| Who is "West Elm Caleb"? That is a question many asked recently when the phrase went viral. As Molly Roberts explains, it refers to a 20-something man in New York City who dated women, signaling serious interest — and then suddenly disappeared on them. He started trending on social media after a woman described her experience with another "Caleb" on TikTok — and received comment after comment from women asking if she was referring to the Caleb who worked in furniture design. This soon became "a tale of misplaced vengeance that says less about the man cast as its villain than it does about those of us who did the casting," Roberts writes. "This everyday cad's name, address, picture and workplace… made their way into the very public domain, accompanied by calls for his cancellation and even exile from New York City." What does that say about the Internet and those of us who use it? "Most everyone has wanted, amid the pain, to turn whoever hurt us into something worse than what they really are: to cast them, yes, as a villain. The Internet allows us to seek validation for this impulse from an almost infinite array of others." But, as the tale of West Elm Caleb shows, this doesn't necessarily hold real evildoers accountable — and could even make that work harder.  (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg) This Internet tale of misplaced vengeance says less about the man cast as its villain than it does about those of us who did the casting. By Molly Roberts ● Read more » | | | | Virginia's parents have had enough with the government dictating how they should raise their children. By Glenn Youngkin ● Read more » | | | | Unless the West bends, this war will almost certainly end with a defeat for Putin, and Russians rebelling at the cost of this "war of choice." By David Ignatius ● Read more » | | | | The recent sales of intellectual property rights by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and other music stars are instructive about incentives, unintended consequences and the politics of economic inequality. By Charles Lane ● Read more » | | | The rage of the ancestors roiled within me when I heard talk of Black voters giving up. By Jonathan Capehart ● Read more » | | | | A German report shows how the Catholic leadership was never really in the dark about sexual predators in their midst. By David Von Drehle ● Read more » | | | | Brief pauses to implement necessary risk-mitigation and education-promoting strategies could ensure that in-school environments are safely accessible for all students and staff. By Ashwin Dharmadhikari, Nirali Shah and Prabha Viswanathan ● Read more » | | | Antagonizing President Biden and getting him to slip up should be written into his formal job description. By Erik Wemple ● Read more » | | | | I can't believe what Biden called Peter Doocy! Unrelatedly, I have slumbered for half a decade. By Alexandra Petri ● Read more » | | | | Reform won't end our bitter partisanship. But it would help secure our republic. By Henry Olsen ● Read more » | | | | How will its liberal customers react if the company mounts an anti-unionization fight? By Paul Waldman ● Read more » | | | |
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