The Book-Burners Are Here
By Christopher Skeet
AmericanThinker.com
June 18, 2020
In terms of free speech and the defense thereof, this month has been one of the worst in our nation’s history. Those who don’t kowtow to either the street mob or the Twitterati regarding the George Floyd controversy are finding themselves canceled, fired, and socially exiled for life. Opinion editor James Bennet of the New York Times was forced to resign after printing an article by Senator Tom Cotton that fellow staffers claimed put them “in danger.”
Bennet is not alone. Magazine editors, TV stars, sports announcers, university professors, radio hosts, and newspaper reporters donned their scarlet letters and took the walk of shame after uttering their respective blasphemies. Most caved to the will of the online show trials, offering false confessions and begging for their inquisitors’ forgiveness for their alleged transgressions. Many of these allies-turned-enemies had previously fancied themselves modern-day Robespierres. Unfortunately for them, they were correct.
At China’s request, the U.S.-based video conferencing company Zoom shut down meetings commemorating the victims of the Tiananmen Square massacre and suspended the accounts of the participating activists. Over at HBO, the writers of Looney Tunes are removing Elmer Fudd’s shotgun from all future episodes. Writer Michael Ruocco defended the decision, claiming that the shotgun represented Elmer’s “flawed, challenged masculinity,” which one assumes would be the ideal straw-man prop for today’s hyper-woke audience.
In true Orwellian fashion, Merriam-Webster is “revising” its definition of racism after receiving an email from 22-year-old Kennedy Mitchum, who felt that the current definition didn’t satisfy her political agenda and decided for herself that it should be changed. Editor Alex Chambers folded like wet paper, explaining that the definition was indeed being revised and whimpering regret for the “harm and offense we have caused in failing to address the issue sooner.” We’ve reached the point where any perpetually aggrieved activist can literally change the definitions of words, and the gatekeepers comply without batting an eye. Whoever controls the language controls the debate.
The Rest…HERE
