Michelle Malkin

Michelle Malkin is a particularly vile far-right US political pundit. And to merit the qualification "particularly vile" in the august company of Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage is truly awe-inspiring.
She stands out for openly defending Japanese American internment during World War II, and implied that Muslim civilians should be similarly locked up for the duration of the War on Terror (so basically until the Republican Party unanimously decides that Muslims are okayAnd given the Dominionist/hyper-[Protestant] Christian leanings of the current GOP, that won't be for a long, long time.). She's also a proponent of torture, and demonizes her opponents at almost every opportunity, often for no particular reason.
Being a woman, she's usually the go-to alternative to Ann Coulter. Being the daughter of Asian parents, (i.e., not white), she's often used to shield American conservative punditry from accusations of racism (regardless of the ironic fact that Malkin's a flaming racist herself).
Not surprisingly, Malkin is a regular contributor on Fox News. She was a guest host on The O'Reilly Factor.
Her rhetoric is so bad that Andrew Sullivan made up the Malkin Award for the most intemperate, hateful remarks of the year. (Both she and Coulter are ineligible for the award, to give others a chance at winning.The Dish Awards)
==Malkin's Greatest Hits==
Malkin has a history of bizarre, vile behavior. A full list would run to book length. Here are some of the more notorious incidents, in chronological order:
===Malkin versus Matthews===
Malkin's rise started during the run-up to the 2004 Presidential Election. At the time, she still had a habit of saying obscene things, but she couched them in such a way that she had plausible deniability. The first challenge to this tactic came from professional screamer Chris Matthews. On Hardball, Malkin raised allegations that John Kerry had deliberately wounded himself to earn a purple heart. However, she couldn't quite bring herself to say that she believed that, only that allegations were being made (well, allegations from Malkin, at least). The results were a bit embarrassing for Malkin, to say the least.Chris Matthews and Michelle Malkin (video)
===Malkin defends Japanese internment===
In 2004, Malkin released a book defending Japanese internment during World War IIIn Defense of Internment: The Case for 'Racial Profiling' in World War II and the War on Terror by Michelle Malkin (2004) Regnery Publishing. ISBN:0895260514. (something that had been ordered by Franklin D. Roosevelt). Apparently, she didn't like the fact that Japanese internment was brought up by those opposing racial profiling of terr'ists Muslims, so she decided to write a negationist history of Japanese internment. In fact, it was not racist. Nothing to do with racism, nothing at all.A historian reviews In Defense of Internment.See also the smackdown by Fred Korematsu himself and the Historians' Committee open letter. The book is especially ironic considering that the leading conservative Republican during World War II was opposed to Japanese American Internment. Perhaps her Filipino parents brought her up with some resentment of the Japanese for their occupation of the country during WWII?
===Malkin and the Sinister Crescent!===
In 2005, Malkin took a pre-eminent role in an astoundingly dumb controversy regarding a proposed memorial for Flight 93. Dubbed "Crescent of Embrace," it consisted primarily of a stand of trees partially surrounding the crash site. The design was selected by a panel composed of design experts and victims' family members, and it was announced on September 7.Flight 93 marker design picked, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Shortly after the announcement, a group of Internet obsessives—Malkin among them—came to the conclusion that the Memorial was actually a covert memorial to the terrorists."Flight 93 Memorial: Seeing Is Believing" Why? Because it's a big red crescent, a historic symbol of Islam!Actually, the crescent is a historic symbol of the Ottoman Empire, and the color red on a topographical map represents trees, which are green for most of the year. But hey, why let reality get in the way of a good controversy? With such clear facts, all Malkin had to overcome were the families, all of whom were sure the claims were utter bunk.Design of a memorial to Flight 93 fuels tension between families, The New York Times Of course, Malkin is not one to let something as petty as the stated desires of the grieving get in her way.
The dreaded crescent was not a particularly long-term campaign, for Malkin or anyone else. Today, the only ones who want to talk about it are the mentally unstable sons of renowned political theorists.Alec Rawls, in case you were wondering.
===Malkin invokes death threats===
In 2006, Malkin "reported" on opposition to military recruitment in UC Santa Cruz, specifically the actions of a few students calling themselves Students Against War. She included a copy of a press release which contained contact information for the three leaders. Subsequently, the three of them started receiving threatening phone calls and e-mails. In a rare act of "civility," Malkin took the contact information down.
The students were understandably upset. When Malkin heard of their complaints, she blamed them, then reposted their contact info. Subsequent requests were ignored, and the information remains on her site to this day."More Thuggery In Santa Cruz"Malkin Makes Worst Person on Countdown with Keith Olbermann
===Malkin stalks a child===
In 2007, then-President Bush proposed cuts to SCHIP, an insurance program for lower-class families who are above the cutoff for Medicaid. The Democratic response included a statement by 12-year old Graeme Frost, a recipient of the program. The Frosts had been in a nasty car accident which left Graeme in a coma and his younger sister Gemma with brain damage. The costs for their treatment were covered by SCHIP. As Graeme said in the response: "If it weren't for SCHIP, I might not be here today … We got the help we needed because we had health insurance for us through the SCHIP program. But there are millions of kids out there who don’t have SCHIP, and they wouldn’t get the care that my sister and I did if they got hurt … I just hope the President will listen to my story and help other kids to be as lucky as me."Filthy Democrats with their filthy civilization.
Enter Michelle Malkin. Spurred by the mad gibbering of the Freepers, Malkin launched a full-on harassment campaign "investigation" against the Frosts. She traveled to the Frosts' neighborhood, hoping to find evidence that they were all con artists. When grilling the neighbors failed to turn up any dirt, she tried snooping in their windows.If you can stomach it, here's her account. She made hay out of the fact that she thought she saw granite countertops, an accusation which has been dumped down the memory hole but lives on as a meme to this day.The Internet will never let her live this down, rightfully. Probably what would be the most laughable part of the whole incident, if it weren't such a twisted, dangerous display of lunacy, is that she actually had the audacity to claim that the Democrats had engaged in "child abuse" by putting Graeme in a place where Malkin could savage him.
Lest you still have doubts about Malkin's utter classlessness, she followed this up with an attack on an even younger SCHIP recipient.The original link, or a link for those who need some snark to mask the bitterness.
...and no, we're not over yet. In 2010, Malkin decided to reprise her role as the huntress of children:
===Malkin's Crusade against a Sinister Scarf!===
In 2008, Malkin looked at an ad Rachael Ray did for Dunkin' Donuts and decided that the black-and-white paisley scarf she was wearing was a sly sign of support for the Palestinian Liberation Organization."Of Donuts and Dumb Celebrities" (Dunning-Kruger alert!)
It is scientifically impossible to make that sound more ridiculous than it really is. Trust us, we tried.
===Malkin defends a rapist===
Malkin is a vocal defender of (convicted in 2015 of raping multiple African-American women)Updated: Holtzclaw family, friends vow to keep appealing after Oklahoma court upholds 263-prison sentence and considers him a friend.Michelle Malkin on Twitter: "My friend Daniel Holtzclaw was wrongfully convicted in Oklahoma 5 years ago today--one of the worst miscarriages of justice I've ever covered in 25+ yrs. It's also Daniel's 34th birthday. NEVER GIVE UP! Despite victim testimony and limited DNA evidence being presented at the trial,How Police Caught The Cop Who Allegedly Sexually Abused Black Women Malkin still appears to genuinely believe that Holtzclaw was the victim of anti-police railroading.Science, secrecy and lies in Oklahoma (BTW, she cites her own show as her source)
In 2019, in an apparent attempt to insinuate massive fraud in Oklahoma, Malkin found another convicted rapist to defend. Her motive in doing this was quite transparently to discredit the process through which Holtzclaw was convicted, as the suspect in question (Rayshun Mullins) had confessed. Twice.Michelle Malkin Defends Another Convicted Rapist
===ACORN conspiracies===
Malkin has been one of the foremost proponents of ACORN conspiracy theories, or "Obamacorn" as she often calls it. She has written numerous columns accusing ACORN of everything from massive voter fraud to being a major player in causing the banking crisis so it could embezzle stimulus money. Compared to everything else she's done, Malkin is probably one of the few people who can make ACORN conspiracies sound sane in comparison.Malkin's "ACORN Watch"
===Doxing Of People Who Protest===
In 2006, four students at the University of California at Santa Cruz protested the appearance of military recruiters at an on-campus job fair. Malkin not only blogged about this incident, she went on to post the full names and phone numbers of these students on her blog for all to see, leading to them getting death threats.The Worst Person in the World and 202 Strong Contenders by Keith Olbermann (Wiley, September 2006). ISBN 0-470-04495-0
==More fun==
===Stance on immigration===
Michelle follows the typical nationalist views on immigration: lock 'em up or kick 'em out. She is associated with the nativist website VDARE, who must be thrilled to have an actual minority on hand. She has a particular obsession with "anchor babies", children born to immigrants in the United States. She is adamant that the laws that allow foreign parents of American-born children to gain citizenship should be changed immediately."No More Drive By Citizenship"Incidentally, RationalWiki is very sorry that this article has so many links to Malkin's site. Ironically enough, Malkin's own parents were immigrants, on worker visas, from the Philippines. In other words, Michelle Malkin is an anchor baby, by her own definition.Michelle Malkin: Anchor BabyBooknotes, Dec. 8, 2002. Uncle tommery of the highest order.
===Global warming denial===
Do you really think Malkin believes in science the lies of the enviro-nitwits and Al Gore? Don't bet on it."Enviro-nitwits" category
===Affirmative action===
In a column following the US Supreme Court decision in Grutter v. Bollinger, Malkin complained about seeing "militant Asian activists joining other liberal minority students across the country in a Sumatran gibbon-like celebration ritual of chest-beating, fist-pumping and pro-affirmative action whooping calls" in the news.Malkin, Michelle. "Asian Americans shouldn't cheer affirmative action." Philadelphia Inquirer: June 30, 2003. Yep, "gibbon-like....chest-beating" is totally not bigoted.Discrimination against blacks linked to dehumanization, study finds
===Drugs are bad, but crazy is good, m'kay===
Interestingly, the only thing that will dissuade Malkin from associating with politicians that match identically with her views is whether or not they engage in crack use."Canadian clown show"
On the other hand, Malkin has long supported legalizing marijuana. She even blasted the war on drugs as a costly failure and an "inhumane sacrifice to personal liberty."Liberty Is Biggest Loser In Nation's War On Drugs. The Seattle Times. 29 July 1997.Malkin: Legalizing medical marijuana can do good for many people. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. 28 March 2014.Michelle Malkin: Conservative hero and marijuana advocate. The Cannabist via The Colorado Springs Gazette. 19 May 2014.
===Twitchy===
In 2012, Malkin founded Twitchy, an aggregation website for Twitter posts relating to current news about politics and entertainment.http://michellemalkin.com/2012/03/07/announcing-twitchy-com/ Ultimately, the site is mostly nutpicking of Twitter posts intending to make liberals look stupid, rather than making serious arguments. The content is catnip for the audience, as the comments section is full of the predictable, juvenile insults like "libtard" as well as tired PRATT memes. Many "headlines" on Twitchy are coincidentally posts of her own tweets, written as a third-person is covering them e.g. "Try ‘systemic assassinations’: Michelle Malkin fixes Obama’s statement after the Chattanooga attack"http://twitchy.com/2015/07/16/try-systemic-assassinations-michelle-malkin-fixes-obamas-statement-after-the-chattanooga-attack/and "‘Tone’ problem?' Michelle Malkin let Planned Parenthood’s Cecile Richards HAVE IT with gruesome truth"http://twitchy.com/2015/07/22/tone-problem-michelle-malkin-let-planned-parenthoods-cecile-richards-have-it-with-gruesome-truth/ written by "Twitchy Staff" of which she happens to be a member, apparently using her site as the most obvious sockpuppet imaginable.http://twitchy.com/about/
===VDare===
Malkin writes for white nationalist online "news" site VDare.https://vdare.com/writers/michelle-malkin
===Capital punishment===
Malkin is opposed to the death penalty. Seriously, her piece published on The Daily Wire sounds nothing like her usual vile views where she calls for systemic reform of the criminal justice system.Malkin, M. (August 11, 2018). "MALKIN: Oklahoma’s Wretched Record On Wrongful Convictions". The Daily Wire. Although she was once in favour of it, Malkin changed her opinion after seeing the numerous cases of prosecutorial misconduct leading to wrongful convictions in the USA.Repeal the Death Penalty: Conservative VoicesMichelle Malkin on Twitter: "Based on the bungling that has occurred in Oklahoma, the date executions are to resume should be easily decided: there should be none."
===Association with groypers===
Beginning in 2002, Young America's Foundation had arranged Malkin to give lectures on college campuses. By 2019, YAF no longer included Malkin in its speaker lineup after Malkin defended neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes.Sommer, Will. "Conservative Group Fires Michelle Malkin Over Support for Holocaust Denier." The Daily Beast. 18 November 2019. Accessed 7 September 2024. Then in 2020, Malkin was a lead speaker at America First Political Action Conference, a competitor to the Conservative Political Action Conference. One video from her speech showed her "[engaging] in not just Holocaust denial, but also indiscriminately [throwing] around charges of dual loyalty".Mandel, Bethany S. "The fall of Michelle Malkin." Ricochet. 2 March 2020. Accessed 7 September 2024.
Malkin's choice to die on this hill irrevocably blacklisted her from the conservative media scene. Eventually in 2022, she announced her retirement from writing her syndicated column. In her retirement announcement, she criticized conservative media for being "dominated by...libertarian elites" and ignoring "private Silicon Valley corporations and their nonprofit allies [that] crush nationalist dissent, handcuff free speech and deplatform free thinkers" and complained about the consequences of her viewpoints: "Because of my peacefully expressed reporting, opinions and speeches, my family has been punished and stigmatized, my reputation tarnished and my voice squelched."Malkin, Michelle. "'-30-': An Ending, but Not the End." Creators Syndicate. 25 October 2022. Accessed 7 September 2024.
==See also==
*Poe's Law
*Candace Owens — another shifty grifty minority pundit with far-right political views
==Notes==
==References==
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