One of the most dispiriting things about the age of outrage and thought leaders and brands-as-political-activists is just how predictable the culture is.

We use the word “cycle” all the time now, appended to more than just “news.” You know that the current cycle, whatever it is, will be soon forgotten, replaced by another. After a while, you can see where things are going well before they happen. Some ad or celebrity or politician, or indeed some nobody, will be hauled to the stockade of public opprobrium. The usual suspects will indulge themselves in bacchanalian shaming, and the usual defenders will object. The words will be as though read from a script.