CANCEL me in 2022

If you are irked that I call Donald Trump the fat golfer, please stop following my posts.

After a lifetime study of comparative religion, Joseph Campbell concluded that the best course was to Follow your Bliss. Make a list of those things in your life that you most enjoy; those things that enervate you, compel you; interest you in a sustained way. Do them!

Make a second list of those things that vex your existence. How can you avoid or minimize those? CANCEL them.

When in office I mostly called Trump the toddler President — rash, undisciplined, selfish, spoiled. Out of office fat golfer better sums up my opinion of him in a short, colourful way. Trump is the master of name calling. Since he does it, I feel it’s ethical to reciprocate.

The Ugly American

I believe in freedom of speech. The fat golfer can say whatever he wants on his golf course. BUT not in my home. Not on my blogs. Nor my social media feeds.

I also believe in the freedom to NOT listen to speech.

Since Rush Limbaugh — the Big Fat Idiot — popularized the notion of cancelling people in the 1980s, the word cancelled has become increasingly loaded. And increasingly meaningless.

Though I’m left leaning, I haven’t yet cancelled JK Rowling, Woody Allen, Jordan Peterson and many more. You should if they irritate you enough.

I AM quick to unsubscribe to organizations and people I believe are distributing dangerous and/or unethical content online.

Certainly the American GOP / FOX money making machine picks a new Mr. Potato Head to cancel every day. Gots to keep their mostly old, white supporters angry. (That story was fake news, by the way.)

The best coverage of this issue I’ve heard is on my favourite podcast – Reputation.

The Psychology of Sticking Your Head in the Sand. Plus, Ep. 2 of American Emergency. On the Media

This week, the S&P 500 hit an all-time high, despite a deepening global energy crisis. On this week’s On the Media, the mismatch between the stock market and reality. Plus, to understand how FEMA became so distrusted, we look at its response to Hurricane Katrina – and how it stained the agency’s reputation forever.  [01:00]  Host Brooke Gladstone sits down with Bryan Walsh, senior editorial director at Vox overseeing the Future Perfect and climate teams, about the phenomenon of “economic blindness,” which explains why the stock market hit an all-time high this week despite the oil crisis unspooling across the globe due to Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Plus, how human evolution may play a role in this cognitive dissonance. [13:38]  Host Micah Loewinger presents the second part of our investigation American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA. This week, we look at the event that shaped FEMA’s reputation perhaps more than any other: Hurricane Katrina, one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history. Experts had warned about this kind of storm for years, but when it hit the agency only had one staffer on the ground–a PR guy named Marty Bahamonde. We also hear from Superdome survivor Chavon Allen, who was celebrating her 19th birthday when the hurricane made landfall.  Further reading / watching: “We’re missing the economic fallout of the Iran war — just like we did with Covid,” by Bryan Walsh Disaster: Hurricane Katrina and the Failure of Homeland Security, by Christopher Cooper and Robert Block Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time on Hulu On the Media is supported by listeners like you. Support OTM by donating today (https://pledge.wnyc.org/support/otm). Follow our show on Instagram, Bluesky, TikTok and Facebook @onthemedia, and share your thoughts with us by emailing onthemedia@wnyc.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
  1. The Psychology of Sticking Your Head in the Sand. Plus, Ep. 2 of American Emergency.
  2. Trump's Glitzy Library Grift
  3. American Emergency: The Movement to Kill FEMA
  4. How a Prison Fire Helped Create CBS News
  5. Grab Your Tin Foil Hat for The Onion's Takeover of Infowars

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