by Victor Davis Hanson
Most Americans were as indifferent to the U.S. women’s soccer team’s recent loss to Sweden in the Olympics as they were excited about the team’s World Cup win in 2019. In between was the team’s nonstop politicking, from whining about compensation to virtue-signaling their disrespect for the United States. The celebrity face of the team, perennial scold Megan Rapinoe, is going the way of teenage grouch Greta Thunberg, becoming more pinched the more she is tuned out.
Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Marie Khan-Cullors Brignac used her corporate grifting to buy four homes. The one she bought in California’s Topanga Canyon is surrounded by a new $35,000 security fence.
Critical race theory guru Ibram X. Kendi offers virtual, one-hour workshops for $20,000 a pop. He is franchising woke re-education kits — in between bouts of damning capitalism as a catalyst of racism.
The woke movement is a slicker, more sophisticated and far more grandiose version of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson’s shakedowns of the 1990s. Those, at least, were far more honest in leveraging cash with charges of racism — and came without the academic gobbledygook of critical race theory.
Our freeways are jammed. Airports are crammed. Labor is short. Huge pent-up consumer demand for essentials and entertainment outpaces supply. Yet Major League Baseball’s recent All-Star Game saw record low television viewership — about a quarter of the audience of 40 years ago, when there were 100 million fewer Americans.
The Summer Olympic Games are getting anemic TV ratings. The NBA’s crashing TV ratings have followed the downward trajectory of the NFL’s ratings. Woke sports earn the same public disgust as the accusatory and boring Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards.
Cable news networks CNN and MSNBC fueled the story that former President Donald Trump allegedly colluded with Russia. They contextualized (to excuse) the summer looting and rioting of 2020. And they cheered on two impeachments as a prelude to their 24/7 woke drumbeat. Their ratings, too, have now dived.
Never has TV been more politicized. Sitcoms, dramas and commercials are designed more to resonate woke messaging than to entertain. So naturally, dismal TV ratings reflect the expected public boredom that ensues when art serves politics.
How many times will disingenuous Dr. Anthony Fauci swear that he never sent federal money to the Wuhan virology lab for gain-of-function research, or blame his critics for pointing out his gyrating advice on masks, or offer yet another noble lie on herd immunity?
In short, Americans are worn out from elite virtue-signaling and woke performance art from critical race theory capitalists, multimillionaire CEOs, revolving-door Pentagon brass, Malibu celebrities and credentialed elite.
The problem is not just that most of America is exhausted from being smeared as racists, or hearing that a wonderful country — the most free, just, equitable, affluent and leisured in civilization’s history — must continually pay penance for its past and present. The public is more tired of projectionist hypocrisy. Those who scream the loudest are usually the most guilty of woke crimes.
The woke madness coincides with an epidemic of crises that go largely ignored as a distracted America cannibalizes itself.
The border is being breached at a time of pandemic. Migrants barge in without either COVID-19 testing or vaccinations — during a coronavirus spike that has government officials talking about going door to door to roust out American citizens to get vaccinated.
Whiteness is supposedly the cause of America’s problems. But our inner cities are suffering historic levels of violent crime. Couldn’t our critical race theory accusers take time out from their merchandising to address the soaring violence?
Wokeness seeks a weak host to infect. It has nothing to do with equality or equity; like “climate change”, it’s about power and money.
Wakens is demonic evil and a parasitic effect upon America. But Nazi Germany and the Final Solution, you know what that is?? recall the yellow Star of David that Jews had to wear?? Well get ready for this:
Galesburg, IL School District 205 Superintendent John Asplund sent this shocking email out to staff members announcing a new ID badge policy. School staff now have the option to change from the customary white ID badge to a yellow ID badge to indicate that they have received the covid vaccine.
They are actually going to use Yellow Badges for identification.
This is no joke.
Seth McFarland summarized Wokeness when he said he was triggered by the fact that Fox, which is NOT Fox News, allows Tucker Carlson to air views Seth disagrees with, so Seth wants to force Fox to cancel his show, The Family Guy.
The Family Guy has made Seth $$$$$$$$ over its 19 year run on Fox.
And, apparently, Fox and Seth are in a contractual agreement that Seth can’t break easily.
But Seth can’t put up with Tucker’s views on the air at all.
He insists Tucker be cancelled or he wants out.
Wokers cannot stand that other views than their own even exist.
They would silence those views, then criminalize them, if possible.
Lewis Carroll predicted Woke when he said of language:
Wokes want to be the masters of language.
They want to define what YOU mean when you use a word and deny what the word means when THEY use it.