Wake up to these 'woke' distortions

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Eugene Robinson

The word “woke” once meant something, kind of. But now it’s just an empty, all-purpose insult hurled by conservative propagandists, anti-vaccine fabulists, lazy journalists and people who don’t want to know our history. Give it a rest, folks.

Republicans accuse Democrats of being woke, trying to make the word into a synonym for un-American and implying some imaginary threat to Whites posed by African Americans and other people of color. Elite commentators pile on in laughable attempts to establish their purported anti-elite or populist credentials. Those who acknowledge this nation’s history of racism are accused of wokeness by others who seek to ignore uncomfortable, incontrovertible facts.

It’s all a scam whose fraudulent nature was made apparent by Green Bay Packers star quarterback Aaron Rodgers, of all people, who was revealed last week to have refused to get vaccinated against the coronavirus — and to have blatantly lied about it. Rather than take responsibility for his words and deeds, Rodgers claimed to be “in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now” and said he was speaking out — still not quite truthfully — before the “final nail gets put in my cancel-culture casket.”

Cramming both “woke mob” and “cancel culture” into the same sentence gets him bonus points, I suppose, in the “I’m the real victim here” sweepstakes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/11/08/wake-up-these-woke-distortions/

[stopdiggin]

1. right. might have had a degree of meaning at one time

but has been degraded and trivialized into utter meaninglessness. Common sense things such as booster shots, gun safety and child care are now routinely labeled 'woke.'

[unblock]

2. Nothing new under the sun. "Woke" is just this generation's "political correctness"

Both terms had real meaning within the progressive community. Neither really had anything to do with right-wingers.

"Political correctness" merely meant acting consistently with your claimed political beliefs. If you go around stating that the poor should be helped, then volunteer at a soup kitchen sometime. If you object to pollution, don't drive a gas guzzler. Basically, don't be a hypocrite.

It was meant to keep liberals acting like liberals. It was never meant to suggest that liberalism was "correct" and non-liberalism was "incorrect". It never had anything to do with the right wing.

Then along came the right wing and as always, decided to be personally offended by something that had nothing to do with them.

They reinvented the term as an insult so they could do their beloved martyr act.


"Woke", not identically but similarly, really was never about the right wing. Just about people who "got it" or at least tried to be aware and talk and act with eyes open when it came to racism and bigotry. More like spreading the word and recognizing those who had at least something of an education on the topic.

Again, in came the right wing and took personal offense.


No, right wing. It's not always about you.

[twodogsbarking]

3. Where was Erring Rodgers on 1/6/21 ?