by Kerry Dougherty
A new study from the libertarian CATO institute supports something I’ve believed for a long time, which – let’s be honest – is why I’m sharing it with you.
It found that the cancel culture is stifling speech. The result: A growing number of Americans on both sides of the political divide and all races and ethnicities are afraid to share their political opinions.
“There have been shifts across the board, where more people among all political groups feel they are walking on eggshells,” the CATO survey found, adding, “majorities of Democrats (52%), independents (59%) and Republicans (77%) who all agree they have political opinions they are afraid to share.”
There is only one group that feel free to bloviate freely. Care to guess which?
If you said extreme liberals, you’d be right. The far left is anything but shy.
“Strong liberals stand out, however, as the only political group who feel they can express themselves. Nearly 6 in 10 (58%) of staunch liberals feel they can say what they believe,” the CATO survey found.
These are the bullies who have been collecting the scalps of conservative CEOs, actors, journalists and other public figures who dared to support traditional values, said something that could be conveniently misconstrued or who questioned the left’s orthodoxy.
We saw this recently at The New York Times where editorial page editor James Bennet was forced to resign after he dared to publish an op-ed by Sen. Tom Cotton that defended the use of federal forces to quell domestic disturbances.
About 1,000 social justice warriors on the payroll of The Times expressed their fury over Cotton’s piece and that ended the editor’s career. Groveling apologies from a journalist who should have had the courage to defend the free exchange of ideas was not enough.
Likewise, Stan Wischnowski, executive editor at The Philadelphia Inquirer resigned last month after that newspaper published a headline that read, “Buildings Matter Too.”
Yup, those three words ended his 20-year career.
It’s not just in the U.S., either.
Look what’s been happening to Britain’s J.K Rowling, for instance. The author of the hugely successful Harry Potter series is the target of leftist groups on both sides of the Atlantic.
Why?
She dared question whether men could menstruate. Here’s an account of her transgression, from Reason.com:
“Rowling mocked a charity that used the phrase ‘people who menstruate’ instead of women, Tweeting:
“There used to be a word for those people. Someone help me out. Wumben? Wimpund? Woomud?”
That further incensed the mob. It claimed her “hate…leads to trans women, especially teens and black trans women, becoming victims of sexual assault.”
But Rowling is the rare person popular enough to be able to resist the mob. Her publisher spoke up for her, saying, ‘Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of publishing.’
Of course, it’s worth noting that a number of workers at Hatchette, the UK company that publishes Rowling’s books, are refusing to work on her next novel.
No word on whether these spoiled brats are still employed. I suspect they are.
If “staunch liberals” can voice their opinions without fear of retribution, so should everyone else.
We did see someone stand up to the idiots on the left last week when the CEO of Goya Foods, Bob Unanue who is of Spanish descent, met with the president during a White House event for Hispanics.
“We’re all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump, who is a builder,” said Unanue at the time.
How dare he!
Praising Trump is completely unacceptable to the alt-left and reactionaries like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and former presidential candidate Julian Castro immediately called for a boycott of Goya products.
Yep, they want to bankrupt a company and ruin a man’s life over a few nice words about the president of the United States.
To his credit, Unanue refused to back down.
“So, you’re allowed to talk good or to praise one president, but you’re not allowed to aid in economic and educational prosperity?” Unanue asked, noting that he’d also met with Barack Obama when he was in the White House and complimented him as well. “And you make a positive comment and all of a sudden, it is not acceptable?”
Fox News reported that “Unanue said he is not apologizing for his remarks supporting Trump’s economic policy and would not turn down other future invitations.”
If America is ever going to stand up to the cancel culture radicals, it’s going to need many more Bob Unanues.
We all need to stop walking on eggshells.
This column is republished with permission from Kerry: Unemployed & Unedited.
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