Fianna Fáil TD Willie O'Dea and Independent Senator Sharon Keogan, critics respectively of 'the woke gallery' and 'wokerati'. Photographs: Dara Mac Dónaill/Gareth Chaney/Collins
The online tool is still available, although the comments are a little dated as many are laced with Covid conspiracy. Luckily though we have X, the social media platform, to take up the running with its army of bots.on my feed the other day: “These in order are the political parties of the #Wokerati #ClownShow we have in this country. Avoid voting for them to get anywhere near power at national level to protect your family, your community and your country.
This drift towards weaponising language against democratic norms is explored in a new book, Dogwhistles and Figleaves, by British political philosopher Jennifer Mather Saulagainst whom agents of the British state conspired. However, he says, “virtuous thinkers are guided by the evidence rather than by their own prejudices”. In short, conspiracies need to be proven.
The idea behind a dogwhistle is to send a coded message to your support base without explicitly disclosing your ideology. They come in overt and covert forms, according to Saul. An example of the former is #Traitors – a term directed at TDs perceived to be soft on immigration. An example of a covert dogwhistle is the phrase “unvetted, military age men”. It is also what Saul would call a “blatant falsehood” sinceat ports of entry to the State.