The 24/7 Outrage Machine

(WSJ graphic)

WSJ columnist Peggy Noonan is always a worthwhile read--not because I agree with her, which I often don't--but because I think she has a moral sensibility akin to mine. She's slow to condemn moral failings and tries to see the perspectives from all sides.

In her first column of 2020 she's very critical of President Trump ("He can’t be proved more guilty") while at the same time dismissive of the attempt to remove him ("It will be the impeachment that didn’t move the needle, that history barely remembers").

She also is not complimentary toward the Democratic Presidential field or Nancy Pelosi. But she saves her harshest words for the wokescolds: [bold added]

The past decade saw the rise of the woke progressives who dictate what words can be said and ideas held, thus poisoning and paralyzing American humor, drama, entertainment, culture and journalism. In the coming 10 years someone will effectively stand up to them. They are the most hated people in America, and their entire program is accusation: you are racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic; you are a bigot, a villain, a white male, a patriarchal misogynist, your day is over. They never have a second move. Bow to them, as most do, and they’ll accuse you even more of newly imagined sins. They claim to be vulnerable victims, and moral. Actually they’re not. They’re mean and seek to kill, and like all bullies are cowards.

Everyone with an honest mind hates them. Someone will finally move effectively against them. Who? How? That will be a story of the ’20s, and a good one.

It's hard to de-escalate, though, with so many likes.

Tolerance is an ethic that is an important part of being an adult. As more Americans live in denser communities tolerance has become even more crucial. There are ways to express disagreement without being disagreeable.

The 24/7 outrage machine has made life unpleasant for all. When tolerant people like Peggy Noonan have had enough, then the reckoning is coming.