You know, Earth is like a giant, cosmic fruit salad, filled with an array of differing tastes, beliefs, lifestyles, sexual preferences, you name it.

Boy, am I glad I don’t inhabit planet Conformia – that place is teeming with cone-headed hive minds (no offense to any cone-heads reading this… I hear it’s the latest fashion trend).

Now, there’s this new trend, “Cancel Culture.” Fancy term, huh? It’s like deciding you don’t like a certain brand of potato chips, so you try to ban it from all supermarkets. Only instead of potato chips, it’s people. And their opinions.

And, get this, some people self-identify as “woke,” which apparently makes them immune to being wrong, or at least to admitting it. It’s like being a flat-earther with a degree in physics. Churchill called such folks extremists. I call them party poopers.

Imagine if Twitter, a well-known liberal roost, was instead run by conservatives who decided they didn’t like what Joe Biden was tweeting.

“Too contentious, that guy…let’s just cancel culture him.”

I’d prefer the good ol’ freedom of speech than having to fight for my life in the Hunger Games, thank you very much.

Now, former President Trump – people either love him or hate him (much like pineapple on pizza, amirite?). But, the silver lining is, he stirred the pot enough to move the needle on women’s equality in the workplace. It took some agitation, but we got there. Thanks, mom and grandma, for paving the way!

If Hillary had won, it might have been business as usual. I mean, there’s a rumor about a TV show where an imaginary President Hillary awards Harvey Weinstein a Presidential Freedom Medal. Can you imagine the hashtag frenzy?

Back to our friends at Twitter who love to swing the ban hammer – shame on you! You’re basically giving the cancel mob free pitchforks. And have you seen the price of pitchforks these days?

Now let’s consider the corporate world. A friend of mine once told me about an intern who had the audacity to criticize the CEO’s tone during a company-wide presentation. The CEO responded with, “Who the hell are you?” The intern goes, “I’m the intern.” Needless to say, that internship ended quicker than a movie date with a flat earther.

You see, having an HR department is like voluntarily giving yourself the sexual equivalent of a cauliflower ear. Trust me, you don’t want that. But then again, that’s just me. I prefer the straight talk. I’m not going to sugarcoat the cauliflower.

As Mandela put it, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Essentially, Leadership for Dummies.

Oh, and here’s a newsflash for you – voting only works on Survivor, and is certainly no way to lead a SEAL Team, or run a college classroom, an orchestra, ballet troupe, movie production, or a business.

Do you think Anna Wintour stops to care about interns’ “feelings”? Do you imagine professors saying, “Wait, we took a vote, and everyone gets an A!”?

Real leadership involves an experienced person making tough calls. It’s like when your mom decides it’s cauliflower for dinner. You may not like it, but she knows it’s good for you.

There will always be bruised egos, hurt feelings. But hypersensitivity didn’t get the iPhone made. Sometimes, it takes a dictator like Jobs from Apple or Whitney Herd from Bumble to give the salad a good shake.

On our Defense and Foreign Policy news site, SOFREP.com, we once faced a petition signed by over 50,000 people, demanding we take down a story. It showed American soldiers being ambushed in Niger, the footage being used for terrorist propaganda.

The way I see it, it’s like those folks wanted to live in a world where every news item ends with a fluffy kitten video, just to make sure nobody’s “triggered”.

I swear, most of the news today feels like stepping in warm dog poop on a gum-coated New York sidewalk. Ever tried that? The smell is something else.

Despite the backlash, we stood our ground. Some readers left, but the ones who stayed respected us more.

In the end, it’s a varied world. Some people are Apple, some are Android. Some love blues, others trance music. Some prefer whisky, others pot edibles. And that’s what makes life an interesting, colorful tapestry of experiences.

Makes the world feel free, you know. Peace out.