Joseph Sabino Mistick: Cancel culture, on both sides, robs us all

President Dwight David Eisenhower knew how to fight cancel culture before it had a name. As Sen. Joe McCarthy was destroying careers, attacking the Voice of America and demanding that books authored by those who he recklessly called “known Communists” be removed from library bookshelves, Eisenhower had a better plan.

At the 1953 Dartmouth College graduation ceremony, Eisenhower said, “Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book. … ”

And if something in those books offends your sense of decency, don’t read that book. Simply walk away. “That should be the only censorship,” he added.

If you are getting tired of strangers telling you what you cannot listen to or read, what words you can or cannot say, join the club. Self-appointed guardians of public discourse and ideas are back — on both the right and the left — and they seem to believe that none of us is smart enough to make these decisions on our own.

Book banning is popular again, and there are demands to cancel people for saying provocative, stupid and sometimes repugnant things. Podcast host Joe Rogan is the latest, and, while I have never listened to his show, selecting another show would always be an option.

In her recent article in The Atlantic, “The New Puritans,” Anne Applebaum said, “Social codes are changing, in many ways for the better. But for those whose behavior doesn’t adapt fast enough to the new norms, judgment can be swift — and merciless.”

Applebaum compares cancel culture to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter.” There, Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet letter “A” for her sins, which has “the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.” Not even those who have committed similar sins would socialize with her.

Applebaum tackles the serious effects of cancel culture, asking, “How much intellectual life is now stifled because of fear of what a poorly worded comment would look like if taken out of context and spread on Twitter?”

Of course, no one should get away with inciting a riot or condoning violence or promoting dangerous misinformation. That’s shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. And it can be against the law.

But there must always be room for dissent and diversity. As John F. Kennedy said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” Plus, it’s not much fun.

Consider Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a different type of Repub­lican than Eisenhower. Many Democrats would gladly cancel her for her endless outrageous claims, but we would have missed her latest gem if they had been successful.

Last week, when she tried to compare the Capitol Police to the Gestapo — never a wise reference for a politician — here is what she said instead: “Not only do we have the D.C. jail, which is the D.C. gulag, but now we have Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police spying on members of Congress.”

I wouldn’t have missed that for the world.