Cancel Cultures, Left and Right

If we needed any proof a couple weeks ago that the Republican National Convention was an Irony-Free Zone, then we got it with speaker after speaker banging on about liberal "cancel culture." Am I saying this doesn't exist? No, I'm saying the right wing version is arguably worse and certainly more blatant. 

Here's how it works. Consider 2 + 2 = 4. On the left, one can assert, quite reasonably, that this equation is correct. However, if a sufficient number of the Woke decide that bad people might use that fact for nefarious purposes, or that a marginalized person might be "harmed" by it, then you and the idea are quickly removed from what is considered acceptable discourse. Some people actually lose their jobs; most swiftly get the message not to "go there" anymore. On the right it is much simpler. A staunch conservative can assert that 2 + 2 = 4, but if Donald Freaking Trump says 2 + 2 = 5, you are permanently removed from the Republican party and any position of influence within modern conservatism, period. Only people like Mitt Romney can get away with sticking up for simple math, though he doesn't actually hold much sway either. 

Both versions also feature moving goal posts. On the left, one might feel one has mastered Woke discourse, only to find that when you offered what you thought was the party line, the wokesters had already moved on, and, bingo, you are in the outhouse. On the right, you might go ahead and say that 2 + 2 = 5, only to find that Trump is now denying he ever said it (even though it was yesterday, and caught on video), and you are promptly thrown right under the bus.