There Is No Pizzagate
0 2016-12-17 by WPNorton
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dear owners, staff and patrons of Comet Ping Pong pizza parlor: Being new in town, I had no idea you existed until the fake-news-inspired gun attack at your premises on the afternoon of Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016.
But I live pretty close by, and since that day have taken many walks over to your northwest D.C. block, and talked to folks outside, and discovered the brilliant Politics & Prose Bookstore a couple of doors down from you. And all this has changed my life.
Now, here’s where I ask those with no connection to Comet Ping Pong to give me your eyes, because I’m trying something new and hard for me—which is, to take a stand. When I was a young news reporter, an old-school veteran of The New York Times drilled it into me never to share my politics or positions on issues. Everybody has their opinions, he said, but we in the news business had to strike a public stance of careful objectivity.
It was a sacrament with which I did my best to keep the faith in jobs I worked at papers like The Capital Times in Madison, Wisc., The Moscow Tribune in Russia and the Miami Herald International Edition. And it’s hard for me to break that rule here, even though I swore off newspapering after the February 2016 passing of my gorgeously gifted bride Sarah Kershaw, who for 11 years gave all she could to The New York Times—a job she loved, even if, like most jobs, it never really loved her back.
With the dogged dedication of my early mentor—who was Sarah’s hands-down favorite professor when we were both at University of Wisconsin-Madison—my wife spent thousands of working days and nights hunting down the details, facts and first-hand voices you need to report news that people can trust. This is called #realnews. It’s a thing we used to think preserved the people’s trust in the stories we reported.
Fabricating stories—that is, writing #fakenews—was the gravest sin to Sarah, our mutual teacher and all the scribblers of that fading breed who saw the work as not merely a job, but a vital public service.
So it’s come to this: the fake news #pizzagate allegations came perilously close to causing bloodshed in a family restaurant 1.6 miles from my residence on Dec. 4. Knowing the intensity of Sarah’s passionate commitment to public-service journalism, I’m certain those brazen falsehoods and that godforsakenly overused suffix (pizzagate? really?) would’ve pushed her past the peak of outrage. Within days of the attack, Sarah would have dug up a mountain of reporting, scored get-worthy interviews from every side, and helped the nation ratchet down this madness.
In consideration of all this and what I owe to Sarah’s legacy I say, if ever in my life there was a time to take a stand, this is it. So here goes: Comet Ping Pong, you and your whimsical name and your friendly staff are awesome. Your street has a supportive and neighborly vibe that makes me feel welcome and at home in a city I’ve never lived before. The trolls of #pizzagate failed to get anyone killed this time, but they’d sure love it if they could, and the bastards need to know they’re being watched.
Anyways. People of Comet Ping Pong pizza parlor, Politics & Prose, please count me among your regular customers and vocal supporters. I stand with you, and urge everyone reading this to do the same.
25 comments
18 NorthenTrumpnado 2016-12-17
Yes, you owe it to your dead wife.
Maybe people fall for this shit on FB but not here.
Edit: I got banned on r/wasingtondc for commenting on this guys' post over there.
-7 WPNorton 2016-12-17
What "shit" do you mean? Edgar Welch investigated for himself, and determined there was nothing illegal going on at Comet.
9 nottheoretical 2016-12-17
Yea, that actor guy. How's he doing? Got a good spot on a remote island planned out with his paycheck?
1 HarryParatesties 2016-12-17
He's got a fresh bunk in a temple on a tropical island.
6 Ty199 2016-12-17
http://dcpizzagate.wordpress.com
Tell Edgar theres more to it than 1 pizza shop. He'll have to try a little harder.
5 NorthenTrumpnado 2016-12-17
I mean a rambling post "debunking" without addressing any of the evidence.
He spends more time talking about his wife than CPP. I feel bad for the man because it sounds like he misses her but the cognitive dissonance is very real.
3 Enrapt_Philant 2016-12-17
By shit, I believe he meant either you, or what you have to say. Good day.
14 Lolzcat214 2016-12-17
Yeah get this shit out of here.
8 Ty199 2016-12-17
Obvious bullshit like this gives PG more publicity. Keep at it fools.
7 eks91 2016-12-17
Just remember when Anthony wiener story broke out. They claimed it was fake and blasted as fake. Until a real journalist did work. And exposed it
5 VirtualPublicNetwork 2016-12-17
Your account history provides substantially more information in it than this post. And I think I believe in Pizzagate's existence more now since I unfortunately took the time to read this thread.
5 ArchonFall4All 2016-12-17
You went to Comet Pizza and it was awesome, so there's nothing to all of the evidence that has been compiled? I'm not doubting that your intentions are sincere, but I'm curious how this is supposed to add to the dialog on this situation.
One the problems being committed by the media is that they call this fake news without addressing any of the compelling bits of evidence. Instead, they just say how crazy it is, they misrepresent or ignore the facts, and they try to associate the people investigating it with alt-right racists. As long as they continue these disingenuous tactics, it will only make more and more people question the integrity of the media.
If you really want to take a stand (which I think is admirable), then you need to expose this as fake news. Man up and tackle the evidence (and not just cherry pick the weakest points). Use logic to save the day rather than resorting to emotional appeals to reason
4 smug-cunt 2016-12-17
Disgusting.
4 Enrapt_Philant 2016-12-17
I mean, maybe they do serve pizza, maybe blindness is a very real perceptual effect. Many people are beginning to see the sickness that happens 'underneath it all.' Maybe you just like pizza.
What I don't get is how is this post possibly being upvoted on this sub, where pizza code was pondered originally? Who do you work for pal? Or you're taking a stand for food, in this secluded corner? lel.
3 mjesmjes 2016-12-17
I bet you love cheese pizza.
2 redditeditard 2016-12-17
Jesusfuckinfictionalcharacter
3 JosheOnRS 2016-12-17
I didn't even read your shit post.
0 walkalloveryou 2016-12-17
pizzagate in a nutshell
3 EarnestB 2016-12-17
No doubt Comet Ping Pong sells pizza and has many satisfied customers of said pizza. A favourite restaurant of mine served delicious omelets as well as passed slips of paper to attractive ladies who frequently dropped by for a sip of coffee. The food was good - something else was going on. If the food was crap or they ran off the clientele that would be mega dumb. This isn't about stupid criminals. Comet Ping Pong isn't just about the pizza or the ping pong.
2 Sapperskrall 2016-12-17
Any connections of William Norton to alefantis or the podestas?
1 TeslasMuse 2016-12-17
there's a will norton in the stratfor emails on wikileaks...and a file about a canadian citizen named william norton mccallum who was arrested for trafficking heroin from bangkok to denmark in 1976
2 Sapperskrall 2016-12-17
Seems a bit audacious to use one's real name as part of a pseudonym, but not unheard of. Thank you, this makes this post that much more interesting.
2 Sub7Agent 2016-12-17
Get the fuck outta here with this garbage.
1 adamantsteve 2016-12-17
The point at which real news and pizza gate over lap