The vanguard of the revolution has set its beady-eyed gaze on . . . Paw Patrol.
Paw Patrol, a children’s cartoon about doggie do-gooders, has as one of its principal characters a German shepherd called Chase, who is a police officer. (A police officer in an imaginary universe in which dogs have full-time jobs, drive cars, and wear jaunty caps.) According to the New York Times, which just fired its opinion editor for publishing opinions, Paw Patrol has run afoul of the new commandment: Thou shalt not make sympathetic depictions of police officers, including police officers whose beat is an imaginary universe in which dogs have full-time jobs, drive cars, and wear jaunty caps.
“Paw Patrol seems harmless enough,” writes Amanda Hess, “and that’s the point.” Oh, is that the point? “The movement rests on understanding that cops do plenty of harm.”
Somehow, this all really began with Huckleberry Finn.
Banning Mark Twain’s anti-racism and anti-slavery novel has been a project of the Left for years, and one that is not letting up: Just last year, Democrats in the New Jersey legislature, that august assemblage, tried to censor the book and order its removal from school curricula. The objection is that a novel about racism, set along the banks of the Mississippi in the 19th century, and having an escaped slave as one of its principal characters, includes racial slurs. The anti-Huck jihad was and is preposterous, but l’appétit vient en mangeant, and once progressives got a taste of vandalism, they wanted more. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington were to be unpersoned and detested, as though owning slaves had been the beginning and end of those Virginians’ careers. The Kansas City Chiefs’ mascot was a crime against humanity. An aide to the mayor of Washington was chased out of his job for describing a budget as “niggardly,” which one of the great intellects in Washington city government took to be a racial slur. (It isn’t.) Princeton subjected a professor to a hate-speech inquisition for using the word “spooks” to refer to ghosts. (The incident inspired Philip Roth’s novel The Human Stain.) And on and on it went.
The emergence of social media and a Millennial subculture built on asinine coddling and infantile entitlement turbocharged that censorious energy, creating what we now call “cancel culture.” In the earlier period, “canceling” was focused mainly on celebrities or high-profile public figures, and the criteria for canceling mostly had to do with real or perceived bigotry (Roseanne Barr and her Planet of the Apes tweet, Justin Trudeau and his blackface) or for acts of victimization à la Harvey Weinstein. But now the scalp-hunting has started to target ordinary and often obscure people, and the offenses in question have nothing to do with bigotry — it is simply having the unfashionable view of a public controversy, or being somehow associated, however lightly — Paw Patrol did not kill George Floyd — with that controversy. Fender, the guitar company, fired a luthier after he retweeted a (tasteless) joke about running over protesters blocking the freeways. The editors of Variety and Bon Appétit both lost their jobs after writing pieces in support of the recent protests and having their efforts judged insufficiently committed, i.e., for being the first people to stop clapping after Stalin’s speech. The Bon Appétit editor also was photographed dressed as a Puerto Rican caricature at a Halloween party 16 years ago; every bank manager in Tulsa who ever wore a sombrero to a Cinco de Mayo party in the 1990s is terrified that a photograph of it will turn up.
There is a discussion to be had about the ten U.S. military facilities named after Confederate generals, and about the Confederate monuments, especially those that were put up long after the war as explicitly racist protests against desegregation efforts, though there is no case for the lawless vandalism that has been directed at them. Of course the fullness of Thomas Jefferson’s legacy should be acknowledged, but he did a bit more with his life than own slaves, just as the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. did more with his time on earth than cheat on his wife and Mohandas Gandhi did more than write racist tracts about black Africans. (A statue of Gandhi was removed from the campus of the University of Ghana.) We remember those men, and celebrate them, for other things.
Every American should read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
There are a few different things at play here. One is the free-floating desire to punish, the glee that certain awful people get from simply taking the opportunity to hurt someone, even an obscure and basically inoffensive someone. (Remember “Has Justine Landed?”) Some of this is cynical young staffers at prestigious institutions such as the New York Times who believe that they can clear room for their own advancement by chasing unhip elders out of the corner offices. Some of this is programmatic and political: There is no aspect of culture that is not to be commandeered by the rioting black-masked socialists — they have attempted to commandeer the protests against police brutality for their own ends, and they will commandeer Paw Patrol, too, if they can. They are vicious totalitarians who will use any means at their disposal, from ruining the lives of obscure fast-food managers to engaging in organized political violence.
It is particularly depressing that institutions ranging from the New York Times to the universities to Franklin Templeton have refused to stand up for themselves, for their employees, and, in the case of the Times and other media, for the principles of free expression and open dialogue that they purport to serve. They believe that they can pacify the mob by throwing it a sacrificial lamb or two. In that, they are mistaken. We hope that Corporate America is neither too stupid to understand that nor too cowardly to act accordingly, but, at the moment, we see little cause for encouragement. We are recreating East Germany’s culture of informers without even having a Soviet-backed dictatorship to blame it on.
We would prefer that people be treated with grace rather than opportunistic cruelty and with charity rather than pettiness. We would prefer that employers not appoint themselves the moral guardians of every employee and the censor of every employee’s every utterance in his private life. And here is something close to the fundamental issue: We believe in private life, that people are entitled to their own associations and opinions (even bad ones!), and entitled to make their own mistakes, too — and that, barring some direct connection to work life or extraordinary circumstance, that none of this is the concern of the little platoons of finks lurking down in human resources.
We worry about the consequences of cancel culture. But we are much more intensely ashamed of it and what it says about the current state of the American heart.
Cancel culture is a game, the point of which is to impose unemployment on people as a form of recreation. The editor of Bon Appétit has gone down in a recent round that also claimed the editor of Variety, the editor of the New York Times opinion page, an obscure data analyst, and other figures far removed from public life.
The classic canceling episode was the hounding of Roseanne Barr, a past-her-prime celebrity who tweeted a racially insensitive comment in 2018, comparing former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to a figure from “Planet of the Apes.” Celebrities in decline are an especially tempting target: Harvey Weinstein’s habits were not news to anybody in Hollywood, but the campaign against him did not begin until he was well past the apex of his influence.
But with the protests following the outrageous death of George Floyd, the canceling project now takes in everybody from food writers to woodworkers.
In the course of a week, three editors went down: James Bennett of the Times was canceled for publishing an opinion on the opinion page, Senator Tom Cotton’s defense of the Insurrection Act, which permits the use of federal troops to quell riots; Claudia Eller was pushed out at Variety (suspended, formally, but not expected to return to her position) after penning a white-privilege mea culpa that was found to be unconvincing; Adam Rapoport of Bon Appétit was canned for much the same reason, his offense aggravated by a turn-of-the-century photograph of him dressed as a stereotypical Puerto Rican at a Halloween party.
Enlarge ImageCanadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Virginia Senator Ralph Northam both survived black face controversies.
On the “Animal Farm” of social-media scalp hunting, some animals are more equal than others. Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Virginia Senator Northam both survived blackface controversies, while Bon Appétit’s top editor was canned for dressing as a stereotypical Puerto Rican in 2004.Getty Images (2)
But racial outrages are far from the only thing that can cost someone a job in these stupid times, and it isn’t only public figures who are targeted. Fender, a guitar maker, exiled a master guitar-builder after he tweeted an ugly joke (a blood-covered Jeep over the caption “What protesters on the freeway?”) at the expense of the recent demonstrations. But better manners won’t save you: A data analyst and veteran of the Obama reelection campaign was fired by Civis Analytics for tweeting a link to a paper written by a well-regarded (and, worth noting, biracial) Princeton professor of African-American studies finding that riots are bad for black communities. No criticism, however respectful or intelligent, is to be permitted.
These men were not fired for using racial slurs or engaging in abuse. They were fired for giving voice to views that the mob wishes to see silenced.
Of course there is rampant hypocrisy. The editor of Bon Appétit had to go, but as recently as 2019 the Liberal prime minister of Canada and the Democratic governor of Virginia both survived blackface scandals resulting from some of those “youthful indiscretions” the politicians are always going on about. Fender will fire a luthier but maintains a relationship with Eric Clapton, who has been known to use racial slurs in vicious denunciation of British immigrants and as recently as 2007 talked up Enoch Powell, the politician whose “Rivers of Blood” speech was a cri de cœur for British racists. Clapton’s name can move a lot of guitars. On the “Animal Farm” of social-media scalp hunting, some animals are more equal than others.
Enlarge ImageEric Clapton got to keep his job with Fender Guitars even though he's been known to use racial slurs in denunciation of British immigrants.
Guitar maker Fender exiled a master guitar-builder for making an ugly joke about George Floyd protesters, but still maintains a relationship with Eric Clapton, who has used racial slurs in denunciation of British immigrants.Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images
The same progressives who once held themselves out as checks on corporate power now have decided to deputize the Fortune 500 to enforce political and social conformism, making political correctness a criterion for employment — not only in high-status jobs but also for fast-food workers and obscure middle managers. They believe that they have the cultural power, and that this way of doing things will advantage the Left. But culture changes: Today’s social-justice warriors are relying on the same strategy that once kept openly gay actors out of the movies and black musicians off the radio, an irony that is lost on our progressive friends.
The imbeciles on Twitter are unserious people, but unserious people can produce serious problems. There is a word for the situation in which there is no room for disagreement. The word is not “justice.” It is “totalitarianism.” That is what cancel culture is, and we have seen it in highly developed form in such places as East Germany under Honecker and China under Mao and the Cultural Revolution.
No one is safe, not even at such commanding heights of culture as Bon Appétit.
Cancel culture is a game, the point of which is to impose unemployment on people as a form of recreation. The editor of Bon Appétit has gone down in a recent round that also claimed the editor of Variety, the editor of the New York Times opinion page, an obscure data analyst, and other figures far removed from public life.
So really, this is only a bad thing because you don't like it? I'm pretty sure you were loudly and adamantly supporting and lobbying for "cancel culture" of Nike, the NFL, whatever else you were all worried about..... How is this different?
Cancel culture is a game, the point of which is to impose unemployment on people as a form of recreation. The editor of Bon Appétit has gone down in a recent round that also claimed the editor of Variety, the editor of the New York Times opinion page, an obscure data analyst, and other figures far removed from public life.
So really, this is only a bad thing because you don't like it? I'm pretty sure you were loudly and adamantly supporting and lobbying for "cancel culture" of Nike, the NFL, whatever else you were all worried about..... How is this different?
No. Do you have some quotes of me you wish to provide?
Cancel culture is a game, the point of which is to impose unemployment on people as a form of recreation. The editor of Bon Appétit has gone down in a recent round that also claimed the editor of Variety, the editor of the New York Times opinion page, an obscure data analyst, and other figures far removed from public life.
So really, this is only a bad thing because you don't like it? I'm pretty sure you were loudly and adamantly supporting and lobbying for "cancel culture" of Nike, the NFL, whatever else you were all worried about..... How is this different?
No. Do you have some quotes of me you wish to provide?
Why in heaven's sake would I do that. I guess it's only a bad thing when you disagree with it.
I don’t understand because of one bad cop, they have to cancel all police shows, because they don’t want people to see good officers. So our children are suppose to be afraid of police officers and tell them they are all evil and no good 🤷🏻♀️ Who are they going to turn to if they are in any kind of danger or lost? The clowns are running cities and Hollywood and not the funny kind.
Are you able to discuss a topic without Ad Hominem fallacies? Just wondering.
"ad hominem' = discussion in a way that is directed against a person rather than the position they are maintaining.
I am definitely challenging your position. Pointing out how things are only okay if they are in your favour and the exact same thing when you don't like it is bad. That's the position. If I was 'direct [ing] at a person' I would be using all caps, calling people stupid, being patronizing... oh. wait. That's what you do.
I don’t understand because of one bad cop, they have to cancel all police shows, because they don’t want people to see good officers. So our children are suppose to be afraid of police officers and tell them they are all evil and no good 🤷🏻♀️ Who are they going to turn to if they are in any kind of danger or lost? The clowns are running cities and Hollywood and not the funny kind.
Exactly. Who are kids (and adults, for that matter) to turn to for help? Certainly not the kindly stranger always lurking, ready to "help".
It is my understanding that the police are around to enforce the laws and assist anyone who is lost, etc. Not to be some kind of social worker, as has been implied by reapportioning police funds to other uses... I would not be surprised if the good police officers started to resign, leaving only the mediocre ones.... Or worse...
I agree, karl. I've been sitting here this morning watching the news and just shaking my head thinking, "there is no way I'd want to be a cop with what's going on now and what's coming down the pike in terms of 'reform'". They're going to tie the police's hands to the point that we will have a 'wild west' going on in this country. Do I think some reform needs to happen? Yes. Do I believe there are other ways to subdue a perp other than death? Sure. I've said for decades that the police should shoot to injure not kill. Hit a leg, hit a foot, hit a kneecap but not death?
I get that in that type of situation, police are also fearing for their own life and point and shoot is a reflex of survival. But, there has to be a better way to ensure all people are safe and brought to justice.
-- Edited by Forever Sunshine on Monday 15th of June 2020 06:31:10 AM
Tig you don't seem to understand the difference between having an opinion that disagrees versus going to out try to destroy, fire or annihilate someone for that opinion.
A family friend (a cop) was assigned as a recruiter before the riots. Now all this, she can't recruit anyone. She's back splitting her time between the streets and air now. No one wants the job, and who can blame them. My cousin's son is a LEO in Oregon and his salary was already cut. He got kicked in the ribs twice and had rocks thrown at him during all this and was hospitalized.
One bad cop (okay, probably a few more out there) does not warrant treating all cops this way. Then cut funding? They need more funding, IMO. More for training, body cams.
Well, next time there is a domestic dispute, they can send out a social worker and see how that plays out.
If you don't like the cartoon change the damn channel.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Tig you don't seem to understand the difference between having an opinion that disagrees versus going to out try to destroy, fire or annihilate someone for that opinion.
Interesting coming from somone who is so incredibly patronizing, calling people stupid, throwing insults left right and center. I don't think you understand the difference between having your opinion/perspective challenged and feeling like people are out to get you. I'm sorry if having a different point of view makes you feel so annihilated.
It's crazy out there. People have lost their minds. Most of which are hired thugs who don't give a rat's ass anyway. They are just getting paid to distract.
And let me tell you I am going crazy as all the statues are ruined. WTF
That has been happening up here; a while ago though. Fighting for the removal of statues of Settlers and early leaders who lead the genocide of First Nations people, introduced the Indian Act, created the residential schools, etc.
I think it's a dumb idea - every person statued did both good and bad things. Why tear it down? Just add the opposite statue and put up a plaque about the events or relationships between the two. Highlighting the pros and cons of each.
In the UK, statues of Churchill and Ghandi are on the chopping block.
There is more going on than just a race war, or a class war.
A lot more.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
It's crazy out there. People have lost their minds. Most of which are hired thugs who don't give a rat's ass anyway. They are just getting paid to distract.
They ripped down Christopher Columbus statue in the North End in Boston. The Italians are now fighting to get it back up.
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Because that wouldn't address the overall systemic issues? Well, not for another 50 years. Seems legit.
Stone Mountain has been controversial for a long time. The only reason it's still there is because it's a mountain.
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A flock of flirting flamingos is pure, passionate, pink pandemonium-a frenetic flamingle-mangle-a discordant discotheque of delirious dancing, flamboyant feathers, and flamingo lingo.
Again, if you don't like what the NFL is doing don't watch it. Don't buy their products. If you don't like Paw Patrol or Elmer Fudd, change the channel. Don't buy products endorsing it.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
Maybe their next step will be to start killing off people over a certain age because they've seen these things and have memories they might . . . OMG . . . spread those memories around for all to hear!
Maybe their next step will be to start killing off people over a certain age because they've seen these things and have memories they might . . . OMG . . . spread those memories around for all to hear!
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Because that wouldn't address the overall systemic issues? Well, not for another 50 years. Seems legit.
Seems legit to burn things down, rob, steal and kill?
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Because that wouldn't address the overall systemic issues? Well, not for another 50 years. Seems legit.
Seems legit to burn things down, rob, steal and kill?
Do you see things as that black and white? (for lack of a different reference)
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Because that wouldn't address the overall systemic issues? Well, not for another 50 years. Seems legit.
Seems legit to burn things down, rob, steal and kill?
Do you see things as that black and white? (for lack of a different reference)
Some things are black and white. Some things have shades of grey. There are no shades of grey to be upset that should allow you to destroy someone's business or beat or kill people.
Perhaps instead of taking history down, we could put history back in. So many things that happened historically are not in the books because they were sanitized to not show the bad things that happened in a country's history. That would be a lot easier than tearing down statues.
And that's a really cool idea, IKWTDS
That's nice. So, why don't they be the CHANGE they wish to see? Go to school and become nurses, teachers, and police officers. Volunteer in their communities. Get on local boards and they can do all those things. Nah, more fun to kill people and break things and cry about how offended they are.
Because that wouldn't address the overall systemic issues? Well, not for another 50 years. Seems legit.
Seems legit to burn things down, rob, steal and kill?
Do you see things as that black and white? (for lack of a different reference)
Some things are black and white. Some things have shades of grey. There are no shades of grey to be upset that should allow you to destroy someone's business or beat or kill people.
There are NO shades of grey when it comes to destroying things that are not yours. NONE! It IS black and white. It is WRONG! There is no way to justify it.
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“You may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still, like air, I'll rise!” ― Maya Angelou
So a liberal on my town's political site wanted to know why I disagreed with him on the south and their motivation to fight the civil war. I told him well if you weren't on the team to tear down the statues and plaques that explained it all plus re write history books then you would know the answer. I then complimented him on proving my point.
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Sometimes you're the windshield, and sometimes you're the bug.