How To End Cancel Culture

Want to put an end to Cancel Culture and throw a huge spanner into The Great Silencing (Phase I and Phase II)? It’s actually fairly easy to do, though it takes guts and more for the first part.

First, quit apologizing because someone, somewhere, got offended by something you said, did, or liked. Tell the mob to go feck themselves, even if it means some tough times for you and yours. Apologizing does not work, according to a study, as noted before in my first post on The Great Silencing. Let others grovel, stay strong.

Second, I think that going back into every social media post on every possible platform of those who are making these virtue signal posts, from the teacher in Alabama who got a church booted because the pastor liked some posts from Charlie Cook to the person who got a driver fired for the racist act of cracking his knuckles, and posting their “sins” in the high church of hysteria is a good idea. Some of that is already happening, as Rick Wilson and his wife learned belatedly (and deservedly). Until it becomes painful, extremely painful, and the poster faces the same results of job loss and being hounded by their own, it will not end.

The second is easy to do, just takes time and people willing to dig. The first is hard, as I said. But, it’s time we start. One kneels before God, not the mob. Remember that.

The Great Silencing Begins

Several things have kicked off sooner than I expected, using the George Floyd case as a pretext. One is what I call “The Great Silencing” which is an effort to block political dialog and information that is contrary to the goals of the progressive block. I was expecting to see it truly start up around late July/early August, but never let a crisis go to waste…

It’s not just about silencing on social media. It is about shutting down blogs and other alternatives to major social media. It is about discrediting information and sources, or providing a pretext of such so that the mainstream media can use that pretext to deny coverage or to discredit information from individuals and independent sites to shape the narrative.

I see the effort to get Professor William A. Jacobson fired from Cornell as the opening offensive of this operation. As others have noted, he has done important work on a variety of high-profile and important events. His Legal Insurrection Foundation is a novel and needed approach to investigative journalism. I note that I check Legal Insurrection blog daily for the well researched and documented stories they post.

For now, Eduardo M. Peñalver, dean of the law school, is saying his job is safe, though he provided what the progressive’s need both by what the Volokh Conspiracy notes is “an entirely gratuitous, and somewhat unfair condemnation” as well as what could be considered a deliberate mischaracterization of what Professor Jacobson wrote. Even if he does end up keeping his job (something I have doubts about), the media can point to the statement by Peñalver to discredit Jacobson and any/all work from Legal Insurrection.

This is not what some call battlefield-preparation, that’s been going on for years. This is the opening shot in the next major campaign to silence free speech and to censor opinions before the election. You can expect to see a LOT more of this, as the cancel culture is turned on any and all major voices not promoting the party line, especially those opposed to the party line. Any individual or group blog that is in opposition that has anyone who can be gone after will find themselves targeted. Even if they can’t collect a job or otherwise destroy a life, cover will be given so that they can be dismissed in the mainstream media.

Keep in mind that these are people who are going back over years of posts to destroy people for ever having a wrongthought or expressing a wrongposition on any issue. There is no forgiveness, no Grace: a sin is forever (unless you cave to the mob and even then you really aren’t forgiven). They are not doing this just to the prominent, like Professor Jacobson. They are doing it to average people, like this student in Florida.

My advice to all: grow a spine, a pair of reproductive organs of your choice, and stand up to the mob. Embrace the power of “No!” when it comes to demands to kneel, beg forgiveness, and otherwise kowtow to the mob. If you do it there WILL be a temper tantrum as they are spoiled children who have been coddled too long. Let them scream, cry, roll on the ground, and hold their breath until they turn blue. Even if those around you cave (like I expect Cornell and others to cave), even if those you thought friends turn on you (as happened to Professor Jacobson), stand tall, stand firm, and hold on. It is not easy, but also keep in mind that apologizing tends to inflame the mob.

As for what’s next for Professor Jacobson and other targets: Expect to see the firing push extended to getting both him and Legal Insurrection (and all authors there) banned from Twitter and Facebook. While there are alternative outlets (and they are growing), they do not have the marketing push that Facebook and Twitter have. Again, this will happen to all targets. The firing push itself will be expanded and promoted via the media until either Cornell stands firm (unlikely IMO) or caves. Then, they will turn to any and every other facet of his life they can attack, and do so. Cancel Culture is about totally destroying a person and their life.

To that, I can only say: #CancelCancelCulture

Some Thoughts For The Day

I could hope that some sanity would break out this morning, but don’t expect it. Indeed, I fully expect to see the usual suspects double down on a variety of fronts.

The hysterics shouting about WWIII, the return of the draft, gloom, doom, despair, and excessive misery (points if you get the reference) are idiots. Or, in a few cases, cynical provocateurs who know better but also know that the gullible will (once again) buy into those themes.

No, this is not WWIII nor is it likely to morph into that anywhere in the next couple of years. No, the draft is not returning you snowflakes as none of the troops or their competent leadership want to have to carry your useless ass. The all volunteer force, despite the best efforts of Obama, remains an amazing and effective force. Not what it once was, but on track to get back IMO. If they brought you in, a troop of girl scouts armed with popsicle sticks could probably do you and those like you in, and do so in less than a minute. Not going to happen.

But, you keep rising to the bait. How many times has the draft been coming back? How many times has an evil conservative President been going to be responsible for WWIII? How far did Obama expand Presidential war powers? How many times did Obama conduct military strikes, including the targeted assassination (just like was done with by Trump on the General) of a U.S. Citizen who technically was a high school sophomore without Congressional consultation or approval? Hint, there were more than 2,500 such strikes.

Iran lacks the military to do any serious punching; and, in fact, their military is hurting. The leadership in Iran is quite literally shocked and scared right now, for all the bluster, as they finally have realized that they personally can (and would) be targeted. A message was sent, and from all reports it has been received.

Will they do something and call it a major victory? Likely. In addition to realizing that they are now personal targets and not exempt, they also know that they are in a bad place. It would not take 52 targets, but would take about 35 minutes, to destroy Iran via taking out the only things left propping up the regime. Nice thing is, no American forces actually need to go into the danger zone to do this. There are a couple of other options available that stop short of the complete destruction of the current critical infrastructure, options that would leave something for the population to rebuild with after the regime has fallen.

Meantime, the so-called leadership of the Democratic party is once again hard at work to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Orange man can’t be allowed to succeed, because, reasons. Most reasons revolve around power, graft, and an impressive amount of outrage that the “experts” were not consulted. That is the insult that has driven them into a frenzy, and they have taken it extremely personally.

Nancy et al were fine with Obama assassinating an American citizen without warrant or let; but, Orange man must be stopped before he has any other success. Nancy et al were and are fine with the deaths of Americans (military and civilian), so long as prevention of same doesn’t make Trump or the evil Republicans look good and/or harm the Democrats.

In all the hand-wringing panty-peeing pearl-clutching hysteria of American “bumbling” towards war with Iran (here’s a hint as you flounce to your fainting couch, they’ve already been at war with us since app. 1979), a few things are being missed.

One, look at what else got hit with the initial strikes against the PMF forces in Iraq, the ones who injured and killed Americans. Tend to agree the people were collateral damage, but in this case quite good with the collateral damage.

Two, look at what happened when our embassy was attacked. We held. We reinforced. We pushed back. Things didn’t go to the terrorist (or democrat) script.

Three, this brought not only Soleimani (Suleimani is what I’m seeing in a number of Iranian sources) to Baghdad, but look at who all else was traveling with him. Hint, it wasn’t a troop of girl scouts armed with popsicle sticks. More than one general and/or leader got popped, and that’s a good thing because you rarely have that many top people in one spot in a country they are not supposed to be in, if they were only planning an ice-cream social.

Four, this has shaken the top leadership of Iran; is causing some potentially major fracturing of both the public and the leadership in Syria; has had additional impacts in at least four other countries; and, has exposed some extremely ugly anti-Americanism at home and abroad.

On a different front, I’ve been extremely amused at the media vs. public response to the Golden Globes opening (and later jokes); and, at the panty-peeing by a reporter at CNN about the Babylon Bee.

On many fronts, the masks have been ripped away so that the only ones not seeing the hideousness beneath are those who deliberately and willfully do not want to see.

The good news this morning, is that not only have the masks been ripped away, but some interesting stands have been taken. Both Rowling and Gervais have taken important stands against cancel culture and woke culture. We may well have just witnessed the watershed moment for both, and the start of some long-needed pushback. The winds of change are blowing, despite frantic efforts to block them.

Twice As Hard Is Not Enough

This is not the type of post I would normally write and post on a Sunday. Sunday is supposed to be my day of rest, a day to think, contemplate, and enjoy.

However, some things can’t wait and for me this is one of them. If you’ve been under a rock, a young man in Iowa made a joke by asking for money to buy beer. He got it.

Being an amazing young man, an example of good (which progressives seem to loathe on sight) that is refreshing and amazing to see, he decided to give the money to a local children’s hospital. Upon making that decision, he got serious about fundraising and got companies, including the beer company named in his joke, involved. Currently, more than one million dollars has been raised for that local children’s hospital.

Of course, this meant he needed to be cancelled and the Des Moines Register was up for the hatchet job. The reporter assigned to the hit dug down to find some posts, put up when the young man was sixteen, quoting a comedian (Tosh something) in not nice ways. Yeah, they were bad but we are talking about a teenage boy (girls aren’t much better), humor, and judgement.

Anheuser-Busch dropped him and his effort like a hot potato. Doing good for kids with cancer? Fuck them seems to be the attitude of the Des Moines Regiser, AB, and others. It’s past time that the cowardice, envy, and general destructiveness of the cancel culture be dealt with. You don’t destroy a cancer like that by punching back twice as hard.

You do it by bringing the pain and making it rain. Until those doing this experience the pain and suffering themselves, it is not going to stop. So, let it rain.

People need to go through the social media history of every employee at the Des Moines Register (and any other organization that doxxes and cancels) and shine a light on them. That is especially true for every reporter, editor, and even the publisher, but do it to all. Make them live up to their rules.

Others need to step up and cancel any advertising they do with the paper. Everyone else needs to encourage those businesses they frequent to stop advertising there. Look into the business dealings of the publisher and others: after all, if due diligence is the excuse being given for the dig, it should apply to their own efforts, no?

No, it’s not nice, it’s not polite, and it’s not a cultured response. It is, however, an effective response. Appeasement has been tried many times in history and it never works. If libertarians, conservatives, and others continue to cede this ground to progressives, it will never stop.

The reporter who did the story has been tossed under the bus (and is already whining about being the “real” victim in all of this). The leadership of the paper has posted a couple of arrogant non-apologies. It’s not enough.

If you want it to stop, it is not even a good start. Bring the pain, let it rain, and let it soak every person that works there.

There are none of us alive who have not said or done stupid or even bad things in our lives. We have all made bad jokes, held flawed positions, and said or done things that our current selves would not do. It’s called growing up. I’m very glad social media was not around when I was growing up.

This needs to end. You can’t make it end by being nice, turning the other cheek, or even by giving them lube as you bend over. Punching back twice as hard, as Obama said to, is for wimps. You punch back as hard as you can, as often as you can, until the other party gets the message. Only then will the cancel culture end.