As we already highlighted earlier here at Mediaite, Slate writer Isaac Chotiner weighed in on the death of Alan Colmes by labeling the liberal political commentator a “buffoon” and “patsy” mere HOURS after the man passed away.

In the column, which we won’t link to, Chotiner provided such edgy, provocative, and ruthless observations like this:

In the context of Fox News, being a nice guy—and a “liberal” nice guy at that—meant being a buffoon, and a patsy. Colmes not only played the part to perfection—he defined it.

Oh, and this, regarding Colmes’s longtime on-air partner Sean Hannity getting a solo TV gig while Colmes was used as a contributor:

I always thought this was a strategic mistake from Fox’s perspective, because Hannity is an exhausting presence, and because Colmes made liberals look dumb in a way no other Fox show could manage.

(Hannity, by the way, called out the “mean soulless assholes” at Slate for posting the hitjob on his departed friend.)

And here’s Chotiner passing moral judgment on Colmes the afternoon of his passing away:

But while Colmes may not have been a genius, he wasn’t a complete moron either; in short, he was smart enough to know he was being used, and to take the money that his services demanded. If this is something less than morally reprehensible, it is still pretty gross.

Look, we can all get righteously indignant at Mr. Chotiner and his assholery — and deservedly so. He figuratively pissed all over Alan Colmes’s grave just to make some kind of ham-handed commentary on Fox News and conservative media.

But the real issue at play here is that, in all likelihood, the writer saw Colmes’s death as an opportunity to be provocative for provocations’s sake. And Slate welcomed that with open arms.

What’s going to get more attention when a largely uncontroversial prominent person dies? An earnest, well-intentioned, tasteful obituary detailing his or her accomplishments? Or an in-your-face, merciless, and cold-blooded takedown full of savage pull quotes?

Do we even need to ask?

The thing is, one can’t fully blame Chotiner for going full douchebag with his piece. If he thought it wouldn’t get published — complete with the title “Alan Colmes, Buffoon and Patsy, Was Fox News’ Original Liberal Weakling” — he likely wouldn’t have even bothered.

But he writes for Slate. ‘Nuff said.

[image via screengrab]

——

Follow Justin Baragona on Twitter: @justinbaragona

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