Even criticism of “wokeness” — which, I think most conservatives view as a catchall for progressive cultural values — is, according to NBC, an attempt to undermine “people of color” and other “marginalized communities.” If you disparage wokeness, you are basically buying Klansmen AR-15s, which is very convenient.

Because it’s become so common for the left to insinuate (or blame) conservatives for inciting violence, we might forget how vile those accusations can be. But they’re not only contemptible for the obvious reasons. They are meant to shut you up. No one should let these nuts hinder their ability to engage in political disagreements, and no one should let cynical activists masquerading as journalists use those nuts to chill speech, either.

Which is, of course, the point of all this.

[The mainstream media has become quite invested in chilling debate these days. Their cheerleading for government-imposed censorship in the guise of “misinformation” demonstrates this, as well as their attempts to equate violence to otherwise normal political debate. As Harsanyi points out, that only works in one direction; when a transgender person commits mass murder, it’s never the fault of the Left in pushing trans extremism in existential terms. The MSM have chosen sides, and they’re no different than the progressive political activists. In fact, they are among them. — Ed]