Why does wokeness drive me crazy?

The answer isn't obvious

Dave Chappelle.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

Nothing irritates me like wokeness.

But why? What is it about a transgender activist on National Public Radio lecturing me about the awfulness of Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix stand-up comedy special that provokes me to shut off the radio? Why am I driven to apoplexy by the story of geophysicist Dorian Abbot getting disinvited from delivering a scientific lecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology because he also opposes some aspects of affirmative action? How come I feel like screaming when I hear that another climate scientist, David Romps, has resigned as director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center after he tried to invite Abbot to speak there and was rebuffed by colleagues?

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.