Tim Barrus, Opinion Editor, New York Times
NYT Opinion Editor
One voice is missing. Even in the abortion issue as it now defines the culture war. You have the liberal writers. You have centrist writers. But you have no radical voices insisting on the need for subversion. Subversiveness is off the table. It was never on the table. As a teenager, I lived in Michigan. I could drive. I had a car. I drove Draft Dodgers to Canada. I dared authority to catch me. They never did. It was against the law. Like I cared. Like I care today. To fathom subversiveness, you have to understand what that is. Never articulate subversiveness in comments. It’s rude. The New York Times will censor you into oblivion. The media must be compelled to at the very least investigate what subversion is. We may not have a voice, but we are here. The New York Times is afraid to recognize these voices about how subversion is a wicked tool. One third of your picture is missing. One third of your take is always missing. Us. The forest for the trees. You can write about us. But there is no there there when those of us who recognize the value of subversion, dare to speak. Our ideas are rendered invisible. Real journalists would go after the story of how and why the right was so subversive. The history of church and state and how subversiveness can, too, be a very long game.
Tim Barrus