»» Columnists

Jack Stuef, The Internet’s Favorite Wonkette Editor, Bids The Site Adieu

by Alex Alvarez | 4:32 pm, May 24th, 2011

» 20 comments

Jack Stuef, the Wonkette editor who rendered the intertubes a sputtering mess of indignation following the misfired jokes in his post about Trig Palin‘s birthday, has written a farewell post as he leaves the world of political blogging to try his hand at entering the much less toxic world of TV writing.

And, you know what? His farewell screed is immensely relatable, not to mention extremely likely to strike a chord with anyone who has at any time tried to pursue a career in writing for Not Trolls. You see, the reason Stuef is leaving the site is not so he can have more free time to hunt and disembowel disadvantaged children, but so he can do the sort of writing he loves to do, as opposed to the sort he has to do in order to pay the bills. Plus, he admits, having to churn out eight posts a day, every day, eventually leads some of us to hit “publish” on content that, were it a kitten, would be the runt with one eye, no internal organs, and a wee little leg ending in a nub:

I live in New York now, and I came here to get back into stand-up comedy and take a shot at writing for television, but I just haven’t had the time. I should’ve quit Wonkette many months ago when I started to be able to support myself well enough financially otherwise. I still loved it though, even though I found myself routinely burned out on politics, something I apologize for, as it clearly came out in posts at times and was probably not very entertaining to read.

If I’m anything, I’m derivative; Newell “rules” that he talks about in his goodbye post — that’s something I’ve thought about quite a bit too. At times, especially when I’m tired and have to somehow hit eight posts when there’s no real news happening, I’ve broken some of my own. I don’t like to make easy jokes. But I have. Kind of often. A few times I’ve made fun of people who really didn’t deserve it, and when it was pointed out to me, I apologized. This sort of thing happens, even when you make a point of trying to stay true to yourself as much as you can, because you’re human. Overall, though, out of all the 1,642 posts and countless thousands of jokes I’ve written here, I can say I’m proud of most of them.

He also admits to being 22 years old, which is shameful and disgusting, although understandable.

I may have totally hated your Trig post, Jack, but I didn’t exactly love the tone of much of the backlash against it. I also know that some jokes soar high among the clouds, bringing joy to all who read them, while some fall flat, despite our best intentions and the time and effort we put into any accompanying Blingee art.

So, from one online editor to another: I wish you well.

And, remember, “tragedy plus time equals comedy,” as they say. So when you find yourself sitting in some writers’ room out in Burbank, a fluorescent bulb blinking above a plate of mostly-stale organic vegan cupcakes, take heart in being able to deftly craft a joke or two about the life and times of a young political blogger into an episode of the CBS hit comedy Fat Man and Skinny Wife Sitting on a Couch.

Good luck out there.

Jack Stuef, Trig Palin, Wonkette

Barack Must Go

Jack Stuef, The Internet’s Favorite Wonkette Editor, Bids The Site Adieu

Maybe he’ll hit the circuit too. He can be Van Jonse’s perverted opening act.
errxn

Yes, good luck out there, Jack. And by “good luck out there,” I mean “go die in a fire.”
tatboy

errxn said:
Yes, good luck out there, Jack. And by “good luck out there,” I mean “go die in a fire.”

I want to… but I can’t disagree.
Dem4Ever

Where is Barack? Why won’t he come home? There are people in Missouri suffering and dying! Is he extending his European vacation until this weekend? OMG!!! Does Barack think he is an emperor? Well, Mr. POTUS, you have a good time. Your arrogance will be your downfall.
illusive man

Oh no, how is he going to afford all his M&M’s, Butterfingers, Twix, Resse’s Pieces, Pig Lard, roofies and Tampons?

And also since he won’t be able to afford his electricity, how will he be able to keep his many refrigerated jars of mayo from spoiling?
Color Me Badd

Francis Martel is 23.
tatboy

illusive man said:
Oh no, how is he going to afford all his M&M’s, Butterfingers, Twix, Resse’s Pieces, Pig Lard, roofies and Tampons? And also since he won’t be able to afford his electricity, how will he be able to keep his many refrigerated jars of mayo from spoiling?

He is a fat little piggie, isn’t he.
Alex Alvarez

Color Me Badd said:
Francis Martel is 23.

Also utterly shameful. But, as much as I try to convince her to change that, there’s little she can do about it at this point.
OxyCon

Good luck with being a comedy writer Jack!
Being that you like to pick on Sarah Palin and her handicapped children should be a big bonus on your resume. You could be a shoe-in at The Daily Show, SNLor Family Guy with a pedigree like that! – Notta Troll
The Lantern of Truth

You’re a good writer , Alex .

When you’re 22 , you can be hardhearted and cruel about things that you will probably cherish later .

When you have children , especially those who will face real challenges in their lives , you find out that there’s nothing funny about little folks who try their hearts out – and come up short .

Go to the Special Olympics or the Paralympics and you’ll damn sure never be cruel and hardhearted about any children again .
Frances Martel

Alex Alvarez said:
Also utterly shameful. But, as much as I try to convince her to change that, there’s little she can do about it at this point.

I told Alex I’ll reconsider it in a year.
juan

This should be Mediaite’s LEAD Story!

Sarah survives all of ‘em!
Azarkhan

Wow, Stuef is only 22 years old and already a piece of sh*t.
Cancon2

And into the code pile of Internet history, we bid farwell to a true hack.
DaTruth

I’m guessing, Alex, that you didn’t like the backlash against Beck psuedo-vomiting over McCain’s ADULT daughter then, right?
Alex Alvarez

DaTruth said:
I’m guessing, Alex, that you didn’t like the backlash against Beck psuedo-vomiting over McCain’s ADULT daughter then, right?

Beck criticizing McCain’s looks is an apple to Gutfeld’s orange – McCain was doing charitable work and is an adult public figure fully capable of choosing to either defend herself or ignore Beck, Stuef was insulting a small child completely out of left field for being disabled. I don’t think the two situations are at all comparable.
WCinWI

Alex Alvarez said:
Beck criticizing McCain’s looks is an apple to Gutfeld’s orange – McCain was doing charitable work and is an adult public figure fully capable of choosing to either defend herself or ignore Beck, Stuef was insulting a small child completely out of left field for being disabled. I don’t think the two situations are at all comparable.

I don’t agree with your take on Stuef, but you are still by far my favorite blogger on Mediaite. I’ll accept Tommy but only because he’s a true Liberal. :)
“Real” American

Looks like the Trolls showed up in force to wave goodbye!
Rgentum

Stuef is absolutely hilarious. I thought his post on Trig was over the top, but he’s very young and clearly learned a lesson, and I wish him well. Ironically, of course, Breitbart’s jeans-creaming fans were more “outraged” over the inadvisable post of a 21-year old boy than they were about the 42-year-old Breitbart’s own deliberate, methodical attempts to destroy a decent Christian like Shirley Sherrod.
Alex Alvarez

WCinWI said:
I don’t agree with your take on Stuef, but you are still by far my favorite blogger on Mediaite. I’ll accept Tommy but only because he’s a true Liberal. :)

Haha! Thanks so much!