Free-for-All Friday

TRENDING

"Reopened theme parks ban screaming on roller coasters" Drudge Report, 7/9

CANCEL CULTURE

"I think much of cancel culture is driven by revenge of mediocrities. Many of the “cancelers” are tragic; the adults and institutions that were charged with giving them a decent moral and academic education in their childhoods just failed utterly or abandoned the work. And so the cancelers are totally unequipped to deal with things like mature disagreement, bearing wrongs patiently, and negotiating with adults who don’t give them what they want the moment they cry or scream for it. Because it is born of a bottomless hole of insecurity, it should have bottomless energy."  Michael Brandon Dougherty, National Review Online, 7/9

FACEBOOK

"Internet companies are always going to be engaged in the fraught business of drawing the line between what’s permissible or not, but the current Facebook controversy is more consequential than that. The company is the target of left-wing activists who, with the ready assent of corporate America, have been able to force a wave of cancellations around the culture and now seek to bend a social media behemoth to their will."  Rich Lowry, NRO, 7/10

PROGRESSIVES

"Constitutional restrictions on centralized power are a core problem for progressives. So is the Bill of Rights, which protects due process, open discourse, and the right to self-defense — all of which are now regarded as old-fashioned.

"This week, two decisions by the court upheld religious liberty and conscience rights against incursions by the state. Both decisions represent modest victories, attained with liberal help. One ruling held that the ministerial exception to employment law (which allows religious organizations to choose who their own ministers are without being sued) applies also to teachers at religious schools who are responsible for religious education. In the other case, the court upheld the right of Americans not to participate in mandatory contraception coverage under Obamacare’s employer mandate."  David Harsanyi, NRO, 7/10