The accepting nature of the left is left in the convention center loading bay as Ben Shapiro is cause for rampant apologies.

Pause for just a moment on all the times you have heard it said how terrible it is that we are a divided nation, and how frequently these laments also carry the call for more openness and tolerance between people, and that the way to unify this nation is through acceptance of others. 

Okay, now toss all of those sentiments into a dumpster. Currently, in Dallas they are staging a massive national podcasting conference, dubbed Podcast Movement 2022. Said to be the largest community of podcasters, all the expected events are there from panels and dinners to an extensive media row, with thousands in attendance. However, one guy has sent the entire affair into a tailspin.

In a bizarre fashion that by all appearances should be a parody but is not, the organizers went on a deeply apologetic thread to express their dismay and regret at the fact that Ben Shapiro, of the Daily Wire, had appeared. This may have been spearheaded by podcast figure Aaron Mahnke, who took to Twitter to lodge his very stern objections to Shapiro, describing his desire to walk out of the event. (Note: I had to gather these quotes from alternate sources, as the man with whom I have never interacted has me list-blocked, and his account is closed off for only approved followers.)

If you’re a friend of mine who’s attending this week, you should consider doing the same. Silence is agreement and complicity.  

This kicks off the intolerant idiocy. First order of clarification here – Mahnke has stirred up this outrage and is completely bothered that Shapiro is at this conference — which Mahnke himself is not attending. So he is offended and generating outrage over something he has not even witnessed, first, or even secondhand. Still, he probably reacted to something Ben spoke of while Aaron was streaming his appearance on a panel, correct?

No.

So then, he must have heard Shapiro state something offensive while broadcasting his program from the conference!

No.

Well…it must have been that Shapiro said something controversial while sitting for an interview with another podcaster from the media area at the center.

Nope.

Mahnke, and the organizers of Podcast Movement, are having a “Lost Ark” face-melting episode over the fact that Ben Shapiro arrived at the convention. That is it. He was not even a credentialed individual of any repute for the conference, he showed up as a general attendee. This is what has caused the organizers to circle wagons and issue emotional apologies in virtue-signaling desperation (the Podcast Movement Twitter account has since been locked).

And it gets even more obtuse. This random appearance by Shapiro has taken this outfit completely by surprise – even though his own outlet has a booth set up at the conference. 

“Though he was not registered or expected, we take full responsibility for the harm done by his presence. There’s no way around it: We agreed to sell The Daily Wire a first-time booth based on the company’s large presence in podcasting. The weight of that decision is now painfully clear. Shapiro is a co-founder. A drop-in, however unlikely, should have been considered a possibility.”

It is not as if the inclusion of Shapiro’s outlet was an oversight or slipped under some radar. According to Inside Radio, Shapiro had the fifth most popular podcast last month, and The Daily Wire had the sixth-highest audience in the US podcasting measure with 7.3 million downloads and globally streams measured at 72 million. It would be expected to then have DW appearing at the largest podcasting convention.

We are looking at a quivering group of people who cannot grasp how ridiculous it is to entertain complaints about being offended at someone at the convention made by someone who is not even at this convention! Going further,  to then bend the knee and embarrass yourselves with an over-the-top apology that is levels of magnitude beyond the perceived offense underscores just where you reside on the socio-political spectrum. As said in their ongoing apology, “The pain caused by this one will always stick with us.”

Pain. Supposedly caused by the fact that someone might have looked across the broadcast space and seen Ben Shapiro, which was instigated by someone in another part of the country. This is not the kind of reaction to get upset about. This is something you laugh at and then walk from in quiet solemnity. These are not serious people. These are arrested pre-adolescents, and there is no reason to even want to engage them in anything approaching a discussion. 

This is a sign of what we need to go through in this country. While these actions may seem ennobling and masterful in the minds of these intolerant scolds, cutting them off from engagement is really the only choice. Instead of battling them on their turf, walking off and establishing our own arenas is the better course. If they later choose to engage, fine. But appeasement now is not even on their menu, so it is fruitless to place an order for that item.