A new article in the L.A. Times (July 9, 2025) explores the accomplishments of the new Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman over the first six months of taking office. According to prosecutors and law enforcement officials, the new district attorney has delivered “a return to normalcy” after the contentious term of progressive luminary George Gascón. One of his accomplishments over his predecessor explored in the article has been to close the Marilyn Manson investigation and not bring any charges against him. The L.A. Times however does not present it as an accomplishment, but as a political pitfall along with another high profile case he is involved in, the Menendez Brothers. According to the L.A. Times: "In January, Hochman announced he would not bring rape charges against rock star Marilyn Manson — roughly four months after he held a campaign event alongside some of Manson’s accusers to attack Gascón’s handling of the case. 'You don’t parade people out. … I found t...
A Few Words on Cancel Culture For most of human history, shunning, excommunication, and public humiliation have been used for social conformity. The modern versions are generally categorized as “calling-out” or “canceling.” While the first use of these terms is not certain, sometime in the early 2010s, "fans" of various celebrities and groups began to post on social media, identifying imperfections in their "idols" and “calling them out” on their behaviors. During 2017 and 2018, online posts calling out others drastically increased and were part of the #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter movements. By 2019, the term "cancel culture" became more known and moved into mainstream media usage. Cancel culture has been considered acceptable by some people in some cases because it seemed to provide a way for marginalized individuals and groups to silence someone they deemed hurtful. As a result, powerful individuals or groups that would otherwise evade responsibility for...