Obama’s Iraq Announcement Takes Wind out of National Review’s Sails

Don’t you just hate it when you write a column criticizing someone’s lack of action and they they decide to take that exact action two and half hours before said column is posted online? The National Review’s Jonah Goldberg does.

Goldberg’s Friday column, titled “Stand By for Slaughter…” went up on the National Review’s website at midnight eastern time last night. In it, he accuses President Barack Obama of being “indifferent to mass murder” in Iraq. But by the time the article was published, the president had already announced a humanitarian airdrop for the Yazidi religious minority in Iraq and military airstrikes in ISIS artillery.

According to New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait, Goldberg said he submitted his piece to the National Review yesterday afternoon, hours before Obama made his primetime remarks. But since the magazine apparently publishes its online material on a newspaper-like schedule, it was delayed until after the news had changed significantly.

Goldberg addressed the unfortunate timing on Twitter Friday, only saying his point was “somewhat blunted” by the developments:

My column, somewhat blunted by Obama's welcome decision late last night to finally do something in Iraq. http://t.co/UqxxHywM8u

— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) August 8, 2014

He then promptly retweeted this reader’s comment:

@JonahNRO Your article isn't blunted at all. It's just another Obama too small, too late response to events HE set in motion.

— Jon (@jon_fullerton) August 8, 2014

As of 3:45 p.m. ET, Goldberg’s column is still prominently featured on the National Review homepage and does not include any update about the action Obama opted to take before its publication.

[h/t Daily Intelligencer]
[Photo via screengrab]

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This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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