The rise of “cancel” culture — particularly on the left and particularly on social media — is one of the defining hallmarks of our culture in the post-Obama presidency. Say something wrong, tweet something people disagree with, express an opinion that is surprising or contradicts the established view people have of you, and the demands for you to be fired, de-friended or otherwise driven from the realms of men quickly follow.

The goal of many of these cancel culture acolytes appears to be simply to move from outrage to outrage — pointing fingers and yelling “here is the bad person. RIGHT HERE.” Left unsaid — but without question present in the underpinnings of this worldview — is that there are only good people (aka people who agree with me on all things) and bad people (those who don’t agree with me on everything.) There is no gray area. It’s black or it’s white.

…What Obama is advocating for isn’t that people change their beliefs. Instead, he is reminding us all of our common humanity, that we have much more in common than politicians and partisans would like us to believe. Seeing people as less like cardboard cutouts and more like, well, people, would do us (and our politics) a world of good.

What Barack Obama gets exactly right about our toxic ‘cancel’ culture – CNNPolitics

Demonizing potential allies is stupid way to attempt to get things done. Prioritizing purity over progress is what gave us Trump and people who engage it are nothing more than brain-dead sheeple.

“This idea of purity, and you’re never compromised, and you’re always politically woke and all that stuff, you should get over that quickly,” he said.

“The world is messy. There are ambiguities. People who do really good stuff have flaws.”

Obama stated that the danger of being too “judgemental” of people on social media is something he sees “particularly on college campuses”, and has been “accelerated by social media.”

….“Like if I tweet or hashtag about how you didn’t do something right or used the wrong verb, then I can sit back and feel pretty good about myself. ‘Cause, ‘Man, you see how woke I was? I called you out’.”

…“That’s not activism. That’s not bringing about change,” he said.

“If all you’re doing is casting stones, you’re probably not going to get that far.”

Barack Obama calls out cancel culture: ‘That’s not activism, that’s not bringing about change’ | The Independent

If you think attacking people is going to change their mind, you’re a moron.

Their is nothing more ineffective and masturbatory than smugly broadcasting how much better you think your point of view is than other people who have similar views to your own.

Rep. Maxine Waters is known for her extraordinary way with words, her ability to deliver mellifluous strings of terse takedowns with the precision of a preacher and acidity of an assistant principal who is not here for your nonsense today, Ferris. And sometimes those words come in the form of an expression that stops times completely.

Rep. Maxine Waters Deletes All of Facebook with One Look at Mark Zuckerberg

heh

Theirs is, in the abstract, the quintessential American story. Migrants who arrived from the former Soviet Union at age 3 who’ve since dedicated their lives to serving their new country.

…In the estimation of the Trump administration, though, that famous poem has often been waved away — sometimes literally. In August, the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Ken Cuccinelli, was …[asked]  “Would you also agree that Emma Lazarus’s words etched on the Statue of Liberty, ‘Give me your tired, give me your poor,’ are also a part of the American ethos?”

…“They certainly are,” he replied: “Give me your tired and your poor who can stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge.”

…When news of Vindman’s expected testimony broke on Monday night, the reaction from Trump’s normal defenders was remarkably uniform: Vindman was suspect because he came from what is now Ukraine.

…“Here we have a U.S. national security official who is advising Ukraine while working inside the White House, apparently against the president’s interests”

…“I find that astounding,” said John Yoo, who worked in the George W. Bush administration. “And some people might call that espionage.”

Yoo, [who is an evil, heartless, draconian, unamerican piece of shit] who wrote post-9/11 legal opinions for Bush that were used to justify torturing terrorism suspects, is an immigrant from South Korea.

…Sean P. Duffy (R-Wis.) [in apparent defiance of the objective fact that defending Ukraine IS United States policy said of Vindman] “…It seems very clear that he is incredibly concerned about Ukrainian defense,” Duffy said. “I don’t know that he’s concerned about American policy, but his main mission was to make sure that Ukraine got those weapons.”

(Of course, Ukraine’s defense is still U.S. policy.)

…“We all have an affinity to our homeland where we came from,” Duffy continued. “Like me, I’m sure that Vindman has the same affinity … to our homeland where we came from. …He has an affinity, I think, for the Ukraine. He speaks Ukrainian. He came from the country and he wants to make sure they’re safe.”

…The reaction to Vindman, though, reveals a fundamental hypocrisy in the Trumpian approach to immigrants. What Trump prioritizes in migrants who come to the United States is self-sufficiency and assimilation. He prefers migrants from Europe over Africa or the Middle East. What he wants is Alexander Vindmans — until Alexander Vindman points out where the loyalties of Trump himself might be questionable.

The fundamentally un-American attacks on Alexander Vindman – The Washington Post

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr