was so amused in fact that she playfully white-washed Cimbalo's violent sexual rhetoric as the "lighter side of politics." But what if the tables where turned in this story?
Let's say that Rush Limbaugh, the National Review, or the Weekly Standard had compiled a list of liberal women they wanted to, and this is a quote, "hate f***"? Does anyone believe that the list would end up being reported in the "lighter side of politics" section at Politico.com? How many milliseconds would pass before "conservative hate speech" would be denounced at every major media outlet in the country?
Would anything created by a conservative that was one-tenth as disgusting as the vomit-inducing filth contained in these screen shots captured by Caleb Howe of RedState (Strong content warning!) ever be santized or looked on playfully by the press? Of course not.
But when a liberal writer publishes a liberal list at a liberal website using violent sexual rhetoric to denigrate conservative women, Politico can find nothing but humor in it. Talk about hypocrisy at its worst.
Editor's Note: Below in full is the e-mail by Playboy Online Community Manager and Editor Aranya Tomseth.
Subject line: So Right It's Wrong
Hello —
I just wanted to pass on the link to “So Right It’s Wrong,” an article on the top 10 conservative women we hate to love. It just went live on our site this morning.
http://www.playboy.com/articles/playboy-forum-the-top-10-women-conservatism/index.html
Best Regards,
Aranya Tomseth
Editor | Online Community Manager
Playboy.com
UPDATE | Mullins offers an apology and explains the retraction:
The Playboy article linked to on this blog listed 10 conservative women "they love to hate" adding their reasons why. The blog included the link but only used the names of the women listed. But the Playboy article also included an offensive section that was not included in the blog, but has caused outrage in some readers who believe the blog agrees with all of Playboy stances. This is not true. So the blog has now taken down the link and greatly apologies [sic]. No ill will was meant.
