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Notes -
Have you considered the possibility that this is sincere? That is, that he genuinely doesn't hold or like his past views?
Now every time someone attempts to discredit him by posting the huffpost article, someone else can post this in response, which'll take off some of the bite.
This seems like the right play to me.
That would be the part that warrants the opening insult. "Oh no, I no longer hold hose views! If I apologize for the stuff I said pseudonymously, I'm sure that will clear things up" is extremely unwise.
Or it won't. In fact there's no reason to believe that it will.
Why? The way he put it doesn't really open him much to further attacks or attempts at pressuring further capitulation. The main negative to this, under my current model, is losing some people who'd prefer he was his former pseudonymous self, but I think these should generally have lower impact than the people that doing this could let him hold onto.
It'll obviously vary by person?
It legitimizes the concept that he is now tainted goods because he once held those views. The claim that X conservative (was) racist isn’t about racism, it’s about saying that he is tainted goods and thus no longer worth dealing with. He backs away and thus the attack was legitimate— he was (and for the left, the past isn’t over) racist therefore anyone who has anything to do with him catches racist cooties and nobody wants that. It’s like being asked if you have stopped beating your wife — all answers are wrong.
His target audience is not the left, and people'd believe the article written against him anyway if he tried radio silence.
The left side of the people he's losing by acknowledging weren't going to listen anyway—they'd believe the accusation, or they'd just not care for his political opinions. The main loss to his audience by doing this are people who a) couldn't read the huffpost well enough to be convinced it was Hanania or b) people who thought he was currently still basically Hoste, and are disappointed at the ways he is no longer.
He also doesn't concede anything in the present. He doesn't consider himself tainted goods. He's not going "yes, I'm secretly racist and bad, sorry about that." He's going "I used to be racist and bad, now I'm right and good," and doing it in a way that isn't subjecting himself to anyone's judgment but his own—it's not an entreaty but a declaration.
Once you say "Yes, I was racist and bad, but..." nothing said after the but matters.
Maybe he's being completely sincere. It makes no difference. He's shown his enemies they can extract confessions through pressure, and shown his allies that there's no point defending him since he won't defend himself.
You're generally right. I don't think he phrased it that way, though, which makes a difference.
They've only shown they can extract a confession (sort of) when it's all of a)something he himself is opposed to b)something that's so far outside societal norms that it's the sort of thing that could have serious effects on who'll associate with him, even among those on the right c) large in scope
Guess what. Now he's justified why he's still fine to listen to despite whatever past. Good luck finding another thing that meets all of a), b) and c), or even just a) and b).
It really doesn't. It's like a police interrogation. They get you to say it in a way where you think you're explaining yourself in a good light, but all that actually matters is what you admitted to.
Anything you say can and will be used against you. "My posts and blog comments in my early twenties encouraged racism" - you're done. That is a cudgel you will be beaten over the head with forever, and you can never take it back.
But his posts and blog comments very much did encourage racism. This is not a close call, whether Hanania says it himself or not.
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