Joe Biden Goes Left — Or Does He?
Confronting “woke” illiberalism in the post-Trump era
The Trump presidency is over. Democrats control the White House and both houses of Congress. Faithful Democrats and devout progressives have reason to be jubilant (even if the latter may find Joe Biden too moderate). It’s far more complicated for those of us — independents, moderate Republicans, even centrist Democrats — who believe that modern progressivism is also toxic and holds too much sway in the Democratic Party in 2021.
So: What now?
Some anti-Trump, anti-left centrists are already alarmed at signs that Biden is pandering to a militant leftist agenda, at least on cultural issues. Just two days after the inauguration, veteran journalist and blogger Andrew Sullivan, who had rooted for Biden during the campaign, wrote a harsh piece accusing him of “culture war aggression” on immigration, civil rights, and LGBT issues. Meanwhile, conservatives who argued that voting for Trump was the only way to stop out-of-control progressivism have responded with frank gloating.
For the record, as a critic of “wokeness” (i.e. radical “social justice” ideology) who…
