Conservatives have for years accused liberals of censoring their speech and forcing Woke ideas down the throats of Americans; but lately it has become clear that — despite Trump’s State of the Union Speech — extreme censorship and right-wing Wokeness is a hallmark of the MAGA movement. For example, the current administration insists that Americans refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. Because the traditional, historic name of this body of water is Gulf of Mexico, many Americans and some news organizations do not accept this self-reverential change ordered by the President of the United States. One of the most important news organizations in our nation, the Associated Press, has even been barred from White House press events because it will not follow the nomenclature requirements of the president. This is a clear case of governmental censorship and a version of what the right likes to call “Woke” behavior when it occurs on the left.
There are numerous other examples of far-right Woke behaviors that are now being foisted on our society. For example, it’s no longer acceptable to talk about trans people because, in the words of the president, there are only two genders — Male and Female. It is also no longer okay to talk about climate change or global warming because, well … just because. It used to be woke to protect the rights of LGBTQ people, but now the opposite is true. And under the new, right wing Woke regime, Ukraine started the war with Russia as opposed to the obvious reality that Russia was the aggressor.
Where it used to be Woke to seek equal opportunity for all races in America, it is now Woke to favor white people. Where the old Woke supported government regulations such as those provided by the Food and Drug Administration, the new Woke treats all government activity as suspect or even criminal. Liberal Woke favored protections from illicit and overhyped products, while right-wing Woke returns us to the world of caveat emptor. Old Woke favored immigration and appreciated the “melting pot” idea of America; new Woke opposes all immigration except Anglo Saxons and Scandinavians.
So who’s Woke now? And who believes in free speech? In a changing political climate, it’s hard to keep up.