The Bret Stephens Bedbugs Saga Backfired Gloriously
The New York Times columnist offers a mind-numbing example of intellectual dishonesty
This isn’t the first time the New York Times’ cavalcade of columnist trolls have inspired a public scandal stretching far beyond the realm of believability. If Bari Weiss already mastered the art of baiting faux concern by constantly espousing Islamophobic views in a paper of record, Bret Stephens was the kid in class who always tried too hard; though their term papers lacked originality or substance, they still somehow ended up being valedictorian.
The saga began this week with David Karpf, an associate professor at George Washington University, who joked on Twitter about bedbugs infesting the New York Times newsroom. “The bedbugs are a metaphor,” he posted on Monday. “The bedbugs are Bret Stephens.” Only a vanity search can explain how Stephens stumbled on the comment; he then emailed Karpf’s boss to complain. Not only did Stephens stoke conflict — unprovoked — he tried to put Karpf’s career in jeopardy. He even invited Karpf to visit his family, somehow thinking that would dispel any grievances he may have about his writing.
Of course, given his reputation, just about everyone had expected Stephens would come out with an op-ed in the New York Times that basically…
