The editor-in-chief at Mother Jones magazine caught hell on social media by colleagues in her profession after complaining about an Alaska Airlines flight attendant who had wished her and others a “blessed” evening as they disembarked a flight in San Francisco.
Clara Jeffery was told to “get a grip” by Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen, after posting a critical comment on X, alleging the salutation was evidence of “creeping Christian nationalism” in the United States.
Jeffery then listed off alternative adjectives for the Alaska Air flight attendant “that would have sufficed,” including “great, awesome, fabulous, amazing, fantastic.”
“As my rowmate said, ‘this ain’t Montgomery, sweetie,’” the leftie editor added in the late Friday post.
“How sad and impoverished is your life that you’re offended by someone blessing you?” asked Thiessen before telling her to “get a grip.”
The post was quickly shared, generating more than three million views on X within hours.
A campaign fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris also chimed in.
“Respectfully, I’m a pretty left-leaning guy and I wish folks a blessed day fairly often,” offered Armand Domalewski. “It’s just a nice thing to say.”
Jeffrey countered, saying, “It’s a matter of respect for the audience before you. Respecting their space and norms and wishes. Dominant cultures always feel they have a right to enforce their norms and intents. And…way off @AlaskaAir’s brand.”
Domalewski told her that, “As a practicing Catholic, I don’t feel like being publicly Christian is really the dominant culture here in SF lol.”
The Blaze’s Jessica O’Donnell called Jeffrey out for having “issues greater than a flight attendant’s well wishes.”
Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch’s editor-in-chief and an L.A. Times columnist, commented, “This is a bizarre and pretty indefensible overreaction.”
By late Saturday, the post had generated more than 20,000 comments, with just 2,400 “likes.”
The Washington Examiner’s Kimberly Ross also took issue with the post.
“This is not ‘creeping Christian nationalism,’” wrote Ross. “This is someone showing kindness to others. It’s not offensive. It’s not a demand for religious conversion. The issue here is you processed it as a problem that requires a public complaint while tagging the airline. Time to grow up.”