Tough Week at the NRO

Second one this week fired.

For NRO Editor Rich "Starbursts" Lowry, firing white supremacists and the sort is an occupational hazard:

Regarding Robert Weissberg:

Unbeknowst to us, occasional Phi Beta Cons contributor Robert Weissberg (whose book was published a few years ago by Transaction) participated in an American Renaissance conference where he delivered a noxious talk about the future of white nationalism. He will no longer be posting here. Thanks to those who brought it to our attention

If I was a bigwig at the National Review, I'd empathize with Rich. It has to be a tough job to corral all the craziness going on over there and navigate around each bright and shiny object that wingers periodically fixate upon. For some, the crazy may be a belief that starbursts emanate from Sarah Palin when she is speaking. For others, it is the outrage of the day over some grievance either real or imagined. For others, it may be white supremacy. Who knows, it is all in a good day's work over there.

With that said, as a bigwig at the NR, I'd see to it that the Human Resources department prepare a users manual on how to spot and fire a racist on staff. The manual may contain a checklist to help the editor out with questions like this:

Has the writer ever admitted to being a racist? If yes move to step X

Does the writer associate with Hate groups? If yes, move to step X unless particular hate group is an anti-immigration outfit. These are evaluated on a case by case basis. If the hate group is anti-gay, this is usually ok.

Does the writer link to content at hate group websites? If yes, beware.

Has the writer ever written a racial diatribe that is so bad that it offends other NRO writers? If yes move to step X. You may want to consider mitigating factors. When was it? Has he apologized? Etc.

Does the writer hang with Nazis or other white supremacist organizations? Hint: the Klan is definitely a no-no. If yes move immediately to step X.

Step X. Fire the Son of a Bitch immediately. Issue brief blog post indicating that you are shocked by such conduct and do not condone it. It is imperative that ties are severed immediately. We get enough accusations of racism as it is. It is better to be thought by the general public as just a bunch of assholes rather than as racists.

It is just a thought. If you are the bigwig, you don't want to set your employees up to fail. It is inevitable that some racists may sneak in unnoticed. When this happens, you need to give your employees the tools they need to succeed. A written procedure with these steps (and more) could come in handy.