“Oh, No, She Writes for the Federalist!”

Engaging with diverse perspectives can broaden one's understanding and foster a more inclusive discourse.

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Recently, I published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, questioning Colorado Democratic Governor Jared Polis’s policy of reintroducing wolverines in the state. If you don’t have a WSJ subscription but would like to read it, I repost it in my Substack newsletter here. This op-ed aimed to spark a thoughtful discussion on the Governor’s conservation policy and its impact on Coloradans. 

I have written hundreds of op-eds before this one, covering a variety of important topics, including foreign policies, immigration, and socialism. The issue of wolverine reintroduction, while important, is not typically a topic that garners widespread public interest. However, it did, including from Governor Polis himself, who tweeted at me early Sunday morning. My op-ed was among the top three most popular opinions on the WSJ’s website for a few days.

Since another writer at the Federalist, Tristan Justice, already responded to the Governor’s condescending tweet and then some, I will not address them here. After all, I expect to receive pushback or negative comments with every published piece. If they are good-faith arguments and make sense, I will consider incorporating them into my future writing. If the commenters want to scream and attack, I usually ignore them. But this time, I want to address one type of comment.

I listed Federalist.com and Fox News in my X.com profile among the outlets where I’ve published op-eds. One person, Wookielips77, replied to my post with this tweet: “Source: writer for Federalist. Result: all opinions discarded immediately.” By the way, this person blocked me on X.com so that I couldn’t reply to him. But I decided not to block him because I believe in free speech. Another person responded to my tweet with this: “You lost me at ‘Fox News.’”

I’ve come across similar remarks: if some individuals don’t trust the Federalist and Fox News, they won’t engage with my content or choose to disregard my viewpoints on social media. In their perception, I am condemned by association. I perceive their reasoning to be both amusing and potentially harmful.