By  Eric Quintanar
Jul 9th, 2020


.....Less than 24 hours after Harper’s Magazine published an open letter defending free speech and condemning Cancel Culture, two of the dozens upon dozens of academics, writers, and artists who originally signed the letter have distanced themselves from it, and one has apologized.


.....Rowling, one of the letter’s most high-profile signees, has since accused Boylan of caving to the mob, and insufficiently so at that: “You’re still following me, Jennifer. Be sure to publicly repent of your association with Goody Rowling before unfollowing and volunteer to operate the ducking stool next time, as penance.”


.....After denouncing President Donald Trump and “the forces of illiberalism,” the letter transitions.....“We uphold the value of robust and even caustic counter-speech from all quarters,” said the open letter, which later adds, “But it is now all too common to hear calls for swift and severe retribution in response to perceived transgressions of speech and thought. More troubling still, institutional leaders, in a spirit of panicked damage control, are delivering hasty and disproportionate punishments instead of considered reforms.