Americans go through spasmodic bouts of bluestocking periods. The Pilgrims, the first American puritans, started it off. But it didn’t end there. The prim New Englanders, the WCTU, the League of Decency, and now the modern Left all wanted and want to make sure no one anywhere is having fun. No doubt I’m forgetting about several groups and periods that should be on that list.

Be it by offense taken by booze, literature, or comedy, some just can’t abide the thought that others will recreate in a different manner than they do. This attitude used to be found mostly in prigs and the overly religious. But, as mentioned above, another kind of faith has taken the place of that old time religion, at least with the new puritans. That would be PC, wokism, the socialist thought police, call it what you will. They, not the usual Protestant wackos, are the leading buzzkills in America today.

A recent example of this is the case of Dave Chappelle, the comedian. An extremely funny and clever performer, Chappelle has been roasted over a spit by various deviants because he dares to make fun of them. No matter that good comedy is provocative and sometimes shocking. No matter that Chappelle is an equal opportunity comedian, mocking one and all. No matter that his lifestyle and associations tell of a man without a bone of bigotry in his body. All that is out the door when you say anything left wing censors deem inappropriate. Then it’s off to the assistant principal’s office for a suspension. Just one problem. Chappelle isn’t buying it.

In fact, he’s wearing it as a badge of honor. This writer knows that game. About 20 years ago I was writing for a political and satirical website that the Left in Pennsylvania didn’t like very much. I made fun of their absurdities and absurd personalities. So they actually held a rally against me on the courthouse steps of a suburban Philadelphia county. They thought it would intimidate me into silence. Not quite. Not only did we redouble our satirical efforts, but the resultant press from the rally tripled the daily exposure of our website. Points for the good guys. And how much free press has Chappelle received from this kerfuffle? Lots. More points for the good guys.

This kind of leftist censorship had turned honest liberals, like Bill Maher, into scourges of the modern Left. The authoritarian, if not fascist, tendencies in woke PC is paramount to their ideology. If they are not offended they are nothing. Because they are not a real political movement anyway. Just a coterie of grievance groups trying to intimidate their way into power. It didn’t work with me, it won’t work with Chappelle and Maher, and it only makes us more hell bent on making fun of the Left. Not exactly what they had in mind.