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Hey Dosers, got a piece of news for y’all, via the Twitter:
@TommyXtopher: Will be off the grid for awhile dealing with the fact that I just got fired by PoliticsDaily.com
I’m pretty sure your reaction was the same as mine, namely: “What in fanciful fuckery?!” No word on the why, though my suspicions trend towards that Playboy hate f*** article getting pulled the other day. Being that Daily Dose is an unpaid gig, I’m sure Tommy would very much appreciate any donations made to the blog via Paypal, since he is currently unemployed.
Thanks for your support, guys.
Update: Tommy sent the following statement to College Politico:
“I am grateful to AOL for the opportunities they’ve given me, but I disagree strongly with their decision to fire me. Considering the amount of external traffic I drive to the site, it seems like a poor business decision. Given the strength of content like my Playboy article, it seems like a poor editorial decision, as well.”
Update 2: This is Tommy. Hi. I’m very touched by the outpouring of support, and encourage further garment-rending on my behalf. This is now an open thread.
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Daily Dose 
This is a fucking outrage, and hateful too.
Count me in!
It’s really unfair that you were sacked for this, Tommy. I hope you don’t mind, but I sent Melinda a respectful complaint concerning your firing. Prior to discovering some of your articles on Meg Mac etc, I hadn’t heard of PoliticsDaily. I think she’s making a serious mistake in firing you, given your popularity with people on both ends of the political spectrum.
What the fanciful fuckery is right. If there is a corelation to the Playboy article, I don’t know which I find more offensive, the mysogyny or 1st amendment rights. Hell, I’ll take both.
[…] that “former” AOL News blogger. For whatever reason, Politics Daily has fired him. This comes on the heels of Christopher breaking a story about Playboy degrading all women – […]
Tommy, I’m so sorry for you. I’ve always been a fan, and I wish you the best.
Ahem, I’ll add for Sybill that there’s no first amendment right infringed upon, when a private company fires an employee. News organizations are in the business of making content decisions. Firing Tommy may’ve been tacky but it was legal at least from that perspective.
What they did may have been legal but I hope they get the shit-storm that is coming to them. If this is not protested high and low, left and right, it is a real shame.
I cannot imagine why a unique, multi-faceted, responsible, *highly* entertaining quality brain would be kicked to the curb by… Oh, *right*. AOL.
AOL and ‘quality brain’… well, that’s oil and water right there.
Asswipes.
Tommy, I’ll add to Xero’s comment and say that with your talent you deserve, and will find, a better site to blog on – for money :). I wish I could help you on that front, but I wish you the best!
What the hell!!! First the Riis brothers, now you. They’re running out of bloggerss that anyone wants to read. Are they trying to go broke in their first 60 days?
Hey Tommy. Sorry to hear about this. They fired me today too. Not sure what it all means. I probably deserved it because I was down to two posts a week, but you sure didn’t. Stupid. Hopefully this is the kind of thing that leads to a bigger platform for you.
Firing Tommy is like AOL cutting off their nose to spite their face. He was the biggest traffic driver the site had. Not smart. I see bigger and better in your future Tommy.
It stinks that you got fired over this, but i hope that you are proud of yourself; it was right to pursue this story. I hope you find your next gig soon.
[…] Politics Daily writer I spoke with, Caleb Howe, confirmed that fact. And while Tommy Christopher released a statement to NewsBusters criticizing AOL’s decision to let him go Caleb Howe went further than Tommy in his opinion of […]
oh. If you want to be a journalist you’re gonna have to learn to fall in line more better. You should listen to NPR and learn how it’s done.
WTF?
Ok, this is just about the most stupid thing AOL has done.
Tommy, fuck em…they obviously are trying to RED up the blog….so be it…let it die and fall to the likes of the trolls that exist there.
I agree with Caleb…I for one was there to read Tommy’s articles, of course I expanded to other writers, however…its always what Tommy had to say, and I trusted his point of view.
Big mistake AOL
I’ll be sending in my complaint as well.
[…] don’t get it. Politics Daily fired Tommy Christopher […]
Very messed up, Tommy. I’ll be putting my thoughts out there tomorrow.
Regards,
Bill
Tommy,
I predict far better things in your future, you have skills and a natural talent.
Sometimes when a door closes a window opens…keep the eyes peeled to the horizon, something big will be come….
Hang in there.
[…] Politics Daily writer I spoke with, Caleb Howe, confirmed that fact. And while Tommy Christopher released a statement to NewsBusters criticizing AOL’s decision to let him go Caleb Howe went further than Tommy in his opinion of […]
Tommy, it was especially decent of you to counter that vile thing with your “Conservative Women I Love to Love” list.
This is not just.
Tommy, in the immortal words of Fast Eddie Felson: “Sometimes if you lose, you win”.
last I heard, AOL might have needed to cut down on their electric bill.
Tommy, you probably know this better that me and some of the other commenter already said it, but I’m pretty sure that better things are in store for you. You’re a quality guy and you will get another opportuny soon. Wish you sucess..!
P.S. Sorry, to use your problems to take a cheap shot at Lord Obama, but I don’t think I will get another chance and… I really can’t help it… so… here I go:
“In these last few months, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has saved or created nearly
150,000149,999 jobs..”As the President of The Tommy Christopher Fan Club, I am reserving my comments until the editor-in-chief over at PD comments on this subject; however, I will say to Tommy that everything happens for a reason–there must be something better on the horizon for you.
The glass is always half full.
[…] Daily writer NewsBusters spoke with, Caleb Howe, confirmed that fact. And while Tommy Christopher released a statement to NewsBusters criticizing AOL’s decision to let him go Caleb Howe went further than Tommy in his opinion of […]
Left of center writer gets canned by left of center media brothel for criticizing left of center rape-rant against right of center women….
pay-back is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE…
nicely put, Joe
Tommy it is their loss and bad judgement. not yours..move on… it is meant to be. you will get many opportunities to bury them..plus great motivation to get better..do better..kickass
you are the best
big gabe
[…] implicitly for the Playboy fiasco, he hasn’t denied it, either. Here’s a little of what he’s said so far, via his site: “I am grateful to AOL for the opportunities they’ve given me, but I disagree strongly with […]
I too sent an email complaining about your being fired. I’m not even a follower of your s but am familiar with the story on Playboy. This is a shameful reponse by your editor when you were trying to call out a despictable article by playboy. Good Luck in your future endeavors, especially when they include sticking up for women even if they are conservatives.
I only stumbled across Tommy *because* of the Playboy article. As a ‘righty’ woman, I was extremely grateful to see that a ‘lefty’ guy was standing against the Playboy article for what it was – an attack on all women, regardless of political belief. After reading this blog and, consequently, several articles at PD I was delighted to bookmark Tommy as a “favorite lefty” to read.
It’s a shame that AOL can’t appreciate the fact that this author can draw both respect and traffic from both sides of the political spectrum. Not an easy accomplishment in this day and age.
I’m sorry you lost your job with them.
Sorry T, just heard the news. I have thought since the AOL PD move that they would fire all of the actual bloggers and fill the space with laid off journalists. Even that though doesn’t seem to motivate AOL to keep PD fresh and interesting. The same stories just seem to hang there forever and I never really get the sense that there is anyone home at PD, actually minding the pages.
Another point. When did AOL stop paying its writers? I imagine you with a laptop and a shopping cart, typing with one hand and rooting out recyclables with the other.
Here’s the real deal before I go back to being a hermit (pays better than AOL).
AOL was the only site that really features liberal bloggers and conservatives. I know that they do this because most of their readers are mentally ill Compuserve customers, but it is a winning formula. So, pick up the fired guys and start another site. I suggest calling it ALO and I have some great ideas for logos (Triangles are this years rectangle, you know). It has to be a news source. News drives traffic. Somebody has to be at the helm keeping content fresh and the site ALIVE, unlike those guys at AOL. HuffPo has teeny tiny problems which could be exploited by a clever competitor (don’t you just love Arianna? Isn’t she precious? Isn’t her stuff always at the top of the page? Didn’t she used to be married to Eddie Albert?).
Come to think of it, I could use one of those job thingys. Being a hermit, my pay is generally considered to be what I save in gasoline and personal hygiene products.
Good luck!
Tommy Christopher Foundation PSA:
Voice over: Every night, writers in New Jersey go to bed hungry. Hungry, cold and sober.
(Camera pans close over debris strewn urban sidewalk. Tommys shoes come in frame. Slow pan up to Tommys face. His expression is sad but determined.
Voice over: Thousands of writers roam the streets of Passaic looking for beer cans, a warm place to sleep and publication opportunities.
(Cut to Tommy sitting at a fold up table in a homeless services center. A motivational poster featuring a cat is visible over his shoulder)
Tommy: “I don’t know how much longer I can hold on. I don’t sleep well. My doctor prescribed Xanax. It helps a little. Oh yeah, the kids. They’re hungry too, I guess.”
(Exterior of homeless center. Camera lingers over the entrance. Middle aged men with shopping carts, laptops and pained expressions. Camera pulls back showing the whole desolate street, pans up to the horizon to show the sun rising. It becomes increasingly brighter and the sky begins to turn blue)
The strains of an old Stephen Foster tune begins to swell. French horn.
Voice over: Can you sleep well at night knowing that Tommy and so many others like him are wandering the streets, just looking for a way that they can contribute? A place where they can find love, shelter, and be paid a reasonable amount of money per word…
You can contribute a portion of your unemployment check to Tommy simply by checking off the ‘Help Tommy’ box on your NJ State Unemployment form (note to producer, call the Governor. Is this doable?)
Fade to black
Voice over: Can you sleep well at night knowing that Tommy and so many others like him are wandering the streets, just looking for a way that they can contribute? A place where they can find love, shelter, and be paid a reasonable amount of money per word…
LOL