Canceled: Zucker, Goldberg, Trudeau, and Young Hit Karma Paydirt

Is there some kind of karmic wave sweeping across North America? A recent confluence of events might lead one to think that, why, yes – yes there is. Cancel culture appears to have taken on a life of its own and, much like other revolutions, has begun to devour its children. Among its most prominent new victims are Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, TV lack-of-personality Whoopi Goldberg, and long-forgotten, whiny-voiced recording artist Neil Young. Plus, most recently, CNN boss Jeff Zucker followed in the footsteps of several other of the network’s employees to depart under a cloud, canceled by their own actions.

The list of CNN people who have been caught with their pants down – or at least in the process of unfastening their belts – has grown quite rapidly. But at least the big boss himself, Zucker, was above such behavior, right? Wrong.

It should be noted, in all fairness, that Zucker’s misconduct cannot possibly be compared to that of former CNN host Chris Cuomo or his producer, alleged pedophile John Griffin. Zucker merely failed to disclose an apparently “consensual relationship” with one of his employees. While his conduct could hardly be described as either sordid or wicked, he seems to have believed – like so many others in powerful and influential positions – that the rules do not apply to him; that he can “get away with it.” Thus, his Feb. 2 resignation from the network that has wallowed in cancel culture does seem rather deliciously karmic.

Help! I’ve Canceled Myself and I Can’t Get Up!

Each one of the above-mentioned individuals has championed, or at least approved of, this relatively new phenomenon of “canceling” anyone who publicly expresses opinions – or even facts – with which the political left does not agree. Each of them got canceled or canceled themselves for various reasons, over the past few days. Is this a laughing matter? Oh, indeed it is. To witness the disgrace or just the sheer miscalculation of each one of these humorless, ever-complaining, permanently offended folks can be quite gratifying.

Justin Pierre James Trudeau high-tailed it to an undisclosed location in the Great White North when he realized Canadian truckers have had enough of the country’s draconian COVID mandates, eh? Rather than act like a leader and confront those who object to the way things are being done, he essentially canceled himself. He relinquished his ability and his duty to defend those policies that so riled up the truckers – the very people he had earlier lauded for their hard work and perseverance – and slunk out of town with his tail between his legs. As of this writing, he may well be tiptoeing around some hamlet in the Northwest Territories, trying to look inconspicuous. Hopefully, he has not reverted to blackface.

Neil Young, a once-famous lightweight singer but heavyweight songwriter, doesn’t much care for freedom of expression or views that deviate from the government-approved narrative. Ironic that he is perhaps most famous for encouraging everyone to keep on rocking in the free world. And who doesn’t think Young deserves his place among the legends of 1960s music?

Unfortunately for Young, 1960s fame does not translate to 2020s fame. Podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan is 2020s famous, with an audience of millions. In fact, he hosts the most popular podcast on the streaming service Spotify. Rogan provides a platform to experts who promote dissenting views and facts on subjects such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. In an apparent fit of pique, Young decided he could cancel Rogan by demanding that Spotify tear up its $100 million distribution deal with the wildly popular podcaster. Young must have had some psychotropic substances left over from the old days, one can only assume, to think Spotify would ditch Rogan to keep his music. More than half of Spotify’s users are under 35 and, to them, the aging rocker is known as Neil Who?

And so, Young’s catalogue is no longer available on Spotify. A few other aging hippies are following suit, canceling themselves in protest at being unable to cancel Rogan. Makes perfect sense.

Whoopi Goldberg, the queen of daytime TV Karenage and co-host of popular nag-fest The View, got herself suspended for insisting that the Holocaust wasn’t about race. “I feel, being black, when we talk about race it’s a very different thing to me,” she told talk-show host Stephen Colbert after the fact. “So, I said that I felt that the Holocaust wasn’t about race, and people got very, very, very angry.”

Racism is something that can only happen to black people now, apparently. The ironically named Anti-Defamation League recently came up with its new modified definition of racism that specifically excludes all non-blacks from being able to claim racial discrimination. So, Goldberg seems to be advancing that false premise. She apologized, but, in true leftist fashion, said she was only sorry that people misunderstood what she had said. “I don’t want to fake apologize,” she told Colbert, before fake apologizing.

Leftists have created a monster in cancel culture but are finding out, with increasing frequency, that they can also become its victims, in one way or another. The silent majority is not so silent any longer and people who thought they could dictate the terms of what is and is not acceptable thought, speech, and behavior are feeling the heat. Goldberg, Trudeau, Zucker, and Young may or may not believe in Karma, but they could always refer to Luke 6:37 to avoid future cosmic retribution: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

~ Read more from Graham J. Noble.