I’m starting to love WaPo‘s Wesley Lowery. And not just because he’s pompous and prickly and thinks it’s a BFD that he got shoved into a soda machine and “arrested” in Ferguson with HuffPost‘s Ryan J. Reilly in a McDonald’s in the middle of a riot zone.
But Wesley is so much more than the soda machine incident. He angsts on Twitter like nobody’s business. And he’ll talk to anyone — especially if the conversation involves his favorite subject: him.
On Thursday a follower inquired about his Twitter bio, which reads: “Dylan Byers says I am not a hero.” Byers is a media writer for Politico, a suburban Virginia news organization that plans to expand across Europe where it could come head to head with Breitbart‘s London Bureau or Arianna Huffington‘s El Huffington Post in Madrid.
MattyPat49 wants to know, “So do you disagree with Dylan Byers then?”
Wesley replies, “In reference to what? Byers says tons of dumb things – which specifically are you asking me if I disagree with?” (At this point, The Mirror paused to ask Byers, now based in fancy Los Angeles, about all the dumb things he says. Asked to comment on Wesley’s barb, Byers replied, “I read Lowery’s reporting from Ferguson with great interest, and was grateful for every set of eyes on the scene during that time.”)
MattyPat49 clarifies: “What’s mentioned in your Twitter bio, him thinking you’re not a hero.”
Wesley replied, “I’m not a hero.”
Come on, Wesley, please don’t sell yourself short like that.
Like any good online troll, MattyPat49 persisted. “So what’s the motivation with the line in your bio?”
Wesley explained, “Byers’ piece (and his subsequent personal attacks toward me) was idiotic.”
Personal attacks? That seems a little otherworldly. Byers challenged his so-called “hero” status amongst reporters. He also defended his publication after Wesley announced on Twitter that he wouldn’t work at Politico because “bro, black ppl don’t work for Politico.”
But fine, let’s keep going.
MattyPat49: “Does your bio change that? You did good reporting and the vast majority seems to recognize that, so who cares?”
Please note: Matty was COMPLIMENTING Wesley, but Wesley is too Wesley to realize it.
So he snaps, “No one cares — except you.”
MattyPat49, now dulled into submission, replies, “I see.”
But Wesley gets the telling last word: “Someone was a jerk to me and I jokingly referenced it. Don’t think it’s that deep. But I acknowledge (and remember) my haters.”
Not to worry, Dylan. Your name is etched in blood in Wesley’s bathroom. But no biggie.
