# Did some politician say that “Socrates would get cancelled today”? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 7, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263 "2021-09-07T19:31:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/1 "2021-09-07T19:31:38Z")
Heard about it on social media, but cannot find any original source. I wonder if it’s an urban myth like many quotes attributed to supposedly dumb politicians, usually these stories are apocryphal. Like the Dubya said “The problem with the French is that they don’t have a word for entrepreneur.” Pretty sure even the wokiest HR wouldn’t make a guy drink hemlock. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/2 "2021-09-07T19:33:33Z")
> **[GOP Rep Anthony Sabatini Schooled After Saying Socrates Would Be 'Cancelled'...](https://www.thewrap.com/anthony-sabatini-socrates/)** > > Apparently, the ancient Greek philosopher's execution didn't count He’s in Florida of course. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/3 "2021-09-07T19:52:00Z")
He _did_ get canceled. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/4 "2021-09-07T20:11:30Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > He _did_ get canceled He got a lot more cancelled in his own time than any of the modern losers whining about cancel culture ever did. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/5 "2021-09-07T20:19:31Z")
This article quotes some of the Twitter responses. > **[Florida Republican Thinks Socrates Would Be "Cancelled Real Quick" Today](https://www.themarysue.com/florida-republican-worried-about-socrates-cancellation/)** > > A lot of people were quick to point out that Sabatini very clearly doesn't know anything at all about Socrates. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/6 "2021-09-07T20:21:58Z")
I don’t know that he’d be cancelled, because he’d probably drink the Kool-aid. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/7 "2021-09-07T20:23:35Z")
Every time a criminal widely believed guilty is acquitted, traditionalists wring their hands: “Today, Lizzie Borden would walk!” Forgetting, of course, that Lizzie Borden _did_ walk. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/8 "2021-09-07T20:25:05Z")
No quote has been quite so perfect since Investor’s Business Daily opined ‘If Stephen Hawking were British…’ ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/9 "2021-09-07T21:09:36Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > This article quotes some of the Twitter responses. And notes that apparently Sabatini has a degree in philosophy. According to [this site](https://www.legistorm.com/person/bio/307726/Anthony_Sabatini.html), magna cum laude. Not clear to me whether the University of Florida is incompetent; Sabatini is incompetent and somehow cheated his way to a degree, or has serious memory problems and has forgotten way too much of what he learned; or Sabatini thinks his audience is incompetent. I suspect the last one at minimum, but it might of course be all of those together. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/10 "2021-09-08T03:13:36Z")
My God. 😬 The guy must have skipped the chapter on Socrates during his degree. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/11 "2021-09-08T20:05:07Z")
Maybe he thought Plato was Republican… ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/12 "2021-09-08T20:06:28Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > Maybe he thought Plato was Republican…. He did write The Republican Manifesto didn’t he? . . . . . . /s ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/13 "2021-09-08T20:20:34Z")
Certainly he thought invoking the name “Socrates” would make him sound smart and learned. Oops. Did he pronounce it like Bill and Ted did? ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/14 "2021-09-08T21:58:59Z")
Like sands through the hourglass… ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/15 "2021-09-08T22:29:15Z")
I don’t read that the same way at all. For most of my life, the fact the Socrates was canceled was seen as a failing of the Greek state. Incompatible with modern American and Liberal ideas and ideals. The fact that modern American and left-wing ideals has swung so hard that it’s recreating one of the best known failures of the ancient Greek state is worth observing. The fact that people on this board are so party partisan that they can’t even see the relevance of the criticism is … appalling. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/16 "2021-09-08T22:38:45Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I don’t know that he’d be cancelled, because he’d probably drink the Kool-aid. Socrates’ last words: “I drank _what?_” ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/17 "2021-09-08T22:39:10Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > The fact that modern American and left-wing ideals has swung so hard that it’s recreating one of the best known failures of the ancient Greek state is worth observing Wow! I had no idea things had gotten so bad! How many right-wingers were forced to drink poison by the modern American Left? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/18 "2021-09-08T22:51:13Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Wow! I had no idea things had gotten so bad! How many right-wingers were forced to drink poison by the modern American Left? Wow, I had no idea things had gotten so bad! How many left-wingers equate canceling with poisoning their political opponents? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/19 "2021-09-08T23:16:25Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Not clear to me whether the University of Florida is incompetent When I graduated high school 40 years ago, UF was widely seen as a “party” school, as in an easy place to get your 4 year college degree. The school has subsequently raised its academic stature and is now seen as one of the best colleges in the state, tho it still has its share of partiers to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2021, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263/20 "2021-09-08T23:20:23Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Wow, I had no idea things had gotten so bad! How many left-wingers equate canceling with poisoning their political opponents?. None that I’ve seen. There was a right wing politician who claimed Socrates would be “cancelled” today; a bunch of people pointed out to him that what happened to Socrates was much worse than being canceled - namely, he was murdered. YOU then compared what the “modern American left” does to what happened to Socrates: > [@Melbourne](#): > > The fact that modern American and left-wing ideals has swung so hard that it’s recreating one of the best known failures of the ancient Greek state is worth observing. So I guess if you consider yourself a left winger, that makes one of you who equated poisoning to canceling; if you do not consider yourself a left winger, that would make “none” the correct answer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-some-politician-say-that-socrates-would-get-cancelled-today/950263.md?page=2)