In a man-bites-dog moment for the political ages, no less a Democratic icon than Barack Hussein Obama has called out the radical leftists for going “overboard” with cancel culture.
Sure, the Harris-Biden odd couple figuratively heads the Democratic party, and Congressional geriatrics Pelosi and Schumer are, in theory, party leaders. But it is Obama who is the patron saint of the party.
And so, it was noteworthy in the extreme to have Obama come out on CNN, a house organ of the left, and point out that the woke puritans are being ridiculous in their latter-day witch hunt for the politically incorrect, a frenzy that goes under the shorthand of cancel culture.
These zealots act as judge, jury and executioner on matters ranging from taking down statues of past heroes, to boycotting businesses of those who don’t kiss the hem of their purity robes, to generally tossing out enough holier-than-though judgmental horsecrap to fill the stables of Louisville Downs for the next century.
Reality, Obama noted, means that no one is perfect, including those conducting the witch hunts, and so a modicum of restraint is more than called for going forward.
Back in the days when Obama slept in the White House, a top level aide of his supposedly characterized the Obama political style as leading from behind.
But, in this case, I’m thinking that Obama sees his party imploding with its ridiculous leftward crusades and he is trying to get in front of it, if only to be able to issue some “I told you so” boasts should the radical pursuits end up backfiring on all those smug socialists currently running wild in the real and digital streets with their actual or metaphorical torches and pitchforks.
It is perhaps noteworthy that this Obama critique of cancel culture comes in close proximity with some Democratic Senators, most notably West Virginia’s Joe Manchin, standing up to their party and professing unwillingness to go along with them ramming through initiatives designed to make this, in practice, a nation of one-party rule.
Manchin already is being subjected to vitriolic attacks from the usual Democratic mouthpieces both in media and other positions of prominence.
Will these same people be willing to take on Obama for criticizing cancel culture and its equally ridiculous co-conspirator, the woke movement?
Probably not. More likely, Obama’s little indiscretion will be allowed to pass unless he continues to preach a message of restraint in the culture wars.
Their problem is Obama is inoculated against the typical weapons the cancel culture and woke crowds use to beat down the opposition – branding them as racists, or misogynists, or, gasp, heartless conservatives.
The product of a black father and white mother, Obama has the race card Trumped (political pun intended). We have no reports of him mistreating women and no rational person would brand him as being on right end of the political spectrum.
Obama’s honesty on this cancel culture subject presents a true problem to the radical leftists.
Even worse, his public utterances on the topic might prompt some of the jelly-spined to grow a pair figuratively and stop grovelling to these political correct cancel culture movements.
Bullies have a problem when their victims decide it’s time to stand up and fight back. Dare I dream such a time is near for the cancel culture/woke mobs?
Sam Ross Jr's site 