To the editor:

The right’s propaganda machine has been indoctrinating its supporters with its buzz-words and acronyms to set those people’s teeth on edge whenever they hear them. I recently saw a post stating that the right purposely references its perceived grievances with acronyms such as DEI. I guess it helps its followers to focus their sites on a target. (They probably couldn’t tell you what it stands for.)

Well, if you take the time to name the three words for them…diversity…equity…inclusion, ask the person which of those words they find objectionable. (It would still probably be all of them because those words aren’t as palatable as White privilege.) Why does the right find these words so threatening? They sound harmless enough, yet the right reacts to those three letters as if they were more ghastly than George Carlin’s “Seven Words You Can’t Say on Television.”

But if you’ve been bombarded with the negative connotation of DEI, a perpetual snarl befitting Laura Ingraham’s kisser suddenly appears on your own countenance. Then we have the negative connotation which the Right has affixed to the word “woke.”

In consulting my oft-used dictionary for “woke,” I was referred back to “wake.” Of the several definitions, the one which seems most applicable is “to be stirred up from a dormant, torpid, or inactive state; also to be alert.”

What’s wrong with that? Well, I have to admit that I had to journey backward again to check out “torpid.” Seek and ye shall find. “Torpid” is defined as “lacking in energy or vim; inert; dull; stupid; apathetic.” Therefore, in venomously calling the left “woke,” the right doesn’t appreciate the Left’s being stirred from stupidity or being alert.

So, who are the torpid ones now? “Woke” isn’t a bad thing. Being “torpid,” now that would be a bad thing. Consequently, the next time someone on the right calls you “woke,” thank them. That’ll really leave them dumbfounded.

Just don’t call them “torpid.” They’ll probably sue you for making them use a dictionary.

Keith R. Klawitter

Morgan